Beginner

[Glennboy]

Where is a good place to sail for a newbie in the med?
Lights winds good shelter ect.
Thanks.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Glenboy.

Pretty much anywhere in the Med', is a good summer sailing destination.

The generally calm waters, and favourable climate of the Mediterranean Sea, are ideal for sailing from April into November.

Mediterranean climate is generally confined to coastal zones, and is characterized by windy, mild, wet winters and relatively calm, hot, dry summers.

Air flow into the Mediterranean Sea is through gaps in the mountain ranges, except over the southern shores east of Tunisia. Strong winds funnelled through the gaps lead to the high evaporation rates of summer, and the seasonal water deficit of the sea.
The mistral, a cold, dry, northwesterly wind, passes through the Alps-Pyrenees gap and the lower Rhône valley; the strong northeasterly bora passes through the Trieste gap; and the cold easterly levanter and the westerly vendaval pass through the Strait of Gibraltar. Hot, dry, southeasterly winds, known locally as the Sirocco, frequently blow into the Mediterranean basin from the Sahara and the Arabian Peninsula as low-pressure centres traverse the sea in late winter and early spring. These winds reduce heat and moisture in the surface waters to a significant degree by evaporative cooling; and this colder, denser surface water sinks.

MEDITERRANIAN WINDS (below)

[barnakiel]

Why light winds?

Med is all OK, but not all year round. And when the winter hits you can go o the West Indies.

b.

[jim_thomsen]

Hello Gleenboy,

I would probably pick the Spanish Islands, Ibiza, Mallorca, Cabrera, etc. Great sailing, short distances, lots of anchorages and marinas. I think a good, safe place for one of your first trips.

Jim

[David M]

Welcome to the forum Glenn. I would be fine with sailing anywhere in the Med.

[Hydra]

The main problem in the western Mediterranean is the crowd in summer. Marinas are often full, especially when there is a warning for Mistral. Anchorages are also crowded. For me, the weather is too hot.

You can download Sailing Directions for free from Maritime Safety Information

Alain

[Jad]

If you can read French, please find in our site our experience of sailing in the Med for the last 6 months.
Philippe
www.ovnijad.com

[Roaring Girl]

it depends what you like! Lovely weather, short sails, anchorages etc - many of teh archipelegos from April/May to September - eg Balearics (thogh often crowded), Tuscan Archipelego, Iles d'Hyeres etc. Longer trips, less anchoring, amazing history, eastern Spain, Western Italy. Or bigger islands, such as Corfu, Corsica, Sardinia ...

As GordMay and others have said the weather is pretty good much of the year, but can (as posted elsewhere) be hard to predict on an individual day. But then you just sip another beer and wait for the mistral/sirocco etc to blow itself out.

A key feature of the Med is that the winds can blow up a nasty sea very quickly, because of the depth and complex surrounding land-masses. If this worries you, make sure your boat has a strong engine, and pick areas where either you can run out to sea, or get round the corner into another sheltered anchorage pretty quickly. (For example in 2008 we got taken by surprise by a southerly blow whilst anchored in a SE facing bay near Nice, which kicked up a helluva chop with lots of anchors dragging as yachts hobby-horsed. We had quite a job motoring out of the bay, did the two mile trip round to another bay which was calm (tho v crowded at this point), hung out there for an hour or two, wind changed back so we went back to starting point for a nice calm night!)

Cruising grounds here are more often dictated by your interests and your budget than specific weather requirements.