Beginners doubt

[drvoxx]

Hello,
I'm new to sailing. Started the lessons and I'm planning next holiday somewhere in the mediterranean.
Trying to decide where to go but it's being very difficult because of moorings. I don't need to sleep in the marina, but the plan is to sail and anchor for swimming during the day, but late afternoon i wanted to go to land to visit the city and have dinner out. After all, the main advantage on sailing is that everyday i can visit a new place. Sounds great.
But, i need to dock the boat in the marina in order to reach land? Which means paying every night a marina berth? As far as i read, italy, france and spain are extremely pricey.
On the other hand, I have places with cheaper berths but the city don't seem very interesting to visit.
Anyone to help me understand this?


My other concern is that in the middle of my sailing week we have a storm approaching. In high season in the mediterranean, marinas are usually fully booked. So how can i get into a safe place (and all the hundreds of boats in the same situation as me)?


Thank you for your help

[Lake-Effect]

Originally Posted by drvoxx

Hello,
I'm new to sailing. Started the lessons and I'm planning next holiday somewhere in the mediterranean.

Welcome to CF. Respectfully, you may not yet be ready to bareboat charter in the Med, but you could consider hiring a captain to accompany you for that first holiday. Or charter with more experienced friends. Great learning opportunity.

...My other concern is that in the middle of my sailing week we have a storm approaching. In high season in the mediterranean, marinas are usually fully booked. So how can i get into a safe place (and all the hundreds of boats in the same situation as me)?

The Med is out of reach for us so I can't answer about how people hole up there when its stormy. But obviously, if you had a captain aboard, they would manage that.

[Mariefred]

Dinghy?

[LifePart2]

We spent five years cruising in the Med, so here are my personal opinions:

1) despite what everyone says, we never had to go into a marina during the summer. Plenty of places in which to anchor. Even in Croatia we almost never had to pay for anchorage. Just use your dinghy to go ashore for shopping and tourism.

2) The Med DOES get weather. It took us three attempts before we could visit Bonifacio in Corsica. The first two times the Mistral was blowing 40 kts, so we flew past Bonifacio to get around to the East coast where it was sheltered. You do need to keep an eye on the weather and be prepared to move to the other side of the island if weather is coming. This applies to both East and West Med.

Having said that, we never experienced any crazy storms like that one that recently passed through Corsica. Anchorages can get very busy, so find a different one that is not so busy. Not that hard - but probably requires a bit more experience than you currently have.

The other problem with a short term charter is you don't have the luxury of being able to wait for better weather, which can result in bad decisions to go to the next port of call when really you should wait for better conditions

Strongly suggest that you either hire a boat with a skipper, or perhaps join a sailing flotilla holiday where you have an experienced leader who helps with decision making about weather.

Or go to the BVI where the sailing is easy. Perfect for beginners.

[drvoxx]

Hi, thanks all for the help.


I still have 6 months left on sailing classes. I'm doing the full course in rough sea (atlantic ocean in autumn and winter), so hopefully this will be a good school. The course includes sailing at night as well, which i dont expect to do.
Actually, plan is to simple sail (or motor) 10 to 15miles and simply anchor most day to swim and go to land. Next day, same thing but in a different city.
I made this in italy, mallorca and french riviera, but by car. We love this type of holiday, but with kids we can't do it anymore on low season and driving and stopping everyday to beach by car in august is crazy, specially with kids. Besides we love life at sea, my older boy, 9 years old is also on the kids sailing classes.
So no adventure plans for now, and maybe year after year as we get more experienced we can plan bigger trips.
After the sailing course, if i dont feel any confortable i will for sure rent the sailboat with skipper included, but for now i will do my best to try to go without it (sailing teacher said i won't need after this 6 months course).



Initially i though dinghy was the solution, but i dont see many anchoring places near the city centers and im not sure where should i leave the dinghy and even if its safe or very likely it's been stolen when im back from tourism.


As far as I've researched ibiza could be the best place to start, but i needed to be marine free otherwise berthing fees are just scary!!


Thanks all for the help