How to get my boat home from Spain?

[P435-MTG]

The times are a changing.. possibility!?
I need a bit of advice as to how to bring my Princess 435 back from east Spain..

It feels strange to say this, but the wife has no disire to sit on planes anymore. What seemed a economical floating holiday home in the sun could be out of our reach if airfares go up in the future.

The options as i see them are to do nothing, pay for a boat we cant use for possibly the whole of this summer/year or bring her home either by road, canal or by sea/ship.

I know nothing about putting my boat on a ship, but ive had a company quote 6-6.5k, to get her from Valencia to the Humber. (Recommendations welcome)

Had quotes from road transporters from between 8.5k - 12k. (Recommendations welcome)

Ive sailed to the north sea from the med before but never on a motorboat. My Princess 435 has no log of gallon usage per hour of what i can find. She has TAMD61A 306hp volvos but i would have been only guessing if i had to workout how much it would cost to passage round the bottom and back up to the Ouse. At say 10-15knots (anyone know what the fuel cost are for a trip like this)

Before this covid-19 The French cannals were the most involved scenario id looked in to. Spending as long as possible navigating thought most of the food and drink on offer along the way.
But even with the radar arch and windscreen off the boat would seem to be around 3.5m
The max height on many of the routes. As well as people telling me id be forever replacing impellers etc. due to her draft being a aound 1 m.
(If anyone has done the canals in a Princess 435 or similar id love to hear from you)

Thanks MTG

 

[balder]

Forget the french canals with twin engines and a fly bridge...Non considering grass coming in your seawaterpump ,to clean very oftenly. From east Spain, motor gently to Gib and further to Northern Spain. If you do not want to cross Biscay you can plotter along the georgeous coast of Cantabrique, Asturias etc. In Pays Basque, with nice weather, CapBreton, Royan or La Rochelle.
Une belle promenade le long de nos cotes!
At 7 knots you should have the same GPM than at 17 or 18 knots but without noise and vibrations, depending of sea state.

 

[balder]

I forgot to say that currently in Lanzarote, I have the same question : stay or leave, considering problems may be to come when travelling by plane, train or drive.

 

[Bandit]

The times are a changing.. possibility!?
I need a bit of advice as to how to bring my Princess 435 back from east Spain..

It feels strange to say this, but the wife has no disire to sit on planes anymore. What seemed a economical floating holiday home in the sun could be out of our reach if airfares go up in the future.

The options as i see them are to do nothing, pay for a boat we cant use for possibly the whole of this summer/year or bring her home either by road, canal or by sea/ship.

I know nothing about putting my boat on a ship, but ive had a company quote 6-6.5k, to get her from Valencia to the Humber. (Recommendations welcome)

Had quotes from road transporters from between 8.5k - 12k. (Recommendations welcome)

Ive sailed to the north sea from the med before but never on a motorboat. My Princess 435 has no log of gallon usage per hour of what i can find. She has TAMD61A 306hp volvos but i would have been only guessing if i had to workout how much it would cost to passage round the bottom and back up to the Ouse. At say 10-15knots (anyone know what the fuel cost are for a trip like this)

Before this covid-19 The French cannals were the most involved scenario id looked in to. Spending as long as possible navigating thought most of the food and drink on offer along the way.
But even with the radar arch and windscreen off the boat would seem to be around 3.5m
The max height on many of the routes. As well as people telling me id be forever replacing impellers etc. due to her draft being a aound 1 m.
(If anyone has done the canals in a Princess 435 or similar id love to hear from you)

Thanks MTG

£ 6 to 6.5k is cheap, in 2007 i Bought a boat that was delivered to Gibraltar an Aquastar 48 with twin VP 63p's, Gib to Southampton was 10K. I reckoned my self and two others to bring her back to Guernsey on her own hull then would have cost me 6 to 7 k without any breakdowns or severe hold ups for bad weather etc. Depending on where you live , is the humber near your home?

The good thing about shipping it is its a 99.9% definite result compared with driving it back on its own hull, especially in these C19 times.

Otherwise South Coast UK and drive to the boat, the West Country and drive, the Channel Islands ( good cruising) and lots of places to go drive and a ferry or Brittany or Normandy drive and a ferry.

North France and CI's is great cruising.

