Advice for a noob?

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Greenhorn

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We've just bought a Princess V39 and it will be moored in Portals Mallorca, we're heading over there next week for the first time.
Just wondering what your tips would be for complete novices? It's myself, wife and our 8 year old.
 
Portofino said:
Hire a skipper / tutor for 2/3 days to literally show you the ropes .
How much of a “complete novice “ what qualifications do you have ?
Last boating experience ?
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I spent two days doing the Powerboat2 course up to 10m. Never spent any real time on a boat apart from the course. My wife has some experience of sailing, as she spent summer holidays as a teenager doing flotilla holidays.
 
Greenhorn said:
I spent two days doing the Powerboat2 course up to 10m. Never spent any real time on a boat apart from the course. My wife has some experience of sailing, as she spent summer holidays as a teenager doing flotilla holidays.
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Yeah, get some more training on your boat, get someone to show you the local area etc.
 
Ok if it was purchased through a broker ask him for a skipper .
If through a dealer ask them , stuff like battery switches, anchor , toilet tank , flaps , shore power and of course the biggie in the Med stern too berthing .
I bought a similar sized Portofino 35 from the guys in Poole , they organised transport to France and the skipper / tutor guy .
This guy also did Gardianarge locally in the Marina .

Perviously I did have rag + stick in the U.K. in the 90 s and bit of RYA stuff .
How ever part of the deal , like you wife + two kids under 10 …..I did the French permit der Mer qualification for mobos .
But still needed a guy to actually show how the thing works and park it .

Parking it started in empty super yacht berths and by day two we gradually reduced the beam and turning area to my own berth.
Day three we actually left the ( large ) Marina and used the anchor .
Family we’re happy just dozing on the bow sun pad while dad was trying not to stuff the boat berthing :)

TBO the “ tutor “ was good as started off without the bow thruster , just throttles only .
Bow thruster was allowed only after I could park it without .


A few years later the BP 350 packed up early season , he said “ you don’t need a bow thruster I taught you to park it without “
So for the remaining season I managed ( inc windy days ) without …….it all came flooding back .We had to wait until the next lift 10 months later to repair it .

Thats why I am sceptical , piss take theses IPS joy stick jockeys and smirk a bit at “ which stern thruster threads “

My yacht just had a single screw and big keel + rudder managed to park that in marinas .
Once the engine packed up and we managed to berth it under sail , backing the jib etc .
So a twin engine felt luxurious for me .

Oh yes within a week I did set off with the shore power still connected …….it’s a right of passage :).
One night connected it up and forgot to throw the 3 way switch ……lights started to dim about midnight.:)
Set off with the bow / ground line still attached ……..” why the boat not turning ? “ :)

Have fun ….
You will !
 
Greenhorn said:
I spent two days doing the Powerboat2 course up to 10m. Never spent any real time on a boat apart from the course. My wife has some experience of sailing, as she spent summer holidays as a teenager doing flotilla holidays.
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You will need an ICC, but your PB2 will only allow it up to 10 metres. Be careful, the Spanish can be very funny regards documentation. You should have an ICC up to 24 metres. As suggested, get some tuition.
 
Mallorca is great. I leave on Thursday after being here 2 months.
Get some lessons - you don’t want to be out worrying about coming back in.
There is little to hit round there but as above be wary of the beach anchorage ( I don’t even go in the “ right way” as it is very shallow. Also there is a reef running down the middle of Santa Ponca bay - I have seen several boats go over it oblivious. A Pearl was not so lucky and sank !
Portals vels is very crowded and I don’t bother any more.
Have fun
 
We’ve bought very late in the season but I can use the off season to get plenty of practice in.

Andy advice on handy gadgets to make life easier? How do I stop my G&T from spilling over? :)

Any particular danger points to be aware of with an eight year old on board? I think to start off with I’ll be a nervous wreck when my daughter is on board. I’m guessing you make sure they are sat down and not moving around the boat when you are coming in or out of the berth.
 
Do an ICC together with your wife. Get a qualified skipper on board for a few days (he doesn’t need to stay on the boat) it’s fun and you’ll learn all about your boat. I did it with my wife years ago in Menorca and we found it great fun.
 
