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Old 22-08-2015, 04:35   #16
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Re: Oct-Nov-Dec in Mediterranean

Hello Gabor,
I will be doing this passage in mid October to mid November in a similar size boat (luffe 37). We will be two persons. Our starting port will be Messolonghi marina, Greece and our destination, La Palma, Gran Canaria. We expect unsettled weather, that's why we give ourselves one month to do the passage. Must be in La Palma November 15 latest in order to participate in this year ARC. Another friend will join us there.

If you are interested to make a similar passage next autumn, you can post me after Christmas and I hope I will be able to provide some useful information.

Best regards
Rumen



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Old 22-08-2015, 04:55   #17
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Re: Oct-Nov-Dec in Mediterranean

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Originally Posted by mgabor View Post
Hi all!
Advice needed:
I'm thinking of sailing down from Koper to Gran Canaria, starting in the very beginning of October, this year.
my boat is a Bavaria Cruiser 33 (2015), me and my girlfriend have been sailing for 2 years, mostly on lake Balaton (Hungary).
I've experienced Beaufort 10 wind there, but generally I have not much experience of seas/swells.
I'd go mostly along the shores as often as possible, but sometimes we'd need to sail nonstop for a couple of days (from island to island - cca. 150-200 nm / occ.).
(not talking about from Gibraltar to Gran Canaria..)
my boat will equipped with everything from life raft to epirb, radar, autopilot, iridium, etc., and is in an excellent technical state. i'm learning weather and seas, using grib softwares, reading a lot, etc.. I understand that this is one of the most critical part.

we'd like to cruise safely by minimising the risk of getting caught in heavy weather, no hurry but safety..

I've read mixed experiences about the Med in fall/winter, seen kinda violent examples by the mother nature.

How predictable is the bad weather there? Can I possibly avoid it?

Would a route like this be too risky for someone like me, considering my background/knowledge?

I know my skills and weaknesses (especially the lack of sea practice), I don't fear, but I wanna make sure that I will not do anything that rather stupidly reckless than safely adventurous.

Can I rely on weather services, my boat, and my skills?
Advise me!
Thanks a lot,
gabor

It is possible and it's a long trip and you've left it a bit late for this year. The normal thing is to leave Gibraltar september / october to reach ther canaries before November. You would have to pick the weather very carefully as the mediterranean can become unstable (changable) through the winter months and bad weather can blow up with little warning. (We are currently in Sardinia and heading east. We plan to stop somewhere October to April). because of this. We left the UK Apr 2014 and cruised to Gibraltar for last winter. This year we have come across to here.

A useful and reliable weather site is Sailing Weather - Marine Weather Forecasts for Sailors and Adventurers - PassageWeather for wind and swell. Also remember a lot of weather in the Mediterranian is local changes and these may not be forecast.
Another useful site for med cruising is JimB Sail | Helping Skippers plan European Cruises

The choice is up to you but liferafts and epirbs are best left in their stowages. Take your time, pick the right winds and weather and sail safely so you never need to use them instead.
Kevin Chilvers, SY Tiger Bay
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Old 23-08-2015, 09:49   #18
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Re: Oct-Nov-Dec in Mediterranean

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Originally Posted by olianta View Post

(...)

and our destination, La Palma, Gran Canaria. We expect unsettled weather, that's why we give ourselves one month to do the passage. Must be in La Palma November 15 latest in order to participate in this year ARC.

(...)
@ Rumen

Your rally starts from Las Palmas NOT La Palma. Make sure you go to the right place. (La Palma is an island nearby)

You set yourself a tight schedule, beware at times 'the gate' from Gibraltar remains locked for a week or so due to fronts landing in the Cadiz Bay. Plan accordingly.

Regards,
barnakiel
Las Palmas
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Old 23-08-2015, 10:27   #19
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Re: Oct-Nov-Dec in Mediterranean

Yes, Las Palmas, sorry for the mistake.
Regarding the schedule we will try to sail non stop as much as possible depending on the weather conditions with eventual short stops in Sicily, and Balearics and obligatory stop in Gibraltar.