 

[Clancy Moped]

Another option Yacht Delivery Crew | Halcyon Yachts | International Yacht Deliveries

 

[vas]

At 7 knots you should have the same GPM than at 17 or 18 knots but without noise and vibrations, depending of sea state.

I agree about the noise and vibrations but I very much doubt you'll get the same GPM!
7kn should be much cheaper, but you do count up the hours on the engines (if that's important to you for resale reasons although I guess a P435 is old enough not to be affected much.

V.

 

[Bandit]

Think fuel costs. crew costs. flights, food other expenses, some mechanical failure in the middle of nowhere etc.

If the delivery by hull is x and the delivery by ship is x + 30% go for the certain outcome.

Some delivery crews don't care about the boat and shag it and its engines.

 

[wofff]

Delivery by ship is a no-brainer at that price - there'll be the odd extra. These companies are doing it every day, and in our experience very good.

Go for it.

We did last year when the three day drive lost it's novelty, and no winter season. We're now three hours drive (quicker at night) and can use the boat all year ( restrictions excluded of course)

 

[Rocksteadee]

Do you work?
how do you use your boat?
do it yourself and take a year
fly down and do a long weekend, a week, 2 week stints
do it yourself as a months holiday
from what you said you have the experience

 

[Hurricane]

In your case, I would use a road transport.
Someone like Coast 2 Coast
They handle bigger boats than yours.
Lots of boats go that way from Sant Carles (mid way between Valencia and Barcelona) to/from the UK.
Coast 2 Coast have a guy who lives near Bilbao and oversees the Spanish end of the transport.
They would load your boat using a travel hoist close to where she is now.
And transport her overland through Spain to Bilbao where they load her onto the ferries that run back to Portsmouth.
In fact, Sant Carles might be close enough for you to load - our travel lift is in the marina so everything is at hand.
You might be able to get a "back load" (I think that what they call it) - if Coast 2 Coast are delivering to (say) Sant Carles, they like to go back with a full load.
If so, they pass on some of the savings to you.
And Coast 2 Coast are always delivering to Sant Carles - just a thought.
From there, Coast 2 Coast will take her right to where you want her.
You should allow somewhere between £6k to 10k for that service.
But that money would be well spent.
Don't even think about taking her by sea.
The cost alone would amount to that plus wear and tear would be significant.
IMO, transport by ship would cost more than by road as well because you would have to get the boat to/from the ports where the ships dock.
There are ships that will pick up from Sagunto just up the coast from Valencia but they would probably only deliver to Southampton.
Also, do you want your pride and joy at the mercy of a ship and ship's captain in Biscay?
These captains have one concern when the weather turns - that is the safety of their own vessel - they don't seem to care about the cargo.
Just search this forum for examples of yachts lost at sea washed off the decks of ships.

Alternatively talk to the wife and keep the boat in Spain.
Sant Carles has a nice community so maybe she could be convinced to stay.

EDIT
I hope the owner of this gorgeous vessel doesn't mind me posting these photos.
But, IMO, this is the way to do it.
This is a significantly larger boat than yours.
Here she is being loaded in the Hamble (Southampton)





And here she is a few days later at her new home in Sant Carles



As I say, you might be able to negotiate a return delivery

BTW - I have no connection with Coast 2 Coast - just posting what I've seen etc.

 

[Solent Sailor]

I can recommend Interboat - they brought my boat down from Scotland to the Hamble at a very attractive price. Full disclosure, there was a very minor bit of damage when it arrived (a scuffed handrail) but this is what really commends them - the fact that there was no quibbling whatsoever, they just wanted to get it sorted as quickly as possible and paid out straight away.

I thought about bringing her down on her own bottom at the time, but the cost was only marginally less without accounting for the additional engine hours, time and possibility for delays and unknown hassle/breakdowns. Lorry is the way ahead.

 

[jrudge]

Ship at that price is cheap.

You will need to do nothing other than set it to the agreed port of embarkation - but do make sure it is insured.

Road is usually cheapest for boats of that size.

Doing it on its own bum will cost a lot. Fuel. Crew. Issues. It will also need haul / antifoul/ service before you go .I would discount it.

If they are willing to ship then just go for it. Cost me £20k one way to Mallorca - but that was for a 65 foot boat.

