Skip to content

“A low over Taurus remains stationary …

This is how the German Weather Service's report on the weather situation in the Mediterranean has often begun in recent months. Sometimes there is also a trough as an encore, which reaches into the Aegean and sometimes strengthens or weakens. This includes a high over the Turkish mainland. Experienced Aegean sailors know what this means: wind from the north, sometimes stronger, sometimes weaker. Its name: Meltemi or Etesia.

Until now, we thought the Meltemi blows strongest in July and August, maybe even in September. Our experiences this year (the first in the Aegean) are different. Since June, we have almost always felt a north wind, often very strong with peaks of up to 40 knots. Fortunately, there are many small harbours and bays in the Aegean where we could weather the Meltemi. But the constant strong wind does sometimes get on our nerves. Can't there be a really nice, moderate sailing wind for a longer period of time? "In the Aegean, you either have too much wind or too little," a boat neighbour told us. He was right.

Now we are just weathering another Meltemi in the harbour of Adamas on Milos, with peaks up to 42 knots. Then the weather forecast announces one day with weak wind an after that again a strong wind from the north. We are waiting for a report from the German Weather Service to start differently and forecast, for example, northerly, easterly or southerly winds around four Bft. After all, we want to head west towards the Peloponnese. 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *