6 Month Sailing Across Europe

[ChrisGibson]

Hi

My wife and I are looking to take a 6 month sabbatical from work to sail 'Europe' from around July / August of this year.

The intention would be to fly to France, pick up our boat in Italy and generally sail to areas such as; France, Italy, Spain, Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily, Croatia, Montenegro and Greece.

It seems we cannot just pack our bags and go based on the old Brexit thing and am struggling to understand what if any visa is required.

I believe under Schengen directive we can stay up to 90 days in a 180 day period, but it does not seem clear what you need if you went past the 90.

If there a simple answer to this dilemma?

All guidance welcome.
Cheers

 

[AndersG]

Montenegro is not in Schengen and days there will not count towards your 90 days. Croatia is not in Schengen at the moment but I understand it's supposed to become a member this summer.

 

[Gibeltarik]

Montenegro is not in Schengen and days there will not count towards your 90 days. Croatia is not in Schengen at the moment but I understand it's supposed to become a member this summer.

But that only stops the clock - it doesn't reset to zero. French long term visa perhaps?

 

[Tranona]

Welcome to the forum

Regrettably what you want to do is not possible within the third country Schengen rules and there is no visa that will allow you to do more than your 90 days. Montenegro and Albania (and maybe Croatia as of now) will stop the clock so increasing the overall time away as will Turkey. you will find calculators on line for working out whether you can stick within the rules with your plan.

 

[LittleSister]

A French 6 month tourist visa will, as I understand it, mean that your time in France and within your visa dates will not count towards your 90 Schengen days, but that's not going to make a major difference given your intended route.

The French visa needs to be arranged in advance, costs something like £80, and you have to show you have somewhere to stay (boat counts, I believe) and sufficient funds (at a determined daily rate) for the duration.

There have been rumours that some other countries are considering adopting a similar visa arrangement to encourage Brits, but don't hold your breath.

 

[Ningaloo]

It's more difficult than before but possible. There are plenty of other third country nationals (USA, AU, NZ) who keep boats in Europe.
Make use of Croatia while they are still not part of Schengen.
Montenegro is widely used, Albania less so. And once you are further east, Turkey.
Malta "may" not be interested in stamping/scanning your passport. Tunisia and Morocco (now open again) are useful, interesting and low cost.

 

[ChrisGibson]

Many thanks for the feedback so far - it seems there is no easy answer...
We could very much try to utilise Croatia, Montenegro and Albania for a good part of the trip but was wondering how you 'stop the clock' when at anchor or moored in those countries...
Any idea how you prove how many days you spent where, as it's not like you get your passport stamped every time you stay in a new location (or do you for countries not in Schengen)?
Cheers

 

[goeasy123]

Go the the Caribbean.

It's hard to cross the Med (through the countries you mention) in a 6 month amble and within the rules. You can Schengen shuffle in theory and occasionally claim right of innocent passage. In practice you need to build in a lot of slack to account for weather windows and the need to clear in and out of EU ports of entry.

It's much easier to pick an area around a non-Schengen country. The west Med is more difficult than the east.

You prove your presence in and out of Schengen with stamps obtained at ports of entry. You only need one for entry and one for exit of the EU.

 

[Graham376]

Many thanks for the feedback so far - it seems there is no easy answer...
We could very much try to utilise Croatia, Montenegro and Albania for a good part of the trip but was wondering how you 'stop the clock' when at anchor or moored in those countries...
Any idea how you prove how many days you spent where, as it's not like you get your passport stamped every time you stay in a new location (or do you for countries not in Schengen)?
Cheers

Moving in or between Schengen countries, your arrival in a marina will be reported to the authorities but you can just anchor as normal without reporting. Ideally, you need to stamp out at your final EU/Schengen port to stop the clock but when when you arrive in other non-Schengen countries your passports will be stamped anyway so the clock is stopped.

 

[srm]

Any idea how you prove how many days you spent where, as it's not like you get your passport stamped every time you stay in a new location (or do you for countries not in Schengen)?

