Go Big or Go Home?

[jrudge]

I am based in Cala Dor with a Squadron 58.

Its a nice place etc.

What is the boat name? You can PM me if you wish.

The only flaw with owning shares is which weeks you get. If 3 friends buy one it can be dealt with upfront. Joining a group - maybe - but nearly all I have found have a system of allocating weeks to you which you can then try and swap. The weeks are divided hi season, low season etc.

25% is good as there are only 4 of you.

In Mallorca if you have kids Peak is July / August.

If you don't it is June and September. Sea becomes swimmable during May ( not all of it) and you can swim to end October so May and October have some use ( October more so) but the weather can be variable.

I have kids - hence I dont own a share!

The reality is that you are likely to get 2 weeks in July / August and 2 in June / Sept.

The question is - is that enough for you? The other may accommodate to some degree - and many avoid the place in peak given the weather is usually OK ish in the UK

As above owners can change.

 

[GravyStain]

Hi Jeremy,

Thanks for your help.

Do you find Cala D'Or big enough for restaurants / entertainment etc?

The boat is called Mystique, 2006 Squaddie 58 . Apparently had a recent 40k refit to clean her up before being bought by the current owner who is looking to split into the 4 shares.

it's 12 weeks per share in total, so that will mean up to 6 weeks during summer, which is fine, but as stated earlier - no one has to be flexible and it may not work for half terms etc...

 

[jrudge]

Cala Dor is plenty big enough and has literally hundreds of places to eat.

I can ask about the boat.

 

[Portofino]

Might be worth waiting to see U.K. flight availability and costs landscape this year before pulling the trigger on a Med island base .
Big EU Covid economic dip coming so there will be plenty of future bargains .
Hang on to your cash until the summer .

 

[Sticky Fingers]

...
Scala, may I ask what boat you have?

@GravyStain it's a Bavaria S40 Hardtop. Bought new last year, sail to power, this is our first mobo. We wanted the first experiences not to include refurbs or dealing with old gear or previous owners' bad maintenance regimes, or old nav kit, and Mrs Scala was anxious about going too big. So this is a great compromise.

For about the same money (which was of course 2x my "budget" haha) we could have bought something bigger but older (eg Sq58 or Prin 56, at 16-20 years old), and that remains a possibility for the next move maybe in 2022 if the world opens up again. But all other costs go up proportionally. Or exponentially maybe.

This thread has shown just what can be bought for not bonkers money (if ever such a thing could ever be said of buying a boat).

 

[GravyStain]

Might be worth waiting to see U.K. flight availability and costs landscape this year before pulling the trigger on a Med island base .
Big EU Covid economic dip coming so there will be plenty of future bargains .
Hang on to your cash until the summer .

Yes Porto. That's my thinking too. Plenty of time for me to get ICC and Day Skipper practical done too.

Brexit is a total omnishambles and COVID is the Icing on the cake

 

[GravyStain]

@GravyStain it's a Bavaria S40 Hardtop. Bought new last year, sail to power, this is our first mobo. We wanted the first experiences not to include refurbs or dealing with old gear or previous owners' bad maintenance regimes, or old nav kit, and Mrs Scala was anxious about going too big. So this is a great compromise.

For about the same money (which was of course 2x my "budget" haha) we could have bought something bigger but older (eg Sq58 or Prin 56, at 16-20 years old), and that remains a possibility for the next move maybe in 2022 if the world opens up again. But all other costs go up proportionally. Or exponentially maybe.

This thread has shown just what can be bought for not bonkers money (if ever such a thing could ever be said of buying a boat).

The Bavaria 40 is a lovely boat.

"not bonkers money" is a very relative term

You are, of course, right though.

I still can't decide if I'm a type 1 or a type 2 boater, and that is a part of my dilemma...

The fiscally mature part of me says get a villa and smaller boat... But you have to be slightly mad to buy a boat in the first place so fiscal responsibility goes right out of the window.

But then, what price happiness?

 

[Sticky Fingers]

Indeed. As an ex-villa owner, my only advice would be to make sure your family really really want to holiday in the same place every year. It’s impossible to move it around.... and resale might take years.

 

[Chris H]

Indeed. As an ex-villa owner, my only advice would be to make sure your family really really want to holiday in the same place every year. It’s impossible to move it around.... and resale might take years.

Took four years to sell our villa and even after 12 years of ownership and upgrades we didn’t make much, we toyed with the idea of keeping the villa and buying a small boat but very quickly came to the conclusion we would be on the boat more than sat in the villa.........and it was time for a new challenge.

 

[Sticky Fingers]

Mine took theee years to sell and I lost a packet on it. Bought in the boom years and sold in a recession. Only silver lining was the exchange rates, softened the blow a lot at resale. But despite all of that I loved it.

 

[Bouba]

Bouba - You're a type 1 boater, i.e. maison et bateau...

What boat do you have. Do you get out on it a lot (forgetting the last year of course)? have you found the compromise in size acceptable, as you have a land base as well?

I have a Beneteau Swift Trawler 34. And we use her whenever possible, by that I mean we are fair weather boaters so anytime the forecast is perfect we go out. But not too far. Sometimes we take a winter mooring some place different and use her as a holiday home. We live just down the road from the beach and we are very keen walkers.
The balance comes not from boat/house size but husband/wife. I would be most happy living on a large boat full time, the wife prefers to live in a house and would like a small boat that I could go out in every day by myself and get out from under her feet and not ask her to be crew every time.
With out a doubt I go out more than the average fellow, even during these covid times.
We once had a boat share in an inland waterway boat. The reasoning being that it would get us out of our beautiful region and explore the rest of France. It worked well, then boating became a holiday (mind you I still had a small sea boat that I took out everyday).
So the truth is our situation changed, from day boating to overnight to longer stays, as the years progressed. Also I seized opportunities, when the wife wanted a holiday beach appartement, I convinced her that a boat is the best way to have a sea view and we are not stuck in the same place. I won the argument but I’m not sure she would ever trust me again ???

