Commuter Cruising - No thanks.

BlueSkyNick

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Chris Enstone of this forum originated this term, or at least told me that he did. It basically means leaving your boat in a different country, and/or moving her on a few days at a time, and returning to base for work in between trips.

Having recently bought a boat in Spain, lots of people have asked why we want the boat back in the UK instead of leaving her in Spain, Easyjet sailing is cheap they say, weather is better, etc.

Having moved her on to Lisbon, coming back on the plane last night proved that it's not for us, as if I didnt realise before.

Here are 5 top reasons:

1. The main reason is access to the boat - I much prefer being able to pop out sailing for a day, or weekend, or just get on board for a Sunday afternoon pottering and tinkering.

2. Cheap air travel is not pleasant. Big check in queues, immature staff, cramped seating. In Faro airport yesterday, we were surrounded by CHAV pond life, queuing up for expensive junk food, sporting sunburn and bling. Nor is it cheap - we are looking at £200 each to go back out in a couple of weeks time.

3. Travel takes time - a two hour flight becomes a minimum eight hour journey from home to boat. So a long weekend becomes a very short one.

4. When the boat is remote, getting anything done is difficult. Only by being on the spot, can you chat up the right people to do any work to a sufficient standard in the time you need it.

5. The weather is not always perfect, particularly in the Med, where its either F6 or nothing at all. If you have to fit sailing trips in with work, you have to take what weather you get when you go, whereas with the boat at home you can choose your timing easier.

Now for the good bits.

1. The marinas are cheaper. 8Euros per night in Almerimar, but zero security. Now 37Euros per night in Lisbon or 460 per month - so not so cheap.

2. The food and drink is much cheaper - in some places.

3. Um .....?


Of course, others may choose to differ ....
 

Poignard

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That's interesting. I have been thinking of keeping my boat in France and so far have only seen the plus side, so it's good to see the downside of it before deciding what to do.
 

Jonny_H

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Glad the first phase of the move went well!

My folks 'Commuter Sail' - they don't get all the weekend trips they did when the boat was in the UK - but they enjoy the long summer trip more as the weather is in the Med is usually far more predictable than in the UK.

Which is best? Personal preference I suppose.

Jonny
 

Silverado

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Last year we bought a new boat and launched her in the Med and we can't say that we have any regrets. We did seven weeks on her last summer and this summer will probably do the same. Its great fun going from country to country, stopping sightseeing and getting to places we would never have gone to with a reason. At the moment we are in Italy and have seen more of that country than most non-Italians would in a lifetime. Summer we are moving on and will probably finish up in Malta, possibly with a trip to Africa before the winter.
We felt that we had had enough cruising around the British Isles in the cold and wet. It was time for warm weather and warm seas. I'm self employed by the way and organise a lot of the summer free otherwise it would not be possible.
Repairs and fitting out are part of the fun but I keep a racing boat at home as well for sanity (or is it insanity).
The travel and the hassle are always worth it when you wake in the morning to the blazing sunshine and the blue Mediterranean.
 

Searush

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No axe to grind either way (my boat is 120 miles away in Wales - I'm part of the Birmingham Navy).

However, it seems to me that if you can have long breaks for sailing, then long distance travel is less of a problem. If you are stuck with weekends/ odd weeks then "local" sailing is much more likely to suit.
QED /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
 

Richard10002

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[ QUOTE ]
Having moved her on to Lisbon, coming back on the plane last night proved that it's not for us, as if I didnt realise before.

2. Cheap air travel is not pleasant. Big check in queues, immature staff, cramped seating. In Faro airport yesterday, we were surrounded by CHAV pond life, queuing up for expensive junk food, sporting sunburn and bling. Nor is it cheap - we are looking at £200 each to go back out in a couple of weeks time.



[/ QUOTE ]

Nick

You must have flown past Gib and Lagos and seem to have made good time up to Lisbon.

If the boat is in Lisbon, did you have to fly to Faro for a connection, then back to the UK.

