First Steps to Checking the Med

[Nick_H]

I will get a lot less boating in cos swmbo won't keep going to same place on holiday

I don't follow that. The whole point of a boat is that you can always go different places for your holiday, regardless of whether you're based in UK or Med. We are in SoF, and can choose to spend our holiday in cote d'azur, west to Porquerolles and the Calanques, east to Italian riviera, south to Corsica, further south to Sardinia, or SE to Tuscany, all within a few hours cruise. You could happily spend two or three holidays in most of those areas without feeling like you're going over old ground, so that's 10-15 years cruising sorted! If you need more variety, even the Balearics are only a days cruise away.

 

[oldgit]

To call that a jaundiced view doesn't even come close. I think maybe you chose all the wrong parts of the med all on the wrong days.

You may well be right.

 

[jfm]

the wind makes it impossible to go round the corner to a usually packed anchorage where the only view is of 30 other identical boats (probably all from your marina) desperately trying not to get their anchor chains across the anchor chains of all the other boats.
As for sea temp the hordes of jelly fish also appreciate the temperatures....
As for beautiful anchorages if you seen one dull brown coast shimmering in the blistering heat,you have probably seen them all.
.

I love these threads too. Oldgit, I took the picture below on Friday 2nd august 2013 - ultra high season, 5 miles from Propriano in Corsica. There were about 10 other boats anchored on my starboard side, but none of them close to each other. Zero jellyfish. Water glossy flat all day and 27 degrees. Just sayin...

Actually it is possible to find crummy places in the Med if you don't know where to go, but just ask on this forum for the nice places.

 

[oldgit]

Just sayin...

You are absolutely right JFM.

Oldgit..... an expert on sitting in desolate departure lounges at 0.30 AM with 200 other people waiting for the return flight to actually leave Gatwick and catching strange sniffles from fellow passengers to pass the time .

 

[pan]

Late July 2013…. strong easterly blowing! Nice sheltered mooring… wonder where all the others are?

 

[Portofino]

Early Sept few miles west of Toulon -alllllllllllllllllllll by ourselves + nice restaurant in the pine trees

Lone swimmer -wife

Buoyed off area - anchoring not allowed inaside

Bow points S - to Corsica

Wildlife

Forgot to mention Oldgit -boats even got outdrives -- eek ,and it in the Med - two of your nemesis together

 

[pan]

This is fun….. think 'oldgit' might need more photos to persuade him that the 00.30 flight might be worth it …. come on Med boaters

 

[Wansworth]

Over the years @ airports waiting for departure when the flights for " Spain " are called or boarding ,( happy to stand corrected ) but it seems to me all the people who wear football shirts ,bear tattoos ,drinking pints , and seem fat stand up and proced to the gate .
I have wondered based on this what exactly these places are like ?
Just a " social " observation really - I realise not PC these days , and I will get flamed for being honest

don ave any of that stuff here,mate......

 

[MapisM]

'oldgit' might need more photos to persuade him that the 00.30 flight might be worth it …. come on Med boaters

Ok, this has actually been posted already, but it fits the purpose nicely.
Taken on Aug 8th, at the very peak of the season.
Zero other boats in sight, and re. jellyfishes, well, the video speaks for itself...

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

You are 100% correct oldgit that if you book now for the weekend, on a busy route, it will be expensive in the context of a normal family budget, esp if x4 in the family. But that's because you are CHOOSING to do it the most epxnesive way you can

It should be pointed out that last week was school half term and prices always shoot up so not representative of normal flight costs although these have gone up generally over the years due to fuel cost increases and the disgraceful APD tax. Actually, we have been flying to our boat in the Med for about 10yrs and now I never book months in advance unless its for our long hols when we definitely know the dates we are going. I used to book months in advance but all too often we ended up wasting the flights because something important came up in the UK or occasionally, the weather in the Med wasn't playing ball. These days I'll be checking flight costs and availability daily from about 3-4 weeks out but I won't actually book until a few days before our trip when I'm sure we're going. I may pay a few quid more but at least we're not wasting the flights any more. IMHO this works better during Spring and Autumn when flights are always cheaper anyway and there's more chance that the weather will stop you going

 

[KevB]

Isle Wight Oct 6 2013. Thing is I could be back in the same spot in just a couple of hours with no hassle if I wanted. Couldn't do that if my boat was in the Med....


View attachment 36711

Med is fine if your boat is just used as an away from uk place to stay but no good if you use it often. If the weather is $hite I can choose not to go to the boat, you don't have that luxury if you've had tp plane well ahead to get to the Med.

