Greece July/August 2018

[soares29]

Dear All,

We will be sailing Greece next summer. We are intermediate sailors with previous charter/racing experience. Really liked Croatia ( Split area ). Do you have recommendations regarding itinerary, provisions, Dos and Don'ts? Will have a Cat with a calm and cool crowd.

Thank you for sharing your experience.

Eduardo

[alex_sauvage]

Originally Posted by soares29

Dear All,

We will be sailing Greece next summer. We are intermediate sailors with previous charter/racing experience. Really liked Croatia ( Split area ). Do you have recommendations regarding itinerary, provisions, Dos and Don'ts? Will have a Cat with a calm and cool crowd.

Thank you for sharing your experience.

Eduardo

It is going to be busy that time of the year. Where are you planning to start from? We started from Athens: easy to get to and provision, also can spend a couple of days there, but it will be hot. We did Saronic and Argolic gulfs and like it very much. Mooring is pretty much free, contrary to Croatia where it is dare, but they normally don't have mooring lines. You will need to drop your ancor and back to the quai. Easier with the cat

[alex_sauvage]

Originally Posted by soares29

Dear All,

We will be sailing Greece next summer. We are intermediate sailors with previous charter/racing experience. Really liked Croatia ( Split area ). Do you have recommendations regarding itinerary, provisions, Dos and Don'ts? Will have a Cat with a calm and cool crowd.

Thank you for sharing your experience.

Eduardo

I just realized that it might be a wrong forum for this question. Ask moderators to move it to Destinations: Europe

[Palarran]

Which area are you chartering out of? I spent quite a bit of time over the last 4 years in the Cyclades. I'd say that after visiting the Sporades, and also returning to the Ionian's, I like them better. Yes there is better wind in the Cyclades, but the forested hills of the other areas make them more beautiful Imo.

You will get more specific info if you identify where your going.

[chuckr]

Depends on where you charter from but provisioning is really not an issue - we have done most of the Greek islands over the past couple of years and never stocked up on anything -
as for July or August - well this year july was ok but August had some of the worst winds ever - we sat in one port for 6 days with a charter boat that came in to hide from the winds - for 6 days they blew from 30-50k - we felt sorry for the charter boat but the dock was full and none of moved - in fact even big ocean going vessels did not move

[soares29]

Thank you all !!!,

So far we plan to take off close to Athens and hang out close to Kea, Paros, etc.

What areas are more/less likely to get too breezy in July/August?

Thank you,

[Palarran]

Paros isn't that close to Athens. Maybe your thinking of Poros. There's a lot of islands.
Kea is very nice, same for Kithnos, Sifnos, etc. If you want to go to Hydra then I'd suggest anchoring outside of the harbor as it's a true cluster f#$3 of boats. Awesome island though.

We were in the Ionian's this August and it was pretty packed. If you tried to come into a harbor after 3:00pm, it would be tough to get a berth. But that ended up ok for us as we searched out the farther away spots and they turned out better. So many crossed anchors it was crazy. In general though, I'd still suggest the Ionians or the Sporades. I think they are prettier.

[soares29]

Thank you all.
Really appreciate your input. Couldn’t decide for Ionian versus Saronic Islands. Sounds like the extra travel time is an issue for the Ionian but the islands are prettier. Is one location more upscale than the other ? Where we would find the coolest villages/cities?
Fair winds

[Anders]

Do you have to go in July/August?
July in Ionian is to hot at night and to busy. August is even worse, a bit hotter and gets really busy when the Italians go on holiday and sail to Ionian!

[soares29]

Those darn Italians!!!!! ( my wife is Italian ) hahahahaha. Sounds good . Think we got a plan. How much do I need AC ?

[chuckr]

In August it seem the entire continent of Europe shuts down and everyone goes on holiday and that means the every boating place is packed. we got around it by practicing early out early in - but then always be prepared to pull someone's anchor chain off yours - like almost every anchorage -
as for ac - we do not have it - is it warm yea but then again we did not have ac when we sailed Panama and Colombia -

[soares29]

Thank you chuckr!!!! Would mid July be better from a crowd standpoint? We are settled for the Saronic Islands and Hydra.