Bareboating in Greece ?

[cbcat]

-- sorry for the re-post... I originally put this under destinations/Med, but thought I might get some more feed back here --

Hello,

We are looking at bareboating in Greece this Sept and are hoping to find some suggestions for what areas to cruise. We would prefer a cat and plan on a one week trip. There seems to be a myriad of cruising grounds which makes the planning a bit overwhelming for our first time out there.

We are experienced sailors but would prefer an area that is perhaps a bit more protected or generally easier to handle. We would like to mix the trip with areas that provide good swimming/snorkeling/diving along with shore excursions. A few of us are kiteboarders/windsurfers as well, so any information on such areas and rentals would be helpful.

Any additional information about general cruising in Greece would be great. For instance, concerns about deeper anchoring, med style moorring, customs, general cost of provisions, fuel, water et.

Thanks in advance for your input!

[tomcat1]

Hi cbcat,
you will find many sailing opportunities in Grecce and friendly people, everywhere, so you can't really make a mistake. For more sedate sailing with light winds I would suggest the Ionean Sea. In the Agean during summer you will have the Meltemi, a strong wind coming from the north.
There are lots of charter companies. The only one I have personal experience is Ecker Yachting where I have chartered several times and always been satisfied.
Greetings
tomcat1

[yeloya]

As I leave in Turkey, I can only comment about Dodocanese which is a great spot. September is OK and not very hot. Meltemi in this season rarely exceeds 20-25 knots mark. The only problem I see, althought catamaran is absolutely the way to go, there are few charter company who can offer a catamaran.
Med style mooring is a standard but for a cat, this is not an issue. In this area there are only two marinas: Kos and Rhodes. Getting water elsewhere can be problematic as well as mooring / anchoring which is specific to every spot. (get a good pilote book..)
If you can get a boat from Kos to be delivered in Rhodes, it would be perfect. Downwind sailing + Leros, Kalimnos, Simi, Nsiros are all fantastic places to visit. There is nothing to see in Kos but Rhodes is a must see, albeit the marina is very chaotic. (ask yr company to book place in advance)
My only concern would be to find a decent company: most of the charter boats I've seen there were in terrible conditions..
Good luck

Yeloya