Congratulations on your purchase. +1 re ICC, and if you can combine with some own boat tuition, that will be ideal. We know owners who have drummed into their grandchildren that they are only allowed on deck with a life jacket, and can only take it off when they are allowed by the grandparents / parents, so its all about early habit forming. When we moved from the UK to Spain, we couldnt believe the, almost complete, absence of lifejackets in the med - adults and children !

Suggest a “proper” handover; sea cocks, breakers, gauges, alarms, anchoring etc, and check your insurance requirements for when you leave her - sea cocks closed etc. Not sure on shore power arrangement, but if cooking on board, the wife is drying her hair and the air con is on full pelt, be prepared for trips when you put the kettle on… we’ve all done it.

Not sure on how often you plan to visit / leave her but in our marina, I used to “bag“ the legs, which kept the [very aggressive in our marina] growth at bay, and that at least helped prevent engine over heats when she had been left for a while

Introduce yourself to the key local trades people, she will need an annual service and anti foul at least, and a good marina electrician is worth their weight in gold.

As the peak season is coming to an end that should make things less hectic and hopefully enable you to familiarise yourself with how she handles in and outside the marina, and as your confidence grows, so too will your enjoyment of her. For example your trim, you‘ll get a sense what feels right and aids such as a fuel burn guage (if you have one fitted) will help understand most efficient cruise speeds etc.

Relax and enjoy.
 
The main thing with children is get them to help ( 8 is plenty old enough ) but most importantly know where they are.

on a v39 that should not be a major issue.

it they want to move whilst underway my kids will always ask. We have a flybridge so more places but you just need to know where they are ! not moving whilst underway will get boring

if you don’t have an instructor for a few days you will not enjoy it and will indeed be worried. An instructor is cheap in the scheme of things
 
The kids will take to it quite easily I'd have thought, just ask them to sit still (and out of the way) when coming in and out if the marina,initially at least, after a while (when you know the ropes) get them helping with fenders and stuff.

Not many wear life Jackets in majorca, I'm one who doesn't. You can spot the brit boaters a mile off because they're all wearing their life jackets.
 
Check out the local rules re safety kit .The Spanish lads on here will point you in the right directions.
Apart from the obvious LV + flares , there are ( in France ) obscure things like , signal mirror, wooden plugs , bailing bucket .
Even though its presumably gonna be U.K. red dusted if you spend more than 6/12 in foreign waters ie not transiting then officially you suppose to adopt the local regs / rules on safety equipment.
A lot don’t but that does not make it right imho .
Eg you get fined in France if caught with out of date flares .So they sell the correct spec flare packs which are dated iirc 5 yrs Life ?
As U.K. is technically a 3 P in EU officialdom eyes ….they might start doing checks by the book .Watch that space !

Grab bag - big topic what s in it but the ” crew “ needs to know where it’s kept and how to use the kit in it .

VHF cert , one person needs it .Back in the day I found a local guy who came round to my U.K. house .He said wife could sit in .
1 hr later wrote out 2x VHF passes and the official EU wide accepted certs arrived in the post .
Wife has never used a proper VHF in her life . But we bit of paper on the boat saying she legally can fwiw ?

As you get braver distance wise consider a lift raft ( if the boats not already got one ) ……again make sure folks know how to use it .TBH bay hopping , day tripping to known in sight anchorages imho you can skip the life raft .
Island hopping going off shore I would get one .

As Julian’s says nobody seems to wear LV s .Basically it’s too hot ?.
We only put them on ( maybe 1+2 times in 16 yrs ) when it roughs up , get seriously caught out in big waves .
You can get kiddie fitment ones suggest you do a proper on the chest face up type .
 
Don’t worry about kit. It is a U.K. boat not Spanish flagged. The Spanish have no interest at all. In Spain you need a licence to drive a Spanish ref boat. You don’t need one for a U.K. boat but I keep my icc in date just in case anyone asks for a licence. It is simpler to give them a piece of paper rather than argue. I have never been asked for it
 
There are a couple of good RYA training centres in Mallorca that I know of. I’ve worked over there for Deep Blue Sea Training several times. Contact them & Tony will put you right. I’ve not been over there training since the pandemic took hold.
 
Andy Bav said:
Not sure on how often you plan to visit / leave her but in our marina, I used to “bag“ the legs, which kept the [very aggressive in our marina] growth at bay, and that at least helped prevent engine over heats when she had been left for a while


Relax and enjoy.
Click to expand...
Do you have any photo of those bags?
That’s interesting
 
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