Gibraltar back to the UK

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yelbis

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genuine advice only please... I have the opportunity to purchase a Bavaria 34 2001 from Gibraltar. The price is very good and the boat has full inventory, however, i require experienced help (and advice) as i plan to bring her to the UK and would undertake the trip in the new year. Weather and the Biscay permitting. Im told that not only is it the wrong time of year, but coming up the outside is windward all the way. I cant afford a delivery skipper and im a complete novice with only a day skip. under my belt. kind ribbing and offers welcome.. thanks.
 
Well yelbis, first things first, people are quite gentle with the newcomers, unless you p*** people off from the outset. Secondly, it is useful to put a bit of info in you BIO.

Your question, not a good time of year, are you thinking Jan or Feb, either way, not a good time of year. I assume you haven't bought her yet, you say she has a good inventory, for what sort of sailing? Where in the UK do you wish to go? why do you want to go the outside route,? lack of time?
Have you thought about taking it up the canal network?

There will always be people prepared to offer assistance, they need to have answers to simple questions before they can comment or committ.

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Have you considered using the French canals? If you leave the Med. somewhere like Sete, where you can have the mast dropped, you can join the Rhone just above Arles and head up to Lyons. This is the 'difficult' bit, particularly if there has been a lot of rain and the Rhone's level is high, but with a decent engine, you would probably be fine. Once in the canals proper, there would be no problems since you are then clear of the areas blasted by the Mistral.

You can chose your canal route from those unaffected by the Chaumage (sp?) the annual maintenance closures, to give you a clear run.

I think I'd prefer this route personally to bashing northwards in winter weather, unless you have loads of time and can wait for, and use, breaks in the weather.

'course, this route it does mean a long trip up the Med. to Sete, and I suppose if you've got time to do that, you can probably pick/choose your weather for the outside route. Weather might be a lot better though!
 
Recent back issue of PBO ,simular situation they had boat delivered by road .They found a haulier going back empty,somewhere in the Med on the Spanish coast.It was awesterly 34 anyhow it seemed a good deal,certainlybetterthan the Atlantic in Mid winter!
 
As a means of getting it back, the lorry idea is reliable and quick.

It's 1150 miles by sea with the longer sea crossing across Biscay, more like 1450 along the coast, but eminenetly doable. Time, though is the key - there will most definitely be the right weather early in the new year but it is likely to occurr for three days in one week, and then perhaps another few days maybe a fortnight later. If you can be patient and are flexible - such that any distance is great, and being safe in port is also great, and flying home and back is fine no problem at all - then it could be brought home by sea. Most people can't afford the time for this, or haven't got the happy-go-lucky enough mindset for this and get very frustrated being "thwarted" by the "damn weather", or both.

A serious block, however could be insurance: many standard policies will cover a boat for Biscay crossing between 1st April and 15th August. I suppose that this can't apply to french boats in la rochelle for example, but nonetheless it's a reasonable guide to the possibility that the weather might be too much for the whole of january, and february, and even march. And indeed April, tho i suppose that's getting a bit much of a wait!....

Seriously - have a look at the insurance that you are planning to take and see what their terms would be. Note that one quite nice option wd be to find a berth along the costa del sol which starts from sotogrande just er 8 miles from gib and continues with marinas every ferw miles all along within easy range of malaga, and have a few winter weekends sorting stuff out or just sunbathing whilst waiting for better weather in april, frinstance. It's a thought, but depends on your plans.

The sea trip would bbe/is a great trip and one for which I and i expect others who have done it wd be happy to help and have charts, gps etc (incidentally the going rate for hiring in crew help hereabouts is generally er £0...) but primarily, you have to really weant to do the trip. Being cagey and cautious will keep you safe but it's important to want to do it. Or more accurataly, i think it's important to (sometimes) want to have done it, which is nearly but not quite the same.

To test whether you want to do the sea trip draw a small button on a piece of paper which when pressed means that the boat is now in the UK. Press the button immediately. Happy? Or cheesed off that you missed out on the trip?

It wd be unlucky (and bad planning) for the whole trip to be "windward all the way".
 
I wouldn't consider setting out before the beginning of May if you plan to sail round the outside.

It might well be possible to find a couple of experienced bods from here to help you, otherwise it's either a professional delivery crew or overland (truck or canal).

As for the route, the 'Portuguese Trades' give a prevailing northerly down the west coast of Iberia. The alternatives are to spend a lot of time waiting for weather windows or to go well out west. Some people go as far as the Azores & make a cruise of it.

If you do try to recruit crew from here I think you'd have to pay expenses. You'd also need to appoint one of them as skipper.
 
I'm agreeing with others; by the time you take into account insurance, flights and expenses for you and crew, lots of time off work for you or crew, kitting the boat out with extra safety stuff 'cos the weather could be demanding, extra marina fees for enforced stopovers due to weather etc etc trucking it back could seem a more viable option.

Either way I think you have to add all these costs on to the purchase price of the boat and then consider whether it is such a bargain after all- I've been looking (onthe web only) at yachts in America that were nearly half the UK price, but factoring everything in (including VAT etc) made them almost as expensive.
Sorry to be so negative!- but welcome to the forum.
 
The Portuguese Trades start about 1st week in May so you need to get to N Iberia before then.
Otherwise it's a beat all the way and coast and seas are tough.

If you had 3 months it would be a delightful project - but if you haven't the time you'll either have to truck the boat back (the quickest) or get a delivery skipper to do the job - not much to choose between prices, you'll not have much change out of £5K.

Still if the boat is that much cheaper than UK...
 
From Gibralter you can daysail to Lagos, stopping at Barbate, Rota, (or Cadiz) Mazagon, Punta Umbria, San Antonia de Real, Vilamoura, or Faro, Portimao til you reach Lagos. I did this last January the othr way by myself without any adverse weather.The crew had left at Lagos to get back for Xmas - we left Camaret on Dec 1st and motored to Finisterre. (I had worse weather this August trying to get INTO the
straights.
When leaving Lagos you'll need 2/3 days fair winds to get round to Cascais/Lisbon Southeasterlys are not uncommon so you should find a window to get around Cape St Vincent.
Past Cascais you will be able to daysail up to and anchor or berth in the northern Spanish Rias before waiting for a longer "window" (4/5 days) to round Finisterre and cross to Ushant and the Channel. You'll be surprised once you've started how many people are out there sailing at this time of year. Go wisely with regards to weather forecasts, and go 4 it! PM me if you want myself and crew to assist you.
PS I took out 3rd party insurance with Northern Reef last Nov without any problems.
 
Unless you have compelling reasons to get her back to UK why not leave her in Gib for a while? It is a lot cheaper than UK and flights from Luton and Manchester with Monarch also cheap if planned in advance.

What's your hurry!!?
 
Have done it in March with a Moody 38. However very lucky with weather, but not for sailing. Train of high pressure systems all way up.
Couple of weeks later, skipper lost off La Coruna due to abandonment in "horrendous seas".
Don't even attempt it unless you are experienced & confident of your weather knowledge. Listen to the other contributors.
 
A couple of weeks ago I met a couple in Barca. who had purchased a boat (In Barcelona) and were in the process of paying a delivery skipper to take the boat back to the UK for them. The boat was too big for a road transit. Their dilema was to ship or use a delivery crew. They opted for a delivery crew as it was supposed to have been the cheaper option.. How ever with forced stop overs due to weather it turned out to be a more expensive option and on top of that you have all the wear and tear on the boat.
 
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