Help with Charter

[steve.garlick]

Hi all,

My wife and I are planning to purchase a yacht in Europe and spend some years cruising the Med before sailing it home (to Australia, via the USA). We've been thinking we'd like to have a 'dry run' (to coin a terrible pun) and do a 2 week charter in the Med before we ups and leaves for good.

We'd really appreciate some feedback on people's experience of either Greece, Turkey or Croatia as a cruising base. Any suggestions for a good charter company (or individuals) would be welcome. We're thinking of a 35' - 40' monohull (as that's the size of boat we'd most likely purchase). We can be somewhat flexible about time windows, but best for us would be Sept 2011. How's the weather and is it still crowded around this time frame?

All suggestions welcome.

Thanks,

Steve Garlick

[swagman]

Hi Steve,
The weather in all three countries in September is good (even by Oz standards) but August and September are THE two holiday months so you'll find prices are high and small harbours / anchorages get packed!
If you've not visited before then IMHO Turkey should be top of the list, but whatever you choose you'll not be dissappointed.
Enjoy
JOHN

[Ram]

Yes I agree with Swagman, Turkey or Greece and Sept is about the best month of the year

[ozskipper]

Sunsail Sailing Holidays in Turkey

Sunsail have a base at Turkey. As I understand it you can book with them through the local base at Hammo.

[aegean adrift]

Originally Posted by swagman

August and September are THE two holiday months so you'll find prices are high and small harbours / anchorages get packed!

Have to echo this. October weather is still lovely, IMNSHO, but I have no direct comparison to Oz!

Have heard good things about www.sailing-charters.org, so if you choose Greece as a base, definitely check in with them.

[steve.garlick]

Thanks for the info.

Any recommendations for charter companies operating out of Turkey?

Regards,

Steve

[swagman]

Hi Steve,
Afraid no personal experience with chartering there, but would suggest best to go with a larger crowd like Sunsail who you can easily book in Aus. They do operate from a few bases in Turkey. If you pick one of the Med facing (eg Gocek or Fethiye) then you could enjoy the Gocek Peninsula and slide along the Med to Kas / Kekova and enjoy a few Greek islands on route..........
Enjoy
JOHN

[Jacques2]

Hi,
Sunsail in Turkey has also a base in Turgutreis which is a very convenient spot for departure too.
In Greece, you will have a lot of choices in Lavrio (which is the nearest port from the International Airport).
But i am not sure the quality of service will be as good in Greece than in Turkey. Turkish people who are working in the marinas are really very kindly and professional.

[maytrix]

What kind of experience do you have? Is the 'dry run' just to see how you enjoy spending an extended amount of time on the boat or to get more comfortable sailing?

I ask because if you are experienced and really just looking to see how you enjoy the boat for 2 weeks, then you probably don't want a place with ideal weather. It will really give you a false idea as to what your real cruising time will be like. That's not to say I'd go knowing there's a storm, but perhaps a time when you can get less favorable weather would be a better test run for you?

It should also probably be noted that until now the last posts were from March 2010.

[swagman]

Originally Posted by maytrix

What kind of experience do you have? Is the 'dry run' just to see how you enjoy spending an extended amount of time on the boat or to get more comfortable sailing?

I ask because if you are experienced and really just looking to see how you enjoy the boat for 2 weeks, then you probably don't want a place with ideal weather. It will really give you a false idea as to what your real cruising time will be like. That's not to say I'd go knowing there's a storm, but perhaps a time when you can get less favorable weather would be a better test run for you?

It should also probably be noted that until now the last posts were from March 2010.

Methinks you might be viewing the dates in a US format when they are in an EU format. All the posts are from within the last month.

Regarding the suggestion that Steve gains a valid example of typical cruising weather I'd beg to differ with you. A truer example would be to ensure you holiday in fair to light and hopefully never in storm conditions.

Most Australians will be quite used to sailing in 25 knots whether west or east coast. You do not really need to 'practice' sailing in more than that, and certainly questionable on a unproved charter yacht.

If anyone is aiming to follow the well travelled paths back from the EU to Oz reality is one can ensure it is done in light to medium conditions just by following conventional cruising routes at the right times of the year. Most do it without even seeing a storm.

If you like heavy weather and want the fun of sailing in it, then IMHO it would be more sensible to build up to that step by step in the security of your own boat with your own kit, but most definately not in a charter boat.

Cheers
JOHN

[steve.garlick]

Thanks for all the info, guys.

The 'dry run' is really to get experience of sailing in that part of the world, not about getting experience sailing per se. We get lots of 30kt + conditions and big seas here, don't need to travel to Turkey for that!!

Does anyone here have knowledge of Southern Cross Blue Cruising operating out of Bodrum? We're considering hiring a Sun Odessy 34.5 from them.

Regards,

Steve

[yeloya]

Hi Steve,

As I am running a charter Business in Marmaris I may not be objective so won't comment on any of the above referred charter companies.
Just to add on what John said, if you plan to come around, August is not only expensive and packed but also very very hot, September is better. October is even better as the prices go down, less crowd, nice wheather but winds are dropping. November for us is the time for washing and letting dry the sails under the sun in the marina, no wind..
All these of course are based on long year statistics, but remember we see strarge weathers increasingly..

Cheers

[boatman61]

I'll second the "August is very hot".... and I love the heat... but I was pouring buckets of seawater over me and the crew every 20 mins... it got up to 42c as we were passing Evia on a delivery this year... go mid September or later... also the winds are a bit more settled.... average winds for us were 20k+

[roadrunner250]

We have best experience with "Athenian yachts" directly in Athens.
Advantage: cheap flights directly to Athens
All sizes of SO available. Ask for a dealer in your country. I booked their by german dealer, no difference to prices on their hp
regards Oliver

[beneteau-500]

i steve as a fellow aussie yes southern cross is ok the turkish gov are very strict on issuing commercial tourist licences to non aliens but if i was to sail it would be April may up to mid June good winds good weather cold sea water still in the Cyclades the meltme starts to pick up around the end of June then you will find the buy end of august one day it will blow from n/east for a few days then next thing you know it will blow from the s/west i recommended to a fellow user of this site this yr to try easy sailing based on paros of which he took up for a two week charter sailing the Cyclades and he thoroughly enjoyed it he did post a full report on his experience on here