Cruising Areas Skill Levels

Print

You will find here some guidelines of the boating/sailing skills that you shoudl have for each popular charter destination, in normal and typical conditions.
Important: Those are GUIDELINES ONLY. Weather and navigation conditions may vary significantly from usual patterns. If that is the case, the necessary skills may become much higher.

Keys to Skill Levels

  Navig.
Skills		 Weather
Winds		 Seaman.
Anchor		 Dominant Winds/Tide
CARIBBEAN
Antigua 2 3 2 Easterly 10-25kts
Guadeloupe 2 3 2 Easterly 10-25kts
Martinique 2 3 2 NE/SE 10-25Kts. Tide 1Ft
St. Martin/St. Barts 2 2 2 Easterly 10-25kts
St. Vincent/Grenadines 2 3 2 Easterly 10-25kts
Virgin Islands 1 2 1 Easterly 10-25kts
MEDITERRANEAN SEA
Corsica 2 2 2 SE/SW 5-25Kts
French Riviera 2 2 2 West/SW 5-20Kts
Croatia 2 2 2 NW 8-20Kts.
Greece (Ionian) 1 1 2 NW 7-20Kts.
Greece (Sporades) 2 2 2 NE(Meltemi) 10-25Kts.
Palma, Mallorca (Spain) 2 2 2 West side SE - East side N/NW
Turkey (Bodrum) 2 3 2 NW 7-20Kts.
Turkey (Marmaris) 3 2 2 NW 7-20Kts.
SOUTH PACIFIC ISLANDS
Australia (Whitsundays) 3 2 2 Tide 12 Ft. - SE winds
New Zealand
  (Bay of Islands)		 2 2 2 Tide 6 Ft.- Oct to Apr E 1-4kts
May to Oct SW 2-5kts
Tahiti (French Polynesia) 2 2 2 Easterly 10/20Kts.
Tonga Islands 2 2 2 Easterly 10/20Kts.
USA / BAHAMAS
Abaco (Bahamas) 1 2 1 Dec-Apr NE 15-20Kts
Summer SE 10-15Kts
Chesapeake 2 1 2 8-25 kts - Tide 1-3Ft.
Florida (East Coast) 2 1 2 Summer SE 5-10Kts.
Winter NE 10-15Kts.
Florida (West Coast) 2 1 2 Light to moderate
Seychelles 2 3 3 Oct to Apr: NW-May to Sep: SE