Looking for good mooring prices

[dschaeffer]

Hello everyone

I am looking for some info on how to go about obtaining mooring costs for my yacht in various places around the med. I have had bad luck with coming across these so far. Can anybody recommend someone to help me with this as I am new to the yachting world.

thanks and reply to danielleschaeffer (AT) hotmail.com

If you are looking for marinas, try a Google search for "marina Med" or marinas in the various countries you intend to visit.

Perhaps others here have personal advice on various marinas.

Good luck.

[Swagman]

Hi,

The Meds a big sea and has many countries bordering its shores. If you can narrow your areas of interest I can provide some limited info.

JOHN

[Gallivanters]

We had exclusive use of a free mooring for four days right under the "city" of Thira on the west side of Santorini. Priceless! We only left because a bunch of fat, naked Germans showed up on a rusty steel yacht and wanted to raft-up with us.

We found a free marina on the southern side of Santorini where we stayed another two weeks.

When checking into Malta - the harbourmaster asked where we wanted to keep the boat, to which I replied "I'd prefer to stay wherever it won't cost anything". He smiled and suggested we go around and take an empty mooring in the creek near the ancient boatyard . He said there were plenty of vacant moorings around there and that it was generallay okay to stay unless the owner asked you to leave. The owner did come by and he offered me a job! We stayed four weeks and made some money doing harbour cruises on a funky Maltese fishing boat! Priceless!

Many marinas in the Med can certainly be expensive but local fishing harbors are often free of charge.

We stopped in Cyprus, Turkey, Greece, Crete, Malta, Sicily, Stromboli, Sardenia, the Balerics, Spain, Morocco & Gibraltar and were rarely required to pay for mooring or marina berthing. And you can always find a safe place to drop the hook for free.

Just make sure you have a strong anchor windlass, a lot of fenders and a reliable dinghy... and don't wear out your welcome.

To Life!

Kirk

[Swagman]

Interested in more info on Santorini, Kirk.

We've pals who can fly there cheaply this summer and we aim to pick them up en-route.

Having read some web based guides (our pilot books are on boat 1,000 miles away) I was getting concerned about where we may park up pre and post their arrival. Have you recommendations or advice you can share please?

Cheers

JOHN

[Gallivanters]

John,

You will find the Santorini mooring I mentioned at 36 deg 25N x 25 deg 25.7E - just by the venicular tram landing. There's a little fishing dock to tie your dinghy.

You'll find Vlihada Marina located on the southern side of the island.

Don't miss the hot springs.

We were in Santorini in June of 2001 and spent most of our time in Vlihada Marina, where (if memory serves me) the taverna across the street will gladly fill your empty water jugs with wine, there are showers nearby, it's close to the airport, there's bus service to town... and it was absolutely free of charge - except for the bus and the wine, anyway.

The marina seemed to be under construction but we were told that it was a no frills public marina built with EU funds and there was no great hurry to modernize it with water or power on the concrete docks.

It was a great refuge from a meltimi which blew through and full of local character and aromas from the fishermen selling their catch and mending their nets. There were picnic tables under palm trees by the tavernas. Very nice.

From there we sailed SW overnight and tied up alongside a wall in the heart of Chania - the ancient capitol on the NW end of Crete. We stayed five days berthed directly in front of the harbormaster's office, not 15 ft away from our cockpit. Fresh water was abundant and we rinsed the boat, did laundry, showered & filled our tanks. There was a huge festival happening during our entire stay and traditional music & dancing & spirits delighted our senses.

Our only official contact with anyone in uniform there was made over a shared bottle of ouzo with a junior port coporal aboard our boat.

All-in-all, we spent nearly six weeks in the Greek Isles and the only place anyone seemed remotely interested in our papers was at our third stop on the island of Kos. When I asked the officer if it was really necessary to check in at every place we stop - he looked me directly in the eye and stated "Don't Ask".

To Life!

Kirk

[Swagman]

Thanks Kirk - tips much appreciated.

JOHN