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jcbureau · 03-10-2018, 15:14

Hello everyone.

I am planning to sail and winter my boat (old 50ft aluminium) in the North of the Agean sea in 2019. Would anyone have some information about any of the (few) marinas in the area ? I am currently wintering in Peloponese, where strong winds have been quite terrible recently.
I was thinking of

- Volos (no real marina, but would anyone know whether the harbour sheltered and safe ?)
- Kamena Mourla (I cannot find any info on the small marina)
- The "new" (completed ???) marina Limenaria on Thasos.
- Kavala (I was told that a new marina opened in 2016).
- Thessaloniki (the marina had a rather bad reputation a few years ago, but it may have improved ?)
- It is very expensive but if you happen to have information on Platamos, Miraggio or Porto Karas, I would also appreciate

Thanks a lot.

Christopher

jcbureau · 03-10-2018, 15:45

Sorry, I realize that this post would fit better in "destinations". My apology. Christopher

Polux · 04-10-2018, 08:34

Hi,I have sailed extensively on the Aegean on the last Years and i know the options.

Will you live aboard on the winter or you will let the boat there?

If you will leave the boat ports , except if they have the places with fixed lines on the bow instead of med mooring on anchor with lines aft, are a bad idea because other neighboring boat can pick your anchor out when going away.

Kavala has a sort of Marina and boats are left there for winter but I believe it is full and they will only offer you a place on the quay to stay at anchor (with lines to the quay). I never understood who owns the marina, maybe the sail club, but It's difficult to find somebody to talk too and they are not nice, I mean not interested in having outsiders.

The new port in Limnaria is completed but nobody seems to know who owns it so there is no water neither electricity.

If you will not stay on the boat i will recommend you to leave it on the hard. There are several options on the region not expensive. The winds in the winter are not like the ones in the summer, they come from other directions and can be quite nasty.

jcbureau · 04-10-2018, 09:56

Thanks Polux. The information on Limnaria and Kavala is precious. I can rule them out.
I do not intend to winter on board. Usually, I leave the boat afloat in the winter and go back and forth from Paris but you are right, that is probably not a good solution in this area. The boat usually sails almost permanently from april to end of october with some exceptions for a week or two once in a while. What do you think of using a port like Volos for the summer (change of crews and leave it there for a week once in a while) and taking the boat out for the winter, and would you recommend a shipyard where the boat could winter? Thanks a lot. Chris

Polux · 04-10-2018, 16:02

Not good. Volos is full of local boats it is very dificult to find a place there unless you make some arrangement with the locals. The places on the quay have ropes tied to cement blocks so if you use your anchor you risk to get tangled.

The place with more room is the big port of Skopelos that offers a good shelter, at least in the summer, but most of the boats go out in the morning and come back in the afternoon (or other boats) so lot's of movement and you risk that someone catch out your anchor when you are not there.

Maybe for leaving the boat for some time in the summer Kavala is a better place even if I would not let there the boat on the winter unless on one of the pontoons of the sail club. The risk of your anchor to be fished out is much smaller than in Skopelos because the quay is very high and they have individual metal stairs (quite crazy) to reach the boats. The stairs are at some distance one from the other so the boats are more separated than in Skopelos being the risk of someone catching your anchor much smaller. There are water and electricity on those places and it is not very dificult to catch one and it is cheap.

For leaving the boat on the hard for the winter in that area there are several small shipyards on Evia and on the continent opposite to the Island, in Nea Peramos near Kavala and on Port Lagos, no far from Kavala to the other side. The prices are good.

Palarran · 04-10-2018, 16:21

You also might try the liveaboard forum of ybw.com. Those guys know every inch of this area.

nwn · 05-10-2018, 09:29

I agree about Volos. My boat has just been there for 1.5 months. We had to get a diver to connect us to a chain laying parallel to the long pier. That was a reasonable solution, but not a winter solution at all. Furthermore, marine growth in that harbour was enormous. We had a mat of grass so the boat could hardly move. And finally, it is relatively expensive since there are no services at all.
I got a very good offer to get it on the hard from the boatyard in Trikkeri, south of Volos, but it is a hard place to reach from Athens, so in the end I sailed it to Lavrio where it is on the hard. It is just a taxi from the airport in Athens - 40€

meirriba · 05-10-2018, 09:50

In Platamonas, the port (or rather part of it) was transformed into a sort of a marina.
You may call them on:
+306987930204

bryn123 · 05-10-2018, 12:30

You could also take a look at Sani marina. Quite near to Thessoloniki, so good access and is well protected. Members of the UK Cruising Association receive a 50% discount. We went to look at it and it was quite a fancy place with good security and facilities. We decided on Leros this year due to the lack of a good Hard Standing option. You would have to seek advice from others for other aspects, but it looked a good option if you want to leave in the water.

