November Prevailing winds in the Med?

[sinbud]

Ahoy,
I may have to deliver a boat this coming November from the Balearic Island to the Eastern part of the Med.
Anyone here have any idea what winds (force & direction) I may encounter this time of year, any part of the way? Is it batter to take a southern rout passing through Malta and Crete or take a more northern path, between the islands?

[ka4wja]

Sinbud,
You should have a favorable current for this delivery, and I'd prefer the "southern route"....but...
But, "prevailing" winds might be a bit of a misnomer, as you'll have continental weather patterns that will effect things...

Originally Posted by sinbud

Ahoy,
I may have to deliver a boat this coming November from the Balearic Island to the Eastern part of the Med.
Anyone here have any idea what winds (force & direction) I may encounter this time of year, any part of the way? Is it batter to take a southern rout passing through Malta and Crete or take a more northern path, between the islands?

Have a look at the pilot charts (or Jimmy Cornell's newer pilot books).....and you'll see the details....

http://msi.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/St...106/106nov.pdf


In full disclosure, I haven't sailed thru the Med in Nov.....the latest I left Gib (heading SW) was mid Nov....but I was in Gib for a few weeks....
So, hopefully someone who has been thru there in Nov will chime in!!!

Until then, have a look at the pilot charts, and you'll see winds from many different quadrants (depending on where you are in the Med, and what the continental weather is like at the moment), with N, NW, W winds of Force 4 predominating....


I hope this helps some...

Fair winds....(and bring your winter foulies!)

John
s/v Annie Laurie

[atoll]

you need to get your ears trained to pick up the following words on local radio...........

"tramontana,mistral,bora,vendevales,sirocco",a ny one of these will bring f8-9 winds.

if going to turkey go north of crete,cyprus or israel go south.

much higher incidence of easterly or southerly quadrant winds after november,still warm,but can be very rainy in the west

[jckb]

I made a November delivery Gib to Greece many moons ago. Over 20 days total, 1 day pause in Gib. Weather alternated between "settled weather" (sunny and nice with light winds, mostly motoring for 2 to 3 days at a time) and 3 sessions of "unsettled weather". Yuck!

One session was hard windward work for three days slowly building in rain from F4 to F6, ending with the most vicious cold front I've ever experienced. It was signalled by a horizon to horizon roll cloud approaching us from downwind. About 20 minutes with boat laid flat with all sails off, visiblity less than 100m in dense spume on a flattened sea.

The other two sessions were large cells of thunderstorms with winds coming from anywhere as they waltzed around each other. During one of those we were laid flat again as a twister passed nearby.

It is difficult to make decent headway in these big cells of thunderstorms,the winds being so variable in direction, yet very strong at times.

[Katiusha]

Originally Posted by jckb

I made a November delivery Gib to Greece many moons ago. Over 20 days total, 1 day pause in Gib. Weather alternated between "settled weather" (sunny and nice with light winds, mostly motoring for 2 to 3 days at a time) and 3 sessions of "unsettled weather". Yuck!

One session was hard windward work for three days slowly building in rain from F4 to F6, ending with the most vicious cold front I've ever experienced. It was signalled by a horizon to horizon roll cloud approaching us from downwind. About 20 minutes with boat laid flat with all sails off, visiblity less than 100m in dense spume on a flattened sea.

The other two sessions were large cells of thunderstorms with winds coming from anywhere as they waltzed around each other. During one of those we were laid flat again as a twister passed nearby.

It is difficult to make decent headway in these big cells of thunderstorms,the winds being so variable in direction, yet very strong at times.

JimB, where were these sessions of unsettled weather? Ligurian and Adriatic?

[jckb]

Originally Posted by Katiusha

JimB, where were these sessions of unsettled weather? Ligurian and Adriatic?

First, there's an error in my first post. The one day pause was in Malta, not Gib!

No, they were in the southern Med, a string of depressions rolling through.