Where do you fly from in the UK

have you tried www.skyscanner.net

Agree on the commuting. Even if you can take Friday and monday off, flight prices are higher than midweek, and you hardly get chance to wind down, before you have to wind up again.
 

suse

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Aaaahh - give up work and live on board. I've never enjoyed myself more - varied life, no money, having fun (mostly) - family think Im irresponsible, senile, childish. Makes me laugh - only my son agrees with the motor bike option, but that's because he wants one, too..

S x
 

Lizzie_B

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I think until retirement, most people have to fit their sailing in around their work/family lifestyle.

We keep our boat on the east Coast of the USA. The original plan was to bring her back to the UK, but SWMBO and I sat on the marina in Virginia watching Ospreys fish and couldn't think of one good reason for us to bring her back.

The costs are hugely cheaper. In the UK we could not hope to own the boat we have or stay in a marina of similar quality.
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We save about £5000 a year just on berthing costs alone over the Solent marinas which would be our home sailing area.
Also boats, equipment, yard costs, insurance etc seem much lower in the states as well

That pays for an awful lot of flights, car hire and dinners out.

When we made the decision weekends were our busiest times and least available for sailing.
We are fortunate in having lots of friends and relatives who own boats in the UK, so when we do have a free weekend it's not a problem to go sailing.

They, in return, get the opportunity to sail in the USA.

We used to keep a boat at Haslar and when we coldly analysed the usage we made of it, it was very poor. We tended to make plans for sailing holidays, but they always seemed to get eroded by family and business , or jobs needing doing in the house, etc. Often planned weeks would be whittled down to 3 or 4 days.

With the boat overseas we have to
plan well ahead and book flites and somehow it just seems easier for us to then make ourselves unavailable for all the things that used to get in the way of sailing.

By joining a local sailing club we have created a strong net work of friends who are always happy to help, advise and socialise. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif
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I usually get 4 fortnights a year in an area where to charter with Sunsail is over £3000 a week excluding flites.

My wife, who is more restricted by leave allowances at work will fly out on friday nite to join me, have the whole week and fly back Saturday or Sunday night, so she gets 4 x 8days sailing for 20 days leave.
It works well for us, in our situation and is improving with the increasing absence of kids and seniority at work.

The ideal trips are those tied on to her having a business trip to DC so the company pay her flite costs and she can just tag two weekends and 5 days leave on the end of her business schedule.

The only 'down side' is the kids are beginning to get keen to come sailing with us with the boat in the USA - in their eyes, much more attractive than the Solent!! /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

My wife does a lot of business air travel so we avidly save up air miles and these will usually pay for a couple of flites a year. We find we do more sailing than when we had a boat in the UK.

My cousin keeps his boat in Majorca for the same reasons and finds they use the boat far more than when it was a two hour drive away.

So for us it works really well, but maybe not if you're the sort of person who has lots of free weekends to give to sailing.

I think people have to realistically examine how much they use their boat, how it fits with their lifestyle, and make the decision that best suits.
 

Twister_Ken

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We don't sail in sunnier climes, but do have a shack were the sun shines. Secret is to book flights well ahead (as soon as they go on sale, if poss) for really cheap deals, and be within easy distance of the airports, both ends. You still lose time with check-ins though (worse now than it used to be) and we count 6-7 hours door to door, of which only 90 minutes is airborne, and 90 minutes is getting to/from airports.

We used to try to do long weekends, but we've slowly moved towards fewer, longer visits.
 

graham

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Glad the Lechwe delivery is progressing well.

I know several people here in Cardiff that keep their boats in Milford Haven for the summer.This is very tempting as it puts you in a beautifull area with Ireland only a day sail away etc etc.

We have considered it before but even though its only about 2 hrs away by car or train we would lose all the odd hours we spend on the boat. I can decide to go sailing and slip the mooring under sail 25 minutes later .

These odd hours of chilling out are too valuable to lose IMHO.
 
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