Should we sail somewhere warm? This was the question my wife posed to me in 2018 after we’d spent three years sailing our Najad 420 around England, Ireland, Denmark and the Channel Islands.

“Somewhere warm where the kids can swim in the sea without freezing?”

And so began our six-year adventure to the Mediterranean.

Cruising somewhere warm and sunny sounds like a great idea, but with children and a full-time job, our extended Med voyage was not the full-time sailing that we associate with the lucky ones in retirement or on a sabbatical.

We were restricted to school holidays and whenever work allowed us. We would utilise three or four of the six main school holidays each year, which incidentally worked well with the 90-day European visa rule for UK sailors.

Time restrictions

Unless you buy a boat already in the Med, you obviously need to factor in getting there.

Normally this will take a sailing season, plus another season to bring the boat back. The trip there and back though, whether via the Bay of Biscay or through the canals of France, is part of the adventure.

We met a Danish couple on a 27-footer who’d spent 17 years cruising in the Med, always from May to October, thanks to flexible jobs and understanding bosses.

Their compact cruising yacht allowed them to explore every nook and cranny. Another sailor I spoke to said he’d sailed the whole Med.

When I asked how long it had taken, he replied ‘Six months!’ His expression of satisfaction suggested he was happy with his quick flirt with the Mediterranean.

For some liveaboard cruisers, sailing is not the priority but rather an opportunity to live by the sea with an early morning swim. I recommend four to eight years as a good compromise between visiting interesting places and still making it a sailing experience.

From northern Europe, there is a multitude of relatively cheap flights to and from the Med. With flight times of up to three hours, you can be on your boat in six to eight hours door-to-door.

And of course, flights booked in advance can be especially economical. The peak sailing season is from May to October.

Some even leave the boat moored up or hauled out for the hottest and busiest months of July and August.

This is generally not possible on a part-time basis, if you want to make any progress. However, reaching the southern parts of the Med, like Sicily or southern Spain, in time for Christmas can be rewarding with warm, sunny, even beach, days.

By Easter the chances of temperatures reaching above 20°C are pretty good.

Making it happen

Our planning process began a year or two before setting off. The first challenge was sailing across the English Channel, which, as three-time Danish circumnavigator Troels Kløvedal once said: ‘If you can sail the Channel, you can sail anywhere in the world’.

Then crossing the infamous Bay of Biscay – which can be both peaceful and fierce – before landing in Portugal.

A visit to the historic towns of Porto and Lisbon leaves no doubt as to why Portugal is a fantastic holiday destination and Lisbon a hotspot for second homes.

On the Atlantic side of Spain, Cadiz, Seville and Jerez, are worth a stop before Gibraltar.

Sailing through the Gibraltar Strait with a view of the north African coast felt like the satisfying accomplishment of a well-travelled adventurer.

The series of Costas along southern Spain brought an extra degree of warmth combined with good food, wine, history and art, and we started to meet fellow cruising sailors. Cartagena is a good place to exchange stories.

Another favourite is the French Rivera. The French revolutionary motto of égalité seems to have been understood in modern maritime terms to mean that sailing should be available for everyone in society.

Thus the French have built an abundance of marinas along this coast at affordable prices – lucky for us because the Saturday markets are second to none: the wine, cheese and sausages never disappoint.

Don’t forget the afternoon tea or coffee with cakes from a genuine patisserie.

The additional benefit of this coast is that the drive from northern Europe to southern France is a lot easier than a drive to Greece.

Italy also provides a spectacular jolt to the cultural senses in the famous cities of Tuscany – Florence, Pisa, Sienna and San Gimignano.

Further south, Rome, Pompeii, the Amalfi coast and the volcanic islands of Stromboli and Sicily are exceptional.

By the time we reached Sicily and looked back at Gibraltar, it was momentous to realise it was 800 miles away, nearly halfway across the Mediterranean and we had not seen Greece yet.

Yachting in the Mediterranean

In short, the Med offers a spectacular world of culture, history, art and fine culinary delights all wrapped up in a warm, sunny climate.

The kids soon got used to this kind of holiday-making and loved it.

After six years of cruising holidays, we flew to Venice for a long weekend and our children found the hotel boring. They preferred their floating home.

Indeed, after a day’s worth of experiences, returning to cosy, familiar surroundings to watch a movie with popcorn while the brass ship’s oil lamps reflect off the mahogany interior are pure ‘hygge’ – as the Scandinavians say – vivid family memories.

But be careful though! It’s easy to get sucked into the gravitational field of comforts.

Sailing a circuit in the Med requires a lot of energy.

You consistently need to plan ahead: How far can I sail during this holiday? Where do I leave my boat next? Where do I haul it out for the winter? What are the prices? Do they have room? What are the facilities like? Is it secure? How do I get back home? Do they have flights in the winter?