The front came through after beating eastwards from Gib, north of the Algerian coastline. The second session, a nest of thunderstorms, was between Sicily and Tunisia, the last two days before arriving at Malta. The second part of the passage, Malta to Corfu, saw another nest of thunderstorms - and that twister . . .

[krissteyn]

If you use this weather site - you can plan well
Mediterranean Wave Forecast (WAM)

The wave info has been spot on for me.

kris

[Oliver L.]

Sinbud,

I am basically seconding the opinion of the previous posters. The Med can be quite a handful, especially in Winter. Even in summer/fall, I check the forecast twice a day. And even then I got hit with a nasty Mistral this summer on my way to Corsica.

Get a good forecast site with some decent GRIB files, and have a plan B handy.

Oliver

[sinbud]

Originally Posted by jckb

First, there's an error in my first post. The one day pause was in Malta, not Gib!

No, they were in the southern Med, a string of depressions rolling through.

The front came through after beating eastwards from Gib, north of the Algerian coastline. The second session, a nest of thunderstorms, was between Sicily and Tunisia, the last two days before arriving at Malta. The second part of the passage, Malta to Corfu, saw another nest of thunderstorms - and that twister . . .

Let me ask this: if you had then the weather forecasting ability we have today, would you had been able to avoid that bad weather? In other words do you think I can take shelter and plan my trip to take the boat in easier weather conditions?

[sinbud]

Oops, I failed to thank all for the good answers I got so far :-)

Thanks.

[jckb]

Originally Posted by sinbud

Let me ask this: if you had then the weather forecasting ability we have today, would you had been able to avoid that bad weather? In other words do you think I can take shelter and plan my trip to take the boat in easier weather conditions?

Yes. Trip would take a bit longer, but far more fun.

A good 50% of the time is settled weather, 2 or 3 days in a row, sometimes longer. Very little happens during those periods. The Poseidon Europe forecast, showing cloudiness, on "animate", gives a clear 1 - 5 day picture of what is probably coming - remembering that the 5 day forecast is little more than an educated guess! But that'll tell you if a settled weather session is about to break down

Longest leg you need undertake is Minorca to Sicily, about 150nm, say 30 hours. A big Mistral (less than 1/10 chance) creates a very big swell for that passage. Usuallly they're foretold 24 hours in advance.Sardinia to Trapani, on Sicily is a similar length, but you could dog-leg to Tunisia to pick up some cheap fuel!

[atoll]

Originally Posted by sinbud

Let me ask this: if you had then the weather forecasting ability we have today, would you had been able to avoid that bad weather? In other words do you think I can take shelter and plan my trip to take the boat in easier weather conditions?

lots of little hidey hole's along the way in all weather harbours or anchorages,though heading west i have been stuck for nearly 2 weeks under crete where the wind didn't get below 40 knots!

[yeloya]

There are no prevailing winds in almost any time of the year in the Med. You can have easterly, westerly or nothing. I sailed lastly in November 2011 from Marmaris to Gib, here is what we found;
Marmaris to Rhodes-Karpatos, north east of Crete. F 3-4 northerly. The north cost of Crete strong westerlies, up to Hanya F 6-7, later 8 finally F10 in Hanya.(the port of Hanya was closed for 36 hours..)
Hanya-to Pilos (west of Greece) light westerlies, motor sailed.
Pilos-Syracusa in Sicilly , F 7-8 north westerly, big seas..
Syracusa- Catania,Messina, Lipari islands, west tip of Sicilly ; 4-5 days of zero wind..
Balearics-Almeira-Malaga: light , variable winds , mostly from the south east.
Malaga to Gib: F 3-4 south easterly..

I would go south of Sicilly, plenty of option to escape if the need to get shelter from the Mistral, which could be a threat. Then south of Peleponissos, watch out the northerlies that can be very strong in the middle of the Aegean. From thereon strong winds are not very likely particularly once you pass Kas , roughly 30 degrees east.

Cheers

Yeloya