I Would Like Advice On My Plan

[iwantsail]

Hello everyone, I am new to this list and I am wondering if anyone could tell me if my plan is possible. I work as an English teacher and I would like to spend the winters teaching and the summers sailing.I will be working in Melilla, Spain from Sept 1st 2008 till the end of June 2009. Melilla is on the north coast of Africa across from Malaga. It is one of two Spanish overseas teritories in Africa. I want to learn how to sail this winter and then I would like to buy a trailerable sailboat apx 22ft? I would then like to sail this boat in the summer of 2009 over to Greece. I would then work in Greece the winter of 2009/10. Is 2 months enough time to sail from Spain to Greece? I will be new to sailing and I will be sailing with my wife who will also be new to sailing. We would only want to sail on nice days and close to the coast. Any input would be greatly apreciated.

Thank you

[Trim50]

Welcome aboard

Sounds like a wonderful plan. Personally I would want a little larger vessel to be making such a journey, but that is just me. I don't have my World Routes with me right now, but I do believe that the winds will be in your favor. I'm guessing that with a 22 ft boat you will likely be hugging the coast line and cutting through the Straight of Messina??

[iwantsail]

Thanks for the input.

I was initially thinking of a larger boat, but reading some excerpts from "Sailing Big on a Small Sailboat" on Google books has changed my mind. Since it will be my first trip I was thinking a small starter boat might be better for learning. My understanding is also that the price increses expodentially as the boat size increases. So, I don't want to get in over my head.

Do you think it is safe to sail in such a small boat? I plan on always checking the weather and only sailing when the conditions are optimal.

Thanks,

Michael

[Nausikaa]

I think your plan is sound. It is perfectly do-able in a 22 footer. In only one respect does your plan worry me: when you say you will be hugging the coast do you mean the African or European coast? IMHO, the best way for you to do this trip would be to head first for the mainland Spanish coast and follow the coast up, hopping accross to Majorca and then onwards to pass north of Scicily and through the Straits of Messina (passing the narrowest bit at slack water and looking out for eddies and whirlpools) before turning to port and following the Italian south coast until it is time to hopp over to Greece.

Why do I suggest this? Firstly because, as you will know, sudden storms happen almost everywhere in the Med and, though they never reach the strength of N. Atlantic storms, they can be very uncomfortable. A well found 22 footer should be able to deal with them though but should you need a port of refuge the north African coast has few compared with the European. Also, the ports that do exist are usualy worse than European with, in many cases, complicated clearing-in procedures.

Enjoy your trip. Keep in touch and let us know how things go.

Aye

Stephen

[iwantsail]

We will be living on the African side but when we start the trip we will want to cross over to the European side. Then I basiacally just want to day sail from port to port hugging the European coast. It would be nice to get to Greece, but if we are going slow we could spend the winter in Italy and go to Greece the next summer.