meirriba · 05-10-2018, 12:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by bryn123

You could also take a look at Sani marina. Quite near to Thessoloniki, so good access and is well protected. Members of the UK Cruising Association receive a 50% discount. We went to look at it and it was quite a fancy place with good security and facilities. We decided on Leros this year due to the lack of a good Hard Standing option. You would have to seek advice from others for other aspects, but it looked a good option if you want to leave in the water.

Sani is a very nice place, very well protected with all amenities.
Check prices, it has expensive look...

Polux · 05-10-2018, 16:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by nwn

...
... so in the end I sailed it to Lavrio where it is on the hard. It is just a taxi from the airport in Athens - 40€

I have a friend that this year put there his cat. Can you tell me about the conditions? Looking at the Google maps it looks not great but it can be different on the place.

They have a decent toilet with shower?

jcbureau · 06-10-2018, 04:56

Thanks a lot, everyone.

@nwn and @Polux: thanks for the infos about Volos. My idea was not to winter the boat afloat in Volos, but to organize crew changes (hence stay one or two nights every couple of weeks) there from spring to fall and possibly to leave the boat there for a week or two when I cannot sail in the summer (on average the boat is used 27 weeks a year but there are sometimes a week or two where we need to leave it somewhere during the summer). Do you think that, in spite of what you mention, it is feasable in Volos?

I got a price quote from Sani, as well as Porto Karras and a few other places for wintering afloat. Very expensive. Wintering on the hard seems to be the best solution. Any recommendation about the shipyards is welcome.

Finally, has anyone recently experienced the marina in Thessaloniki? And in Kamena Vourla? Thessaloniki is well located but had a terrible reputation 10 years ago. In terms of both safety and maintenance.

Thanks again. If you need information on the Ionian sea and Southern Peloponnese, which i know better, i will be happy to help but as you can see, I am quite ignorant about the northern agean area.

Chris

Palarran · 06-10-2018, 10:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by meirriba

In Platamonas, the port (or rather part of it) was transformed into a sort of a marina.
You may call them on:
+306987930204

Hey Meirriba, were you at Olympic Marina last year?

nwn · 06-10-2018, 11:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by jcbureau

Thanks a lot, everyone.

@nwn and @Polux: thanks for the infos about Volos. My idea was not to winter the boat afloat in Volos, but to organize crew changes (hence stay one or two nights every couple of weeks) there from spring to fall and possibly to leave the boat there for a week or two when I cannot sail in the summer (on average the boat is used 27 weeks a year but there are sometimes a week or two where we need to leave it somewhere during the summer). Do you think that, in spite of what you mention, it is feasable in Volos?

I got a price quote from Sani, as well as Porto Karras and a few other places for wintering afloat. Very expensive. Wintering on the hard seems to be the best solution. Any recommendation about the shipyards is welcome.

Finally, has anyone recently experienced the marina in Thessaloniki? And in Kamena Vourla? Thessaloniki is well located but had a terrible reputation 10 years ago. In terms of both safety and maintenance.

Thanks again. If you need information on the Ionian sea and Southern Peloponnese, which i know better, i will be happy to help but as you can see, I am quite ignorant about the northern agean area.

Chris

Volos is a fine place in many ways. However, I can also see 2 problems with it as a base port. 1. Accessibility: Bus from Athens takes 4 hours and you will first have to take a bus from the airport to the bus station. 2. Mooring in Volos is difficult. There are plenty of space along the long brak water pier to the south, but there are no moorings and anchoring is not adviced because of chains on the bottom. Alongside seems to be the only feasible way and with the prevailing winds you may be pushed up against the concrete wall. Furthermore, there is a lot of night traffic on the pier and stories about theft from the decks of the boats there. Of course, there are ways to deal with all these issues: the bus from Thessalonika may be a better alternative and you could get a diver to create your own mooring there close to town as we did. I can help you getting in contact with the diver there.