Lepanto Marina, Monfalcone

[corvus]

Hi all!

I was wondering if anyone has been to Lepanto Marina in Monfalcone?

We are considering to move out Oyster 435 up there in May and stay there for a year.

The facilities look fine and the people seem to be very friendly.

However I am not sure about the access to the marina and depth restrictions in the channel accessing the marina as well as the strong winds (Bora) that are known there. We have never sailed this area before but having heard some horror stories about those strong winds I’d rather get second opinion about it.

Many thanks for your thoughts and recommendations!

Stefan

[athene]

I can't comment on the marina, but see the Wiki entry at http://www.cruiserswiki.org/wiki/Marina_Lepanto for advice on access.

We keep our own Oyster 435 in Marina Kastela near Split and we have experienced sustained winds from the bora of up to 80 knots at times. However, they are used to it in the northern and central Adriatic and yachts are usually well secured whether in or out of the water. In my view, you're safer there than other places where such winds are exceptional, since when they do arrive in such places the result is usually widespread destruction.

GORDON KNIGHT

[Tomaz473]

We kept our Beneteau 473 with 2.1 m (7 feet) draft in the same channel - in a marina just next to Lepanto.
There was a boatyard in the same chanel where they had launched performance sailboats with 3m and more (10 feet) draft. They might have been plowing a bit in the soft mud at the bottom and of course taking highest tide they could get.
I needed about half tide to feel comfortable to enter or exist.

Pros:
- brackish, almost fresh water: all seawater creatures fall of your bottom after you come there. Freshwater creatures start developing until you sail out into the salty Adriatic and they fall off. My bottom was never that free of marine life.
- bora wind is a dry wind, so during winter your boat will be dry and you will not have problems with mold. Lepanto is so far inland that the wind diminishes a lot by all the trees all around the area. Yes, bora can blow hard, but you are 2 miles inland.
And you have no swell, no waves and no salty spray. There are trees left and right to brake the wind.
- it is Italy, so no clear in or out if you sail to neighbor country Slovenia (both EU) or if you want to explore Venice for example. No high fees like Croatia.

Cons:
- you are 2 miles inland, you can not go fast in the channel so you need some time to come to open water. And that open water is Trieste harbor. You need a few hours to come to any water you really want to swim in. And you need 100 or 200 miles to come to really great places. It is OK for a year, then you might get bored as you explored it all and want to move to other (nicer) cruising area.
- trees offering protection from bora have leaves. Expect leaves in your cockpit and in any space they can get into. They can clog drains.

I can't comment on people in Lepante as I was in Nautec marina, at the very end of the channel, just passed Lepante. Nautec people were wonderful. Management and staff - we felt like at home. Very friendly atmosphere. They had a good restaurant too. You can always walk 50m from Lepante to this place to eat. They also had reasonably good workshop. I repaired some stainless and was happy with the service. I am sure Lepante can not be much different.
It was only one hour drive from our house. I liked that. We stayed there for a year, then moved the boat further south to Croatia, where prices are higher and service is bad, but the sea is more beautiful.