This, combined with there being so much to see and experience can easily saturate your senses and that’s when you can get trapped for a few years in one of the Med hotspots.

Indeed, it is appealing to base yourself in Portugal or any of the Costas of Spain.

The French Rivera, close to Port Saint Louis de la Rhone, offers excellent facilities and support. We found Marina di Ragusa in Sicily particularly hard to leave with its mild winter climate and large international liveaboard community full of fun, caring and helpful people.

Knowing a place well, where to shop for food, how best to fly there and back is comforting and relaxing compared to the constant hassle of moving along to unknown places. For many, Greece is the ultimate sailing paradise.

However, when I reached Sicily and started to plan for a season or two in Greece, I realised how dependent, as a part-time sailor, I was on copious marinas along the route, with ample availability and no booking ahead requirements or at least easily cancelled.

We found Greek marinas to be the most expensive in the Med, and either fully booked or, when room was available, payment had to be made in-full, in-advance and with no possibility of cancellation.

The origin of this inflexibility is the lack of marinas compared to the size of the charter fleets.

Bays and inlets with turquoise waters where you can anchor free of charge are great for the full-time sailor, but after two weeks or so, the part-time sailor must reliably find a marina to leave the boat and return home.

In the end, I decided ‘If you can’t beat them, join them’, so now when sailing in Greece, I charter a boat.

Preparations

For some sailors, the idea of leaving your own beloved boat for six to eight months in some little-known, foreign marina is just unimaginable.

The thought of not having easy access to check on things, or the excuse of escaping ‘to repair something important’ only to sit in the cockpit with a cup of tea and a view.

I had the same emotional barriers, however we found leaving our boat in the Med to be safe and secure with precautions taken.

The old saying ‘Leave your boat moored up as if a hurricane is coming’ provides peace of mind.

If you leave it in the water then doubling up on mooring lines is well advised. Consider a full boat cover that is of good quality, strong and well tied down.

It will protect your boat not only from the rain and wind but also the UV rays.

Also, consider some decent oversized fenders.

Liveaboards can be exceptionally helpful and asking someone to have an occasional look at our boat has worked well.

In the six years I have left my boat in various places, I have only once found it in a sorry state after gales and storms swept through. But even then the repairs and tears to the cockpit tent were all sorted within a day or two at the local sailmaker.

Regarding the boat itself, preparations can be divided into three main areas: those parts of the boat that need attention irrespective of location; those things you should do as a precaution due to the new environment; and those required to get you there.

The more preventive maintenance you can do at home the better.

Doing repairs while away wastes valuable holiday time. Simple jobs can also become complicated by the distance and language barriers.

If you think something needs changing in a year or two consider doing it before you set off.

Or bring the spares and learn how to change it yourself. Many very good mechanics and technicians can be found throughout the Med, although you will have to live with the Mañana – ’tomorrow’ – attitude, which is frustrating if you are in a hurry.

Getting a quotation for simple things can take over a week and if you get an appointment, set aside the whole day as arranging a specific time to meet the mechanic can be difficult.Maybe it’s why the Spanish have such long life expectancy.

Ensure you sort out standing and running rigging, engine, anchor gear, pumps (have a few extras as spares), fridge, navigation equipment, solar panels, batteries, mooring lines, dinghy, outboard engine, etc before you go.

If you think it needs changing or a proper inspection it probably does.

In the six years of being away, only two things broke which I knew I should have checked before leaving.

Sailing conditions

With regard to the engine and sails, the perception that the wind is either blowing full on or none at all was not our experience, except in the Aegean where the Meltimi pipes up in the afternoon or the Gulf of Lion where the Mistral can howl for several days in a row.

What is true is that the topology of the area including Portugal can result in rapid increases of wind, from a gentle breeze to a near gale. Therefore, a good and quick reefing method is a must.

More often than not we were sailing with gentle breezes, and within an hour or two after sunset, any breeze would reduce to either nothing or just enough to sail at 1-2 knots at best.

Tiredness aside, planning to night sail at this slow speed was sometimes quite pleasant.

While a full-time sailor can wait for the right winds to come, as a part-timer this could cost you half if not the whole holiday, so you will be dependent on a good engine to make progress.

Looking back at my well-kept logbook I worked out that I used the engine 50% of the time, so a reliable engine is a must. Ensure you have the right spares, you’re familiar with how to service it and have the whole lot checked from the fuel system to cooling, gearbox, stern gland, shaft and propeller.

Med essentials

A bimini or some sort of cockpit cover for the scorching days is a blessing.

Below decks, fans should be installed by the bunks and living area. You’ll definitely need mosquito nets which are easy to install and take off.

Bedding should be both for the warm and cold seasons.

A small, electrical fan heater was enough to heat the boat on the cool early mornings before the sun warmed up it up.

