Getting a boat back to the UK

[Flyfloat]

Following some useful advice on this forum we are now searching for a used Fairline Phantom 50. It is clear from some of the other threads that there are good deals to be had in Europe. Coupled with the weakening euro the search is now including Spain, Italy and France.

I have heard all kinds of different anecdotes on how to bring the boat back once acquired. Most advice suggests that to bring a 10-12 year boat back by road is ill advised as there is a need to break down the superstructure which will cause damage and could cause the boat to leak in the future. Putting it on a ship seems to alleviate this but is considerably more expensive.

Does anyone have any advice / experience of doing this?

I am interested in how much of the boat must come off to get under bridges, I had assumed only the radar arch?
Will it really cause future issues
How often do the ships sail (i.e will summer be over before I get the boat back)
Does anyone have any anecdotal costs they could share?

Target is to acquire the boat in the next few weeks and have it back in the UK by June.

 

[oldgit]

Following some useful advice on this forum we are now searching for a used Fairline Phantom 50. It is clear from some of the other threads that there are good deals to be had in Europe. Coupled with the weakening euro the search is now including Spain, Italy and France.

Most advice suggests that to bring a 10-12 year boat back by road is ill advised as there is a need to break down the superstructure which will cause damage and could cause the boat to leak in the future.
Will it really cause future issues

Hundreds of boats crossing Europe every year many a lot more ancient than that with no problems whatsoever .
As for leaks...presume it was an agent involved with sending boats by ship spinning that yarn. ?..
Boat coming by road will be a day or two in transit.

 

[jrudge]

Given you are coming in the wrong direction (and depending on where the boat is) you may ( may!) find a ship to be economical.

The main players that I know of a Peters and May and Sevenstar. Give them a call and ask. The ships are running now.

The main destinations are I believe Gibraltar, Palma and Genoa.

From Southhampton Palma on a 65 foot boat last August was Euro 25,000.

I can't really see the issue of breaking the boat down for shipping by road. Just make sure than once you get a road quote you add in the breakdown , build up and lift costs at both ends so that you are comparing like for like. The amount that will need to come off is down to the allowable road height and on a P50 that will probably mean most of the flybridge. Call Boats.co.uk - they will tell you.

If by road you could get it dropped off on the north french coast would would save the ferry cost.

A rather better idea would be to leave it in the med and spend the money on Diesel. The weather is better and the mooring will cost you less than the solent. I can't really imagine telling my family "hey we are all of to Southampton for our holidays".

 

[Flyfloat]

Thanks Oldgit.

On each occasion it has been the brokers recommending that used med boats are shipped rather than trucked

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

I've moved my boat twice by road between the UK and SoF, and intend to do it again in a couple of months time.

Everything on the arch will need to come off - goalpost, radar, aerials - but none of this is a big deal. I'd be surprised if the arch itself had to come off - a fellow forumite had his Sq58 brought down on a truck and iirc it didn't need to have the arch removed.

I'd expect you to find road transport hugely cheaper than any other method of bringing the boat back. The obvious thing to do here is ask the transport companies themselves what their requirements are. I use Coast 2 Coast.

 

[jfm]

By road is the sensible answer. Ship will cost a lot, and the fact it is northbound wont save you much because port and crane fees are a large part of the cost and don't reduce if you're going against the flow.

Radar arch and maybe windscreen will likely come off. Don't worry - this happens all the time and Fairline built the boat for it with electrical connections that can be undone. Props and rudders also come off. no big deal. (Jimmy, i'd be very surprised if the radar mast wasn't removed on a Sq58 and electrically/mechanically it makes more sense to remove the whole mast than just the s/steel frame work at top of it)

But as Jrudge said above, why on earth do this? Use the boat in the Med - it's so much nicer and it's already there!

 

[Flyfloat]

Hi Jrudge and JFM, much as would love to use the boat in the med this will have to wait until kids are older and no saturday school clogging up the weekends. I am lucky that Hamble is only an hour away. If I keep it in the Med i'm gonna need a faster plane

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

(Jimmy, i'd be very surprised if the radar mast wasn't removed on a Sq58 and electrically/mechanically it makes more sense to remove the whole mast than just the s/steel frame work at top of it)

Ah yes, you're right, I misremembered the arrangements on the 58, I was thinking about the earlier 55. Soz.

 

[Bandit]

In 2007 a 48ft mobo, mine was too high for Spanish bridges, Gibraltar to Southampton was £10k.

I should have said the important bit by "Ship".

