What are all you Brit "Liveaboards doing at the moment with BREXIT looming"

CraigandHan

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Hi guys,

Firstly I suppose we should introduce ourselves. Myself and my partner are currently in the process of purchasing a Westerley 33 Discus (from a fine gentleman on this form).
We began learning to sail a couple of years ago and have our day skipper, coastal and sailboat maintenance course planned in for next year. So we are trying to do it as properly as we can.

In the next couple of years (2022), We are looking at selling up from Jersey, and heading off to le harve and hitting the canals on the way to the Med. Then seeing where life takes us.

I have trolled websites and forums wondering what people are doing with BREXIT looming (or December 31st). Although there is a lot of discussion, there doesn't appear to be much in what people are doing now. Also, what the plans are for people with the 90 days and travelling etc etc.

A lot of people I understand get their boat stored and then return later on, however we are trying to focus on the liveaboards, sole 365 days a "yearers".

For the moment the plans still stands....... and probably will even if it sounds like its not going to work, it just needs to be researched as although the sailboat and packing up is very much in the process the starting detail of the trip is just at the beginning. Unfortunately this is one area I really need to swat up on, however i thought why not better than first off to post on here and see what we got back.

Nice to meet you all

Craig and Hannah.
 

andyc352

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We’ve been full time liveaboards for 3 years. My partner returns to the UK for brief spells several times a year. I return for a few days a couple of times a year. Last year we took out B “insurance” in the form of 5 years temporary residency in Portugal. We happened to be in Lagos marina at the time and even though we’d only been there 1 day, this was deemed acceptable to the authorities as our Portuguese address (they did need a pontoon berth number?). You’ll find lots of speculation as to what will happen when the UK falls off a cliff at the end of this year. Nobody really knows at the moment. What I do know is that we now have a piece of paper giving us the “right” to reside in Portugal and worst case scenario can run back here if we get booted out of other EU states after 90 days. Hope that helps. Good luck.

Andy
 

Graham376

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We're based in EU with residency so nothing much will change for us. Assuming your Discus is VAT paid, being Jersey based it should be easy to make sure you have the boat in a French port at the time we exit the EU, to maintain its status and not have to take it out every 18 months.

If heading to Eastern Med, it appears the plan for some is 90 days in EU then 90 in Turkey but, everything hinges on whether UK can get a reciprocal agreement to allow 6 months in Schengen as we appear to be offering EU citizens 6 months stay in UK.
 

nortada

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Hi guys,

Firstly I suppose we should introduce ourselves. Myself and my partner are currently in the process of purchasing a Westerley 33 Discus (from a fine gentleman on this form).
We began learning to sail a couple of years ago and have our day skipper, coastal and sailboat maintenance course planned in for next year. So we are trying to do it as properly as we can.

In the next couple of years (2022), We are looking at selling up from Jersey, and heading off to le harve and hitting the canals on the way to the Med. Then seeing where life takes us.

I have trolled websites and forums wondering what people are doing with BREXIT looming (or December 31st). Although there is a lot of discussion, there doesn't appear to be much in what people are doing now. Also, what the plans are for people with the 90 days and travelling etc etc.

A lot of people I understand get their boat stored and then return later on, however we are trying to focus on the liveaboards, sole 365 days a "yearers".

For the moment the plans still stands....... and probably will even if it sounds like its not going to work, it just needs to be researched as although the sailboat and packing up is very much in the process the starting detail of the trip is just at the beginning. Unfortunately this is one area I really need to swat up on, however i thought why not better than first off to post on here and see what we got back.

Nice to meet you all

Craig and Hannah.

Hi Craig & Hannah,

Welcome to the forum. ?

Trolled❓ Do you mean trawled❓

Your planned adventure is very still very doable post Brexit and you have come to the right forum for all of the answers.

Something you could consider is to get residency in a Schengen Zone country before the end of the Tranasition Period. It could get you arounfd the 90/180 day rule.
 

CraigandHan

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Nortada and others...

firstly I did mean trawled ?,

a lot of this relies on residency which we wouldnt get towards the end of the year because realistically plans etc won’t be in full flow till the middle of next,

however at least it allows us to know there is some light! I guess it’s a waiting game for us and hopefully everything will work out... although 6 months on the french canals is seeming a distant view now which is disappointing.

its a shame we are not a year behind in our plans and everything is happening now but everything happens for a reason and all that.

As for residency excuse my naivety, but how easy is this to actually get in one of the Schengen zones??
 

nortada

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Nortada and others...

firstly I did mean trawled ?,

a lot of this relies on residency which we wouldnt get towards the end of the year because realistically plans etc won’t be in full flow till the middle of next,

however at least it allows us to know there is some light! I guess it’s a waiting game for us and hopefully everything will work out... although 6 months on the french canals is seeming a distant view now which is disappointing.

its a shame we are not a year behind in our plans and everything is happening now but everything happens for a reason and all that.

As for residency excuse my naivety, but how easy is this to actually get in one of the Schengen zones??

I can only speak for The Algarve where getting residency is easy, provided you meet their criteria.

I feel reasonably confident to suggest residency in a Schengen Country could be central to extended cruising in Europe post the Transition Zone.
 

syvictoria

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I can only speak for The Algarve where getting residency is easy, provided you meet their criteria.

I feel reasonably confident to suggest residency in a Schengen Country could be central to extended cruising in Europe post the Transition Zone.

Or of course dual nationality/a second passport.
 

nortada

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Or of course dual nationality/a second passport.

If you qualify for a second passport - yes.

