Buying / Keeping a boat in Greece

[gordon029]

Evening all I am exploring the idea of buying a boat in Greece and leaving it there for extended holidays and was wondering if anyone on here would like to give me some information on the logistics of doing this. I am thinking of the Ionian area ,probably on a marina (unless there is a better idea).The size I am thinking of is somewhere between 28 and 36 ft.Is it better to leave it in the water all year and just take it out when it need the usual underwater jobs done? So any information would be helpful to me so I can decide if I would be better off buying a share in a syndicate or going it alone.
Many thanks for reading

 

[Resolution]

Several of us have boats in Greece or Turkey so you should be able to tap some real experience. It would help to know more about you and the kind of sailing you want to be doing. Are you sailing solo. with partner only, or with larger numbers of family or friends? Do you want lonely sailing or to be with a crowd? Age and fitness? Loadsa money or none?

On my side, I moved to the Med two years ago and have greatly enjoyed long periods of sailing each year. We keep the boat in a lovely marina north of Bodrum, in the water all year except for a week to lift, scrape and service.
In the summer heat space on board is valuable, so I would advise going for as large a yacht as you can afford and handle.
Over to others for Greek comments.

 

[duncan99210]

OK. My thoughts on the topic. Buying in Greece is simple enough as English is widely spoken, indeed many of the local brokers are expats. Quite a buyers market out there at the moment so you may be able to pick up a bargain. Make sure you have evidence of the VAT status of the boat as well as registry as well as the usual survey reports etc.

Keeping the boat out there. When we lived on board, we kept the boat in the water year round, staying in marinas over the winter. We used Gouvia on Corfu one winter and Messilonghi another year. We now keep the boat in Ionion yard at Preveza as we aren't living on board full time at the moment.

Gouvia is relatively expensive (€3000 pa for 10m) and also expensive for lift in/lift out (€590 ish) in comparison to say Messilonghi (€2000 pa + €350 hoisting) but the facilities in Gouvia are much better. It's also easy to get to year round (budget airlines in season, Aegean Air for the rest of the time) whereas Messilonghi is a five hour trip from Athens whatever time of year.

An alternative is using one of the yards at Preveza. They're cheaper than the marinas, lifting charges are about €300 and some of them throw in a cheap second lift in to the offer, so you can have two launches in the year for little extra cost. If you use Cleopatra, they'll launch your boat for you and moor it in their marina for you to sail away. Access during the season is easy with Preveza airport half a mile down the road.

The Ionian is seriously crowded during July and August, although there are places to go which are not too over busy. Alternatively you can pay off round the Peloponnese which is outside the reach of the flotilla and charter fleets.

Have a look at the blog for more info from the past few years of our wanderings.

 

[Tranona]

Echo much of what has been said already. 28' is on the small side even for holidaying. Mid 30 feet is a much more useful and popular size. You don't say what your budget is as this can obviously have an impact on what you buy. A syndicate is a good idea if you only want limited use of the boat, but not easy to find a well run one of like minded people. You really need o look at minimum 8-10 weeks a year to justify sole ownership, but for 3-4 weeks a year a syndicate makes sense.

An alternative - and the way we did it - is a charter management deal which gives you reasonable usage of the boat without the hassle of managing it. one big advantage is that you just arrive, use the boat then hand it back at the end of your holiday. A danger with your own boat is that you spend time fixing things instead of enjoying your holiday, particularly if you buy an older boat. Main downside of charter management is that you own the boat at the end of the contract, so it is a long term project.

Suggest you talk to Chris Hawes of Yacht Fractions who specialises in the area and can talk you through the options including syndicates, charter management or outright purchase of new or used boats.

 

[vyv_cox]

Most of it has been said but here are a few extras:

Buying in Greece is definitely cheaper than in UK but go for a boat that is better suited to the climate than many older UK designs. Ben/Jen/Bav designs are very popular not only because they tend to be cheaper but because they are designed for this location and suit it very well. Little point in buying a heavy blue water boat with tiny windows and hatches for cruising the Ionian.

Marinas are rare and tend to be expensive in the Ionian. If visiting for a couple of extended holidays I would go for dry sailing, lifting and launching at one of the Preveza yards or maybe elsewhere. Near an airport has big advantages, as public transport in Greece is mostly buses and ferries that take a long time.

 

[gordon029]

Thank you all for the mountain of information you have given me. I had a look at some of the boats on offer around the 36 ft length and there is no shortage on offer in my price range but following a suggestion I will talk to yacht fractions and see where that takes me. I do prefer Greece in the shoulder seasons when it is a little cooler and a little quieter . In an answer to a question it will be mainly my wife and I using it . Any further comments are very welcome and thanks again to those who took the time to respond.