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Old 24-08-2015, 12:09   #20
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Re: Oct-Nov-Dec in Mediterranean

@more: it was not depending on the money at all, i wanted a simple and quick route.
moreover i love Croatia, i'm sure we'll be back there after I gathered some experience on seas.

@olianta: your conditions seem very similar to ours. of course i would be glad to hear from you after you arrived. thanks a lot!

@Searanger50: yeah, finally I postponed it to next summer
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Old 23-10-2015, 14:07   #21
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Re: Oct-Nov-Dec in Mediterranean

Quote:
Originally Posted by barnakiel View Post
Hi Gabor,

It can be rough. If you do not think you can handle a full scale storm, do not go. Do it next year, in the easy (-ier) (I think this means less unstable) period. Make sure your boat is up to the job too. You do not want any equipment failures should you get caught in rough wx.

Making shorter inter port hops in weather windows MAY sound like the safer options BUT it will push you further into late autumn and you will spend more time inshore where demands on your skills and vigilance are higher.

IMHO, all other things equal, given you will go, I would try to take off as early as you can and pay huge amount of attention to the forecast. Also, prior to your trip, try to learn as much about Med wx patterns as you can. You will want to know not only what the wx is doing but also 'why', and play accordingly.

When departing Gibraltar for the Canaries, make sure there is no front approaching you within the first three to four days. I have seen skippers coming with big round eyes ... ;-)

If you are not certain when you are at Gibraltar, you can contact me to discuss wx on the Atlantic stretch from Gibraltar to Canary Islands. I cannot help you in the Med as this is beyond my day to day watch.

barnakiel


Great advice. Take it.

I see Barnakiel has another response later on.
Wx routers are only marginally better than the general forecast. Forecasting in the Med is difficult for a variety of reasons as already mentioned.
THe weather router is looking at the same GRIB winds you are.

DO NOT put your boat at risk based on a wx forecast.

NEVER, Ever, NEVER.
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Old 03-11-2015, 03:31   #22
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Re: Oct-Nov-Dec in Mediterranean

hi all,
thanks for all the useful advice. just wanted to say that we completed our route along east-italy. started from Koper, arrived in Manfredonia. I'd share some of my experiences that may be useful and/or interesting

- found a very cheap (and almost brand new) marina in venice (HOME) so finally I spent enough time to discover this beatyful city

- east coast of italy is really "flat", but the marinas are cheap, sometimes they didn't charge for one night at all.

- weather services were 100% reliable for me during this 3-4 weeks. every morning i checked windity.com (for wind, low clouds, and air pressure forecast), "Sea Weather" iphone app (for weather reports, air pressure, sea state), "Sat24" and "WeatherMaps" iphone apps for satellite images, Blitzortung.org - Lightning maps and Thunderstorms: world-wide for tracking the thunderstorms.

I had downloaded 20+ apps, subscribed to a lots of services, but these are the best ones for me that I kept using day-by-day.

- seas can be very big easily (as I expected but never experienced before). sometimes we sail on 2-3 meter high waves, that was tiring on a 33 feet boat. btw i wonder if the bigger sailboats (40-46 feet) can cope with it better?

- the landscape is getting to be interesting from Vieste. however english is not common there (even no basics like "water"... they understand "aqua" only), but south-italian people are very kind and helpful, we always find a solution to get over the language barriers.

- it's easy to catch Mackerel on the way - which is a very tasty fish - by trolling an artificial bait that you can buy in any fishing shop. for me the small spoon + feather version worked well, on a 30 meter long line. see: https://instagram.com/p/9QgXruxcUH/?...by=magyargabor

- settled in south-italy, left the boat, will be continued next spring
again: thank you all, this was a really fascinating first route for us
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Old 27-12-2015, 05:39   #23
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Re: Oct-Nov-Dec in Mediterranean

Manfredonia!? The best is to come yet....

Monopoli
LEUCA
OTRANTO
GALLIPOLI

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Old 14-01-2016, 11:10   #24
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Re: Oct-Nov-Dec in Mediterranean

Love that southern Adriatic coast - and especially endorse for Monopoli and Otranto. The food down that coast is great. We only encountered Italian tourists who love to eat well on holiday. We stayed a lot at small marinas run by retired navy guys- lega navale.


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