 

[djefabs]

Hi Hurricane

EDIT
I hope the owner of this gorgeous vessel doesn't mind me posting these photos.
But, IMO, this is the way to do it.
This is a significantly larger boat than yours.
Here she is being loaded in the Hamble (Southampton)

I certainly don't mind you posting the photos and would certainly recommend Coast2Coast Transport. They did a very good job of transporting my boat and kept me informed of progress all the way.

 

[wofff]

Do you work?
how do you use your boat?
do it yourself and take a year
fly down and do a long weekend, a week, 2 week stints
do it yourself as a months holiday
from what you said you have the experience

PM sent.

 

[Hurricane]

Do you work?
how do you use your boat?
do it yourself and take a year
fly down and do a long weekend, a week, 2 week stints
do it yourself as a months holiday
from what you said you have the experience

Definitely a great way to move a boat but if you just want it home, as I said above, the best way is by road.

I had a very different problem - our boat was too big for the roads.
So, I had a price to ship by sea.
I never really wanted to do it that way anyway, but I had the price aal the same.
That was in 2008 - £26,000 from Southampton to Palma.
As I said, I wasn't serious because I wanted to deliver her on her own bottom.
So, I feel that I've saved money because I only used £20,000 of fuel!!!

Anyway, some people on here will remember the delivery trip.
DJEFABS should remember - great delivery trip.
Torquay to Sant Carles in 7 days
The only mistake was that we did it all in one hit - we should have taken several months and enjoyed it even more.
I'm not sure if I still hold the record or not - UK to seeing the Nort Africa coast in 5 days.
And we didn't travel at night - preferred to have a good night's sleep after a nice restaurant's dinner out.

Here is the YBW report that I did at the time.
Here's the link
I wonder who on here remember it
BTW the fuel taken on at the various stops is listed in this thread.

Princess 67 Delivery - UK to Spain - Loads of Pics and Videos

 

[PlanB]

We did the trip southwards in our 435 in 2005, Originally planned to do it via canals, then changed our mind for all the reasons stated above.
We took our time (5 months - it was our retirement trip) and our fuel cost was £9750 (and that was then!). Plus marina fees and a rebuilt turbo (but that's another story).
We had a fantastic time, but we always said that if we wanted to bring the boat back to the UK, it would be transported - the return trip is uphill in so many ways.
We know people who have used Coast 2 Coast with no problem.
You don't keep her in Fuengirola, by any chance? If so, we've met!

 

[Pinnacle]

Anyway, some people on here will remember the delivery trip.
DJEFABS should remember - great delivery trip.
Torquay to Sant Carles in 7 days
The only mistake was that we did it all in one hit - we should have taken several months and enjoyed it even more.
I'm not sure if I still hold the record or not - UK to seeing the Nort Africa coast in 5 days.
And we didn't travel at night - preferred to have a good night's sleep after a nice restaurant's dinner out.

Here is the YBW report that I did at the time.
Here's the link
I wonder who on here remember it

Me Sir, please Sir, I remember it! I also remember seeing JW in Swanwick marina and thinking she was HUGE!

 

[pavlosimou]

Get a quote from Boat Shift ~ UK & European Yacht and Boat Transportation Experts
Can't recommend them highly enough. first class service from start to finish.
they do spain/uk all the time and if you are lucky they might do a deal coming back early season as most traffic will be the other way.

 

[Hurricane]

Me Sir, please Sir, I remember it! I also remember seeing JW in Swanwick marina and thinking she was HUGE!

Hi P - nice to hear from you again - yep I thought she was big then as well.
But, the old comment applies - "boats seem to get smaller in the Med" - I think it is because other boats get bigger!!
We also said when we bought her that she was too big for the UK (well too big for us in the UK anyway).
She spent a summer season (2008) in Torquay - we only got out of the harbour 3 times that summer - and one of those was the delivery trip.
As you know, we have done lots with her since then though.
It is a shame that the OP has to bring his boat home - there are some lovely places in the Med and the weather is usually much better.

 

[Portofino]

Perhaps relocate to a nearer Med coast to the Chunnel , SoF at one end of the berth spectrum €15K ish pa rent or Italy for less than 1/2 that .The daily living costs ashore etc are approx 1/2 that too on the Ligurian coast .
Easy enough drive and two Airports Nice and Genoa when or if flights ever return back to what they were in terms of cost efficiency ?
Saying this with no knowledge of the current or future intended use age pattern.