From Malta to Beirut

Hi,

10 days are barely  enough to sail from Malta to the Aegean, if the weather is unstable (as it is in June). I suggest you sail directly to Pylos (southwest of Peloponnese Greece which is a very safe Harbor and marina and as such a perfect landing point after your first passage. Then you can sail to Mιlos (southeast Aegean sea) . The golf and harbor of Mιlos are very safe and there you can pick up your family since it has a good connection to Athens.


Once you are in Mιlos all Aegean and the Turkish coast are easily accessible by island hopping. Dont underestimate the difficulty of the Med and the Aegean. The wind is unpredictable and gusty and the waves short and steep. Also the harbors and few Marinas crowded and sometimes gusty. But it is possibly one of the best place on earth for sailing and vacations.


Edited by panos - 07 March 2011 at 08:35

Hiram,

Well ,Hiram I plan to you a quick cross to sicily as much as I know you won't like to sail much at first step.So the ideal is to go to syracuse ,then you cross to pilos wich is a nice spot and go over the peloponese wich is nice and beautiful or going north to lefaka wich is great also and go thru the corinthe cannal " a great experience "

Panos, JL and "Wild",

Thanks a lot for the information. I think I will then take 3 weeks, plus or minus, to get to Beirut. I would like to stop as much as possible and have real meals, lunches or dinners, but not necessarily visit towns or sites. My goal is to get as much experience as possible sailing, and enjoy my new boat! Seeing the natural beauty of the countries I'm passing by would be nice. (tasting the wine is also important!)
So would you guys then recommend JL's route?
Anything extra en route you would also recommend as marinas, restaurants?
Panos, I saw pictures of you racing, beautiful yacht, my plan is to get a 630e after honing my skills on the 470.

Wild, I think you have a very good point and you explained it well.

I don't know how many of you keep a paper-and-pen log book. I do, even if it tends to more of a diary than a log book as such. At the end of the year I sum up all the sailed and motored distances, nights spent aboard etc. It gives quite some interesting information.

Even if I think a regular sailing day means a sailed distance between 30 and 40 M with time given for a long breakfast, a walk with the ship's dog and dinner in the next harbour the average distance is much shorter.

I usually spend two month aboard during the summer and the sailed distance divided by the total number of days (including days with too much wind, too little wind and days I remain in harbour for whatever reason) is no more than 17 M. I use that figure for planning. In ten days I don't plan to get much further than 170 M. If I planned for longer distances I would have to rush and that would take the fun out of sailing.

Not to say anything about Hiram's plans, but to give some food for thought from a lazy Swede.

Johan



Edited by Johan Hackman - 06 March 2011 at 13:41