 

[GravyStain]

The Swift Trawlers seem to hit a sweet spot between comfort / economy / performance . It seems they are very popular boats, and being based in france that's a great choice for you I imagine.

I suppose I should just ask the wife what her preference would be... she has itchy feet and does like to visit different places. That was one of the reasons to look at fractionals - we could still afford other nice holidays around the world without feeling guitly that there's a very expensive trinket sitting idly in a marina.

I do like the phrase "If you're floating, you're boating" and it does focus the mind as to the limitations one is prepared to make in order to get onto the water.

 

[TonyR123]

Took four years to sell our villa and even after 12 years of ownership and upgrades we didn’t make much, we toyed with the idea of keeping the villa and buying a small boat but very quickly came to the conclusion we would be on the boat more than sat in the villa.........and it was time for a new challenge.

I am toying with the idea of keeping my apartment and getting a bigger boat . I might look at going for a spanish investment visa, if I think I need more than 90 days every 180 in Mallorca, and the apartment should ensure I can get that. Although I spend all my time on the boat, so if I dont need the visa then may look to sell. Gives me access to a swimming pool, that I occasionally use, but the port is being upgraded to have a pool so may not even need it for that.

 

[GravyStain]

I am toying with the idea of keeping my apartment and getting a bigger boat . I might look at going for a spanish investment visa, if I think I need more than 90 days every 180 in Mallorca, and the apartment should ensure I can get that. Although I spend all my time on the boat, so if I dont need the visa then may look to sell. Gives me access to a swimming pool, that I occasionally use, but the port is being upgraded to have a pool so may not even need it for that.

Or buy the apartment, get the investment visa and then rent the flat if you dont need it?

 

[Sticky Fingers]

Or buy the apartment, get the investment visa and then rent the flat if you dont need it?

So Gravy, what did you decide? Resurrecting this excellent thread for no good reason… ?

 

[GravyStain]

So Gravy, what did you decide? Resurrecting this excellent thread for no good reason… ?

Haha!

Dunno yet - Still need to take my practicals (planning on somewhere in Spain, when I can get there). I do like the oddball Squaddie 52 (maybe I'm odd) but hanker after a Squaddie 58. Also the Princess 55 / 58?? (all have the centre utility room / berth which is very very handy). Actually having said all that, the boat will choose me as much as I will choose it (in a financial sense). My pockets , whilst not shallow, aren't overly deep either, and annual costs definitely come into play, as does the issue of where to keep it. SWMBO (I am pretty sure) would like the boat to be close to a relatively thriving metropolis, which (for my pocket) would mean mainland Spain (Denia, Alicante or Valencia spring to mind). Palma and the like (Portals etc...) will be too rich for my blood unfortunately.

Ultimately though I think that my powder is being kept firmly dry until I can sort the above practicals and start to visit some boats. A couple of guys on here have kindly offered for me to have a nose around their boats to get a feel for freeboard / engine access etc...

I'm still open to all suggestions.

I am also somewhat disheartened by the potential red tape that may or may not happen with boat ownership in the Med and it can be confusing when reading some of the threads on here (although all are appreciated).

This thread is a great distillation of mine and other peoples thoughts, and I hope it helps someone as much as it has helped me one day...Thanks for the bump Scala!

 

[Sticky Fingers]

There's a Squaddie 58 for sale with Clipper right now. Might be worth going to see it, that model has to be one of the front runners I would have though, will give you a baseline to compare others to.
Fairline Squadron 58 For Sale - GBP 384,950 - Clipper Marine

At Swanwick apparently.

 

[GravyStain]

There's a Squaddie 58 for sale with Clipper right now. Might be worth going to see it, that model has to be one of the front runners I would have though, will give you a baseline to compare others to.
Fairline Squadron 58 For Sale - GBP 384,950 - Clipper Marine

At Swanwick apparently.

Yes, I've spotted this one before... It's the right boat, cracking spec but wrong price for me at the moment though. In 2-3 years this is doable but not in the next 12 months. Too pricey right now

Also, looking at this price - EVERYTHING has gone nuts in price,:- watches, handbags, jewellery, cars, boats... I was going to treat myself to a new to me Targa (not the Fairline variety) of 3-4 years old. They've gone up around 10k. My car has gone up around 4-5k.

That's all well and good, but the increase on the price of a boat is massive compared to a piddly car...It boils my piss, but that's capitalism for you. That Squaddie would have been £50k leass 18 months ago I reckon.

 

[Sticky Fingers]

Probably true. I've had a couple of brokers give me a valuation for my current boat, bought new last year. Range between 30k more and 70k more than I paid for it. May be driven by lack of new stock ('almost new boat actually here and available, great spec, rollup, come and get it'). And I did buy at a good price.

 

[Hurricane]

Be careful buying a boat too small or one "that will do for a year or two".
I don't think you should expect the value to rise and you will loose money when you eventually upgrade.
Then there is the hassle and worry of selling the old boat with your heart set on the right boat.
Add that to the running costs - perhaps just waiting a year or two and then get the RIGHT boat.
It seem to me that you know that the right boat is a Squaddie 58