I go to southern Spain at least 6 times a year and can almost guarantee that two of those occasions the weather will be iffy.

So all in all it's down to how much you want to visit your boat.

 

[Nick_H]

So all in all it's down to how much you want to visit your boat.

That's a gross over simplification of course.

The best situation for using a med boat is to have flexible work times (or be retired), no school age kids, live near London for flight availability, and be wealthy enough to afford regular flights and to pay others to look after your boat. If most or all of these apply, then you will get a lot more use out of your boat if its based in the South of France than you will in an average year if it's based in the UK, unless you boat in absolutely any weather in the UK.

On the other hand if you work 9-5, live in Truro, and do all your own work on the boat, then you'd get very little benefit out of a med based boat, and are much better picking your days here.

 

[KevB]

That's a gross over simplification of course.

The best situation for using a med boat is to have flexible work times (or be retired), no school age kids, live near London for flight availability, and be wealthy enough to afford regular flights and to pay others to look after your boat. If most or all of these apply, then you will get a lot more use out of your boat if its based in the South of France than you will in an average year if it's based in the UK, unless you boat in absolutely any weather in the UK.

On the other hand if you work 9-5, live in Truro, and do all your own work on the boat, then you'd get very little benefit out of a med based boat, and are much better picking your days here.

+1

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

Can I join in? This (rubbish phone camera) photo was taken on 25 October 2013, off Cap d'Antibes. The boat is Nick_h's P57, and shortly after I took this photo I swam over there and (generously, I thought) helped Nick destock his rosé collection...

Cheers
Jimmy

 

[Nick_H]

Can I join in? This (rubbish phone camera) photo was taken on 25 October 2013, off Cap d'Antibes. The boat is Nick_h's P57, and shortly after I took this photo I swam over there and (generously, I thought) helped Nick destock his rosé collection...
Cheers
Jimmy

The level of "de-stocking" on that particular day was like a new year's sale at Currys!

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

That's a gross over simplification of course.

The best situation for using a med boat is to have flexible work times (or be retired), no school age kids, live near London for flight availability, and be wealthy enough to afford regular flights and to pay others to look after your boat. If most or all of these apply, then you will get a lot more use out of your boat if its based in the South of France than you will in an average year if it's based in the UK, unless you boat in absolutely any weather in the UK.

On the other hand if you work 9-5, live in Truro, and do all your own work on the boat, then you'd get very little benefit out of a med based boat, and are much better picking your days here.

Good summary. The one thing that killed UK boating for us was the sheer number of days we would spend on the boat not able to go anywhere because of the weather. Whilst we spent far more days on our boat in the UK than we do now in the Med, I reckon we actually spent fewer days at sea and for us that is the main reason we put up with the hassle of Med boating. Last year we spent only 45 days on our boat in Croatia but were not weatherbound on any of those days. That's a bit unusual even for the Med but in the UK, we could only have dreamt about that kind of statistic

 

[lanerboy]

That's a gross over simplification of course.

The best situation for using a med boat is to have flexible work times (or be retired), no school age kids, live near London for flight availability, and be wealthy enough to afford regular flights and to pay others to look after your boat. If most or all of these apply, then you will get a lot more use out of your boat if its based in the South of France than you will in an average year if it's based in the UK, unless you boat in absolutely any weather in the UK.

On the other hand if you work 9-5, live in Truro, and do all your own work on the boat, then you'd get very little benefit out of a med based boat, and are much better picking your days here.

that is very well put and I agree with it 100%

 

[Hurricane]

Bit late joining in on this one but even though the OP was all about my home marina, we get around some beautiful places and the weather is so much better than our old "stamping grounds" of the Solent.

This was an absolutely perfect anchorage earlier this year during our 7 week stay in Mallorca

and this was a secluded little beach - just us

And then a late season cruise to somewhere completely different - berthed up for a week right next to a roof top swimming pool

We've been at Sant Carles since it opened and it has proved to be an excellent center for cruising the Western Med
Would we go back to UK boating - probably not - for us the Med is cheap and accessible

BTW did the OP join in the Halloween party at Sant Carles - that party is so popular that they have to run two of them of separate nights.

 

[oldgit]

Methinkstheyallprotestalittletoomuch.

 

[stillwaters]

Methinkstheyallprotestalittletoomuch.

They probably don't have anything better to do now the Med temperatures have slipped below 25 degrees.