Fuel cost from Southampton to Costa Del Sol in a Sealine 310

[DougH]

I done this trip in May 2009 in a new Sunseeker Manhattan 60 (64 feet long) and had to have 2 experienced fully qualified delivery skippers on board whilst crossing Biscay. (Insurance requirement)

Would I do it again.............................NO

Was it boring........................................EXCEEDINGLY

Was it cheaper.....................................NO

Was it worth the experience..........NO

Did things go wrong.........................YES

Would I do it on an old boat.........NO NO NO

Would I do it like you are thinking............I THINK YOU WOULD BE BARMY

Previous posters have given you very good advice that I suggest you take.

Why not hire a boat in the Med and try the life first.

 

[Nigelpickin]

I'm not sure that the Atlantic coast of Portugal is worth the diesel. From Bayonne to Lagos isn't a particularly interesting cruising ground.

All IMHO of course.

Garold

Having doe this trip, as far as Vilamoura last year, I couldn't agree less!
But I wouldn't do it in a 30' boat....

Northern Spain, Galicia and the Rias, Porto, the Douro river and then Cascais and Lisbon are all worth a visit and offer more than South West Brittany in terms of Friendly Marinas, spectacular scenery, anchorages and good weather.

We didn't see any 100' waves on our trip but of course - we checked the weather before setting off

I feel that by the time the OP includes fuel/marinas/repairs it will be around a 10k bill to go on the boat.

 

[IDAMAY]

I'm not sure that the Atlantic coast of Portugal is worth the diesel. From Bayonne to Lagos isn't a particularly interesting cruising ground.

All IMHO of course.

Garold

Whilst I wouldn't do that trip in a Sealine 310, I have been as far as Santander in a Sealine 42/5 and am currently in the rias of north west Spain. It's very much like Norway with warm weather and a superb cruising area. You don't see many (if any) UK motor boats hereabouts but it is well worth the trouble if passing this way. The coast from Santander to Gijon doesn't have too many bolt holes but they aren't entirely non existent. I would tend to agree with your view about the coast of Portugal south of Vigo but not Bayonne to Vigo.

 

[wellf100]

there's a few cruise reports on the forum detailing this type of trip. Hurricane's spring to mind and will definitely be linked in the Cruise Report sticky. Also there's John Boyle's recent reverse trip documented on the ybwtv youtube channel. However all these were in new boats 40ft+ and i think John in his new V39 had to sit out days in marinas waiting for weather windows. There'a also lots of examples of long and precarious trips being undertaken in much smaller boats (ribs etc) but only by very experienced boaters with modern equipment.

I'd love to do it but only with plenty of experience in coastal cruising, a modernish 40ft+ boat in which I had confidence in the mechanics and the luxury of no time or budget pressures so that sitting out bad weather in marina's doesn't become stressful!

 

[julians]

I did that trip (well as far as gibraltar) in an old (30 ish years) 34 foot sailing ketch. Biscay itself was as flat as a pancake,no wind whatsoever,but it got pretty rough round cape trafalgar.

The boat developed a few problems on the way, the biggest being a leak in the rudder tube,which meant we had to manually pump the water out when it got to the level of the floor board in the cabin, whicg was approx every 2 hours.

It wasnt much fun though, i wouldnt recommend it with the family unless theyre especially hardy.

 

[oldgit]

Could one respectfully add that the Sealine 310 is possibly not the finest all weather boat out there ?

 

[Dutch01527]

I would be much happier in a blue water sailing boat. Sails are the number one means of power, engine is a back up.

On a motor boat there is no fall back. I own both. My 26ft twin Volvo Penta Drago motor cruiser is based at our home on the River Severn. We had an minor issue last year on the River which killed both engines. Not a major problem, we dropped the anchor and got towed into our berth. It took a few hours alongside to identify an earth fault - the earth bolt had vibrated loose. No electricity to electric fuel pumps, engines die.

At sea that would have been a major issue and could have killed us if it happened close to a lee shore. On a sailing boat we could have probably sailed clear.

 

[tom52]

There is a very high probability that at some point during the voyage you are considering, you will terrify your family and they will never go boating again.
IMHO canals or low loader are your realistic options.
If you opt for the canal route, unless you choose your weather carefully for the Channel crossing you could still terrify your family even on such a relatively short open sea passage.

