"Captain-T" wrote in message
ups.com...
Hi. My wife and I are thinking about a 4-week cruise from Kos to
Athens
in June. We have sailed throughout BVI and in the New York area,
but
this would be our longest bareboat to-date. Does anyone have
experience
and/or information about the best charter companies, times of
the year,
and level of difficulty we are likely to experience in Greece?
Appreciate any tips/advice.
Thanks very much for any pointers!
Thilo

Four weeks, straightforward. We did a lovely cruise from Kalamata
to the Dodecanese and back in five weeks in May/Jun 2004 in a 40ft
boat, just two of us. We are experienced sailors.

Weather: Call it either settled, or unsettled. Settled is good
news - blue skies, predictable winds of varying strength from the
north, light at night, up to 6 (maximum) in the day (usually 4 at
that time of the year, or light!), very similar to winter BVI.
Unsettled meant there were big areas of clouds, in which case you
couldn't reliably predict the wind. That is about 20% of the time.
Local forecasts always gave a worst scenario (shudder) but that
only cracked in about 30% of (that) time. Bad news when it did.
Timing of winds is difficult in the Med climate. Some fronts
(luckily very rare in June) can be short and vicious. Rather like
the summer passage of a more vicious period of showers in the BVI,
but much cooler!

So, great sailing, with some winds heavier than you might hope
for. You will have some windward time, so broadly, to be
comfortable in the Aegean, you need to think 36ft or more, fin
keeled. Two aboard is OK, with an autopilot is easy. Four without
is very easy. Easy reefing (rolling main and rolling jib) is very
nice. Winds do change quite quickly.

You won't need to plan night passages. And some places are worth
planning to stay at for two nights - giving you a day ashore to
poke around. Taxis (and car hire) are cheap. Try wine tours in
Thyra (Santorini). Burying yourself in the local atmosphere at
Syros. Gawping at the glitterati in Mykonos. Or the hundreds of
offbeat and quiet anchorages in most of the islands.

Chartering among the bigger companies in Greece is very
competitive, good news for the punter. Sunsail and Moorings both
charter out of Kos - that's the top end of the price range. When
we were there, Kiraikoulis was a good alternative; google for
'yacht charter Kos' fo further info, but only the bigger companies
do one way yacht charters.

You'll find no marinas en route. It's all mooring bows to or stern
to, using kedge or anchor to hold you off the town quay. The town
quay is mostly a great spot - middle of the village, full of life,
cafes, restaurants nearby. Port police play a game with you -
you're meant to book in and out with every port you visit, but
they have arrangements with most charter companies to simplify
life. You'll be briefed on the spot. On my trip I only had to
check in and out of harbour about five times on 20 overnight
stops - and I wasn't a charter vessel.

More needed?

JimB
jim(at)jimbaerselman(dot)f2s(dot)com