However, in Portugal there is talk of a second Covid spike this winter and if we go back into lockdown, based on previous experience, in Portugal, as other EU citizens found out, Portuguese Residencia is far more useful than any passport.
 
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RupertW

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I can only speak for The Algarve where getting residency is easy, provided you meet their criteria.

I feel reasonably confident to suggest residency in a Schengen Country could be central to extended cruising in Europe post the Transition Zone.
I think that is wishful thinking. Fine if you want to cruise almost all the time is the country that you have residency in though.
 

nortada

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I think that is wishful thinking. Fine if you want to cruise almost all the time is the country that you have residency in though.

Rather like the in the UK, many overseas Brits, limit most of their time sailing to their country of residency and then for the summer months head off for an (up to 90 day) adventure in other Schengenland countries. Fits in rather well with anchoring out, to ameliorate the impact of the 3 month high season mooring tarrifs.?

So not wishful thinking, rather a way of life, actively pursued up to the end of the Transition Period and then with suitable residency, will continue to be actively pursued post Brexit.?

In our case, normally we return to the UK to sail during the summer months in home waters but if we wished it, we should be able take that boat into Northern European waters for up to 90 days, using our Portuguese Residencia.✅

Could be an interesting exercise but on the other hand an awful lot of hassle (even for a French speaker).?

We enjoy the UK summer so long as we have escape tickets in our back pockets.?
 
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jordanbasset

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I tried to get residency in Spain but was told that if I did not stay longer than 183 days in the country each year my residency would be rescinded. As I only spend around 5 months in Spain I decided not to proceed. Maybe different in other countries
 
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nortada

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I tried to get residency in Spin but was told that if I did not stay longer than 183 days in the country each year my residency would be rescinded. As I only spend around 5 months in Spain I decided not to proceed. Maybe different in other countries

Spin ❓ ;)

I can assure you that every country is very different.

Even within the same country, different officials can interpret the same set of rules differently or if they don't know the official line, make up their own.
 

RupertW

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Rather like the in the UK, many overseas Brits, limit most of their time sailing to their country of residency and then for the summer months head off for an (up to 90 day) adventure in other Schengenland countries. Fits in rather well with anchoring out, to ameliorate the impact of the 3 month high season mooring tarrifs.?

So not wishful thinking, rather a way of life, actively pursued up to the end of the Transition Period and then with suitable residency, will continue to be actively pursued post Brexit.?

In our case, normally we return to the UK to sail during the summer months in home waters but if we wished it, we should be able take that boat into Northern European waters for up to 90 days, using our Portuguese Residencia.✅

Could be an interesting exercise but on the other hand an awful lot of hassle (even for a French speaker).?

We enjoy the UK summer so long as we have escape tickets in our back pockets.?
Fair enough and I agree that sounds great (if not for us yet as we tend to change countries most years) but the wishful thinking is the idea that residency in one EU country will allow year round travel in all others. It is also not yet clear that the time in your EU country of residence won’t count towards the 90 days.
How does it work for Oz or US sailors now who are have residency in one EU country?
 

nortada

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Fair enough and I agree that sounds great (if not for us yet as we tend to change countries most years) but the wishful thinking is the idea that residency in one EU country will allow year round travel in all others. It is also not yet clear that the time in your EU country of residence won’t count towards the 90 days.

I am not suggesting that residency in one EU country will allow year round travel in all others. Rather it will permit up to 90 days in 180 days in other Schengen countries. Think Graham 376 has already provided EU evidence based answers on this.

How does it work for Oz or US sailors now who are have residency in one EU country?

Not being an Oz or US sailor, haven’t a clue.
 
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Chris_Robb

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We're based in EU with residency so nothing much will change for us. Assuming your Discus is VAT paid, being Jersey based it should be easy to make sure you have the boat in a French port at the time we exit the EU, to maintain its status and not have to take it out every 18 months.
If your discuss in not Vat paid or you don't preserve your EU VAT status by being in the EU on 31st December 2020, then you will have a problem in relation to residency in any EU country. Owners with Non Vat paid yachts, can Temporarily Import the yachts for 18 months at a time, but if you have residency you will either have to pay the vat or be given 30 days to leave EU Customs Territory waters.

This may well be a real pitfall when a new generation of yachtsmen take their UK Vat paid yachts abroad, not realising residency will cause a problem. In Greece over six months is regarded as residency, and also if one owner is a EU citizen they may well look at the passport and ignore the fact the law is based around residency! The trouble is it has a different interpretation in every port!
 

duncan_m

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Does anyone have any thoughts of non-UK flagged boats in the UK on the sacred date? I'm assuming that visiting boats won't suddenly find themselves in the realms of non-VAT paid status given the large amount of commercial shipping?
 

sailaboutvic

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This could be a concern to tho who keep their boat in say Greece as an example and has residency is said country , are they at some point Insist that the boat has to registered/ flaged in that country and abide by that country rule .
 

Graham376

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This could be a concern to tho who keep their boat in say Greece as an example and has residency is said country , are they at some point Insist that the boat has to registered/ flaged in that country and abide by that country rule .

At the moment, does any State except Spain require the boat to be matriculated when taking out residence? Portugal don't bother - so far.
 

Chris_Robb

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Does anyone have any thoughts of non-UK flagged boats in the UK on the sacred date? I'm assuming that u boats won't suddenly find themselves in the realms of non-VAT paid status given the large amount of commercial shipping?
They will be lucky and by being in UK waters on b-day will get UK vat status as well..... we get it and so can they. It's a function of the VAT laws we have which are the same except they got tweakef, specifying UK customs territories and vice versa.
 
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