For me, cruising in the Meds has a couple of different aspects: sailing, sea-camping/cruising, and travel abroad. I’ll try to put some thoughts to each of these aspects.

Sailing
To be able to sail a 47 ft yacht with some degree of safety in unknown waters, there are a range of skills needed. The actual sailing assumes an understanding of the interactions between wind direction and force, currents, waves and your boat, but also how to harness those forces effectively through the different controls that allows you to manage your sails (e.g. amount of sails, use of traveler and sheets), direction of travel, use of engine and availability of expertise on board (crew). For the contemporary sailor to make more informed decisions, some understanding of the electronic systems that supply the information (e.g. course, heading, wind direction and speed, depth, electronic charts) is also a must.

But sailing is not without its dangers and being able and being prepared to reduce the impact on boat and people on board needs preparation. That preparation starts with gathering info on expected weather and destinations, ready the boat before you leave, brief passengers and crew regarding safety measures such as life vests, safety harnesses, emergency beacons, use of radio and life raft. There are also navigation skills, knowledge of rules and regulations of the sea, rope handling skills, anchoring and mooring, some expertise to make emergency repairs etc..

What do I like about all this stuff? It is a challenge to make it all work, but very rewarding when it actually does. 'Uneventful' trips are a measure of how well we're doing and how much we've learned (leaving passengers to wonder what the fuss of sailing is all about), every 'narrow escape' is an opportunity to learn more and prevent the next time.

The cruising/camping aspect
Once the sailing aspect is under control you can move between places, the first step. The next step is to live aboard, in our case for six or seven months at a time. Unless you're rich and wish to be in a marina or on a town quay every night, you will end up anchoring. Choice of an anchorage is vital for safety, comfort and enjoyment. Taking all opportunities to learn from your fellow-sailors next to you on anchorage or quay has proven to be a very effective way to cut the number of times you have to get up in the middle of the night to re-anchor. It is really great to see our charts of the Greek and Turkish waters slowly filling up with little anchor-icons of good anchorages, some from our experiences, some from our fellow-travelers. We start to feel at home here with a very big back yard.

But being on anchor also means having to provide for things like water, food, electricity, gas, refrigeration, toilet and shower facilities, communication means (radio, phone, internet connection), and some entertainment. Getting our boat in a state that she provides all these services on anchor for a week or more at a time needs planning, preparation, investment, ongoing maintenance and repairs. After about two and a half years, Clio is now getting to a point where she can provide all of the above. We have learned a lot of how to prepare for those longer camping trips, realising the critical importance of chocolate and ice-cream. It is very gratifying to get up after a restful sleep in a lightly rocking boat, go for a swim from the back deck, have a nice freshwater shower and breakfast with hot coffee and cold yoghurt afterwards while reading today’s paper from the internet and know that the ice-creams are kept well frozen in the freezer, powered by our solar panels. Getting to know the main systems on board well enough to use them effectively and repair them when needed took a fair bit of time and effort, but it makes me feel more at home and at ease on our boat. "I love it when a plan comes together".
Being on anchor and not having access to shops also makes me appreciate the little luxuries we have on board a bit more. We often run out of things (especially chocolate and ice-creams) so next time you get them, they are a real treat, and you realise it!

Travel abroad
All the stuff so far are just the means to an end. In our case that 'end' is cruising Greece and Turkey waters (unless we win gold lotto and go to Italy and France). Even though the two countries are topological neighbours, they are culturally and socially quite distinctive, be it with a very intertwined, long and sometimes violent history. But they are different also in terms of cruising grounds and how to best enjoy those countries through its lovely people, its natural beauty and cruising opportunities. Being able to live in both countries in our own movable and partly self-contained castle is the magic of our life at the moment. We can engage with the outside world and eat Turkish kofte or a Greek salad in a taverna on shore, or hire a car and visit the many ancient or modern places, engaging with the many friendly and interesting people and even make some good friends on the way. And then go and sit at our own table, sleep in our own bed, and eat our own food when we feel like it. The next morning we open our doors and look out over a different place, hearing different sounds, smelling different smells. I experience it as a very rich and rewarding life.