Croatia/Greece Motorboating

[SailorSam]

I am looking at buying a second hand Searay (270 or 290) in Croatia or Greece and keeping it in a marina there. Does anyone have any experience of doing this and can give me some steers on good marinas etc.

If i choose to go from Croatia to Corfu via Albania is this difficult or is Albania open?

 

[hlb]

I looked at this some time ago. I've charted rag thingies round Corfu. First problem is. It's very difficult to get flights to Corfu or remote areas of Greece or Croasia. Out of holiday season. So means flying to Athens and then ???. Unless things have changed remarkably in the last two years. DONT go anywhere near Albania. There were problems with pirots coming over to Corfu, its only about a mile across, and nicking boats. Think if you went to Albania with a boat you'd be lucky to come away with life and boat!!
Other than that Corfu and the greek islands ara a great place to keep a boat., and very cheap to.

No one can force me to come here-----------
----- I'm a Volunteer!!!

Haydn

 

[DavidJ]

During my search for a secondhand Sealine S37, (I ended up buying new) I went across to Greece to have a look at a couple. Be a bit careful because there are a few scams like owners avoiding VAT (or Greek equivalent) by claiming that the boats are for charter.
However there are plenty of well priced boats around and in a wonderful setting. If you want a contact in Athens just send me a PM.
David

 

[MapisM]

I'd suggest to consider Split as a location.
The marina is good, the town nice and reasonably serviced by regular flights.
Most important, Kornati park and some other very nice islands (Lastovo is one of my preferred, with very good anchorage points) are within easy reach.
A swim in bisevo is just unforgettable (N 42.58.700 E 16.01.400).
You won't miss the greek coasts.
Which can be reached anyhow, when you are not in a hurry...
...but why should you, when boating ?!?
No direct experience with Albania, but I would not recommend it.

 

[Guest]

Hi,
We've been based at Gouvia Marina on Corfu for the past 2 years and have largely enjoyed the experience.
The people in the little town of Kontakali adjoining the marina are very friendly and welcoming.
My top recommendations would be Peter Papageorgiou at Force 5 chandlery in Kontakali, you will be hard pushed to find a more knowledgable man on boats of any description, anywhere in Europe, let alone Corfu.
For a bit of nightlife, Miltos and Maria at 'G&M's' Bar, big enough for dancing but small enough to still be welcoming. A good night out at a very reasonable cost.

The Marina has almost all the facilities you would expect to find in a large Marina of this sort and generally speaking it is a good place to be. A call on '69' will bring out one of the marina ribs to help you in.
The only major problem we have encountered there, is with the office administration, which this last winter descended into complete chaos. So keep a good record of any transactions that you make, you may well need them!!

Albania is a complete, NO GO AREA, as has been mentioned already by Hadyn, if you are coming round from the north of Corfu keep as well as is safe, to the island coast. At it's narrowest point it is only about a mile across, this area is constantly patrolled by fast Greek Gunboats watching for people trying to leave Albania and as mentioned elsewhere, pirates apparently. Fortunately, we have never encountered any of the above.
I also have to say that in my 2 years at Gouvia I have not heard of any craft being stolen, maybe that's because of the fast patrol boats that can outrun anything found in the marina!
The website for the marina is: www.gouviamarina.gr
Access to Corfu in the summer season between May and late October is relatively simple with charter flights available from almost every major airport in the UK.
Winter is a completelly different story! Plenty of flights to Athens with BA, EasyJet & Olympic, flights to Corfu with AegeanCronus or Olympic again, unfortunately connection times are very long or impossibly short!! Olympic has a habit of cancelling if the loads are light so beware.

We are moving down to the new Marina at Lefkas this year, can't recommend it yet, because I haven't seen it! but from what I have heard it sounds very promising. It is owned by the same partnership that has Gouvia, they are aware of the 'gouvia situation' and assure us they willnot make the same mistakes with the Admin. Oh Well!!

One final point about this area, it beauty lies in the vastness of space for a relatively small amount of boats, the little villages and bays are wonderful. Unfortunately, where facilities are available eg water, fuel etc, these areas do get very crowded indeed, so if you want to get in you have to be there very early in the afternoon. Keeping water supplies topped up in these areas, is a bigger problem than getting fuel.
If you have space for an extra water tank or a water- maker I would be inclined to fit one.
Also, the waters in these areas are very clean, please make sure the boat you buy has a holding tank, and please use it when in bays and harbours.
It makes me mad when I see a murky cloud appearing in the clear water, accompanied by that well known pumping sound, when at anchor!!

Enjoy Greece its a great place to be!!

Peter.

 

[SailorSam]

Thnaks for the thoughts - aim to fly to Split in next 2 weeks to have a look. Couple of questions: What is the weather like in July August and are there plenty of beaches suitable for young children?

 

[MapisM]

First of all, sorry for the late feedback. I did not mark the "Email replies" checkbox!
Hope you will read this before your flight to Split.
The weather reports are normally available and updated daily in every marina.
July is usually the best month overall; August is also great, just a few more chances of occasional thunderstorms.
With regard to beaches, well, I usually look for well protected bays, good places for moorings, clear and not crowded waters. Therefore, I tend to avoid beaches....
But definitely there are some; just as an example, I remember a small bay with a nice beach perfect for children on the western side of the Bisevo island which I mentioned in my previous post, just opposite to the bay of which I gave you the L/L co-ordinates.
I also saw beaches here and there on the coast, but I could not give you details on them. For sure, they are more crowded than the islands, also because most of the islands can only be reached by private boat. The ferries are servicing just the bigger ones.
Let me know your impressions after your trip to Split!
Ciao, Mario.