I did much of whatyou suggested actually. I arrived with 27 biremes (out of 80) so it could have been a disaster.

I actually had Salamis when I got to Ireland, since I tried sending two young family-members after the main fleet, but had to jump ship since the egyptians were everywhere. They took salamis with the aid of a band of pirates. When I made Tara my capital I got instant red heads in the east, but only salamis wasn't under siege at that time anyways.