Flares in Portimao

[Sandyman]

Someone posted the other day that flares are available from a store in Portimao.
Anyone know further details?
German friends wish to return home with there boat after 5 years on the hard
and all there flares are well out of date.

 

[Heckler]

Someone posted the other day that flares are available from a store in Portimao.
Anyone know further details?
German friends wish to return home with there boat after 5 years on the hard
and all there flares are well out of date.

I got mine from John in Ayamar in Ayamonte, best prices around.
Stu

 

[Sandyman]

Tks for that Stu. Apparently John has left Ayamar & its now being run by a Spaniard with zero experience of the marine industry.

 

[GrahamM376]

Sandy, an alternative is Isla Christina, couple of fishing boat chandlers there. G.

 

[GHA]

Sopromar have a chancellery up in the boatyard area, eye watering prices like their Lagos shop - but would probably get them in with a phone call if not on the shelf.
Ayamar might well be cheaper, I got bits couple months ago there , John was still in the shop and the other guy seemed keen to please and nice enough (if that's the new guy) - might be worth a chat there, not like there's loads of options to get wrong.

 

[Fr J Hackett]

I was going to say don't wear them but as it's a serious thread I won't

 

[Heckler]

Tks for that Stu. Apparently John has left Ayamar & its now being run by a Spaniard with zero experience of the marine industry.

I spoke to John the other week on the phone from La Linea.
He was doing the biz then!
Stu

 

[GrahamM376]

Sopromar have a chancellery up in the boatyard area, eye watering prices like their Lagos shop - but would probably get them in with a phone call if not on the shelf.
Ayamar might well be cheaper, I got bits couple months ago there , John was still in the shop and the other guy seemed keen to please and nice enough (if that's the new guy) - might be worth a chat there, not like there's loads of options to get wrong.

Problem in Portugal is that it's illegal to buy/sell flares without written permission from the police on production of boat documents. Rumour has it that someone in Portimao is supplying without.

 

[nortada]

Understand that the RYA is actively seeking authorisation for U.K. Flagged vessels to dispense with pyrotechnics in favour of the electronic alternative.

Not before time as flares in the hands of the inexperienced in a state of emergency is another disaster just waiting to happen.

 

[Sandyman]

Problem in Portugal is that it's illegal to buy/sell flares without written permission from the police on production of boat documents. Rumour has it that someone in Portimao is supplying without.

Didn't know that Graham. Is that the PM ? Is there a standard form or do they just give you a chitty ?

 

[GrahamM376]

Didn't know that Graham. Is that the PM ? Is there a standard form or do they just give you a chitty ?

Don't know as we've always bought ours from John or the chandlers at Isla Christina. Another alternative is to have Algarve Freight bring them out from UK. Last time we replaced them, we handed the old ones in to the PM in Faro and they didn't ask if we had obtained new or where from.

 

[greeny]

Last time I bought flares in Portimao I had to get a signed form from the marine police office in Portimao before Ondanautica would supply them to me. I needed to produce the boat documents to get this form signed. Police office took the old ones off me and didn't require any paperwork for this. This was 8yrs ago.
Since then I've been taking a trip to Ayamonte and getting them off John, the old ones I still take to the police office in Portimao and give them in. Didn't know John had left the shop in Ayamonte but I assume they can still supply flares as before? Does anyone know as I need to replace some again this summer.
Greeny

 

[damsis44]

We tried to buy flares in Ondanautica on the yard at Portimao last week, they said it was now impossible to buy flares in Portugal for leisure craft! They also said it was illegal to sell them without written permission of Maritime Police, so they didn't stock them any more. We didn't try Sopramar based on this information. We did however hand our expired flares over to the office manager at the Estaleiro da Marina de Portimao who said he would pass them to said police for safe disposal.

 

[greeny]

"impossible to buy flares in Portugal for leisure craft" I'm not sure how this can be true as "in date" flares are a legal requirement for pleasure boats in Portugal. Probably more likely that ondanautica can't be bothered with the beaurocracy any more and don't stock them. I'm back down there this week and I'll find out then. I know the guys in Ondanautica and Sopramar quite well and I'll try to get to the bottom of it. Having said that, I'll probably still go to Ayamonte for mine due to the likely difference in prices. I'll also find out if David at the estaleiro will take the old ones off me. It'll be handy if he does.

 

[GrahamM376]

Probably more likely that ondanautica can't be bothered with the beaurocracy any more and don't stock them.

As you say, flares are a legal requirement there so suspect your comment above sums it up. Someone in Portimao (don't have a name) repacks life rafts and they must have a supply on the shelf.

 

[damsis44]

"impossible to buy flares in Portugal for leisure craft" I'm not sure how this can be true as "in date" flares are a legal requirement for pleasure boats in Portugal. Probably more likely that ondanautica can't be bothered with the beaurocracy any more and don't stock them. I'm back down there this week and I'll find out then. I know the guys in Ondanautica and Sopramar quite well and I'll try to get to the bottom of it. Having said that, I'll probably still go to Ayamonte for mine due to the likely difference in prices. I'll also find out if David at the estaleiro will take the old ones off me. It'll be handy if he does.

Probably true that Ondanautica can't be bothered with the bureacracy, but not sure about the legal requirement to have flares on a leisure craft, my (albeit limited) understanding is that IF you have flares they HAVE to be in date, ie 'out of date' flares are illegal and liable to get you fined.
Yes, it was David that took ours off us for disposal.

 

[GrahamM376]

not sure about the legal requirement to have flares on a leisure craft,

Legal requirement to carry them for foreign boats there >6 months and all Portuguese registered boats. Qty and type varies depending on vessel classification.