Bringing my boat from Barcelona to Stockholm

[tiempo]

Good afternoon.

I am the owner of this aluminum 33ft sailboat Romanee which I have owned for fourteen years.



I have come to work and live in Stockholm and I am now willing to bring the boat over. I am in the middle of my research about the most realistic way to do this.
This is what I have found so far:
Road transportation fares point to point : between 17k and 20k euros in a few days. My boat´s beam (3.5m) requires special transportation and that makes this option too expensive.
Transportation by sea on ship + sailing 1200nm: between 12k and 15k euros. Three weeks
Sailing all the way around Spain, Biscay, Channel, North Sea and Göta channel: 2-3 k euros. Five demanding weeks against prevailing winds and currents most of the time.
Inland waterways + sailing 800nm: between 4k and 5k. Six or seven weeks

The latter is my preferred option so far, although there are still many unknowns in my research.

Has anyone traveled the waterways between the Baltic and the Med? Or even better, the other way around? Would you think it feasible to do the inland crossing starting end of May in about three weeks? Is that overoptimistic, unrealistic or too demanding?

I am hoping that in an uninterrupted four weeks in May-June I could make it from Barcelona to the German Baltic, but there are many unknowns so I could do with some advice and route recommendations. My boat draft (1.57) allows for the trip from what I have found so far but I could not find any information about time estimates in the waterways, since there are so many variants.

Just in case anyone is in my situation in the future I will be adding to this post some useful links with very useful free information about the waterways:

https://www.french-waterways.com/practicalities/canal-depths/
http://www.unece.org/trans/main/sc3/sc3.html

permits
https://www.rya.org.uk/knowledge-advice/boating-abroad/icc/Pages/boating-inland-and-cevni.aspx
http://www.sailtrain.co.uk/cevni/images/cevni1.htm

Rhone
https://www.inforhone.fr/Bulletins/Navigation

free charts
http://www.vnf.fr/vnf/content.vnf?action=content&occ_id=34871

Also found this video from someone who did the same trip the other way around:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jwa_1cifDss

All advice is welcome.


Thank you

 

[lindsay]

Two thoughts

1. Sail the boat to any port in France then get one of the 4 or 5 well established French yacht transportation companies to truck it to a French channel port, then sail slowly, in hops, to the Baltic.

2. Sell the boat in Barcelona and buy another one when you are ready in your new base.

 

[KellysEye]

One option is to sail towards the Azores and you will get a westerly wind, otherwise it upwind, up current and sometimes swells

 

[colind3782]

Two thoughts

1. Sail the boat to any port in France then get one of the 4 or 5 well established French yacht transportation companies to truck it to a French channel port, then sail slowly, in hops, to the Baltic.

2. Sell the boat in Barcelona and buy another one when you are ready in your new base.

:encouragement:

 

[gertha]

I think you can save on your road transport costs.
I would talk to Coast to Coast transport in Southampton , he has six lorries moving boats around Europe, more go south than north, so he can do a good price. I would be fairly sure taking to either north France or north Germany would save a fair amount.
I have sailed your route , the only head wind was on Portuguese coast, would not expect it anywhere else.
The later you leave the trip the more likely the Portuguese trade wind will be established and this drives a current.
My route has been, Barcelona, Cartagena, Gibraltar, Lagos, Beyona,Falmouth , but I am UK based, so you could use France, if you like Europe!
From UK I have sailed to Holland, depends on time and tide where I have stoped. Then somewhere on Elbe, again fits with tide and making it into the Kiel canal, that I believe you call something different, then a few hops and you are in gods own country.
I can see the attraction of Aluminium in Sweden, probably more chance of surviving hitting a rock.
Pack plenty of fuel for Med, it will be wind on nose or more likely no wind.
Getting out of Gibraltar, you may have to wait a day or two, if unlucky with a strong westerly.
Portugal coast, can be easier to push to Azores, but if you go all the way and Azores high is in place you may need more fuel,
Biscay should not be a problem, wait in north Spain for a few days if forecast is not good, you will find a window.

Never done the inland route, the thought of 4 weeks listening to an engine and motering a canal is not my thing, however have done the Gota canal and that is pretty, but you probably know that.

Simon

 

[tiempo]

Hi again, and thank you very much for your suggestions.

@lindsay @colind3782 @gertha I have asked for budgets in many different companies and the budgets are huge, always above 15k. The reason, according to them is that the beam of my boat requires special transport (with cars ahead and behind the lorry) and that makes it a lot more expensive.