For personal protection, hats, sunglasses and cotton long-sleeve shirts are great for avoiding sunburn.

Consider all the amenities required for living on the boat; how well you will be able to sleep on your mattresses for example?

Finally, if you sail to the Med via the Bay of Biscay, you need to be ocean ready – with all your safety equipment up to date, a proper first aid kit and perhaps training courses to remedy any deficiencies.

It’ll whiz by The past six years have gone by in a flash.

The trip has given us all many lovely memories as a family and it has defined us. I am certain the kids will remember this for the rest of their lives and I look back at the voyage with a sense of pride and joy.

Time does not stand still and, if anything, I wish we’d started this earlier. There is so much to see and discover out there and it’s for all of us to enjoy.

How to cruise in the Mediterranean

Costs

In general, the marina prices in the Mediterranean are better value than in the UK.

The summer months are expensive but monthly, half-yearly and yearly contracts may be available.

If you intend to leave the boat for a longer period, for example from September to April, it can be more economical and give you more peace of mind to haul it out and store it on land. That said, it is common for boats in the Med to be left in the water as space ashore is of premium.

There are not too many places to haul out a boat so that must be researched well. If you see cheap flights to your destination, it often pays to buy them even if you’re uncertain of your travel dates because the costs of a flight can easily move from £30 to £120 in a very short time.

It’s smart to book a couple of options at the lower rate. Travel within the Mediterranean is very affordable.

Trains and buses are inexpensive and reliable while rental cars are an economical and flexible form of travel. While we mostly used Uber in Portugal, Spain has car-pooling apps like ‘blablacar’.

Do ask the marina or the locals for advice.

De-risking preparations

Completing all the preparations for such a trip will probably take a season or two.

That is good because while you may be tempted and motivated to sail straight away, testing and getting familiar with any upgrades on your boat for a season, two or three, prior to leaving is well recommended.

Effectively you are de-risking your trip and boat systems.

You don’t need aircon if you have sufficient fans, or a watermaker except perhaps in some far-off corner of Greece, or satellite communication as the mobile network in the Med is really good, nor fishing gear as there are hardly any fish left in the Med.

Mediterranean mooring

Expect to be doing Med mooring manoeuvres in marinas.

This usually means mooring stern-to while your bow is tied with mooring lines led from the pier to some concrete block in the middle of the channel.

A marina staff member will be helpful in handing you the mooring lines while another will control the bow from a RIB if needed.

You’ll soon get to grips with this method and it will be second nature. But those mooring lines can often be full of sharp barnacles.

Wearing gardening gloves will help prevent cuts. A boathook will be essential to pick up the lines from the pier.

Until you have mastered this method of mooring, inevitably a line will get fouled in your propeller or bow thruster. You should be able to sort it out yourself. A wetsuit, diving gloves and a mask are handy.

A diving light for night-time is also helpful. Don’t forget to work out your strategy to get back on board before jumping in the drink as not all marinas have ladders.

Street smart

While we are savvy about online and telephone scams at home, once you get to Italy and venture eastwards we tourists can be regarded as fresh meat.

I’ve had my fair share of humbling experiences.

We have all seen enough YouTube videos of officials demanding cash to stamp you out. I’ve heard of people sailing to some shipyards having agreed on a firm price, only to be confronted with a 50% increase on arrival.

Stuck with booked flights home and pressure to return to work, you pay the extra surcharge with tears. In restaurants and bars, do check the prices before ordering, check your bill and your change if paying cash.

When renting cars, even from renowned western companies, either buy the full cover insurance, which is often more than the daily car rental rate, or check for dents and scratches meticulously and have them noted.

Always ask the locals for restaurant recommendations.

Mediterranean food can be great or a disappointing tourist trap. The locals know the difference.

Taxi drivers are a breed of their own. It seems that the government- licenced taxis only work in daylight hours. When darkness falls, the privately-owned alternative reigns.

Sort out your travel before leaving the boat. And trust me, especially on the way to your marina, there will be no ‘riots’ which will justify a long detour and a 10-fold increase in taxi fare.

Recommended reading

Adlard Coles book of Mediterranean Cruising by Rod Heikell & Lucinda Heikell, (fifth edition, £25)

Mediterranean Weather Handbook for Sailors by Roberto Ritossa (Imray, second edition, £12.95)

Cruising guides to the various areas along your route are very useful, eg the Imray range of pilot books. If you are interested in the culture, history, etc of the country, the

Travellers Guides are good, or find books that focus on specific topics.

About the author

Antoni Mazur is a physicist and lives in Dorset. He has sailed 20,000-plus miles and enjoys all aspects of cruising, particularly discovering the culture, history and geography of the places he sails to. His family’s Najad 420 is currently based in Denmark and Sweden.

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