taikohax
New member
The short version is I've reached decision paralysis and I'm hoping some wiser and more experienced heads than I can help me break a deadlock and make some recommendations for places to Winter in the Med.
In essence I'm lucky enough that I can work remotely (or, if the relevant residents visa precludes working, then I can live off existing dividends until a Digital Nomad visa comes in) and I'd like to take my boat, a Beneteau Oceanis 45 (45ft, 2.3m draft) and my two cats (they have EU Pet Passports), down to the Med this September - winter for 6 months [somewhere] and then ideally head East, do a clockwise loop into Greece and back out of the Med before doing the Atlantic in 2023. My intent is blunt the Schengen issue by getting either a Digital Nomad visa (if/when it comes in) or one of the residency ones - but that's not the purpose of this thread, i'm only interested in locations really.
What I'm ideally looking for is :
I have looked at :
Marina Di Ragusa - Consulate may have (new) issues accepting a boat as a residence for visa purposes (which makes me nervous), dunno about cattery :
Cartagena - No beach
Port Ginesta - looks like a possibility?
I'm interested in :
Er...anyone done livea boarding in the French Riveara? Saint Tropez etc? Any experiences?
I've ruled out :
Greece - looks like it's one too many complexities i'd prefer to warm up to, plus 3-4 weeks to get my boat over there (which i couldn't afford to take off OR pay someone else to do)
North Coast of Africa - can't depend on the internet plus i'd rather warm up to it
Croatia etc - too far East again, can't afford the time off right now
So folks.
Any recommendations for marinas etc that might fit the bill?
P.S. apologies but i'm going to cross post this on some other liveaboard forums, apologies if you see this multiple times.
In essence I'm lucky enough that I can work remotely (or, if the relevant residents visa precludes working, then I can live off existing dividends until a Digital Nomad visa comes in) and I'd like to take my boat, a Beneteau Oceanis 45 (45ft, 2.3m draft) and my two cats (they have EU Pet Passports), down to the Med this September - winter for 6 months [somewhere] and then ideally head East, do a clockwise loop into Greece and back out of the Med before doing the Atlantic in 2023. My intent is blunt the Schengen issue by getting either a Digital Nomad visa (if/when it comes in) or one of the residency ones - but that's not the purpose of this thread, i'm only interested in locations really.
What I'm ideally looking for is :
- Close ish to a decent airport for ad hoc flights back to the UK (maybe less than 2 hours away ish?)
- Short walk from a decent enough beach to carry on learning (badly) how to Wing Foil - in fairness mostly for my own sanity and staying healthy so it's pretty important
- Some kind of civilization/niceness for shops, food, culture etc - aka not in the back end of beyond
- Some kind of Marina community/acceptance of liveaboards would be lovely (and probably necessary in some visa situations)
- Must have decent internet access. Even if i'm not working I have enough stuff that I'm involved with (I help with a charity) that i need decent connection - I may solve that with a starlink
- Better than UK winter weather pls, i don't want to go to all this effort to freeze to death in a different country!
- er...i guess a cattery nearby is kinda important but not necessarily something anyone on here would know about
- Bonus if the airport is a major carrier rather than a budget one (budget carriers won't allow me to cargo cats, major ones usually will)
- Within striking distance of other interesting sailing once the weather starts to clear
I have looked at :
Marina Di Ragusa - Consulate may have (new) issues accepting a boat as a residence for visa purposes (which makes me nervous), dunno about cattery :
Cartagena - No beach
Port Ginesta - looks like a possibility?
I'm interested in :
Er...anyone done livea boarding in the French Riveara? Saint Tropez etc? Any experiences?
I've ruled out :
Greece - looks like it's one too many complexities i'd prefer to warm up to, plus 3-4 weeks to get my boat over there (which i couldn't afford to take off OR pay someone else to do)
North Coast of Africa - can't depend on the internet plus i'd rather warm up to it
Croatia etc - too far East again, can't afford the time off right now
So folks.
Any recommendations for marinas etc that might fit the bill?
P.S. apologies but i'm going to cross post this on some other liveaboard forums, apologies if you see this multiple times.