Kefalonia to Malta and back in June - what to expect?

[SY_Maria]

This is going to be our first long-distance passage so I'm a bit nervous on this one. We did a few overnight trips but mainly between islands in Aegean, so safe port not more than 20-30 miles at any time.

What to expect weather-wise in June between Kefalonia and Malta? How well the weather can be forecast for this 330nm passage?

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by SY_Maria

This is going to be our first long-distance passage so I'm a bit nervous on this one. We did a few overnight trips but mainly between islands in Aegean, so safe port not more than 20-30 miles at any time.

What to expect weather-wise in June between Kefalonia and Malta? How well the weather can be forecast for this 330nm passage?

Personally I'd do it in 2 legs.. stopping at Syracuse, Sicily where you have a large sheltered bay and can safely anchor in the NW corner out of the way in 3-5m.. but in easy dinghy distance from the marina and town.
Well worth the stop for a couple of days.. the marina's not that large and tends to be crowded and busy with tour boats charging in and out.. no problem tying up a dinghy tho.. distance around 260nm so just a couple of nights at sea.
From there to Malta its around 80nm..
Regarding weather.. usually NW winds E of Sicily with the occasional little blow from the S.. once past the S of Sicily it tends to be more to the W..
Its not a hard run and the Italians have regular weather forecasts on the VHF.
Enjoy..

[Polux]

Italian weather forecasts are very unreliable and the wind on that region and on that month are pretty irregular, going from very weak winds to F8 occasionally.

Even if the weather reports are unreliable it is easy to stay out of F8, you just have to give a discount of about 2 Beaufort force regarding the weather report and you will be out of trouble.

You will find very uncomfortable to sail upwind with more than F5. Count with a lot of motoring hours (unless you have a boat that can sail in very weak winds) and take the time you need to stay out of trouble (you can divide the voyage in smaller legs if bad weather is on the way).

Have fun and enjoy the ride