I have already asked for a quotation from the company that you have suggested, and a few other, and will let you know if it is cheaper when I get their reply. This time I have also reflected my flexibility in the dates the origin and destination and explaining my plan. If this does not work I will definitely discard the road option.

The canals route may seem unattractive to many, but I find it very interesting, as long as I do not need to be racing the whole way and also if handling at locks is feasible for a solo sailor, which I have not yet been able to figure out. Also I have been told that river marinas are cheap or free, which adds attractive to the route and opens possibilities to make the crossing in several stages.

I will have to do solo most of the way, so that the route around Spain or through the Azores is perhaps too much of a challenge for my sailing experience (slightly over 5000 nm). I am also afraid of being stuck quite often due to bad weather since I would start mid May.

I will keep posting as things develop just in case someone can benefit from it in the future.

Thanks again to everyone!

 

[colind3782]

Apparently, from when I made enquiries to transport a boat to the Med from the UK, the best route was to lift and launch in France which avoided some taxes. The route through the canals may be a problem if the draught is more that 1.5m.

Good luck!

 

[tiempo]

Thank you @colind3782 for that very useful piece of information regarding taxes!

The minimum draught in the route I was planning is 1.8m, but now I have concerns as to whether I can go down the Rhin at all... The French legislation says:

<<Therefore, only craft of max L = 15 m, carrying fewer than 15 persons, and designed to travel normally at max speed 20 km/h (referred to as “narrowboats”) can travel freely on French waterways (except Rhine and Moselle rivers) with ICC>>

 

[miha90]

Among others Canal du Midi was used to bring my sailing boat from Belgium to the south of France. It is my understanding that a draft of more than 1.6m will cause problems in inland waterways. You should take into account the season in which you want to set sail due to the amount of water in the canals.
I would go for this route if your draft allows it. Once in the English channel I would find more crew if needed. The top of Denmark can be crossed in Jutland.

 

[Sea Devil]

You can use the inland waterways from France up the Rhone and Saone through Belgium to Amsterdam then out of the Isslemere and round the islands to Stockholm fairly easily. i have done it in the other direction from Amsterdam and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

Much cheaper and faster than going round the Portuguese coast which I have done a dozen or so times and is all uphill going north... The inland waterways route is far less expensive on fuel and port fees and less demanding on the crew. The rivers are all deep and the main canals on the route are all 1.80mts minimum and even then its a soft muddy bottom

You should not use the Canal due Midi as the effective draft is only 1.4 mtrs and it comes out near Bordeaux leaving a real slog up past La Rochelle to the channel islands.

 

[tiempo]

Thank you @miha90 @Sea Devil

I think I have found the best route for my trip. The gentleman that uploaded this series of videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOSvNfl2qYk&t=788s

made a trip very similar to the one I intend (he was heading for Norway), and also in a bit of a hurry. He is also very a kind person and immediately replied to my questions, confirming that the route he took (exit at Lubeck) is the fastest to the Baltic, so I will probably follow the same route. Next big milestone is to convince my boss to allow me to take unpaid leave for 45 days...

I will keep posting.

Cheers

 

[BurnitBlue]

I have done the Med to Baltic twice, (and back to the med using inland waterways no problem at all)
Rhone to Saone then Canal de l'est to the Mosel (seperate side by side locks), one for with a fee for commercial the other free for recreation, Watch out for the sill, you are on your own in those things, then to Rhine at Koblenz, Down Rhine beware of up-stream Blue Flag barges on the wrong side of the river following least current. Then get off the Rhine at the Dortmund canal to the Mittelland canal take left on the Elbe-Seiten canal, cross the Elbe to the Lubeck canal then exit into the Baltic at Lubeck where the mast can be raised. Job done. Germany is closed (for shops) on a Sunday.

 

[Peter1961]

Here's a great [but rather long] video of a fellow bringing his sailing boat through the canals and inland waterways of Europe to the Baltic. It's in several episodes and gives a good insight into the trip.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOSvNfl2qYk

 

[chrisclaydon]

Consider also the route by sailing east right through the Mediterranean then motoring up the river Danube to join the German canal system. Will be slow motoring against the current in the river though.
45 days is extremely ambitious for any of these routes short-handed. you could consider hiring a delivery skipper for part of the route and then you could take it easy and enjoy yourself for the 45 days you have. You could enjoy sailing the length of the med and let a delivery crew motor up the river.