Buing small in the Med

[gpascoe]

Hi -

Any tips on buying in France, Italy or Greece a small, cheap and tough sailboat? Dealers, designs, etc?

Not looking to break rules and get people to tell me about specific sales: I want to buy a small (20 - 28foot) cheap sailboat in Europe. I've been looking at Hurley 22s and Halcyon 23s in the UK which would do the job but getting to the med will either take a lot of canal time or be an expensive road trip. Any tips on buying in France, Italy or Greece a small, cheap and tough sailboat? Dealers, designs, etc?

cheers
Gavin

 

[bamspm]

I had a Jeanneau 20 foot 'Flirt' in the South of France for several years. I paid about £2,500. Tough little boat about 20 years old, no osmosis. Fairly basic though.

As marina places are so difficult to get, people who want to upgrade seem prepared to sell at a reasonable price. Try local clubs and small ads.

 

[brownsox]

We read a forum posting that said help - how can I sell my boat in France?
We were in France. We bought it, and now ours is for sale. It's on the Gironde. See the Trapper forum if interested. http://tallshipsailing.co.uk/trapperyachts/yabb/YaBB.pl
Apols if anyone is offended but I can't see any reason not to make this posting.

 

[gpascoe]

Thanks BrianM and Brownsox. Basic is good, as it is cheaper and fewer things go wrong! The trappers I see are too expensive for me - I'm looking £2-3000.

Might be a question of browsing the Marinas over there I suppose.

 

[Abigail]

Re: Buing small in the Med - Port St Louis du Rhone

We have pulled in to Port St Louis and our boat (our usual home) is on the hard there while we earn some dosh. The striking thing about Port St Louis is that there are 2 huge dry boat yards stuffed with boats of all shapes and sizes, many of which are probably going v cheap. Some are through the brokers (Ancasta) with appropriate mark-ups but there are many others which just have a 'vende' sign and a telephone number.

A good wander around boat yards such as this might be a really good way to find a nice cheap boat already in France. I'm sure other cruisers in Italy, Greece etc will know equivalent places. It's particularly striking in Port St Louis because (i) it has such a large amount of cheap dry storage that there are loads of 'forgotten' boats seeking new love and (ii) it's right at the mouth of the canal system, where some people come to a pretty permanent halt.

The back of British boatyards for the unloved boats is always a good thing too (that's how I bought my first boat, a Halcyon 23), but there's fewer of them, a narrower range and possibly dearer too.

 

[alan]

You could try having a look at the "For Sale" pages in "Bolina".
www.bolina.it
mercatino on-line
cabinati a vela
cerco

This is one of the Italian boating magazines and has free inserts for non-commercial sellers/buyers. If you find something interesting, then P.M. me if you would like me to call them to find out more.

Alan