Wintering in the Med

[Arthur Garfield]

I certainly agree with Atoll-hurghada egypt is pretty neat,.I say this considerring
where and when your departure location is.That is is you want warmth/heat.Barring your location constraints I might have gone for the Canaries.
Still not entirely clear of your needs.cost? hurghada egypt.For children this probably acceptable also being that many Egyptians are highly educated,speak english and,could use extra tutorring income.Cyprus would work also though more spendy.Israel-spendy.Ceuta,Melilia,spanish enclaves in Morroco.
Winds in your favor for Port Said now.
Heading west so late could be a PITA.
All the Best with whatever choice you make.Enjoy it all !

[lorenzoSF]

Mmhmh.. The Hurgada idea seems more and more attractive...

What about cruisers/expat/english speaking community out there?

Thanks
Lorenzo

[atoll]

Originally Posted by lorenzoSF

Mmhmh.. The Hurgada idea seems more and more attractive...

What about cruisers/expat/english speaking community out there?

Thanks
Lorenzo

english is egypts official second language,so you will allways find someone who speaks good english,and willing to help if in difficulties.

in hurghada with year round diving there is a large ex-pat community of dive masters , tour company reps and associated people working in tourism.

you might also want to look into the "med red sea rally for cruisers 2014",
with about 20 boats doing the trip
not sure of the link but one was posted on the forum earlier this year.

otherwise an easy downwind sail from the ionian sea to port said,of about 7-10 days.

going west from the ionian can be very hard going against the prevailing NW'lies till past sardinia.

other marinas in the area are abu tig marina, El Guona slighly to the north.
Orascom Marine Management | Abu Tig Marina

[Arthur Garfield]

Hi lorenzoSF, Are you in Venice now? Must be midnight.lol
Yes cruisers come through there.Sharm-el-Sheik may be good winterring also.
Sharm is worldwide vay-k destination with great diving and great community.
Perhaps take close look at Sharm also.

All the Best !

[Arthur Garfield]

Hi Atoll,
I must be mistaken-thought lorenzoSF was/is in Venice It. If so pretty much good winds all the way to Port Said now and for next month or so.

All the Best !

[Arthur Garfield]

Oh Duh-reread your post Atoll-for sure tough sailing west from Ionia sea about now.Lol

All the Best !

[Arthur Garfield]

Also lorenzoSF, Egyptians immigration pretty laid-back cool.I way way overstayed my visa once and they zero problem with tiny fine and renew charge for another 3 months. I imagine now with their tourist industry really really dead.Upon thinking about it I personally would prefer Sharm.Probably supper great deals along with everyone there speaking english.Sharm was first place I dove with whale sharks-it was so so cool.What a memory! Sharm also has easy access to immigration people.Quite welcoming.Egyptians are a wonderful people! Though as anywhere there are those.......but fewer than NYC! lOL

[atoll]

Originally Posted by Arthur Garfield

Also lorenzoSF, Egyptians immigration pretty laid-back cool.I way way overstayed my visa once and they zero problem with tiny fine and renew charge for another 3 months. I imagine now with their tourist industry really really dead.Upon thinking about it I personally would prefer Sharm.Probably supper great deals along with everyone there speaking english.Sharm was first place I dove with whale sharks-it was so so cool.What a memory! Sharm also has easy access to immigration people.Quite welcoming.Egyptians are a wonderful people! Though as anywhere there are those.......but fewer than NYC! lOL

unfortunately no real marina faclities in sharm-el-sheik,apart from the jetty there,and anchoring is prohibited on that side of the straights of gubal,as it is all a marine reserve.

the best and cheapest way to visit is to get the high speed ferry across,and stay at one of the many cheap hotels on the sinai side,you can still get a nice room for around $15 a night.

[atoll]

hi lorenzo i found the link finally! to the rally
on cruisers forum,thread http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...-a-117447.html

here is their facebookpage

https://www.facebook.com/redseasaili...ref=ts&fref=ts

[goboatingnow]

IN my experience, the european and most northern Med countries will be quite cool for the winter. This is especially true of the nights.

as for 16 degrees C, where Im from thats a blazing summers day in July !.

dave

[Katiusha]

- I got the feeling from other threads that the Greece-Turkey area tends to have worst winter weather/seas than Spain. Is that correct?

Not sure where you got the info from, but Turkey is normally great for wintering - balmy winters, water warm enough to swim in until January. The further east you go, the less storms you'll have. I'd suggest Kas as the most eastern just so that you'd have some English-speaking company. And Northern Cyprus.

Re: Greece it depends on what part of Greece you're talking about as Ionian, mainland, Aegean, The Med near south coast of Turkey, Crete, and Cyprus all have very different weather patterns.

[lorenzoSF]

Originally Posted by Katiusha

Re: Greece it depends on what part of Greece you're talking about as Ionian, mainland, Aegean, The Med near south coast of Turkey, Crete, and Cyprus all have very different weather patterns.

This is really the type of info I am looking for.
Do you know where I can find good, accurate descriptions of wheather patterns in the different areas of the Med?
I found several sites with average highs and average lows, sometimes also average rainy days, but it would be nice to find something more descriptive as the average temps are all the same in all the places I have looked at (south of Spain, Sicily, Malta, Tunisia, Greek Islands, south of Turkey, Cyprus).

[miyagimoon]

Originally Posted by atoll

hi lorenzo i found the link finally! to the rally
on cruisers forum,thread http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...-a-117447.html

here is their facebookpage

https://www.facebook.com/redseasaili...ref=ts&fref=ts

Hi Lorenzo,

We are the organisers for the Red Sea Sailing Safari. If you want any info sent me a PM. We depart from Limassol, Cyprus 24th October. At present there are 15 boats all English speaking.

Albert & Sheena
S/Y Miyagi Moon

P.S Thank you Atoll for posting our details.

[jckb]

Originally Posted by lorenzoSF

Do you know where I can find good, accurate descriptions of wheather patterns in the different areas of the Med?

Yes.

See The Mediterranean | JimB Sail

[chuckr]

I can only tell you what works for us -- we wintered over in hammamet tunisia last year and will do so again this year -- there is also monastir tunisia - both have a live aboard community and last year hammamet but they say in the past it was very large -
we have heard the monastir community is larger but not sure -
internet is great -

as for the red sea - well i am a bit of a coward but with folks losing their heads down there and people trying to make a statement -- well a second throught may be required on that one

we do know of some boats wintering over in ragusa (sp)

as for sailing the med in the winter - hum - pick your weather windows carefully and run like heck and get in before the next front comes through especially with a little one on board - we are old and cowards so we park the boat from sometime in oct to about may 1 - no need to get beat up as way to old for that and been there and done that