 

[Jurgen]

Bring her back under her own steam, a great trip and probably 12 to 14k Euro in fuel

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

Following some useful advice on this forum we are now searching for a used Fairline Phantom 50. It is clear from some of the other threads that there are good deals to be had in Europe. Coupled with the weakening euro the search is now including Spain, Italy and France.

I have heard all kinds of different anecdotes on how to bring the boat back once acquired. Most advice suggests that to bring a 10-12 year boat back by road is ill advised as there is a need to break down the superstructure which will cause damage and could cause the boat to leak in the future. Putting it on a ship seems to alleviate this but is considerably more expensive.

Does anyone have any advice / experience of doing this?

I am interested in how much of the boat must come off to get under bridges, I had assumed only the radar arch?
Will it really cause future issues
How often do the ships sail (i.e will summer be over before I get the boat back)
Does anyone have any anecdotal costs they could share?

Target is to acquire the boat in the next few weeks and have it back in the UK by June.

Actually, with apologies, I think I was probably completely wrong with my previous opinion on this. This is a photo from the coast 2 coast site, and helpfully this is a P50. Looks like the radar arch has in fact been removed (you can see it on the foredeck):

 

[benjenbav]

Actually, with apologies, I think I was probably completely wrong with my previous opinion on this. This is a photo from the coast 2 coast site, and helpfully this is a P50. Looks like the radar arch has in fact been removed (you can see it on the foredeck):

Wow! Been on here for 13 years and the power of the forum still amazes me.

 

[MystereMarcus]

Coast 2 Coast brought back my 43' Flybridge from the South of France, to prepare the boat the Radar Arch, Fybridge screen, Rudders and Props were all removed. No problem at all putting it back together and I would certainly recommend / use them again.

 

[Flyfloat]

Do Coast to Coast arrange the breakdown of the boat of do i need to find a local boatyard to do the work?

 

[MystereMarcus]

Do Coast to Coast arrange the breakdown of the boat of do i need to find a local boatyard to do the work?

My boat was in Cala D'Or, Mallorca. Due to Spain having restrictions on the size of loads that can be transported on their roads Coast 2 Coast asked for the boat to be taken to France rather than mainland Spain, and suggested Port Leucate as they could put me in touch with a chap that they use for boat preparation. He was then able to organise a berth for me (at reduced rates), and prepare the boat and organise the loading while liasing with C2C. This worked well for all parties. I imagine C2C have a number of these 'helpers' around the place, it would certainly be worth talking to C2C as to where they would recommend getting a boat prepared.

 

[jrudge]

There is a flaw to that plan.

As soon as the OP gets his boat out in the med on the delivery run to France and his kids say " daddy - this is nice. Tell me again why we are taking it back to cold rainy England" he will have lost his deposit with C2C!

 

[Flyfloat]

There is a flaw to that plan.

As soon as the OP gets his boat out in the med on the delivery run to France and his kids say " daddy - this is nice. Tell me again why we are taking it back to cold rainy England" he will have lost his deposit with C2C!

Seeing as this boat is doing gallons per mile, I have assumed that global warming will expedite itself to the UK by the middle of summer and hence forth it will be balmy for ever more. I have just bought a Nissan Leaf electric car as a part of my carbon offset planning. Will that cut it ???

 

[rustybarge]

Seeing as this boat is doing gallons per mile, I have assumed that global warming will expedite itself to the UK by the middle of summer and hence forth it will be balmy for ever more. I have just bought a Nissan Leaf electric car as a part of my carbon offset planning. Will that cut it ???

Youre not going very far then...!

 

[Flyfloat]

By default a Nissan Leaf goes not very far on not very much for not very long
I have still to prove the assumption that a P50 goes somewhat further on a huge amount for a little while

Life is all about balance

 

[oldgit]

Tell me again why we are taking it back to cold rainy England"

Well darling its because I want my boat where I can actually use it,where I can just go and sit on it when I want to get away from you and Mummy.
Also I do not want to spends hours and hours at some godforsaken smelly airport once a month at 1AM waiting for the airplane taking me and you home to actually leave Gatwick/Stanstead/enter your choice and then spend a few hours with a lot of stroppy drunks and stag weekend revellers.Then have to buy back the car from the car park,then finally get home at 5am before needing to be at work by 9.
It also means that having spent weeks anticipating our trip,we do not arrive to find
A. the captianarie has not bothered to get any of the jobs that needed doing done (all at inflated owner 2000 miles away pricing ).
B It is blowing a howling gale and most of the week will be spent walking down to the breakwater to see if the waves have subsided at all.
C. It also means not having placate overheated stroppy kids being eaten alive by just about anything that flys and bites and only 8 hours before the sun goes down and sanity returns.