L

 

[doug748]

Hi all,

I'm in the process of buying a Sealine 310 Statesman fitted with twin Volvo Penta AD41/DP (200 HP) engines, and will be taking it down to the Marbella, Fuengirola, Malaga area once everything goes through with a bit of luck

..........

If I had to do it I would go via Bordeaux and through the Dordogne, great wine country.
You could even cut through the Brittany canals (more muddy ditches but plenty of saily boats do it - subject to boat dimensions of course) from St Malo to Arzal. So maybe six days at sea could see you in the south of France.

However, I agree with the others, not for me. It would be a great adventure for the experienced but the chances are that new crew would hate it and be put off forever.

 

[Montemar]

There is a very high probability that at some point during the voyage you are considering, you will terrify your family and they will never go boating again.
L

+1

 

[KINGFISHER 9]

Truck it! .... as dear old Murray Walker used to say "Anything can happen and it usually does!" ... don't even consider it by sea. Maybe canals but that's a hell of a slog as well. All those locks? No thanks!

 

[Momac]

I am not familiar with the 310 Statesman but I think it might just be capable of going through the French canals. I know of a F33 that has done it (with the radar arch lowered when appropriate).................... and also the appropriate route has to be taken. Possibly the 310 would need to be modified to allow the arch to be lowered ?

 

[CX54WEK]

Some friends of ours are currently on a similar trip in their Sealine 310 Ambassador.

They went across from Lowestoft to Holland and have since made their way down through Belgium and France through the canal system. They are now on the Med.

They started the trip this time last year and had from memory 8 weeks out there before leaving the boat out there for the winter. They went back last month for 8 weeks and will be back in July leaving the boat out there again for the winter.

They are thoroughly enjoying themselves.

 

[Prima]

Thank you all for the replies, I would have replied earlier but I didn't get any email notification of the responses.

Anyway, every single one of your comments has certainly been worth reading and informative, and I think having digested them all I will either be having it trailered down, or better still if I can find something reasonably priced and in good condition, buy one in Spain...

 

[oldgit]

BoatShift quoted a very competitive price to move a boat from Portugal to UK not that long ago.
Much better price by far than all the other outfits.

 

[Prima]

BoatShift quoted a very competitive price to move a boat from Portugal to UK not that long ago.
Much better price by far than all the other outfits.

Thank you, I will check them out

 

[Prima]

BoatShift quoted a very competitive price to move a boat from Portugal to UK not that long ago.
Much better price by far than all the other outfits.

Just been quoted £6,250 PLUS vat Southampton to Malaga..... and that is dependant upon them having a vehicle travelling to Spain for collection. Not exactly what I call competittive, but thanks for pointing them out to me

 

[jrudge]

Does not sound too bad. I went form La Rochell to Barcelona for similar money.

It is a long long way!

 

[Prima]

Does not sound too bad. I went form La Rochell to Barcelona for similar money.

It is a long long way!

It's £650 more than I was quoted by boattransport.co.uk who quoted £5,600 +VAT... and that wasn't "dependant upon them already having a vehicle travelling to Spain for collection", which to be honest I found rather a cheeky comment of them to slip in.

 

[Andy Bav]

It's £650 more than I was quoted by boattransport.co.uk who quoted £5,600 +VAT... and that wasn't "dependant upon them already having a vehicle travelling to Spain for collection", which to be honest I found rather a cheeky comment of them to slip in.

Busy time of year for them I guess - so they can charge a premium. We have used Boatshift from TQY to SCM for much less that what you have been quoted, and done a round trip from "the Midlands" to SCM and back for a couple of K more than the quote you have been given for one single trip. That said, we managed to create a competitive bidding situation for the first move, and for the second were a repeat customer.

For me, I would budget GBP5k + GBP500, but I know someone who has done Portsmouth to SCM (for a smaller boat - but not much) for sub GBP4k.

We found that early requests for quotes yielded quite high numbers, but as our commitment, and delivery date, drew closer quotes for both competing companies reduced... The Dutch shipping company we contacted didn't even respond to an e.mail...