Sailing with my Canadian wife, prior to Brexit, we made for the first harbour that was an official port of entry and asked to have her passport stamped. It can be an interesting exercise to find the correct office if not using a marina. If in doubt ask at an expensive hotel or police station. (In Scandinavia passports were stamped at the police station). Likewise on leaving the Schengen zone and none Shengen countries go from an official port of entry and get an exit stamp.making a passage of more than 24 hours between Schengen countries get an exit stamp before departure and an entry stamp on arrival just in case you divert.

My wife accidentally got an extra two or three weeks by getting an exit stamp when leaving one island at the suggestion of the border officer, then we spent time on another island that was not a port of entry so unable to stamp her passport.

 

[srm]

6 month sabbatical from work to sail 'Europe' from around July / August of this year.

Six months from August takes you in to February.
Have you done any serious planning regarding weather conditions for sailing / living aboard?

 

[goeasy123]

Six months from August takes you in to February.
Have you done any serious planning regarding weather conditions for sailing / living aboard?

Good point. The Med is crap sailing from mid Oct to mid March. Best to start end of March/

 

[Ningaloo]

Moving in or between Schengen countries, your arrival in a marina will be reported to the authorities but you can just anchor as normal without reporting. Ideally, you need to stamp out at your final EU/Schengen port to stop the clock but when when you arrive in other non-Schengen countries your passports will be stamped anyway so the clock is stopped.

It is your responsibility to get checked in and out. Just because you check in to a non Schengen country does not mean that you have stopped the clock! As far as Schengen is concerned you have not left and this could result in an overstay and refusal of entry when you return to Schengen.
This means that you MUST get your passport processed before leaving Schengen. This reduces your options as only recognised ports of entry (usually with international ferry routes) can do this and even in those it can be difficult to find the office you require. In Algherio (Sardinia) the office was only open 3 mornings a week.
Similarly, if you check out and then anchor you are technically illegal too.
In my experience this is all muddled at present as it seems the individual Schengen states do not always share data however that will change later this year when ETIAS comes into force and every border transaction will be on a central database.

 

[Ningaloo]

Any idea how you prove how many days you spent where, as it's not like you get your passport stamped every time you stay in a new location (or do you for countries not in Schengen)?

Yes, of course you need to register your arrival and departure in every non Schengen country!
In Albania you must use a local agent (at your cost) to check in/out. Many also do this in Montenegro but you can DIY there.
And you'll find that in most countries your passport will be required at every marina (not just the point of entry/exit) as the marina is under the same obligation as a hotel to report your details to the police.

 

[TwoFish]

So whilst not quite within the scope of the OP's question (but might make for a better adventure), what are thoughts on cruising further eastern non-Schengenland bits of the Med? Albania, Turkey, Cyprus and maybe (subject to situation) Lebanon*, Israel and the north coast of Egypt**? Googling doesn't reveal much because C19 has shut things down for the last couple of years and anyway events in the Levant may have overtaken things. Have any here ventured that way, or may be thinking of it?

*Current FCO advice - essential travel only
** Not North Sinai

 

[newtothis]

So whilst not quite within the scope of the OP's question (but might make for a better adventure), what are thoughts on cruising further eastern non-Schengenland bits of the Med? Albania, Turkey, Cyprus and maybe (subject to situation) Lebanon*, Israel and the north coast of Egypt**? Googling doesn't reveal much because C19 has shut things down for the last couple of years and anyway events in the Levant may have overtaken things. Have any here ventured that way, or may be thinking of it?

*Current FCO advice - essential travel only
** Not North Sinai

Suggest checking out the SailingGently channel on YouTube, esp the series on Med Marinas. It addresses many of the issues re the good and bad bits of North Africa to get out of the Schengen limitations in one the vids.

 

[st599]

In September, the EES system kicks in too - you'll need to be biometrically scanned on entry and exit to/from Schengen.
As others have said, there's no extension to the Schengen visa, some Schengen states have tourist visas (France being the main one) but you may need an address or marina contract to get it.
Some states have longer residencies available, but they may have tax regulations to look at.
For all entries in to Schengen, there are insurance and funding requirements. E.g. for France, without hotel accomodation you need to be able to show funding of 120 Euros per person per day.