Humber to SO France am I thinking straight?

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mateyboy

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Hi guys I'm hoping for a few seasoned moboers or anyone with a bit of help/advice here.
My ultimate objective is to determine the type of boat most suitable to buy for me, swmbo and possibly the odd entourage of 1 to several teenagers (horrible things really!)
Would it be realistic or indeed is it possible to travel from the Humber, east coast down, channel and through the French inland waterways and to the med?
Do people do this and how long does it take? A week?
Is stay aboard practical without the in each others face 'caravan effect' in a 35-45/ FB, or is a 40'ish quicker open type better, then stay in hotels guest houses en route? I expect air draft to be an issue inland with a FB.
I'm considering as new as poss boats around 90k with a stretch to 120 ish for the right thing, possibly F37, Phantom 38 type craft or S37, Hunton XRS37 (43err no??) or older sunseeker /similar.
I've even considered a cabin rib for fuel cost reasons as 1.60-1.70odd euros a litre on the med marinas is becoming a bit galling. I think it's the biggest factor putting me off getting my leg in as it appears to be the most uncontrollable overhead of boating at pres. Its not that long ago when 300litres a day was £150-£200 and manageable, now its getting a bit out of hand.
 
Forget about a f/b boat if you want to travel to the Med thru the French canals because the air draft will be much too high. You'll have to go the long way round thru Biscay. I can't imagine the horror of spending several weeks on a sports cruiser with several teenagers. Actually I can because I've just spent 2 weeks on my boat with 4 teenagers. IMHO a sports cruiser of this sort of size is not suitable for this trip with the number of people you might have on board. First off there isnt enough accomodation and second, driving a sterdrive boat at slow speeds is a pain because they tend to wander about. In this respect a shaftdrive boat is much better. Again IMHO you ought to be looking at an aft helm/aft cabin type boat, something like a Broom, Atlantic or Haines. Their air draft will be low enough, they all have shaftdrive with a keel so they track straight at slow speed and they're all capable sea boats. The aft cabin layout will give you a much larger master cabin than a sports cruiser and you can banish the teenagers to the forward part of the boat.
You need to reckon on 2-3 days minimum to get from the Humber to Calais and a lot more if the weather is bad. Then you'll need 2-3 weeks to get thru the French canal system. Call it 1 month in total to be on the safe side. Dont know where you get that fuel price from. It's about 1€/litre in Spain and AFAIK about 1.20-1.30€ in France/Italy. You wont use much diesel at slow speed anyway.
When you get to the Med, you will need a passarelle for stern to mooring and I would say aircon and a gennie are essential. It can get a bit sweaty in the summer for we cold blooded N Europeans
 
Ah, forgot to mention been renting a gas Bayliner U/L is 1.63 in Antibes, diesel 1.25 suppose that makes things a bit easier. I cant see 3-4 weeks being practical so that's a non starter then. I can't think of a way to use the same boat in the UK and the med, its doing my head in this, I think an apartment might be the best bet as swmbo states. I can't really convolute a plan to prove her wrong, unfortunately.
 
mateyboy said:
Ah, forgot to mention been renting a gas Bayliner U/L is 1.63 in Antibes, diesel 1.25 suppose that makes things a bit easier. I cant see 3-4 weeks being practical so that's a non starter then. I can't think of a way to use the same boat in the UK and the med, its doing my head in this, I think an apartment might be the best bet as swmbo states. I can't really convolute a plan to prove her wrong, unfortunately.
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Ever thought of having it shipped down by truck? Bet it would not cost much more if at all than the fuel would have, and the boat would be waiting for you at the yard of choice.
 
The F37 will also go through the canals with the arch down. I have one in the med without a/c and it's rarely hot enough to warrant it.
 
Unless you think you'll actually enjoy the canal journey don't buy a boat based on air draft, buy the boat you want and truck it to the SofF. A 40foot flybridge is only something like £4500 to truck there. They'd take it to La Rague, just west of Cannes, due to road restrictions

You could also just buy a boat that is already in SofF. There are plenty for sale, and some will come with a berth already arranged, which removes another hassle (unless you already have a promise of a berth?)

Yes, taxed diesel is about 1.25 euro in antibes, which is where I'm based.

Good luck!
 
Hi JFM is your boat 'my eleanora' with the heart shape on? I also noticed a big black thing, 'Chalice' very nice. Any idea who owns Lady Dahlia btw, was speaking to one of the crew but discretion was clearly the order of the day. Googled it and still a blank other than a private individual.
 
jfm said:
Unless you think you'll actually enjoy the canal journey don't buy a boat based on air draft, buy the boat you want and truck it to the SofF. A 40foot flybridge is only something like £4500 to truck there. They'd take it to La Rague, just west of Cannes, due to road restrictions
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A£9000 round trip then by road, I can't afford to be doing that, I'm starting to feel like a little boy in a big boys playground!
 
tinkicker0 said:
As said though, how much would the fuel cost from Hull to the Med? Assuming low speed and 2 litres /mile on low speed stretches and 3 litres / mile on the sea?

Shoely somed'ys got a fancy geegaw to work it out.
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At those consumption rates 3000 litres.
 
capsco said:
At those consumption rates 3000 litres.
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Thanks for that capsco.

So you are looking at around £4k in fuel. Each way.

So suddenly spending 2 hours on a plane to get to the boat which has been trucked to sunnier climes seems an entirely better proposition than thought.

And all your boating is done in the clear blue and warm Med, not the mud that passes as water River Humber and the nice brown/grey, cold and wet North Sea. Nor two million locks to go through.
 
I think Teddy's coming out of the pram now as I would like to mobo in UK and the med and I don't have the dosh to do both:(
 
" rarely hot enough to warrant it."

Sorry ....but agree with Deleted User,it can get blistering down there and you may want some method of staying cool especially when you are parked up in an airless marina with the prospect of a nice cool evening over 12 hours away ,esp with some stroppy bored yoofs aboard !
 
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mateyboy said:
A£9000 round trip then by road,
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Sorry, I hadn't realised you meant a return trip. I thought you wanted to base your boat in the Med. It rarely makes sense to do a return trip and most people just wanting a holiday in the Med would charter a boat there to avoid the transport cost
 
mateyboy said:
Hi JFM is your boat 'my eleanora' with the heart shape on? I also noticed a big black thing, 'Chalice' very nice. Any idea who owns Lady Dahlia btw, was speaking to one of the crew but discretion was clearly the order of the day. Googled it and still a blank other than a private individual.
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I don't have a boat in Antibes right now. I recently sold my boat and have a new one being built, to be finished/ready January 2011. I'm struggling to remember Eleanora. I think it's a big old flybridge on Mole Sud in Antibes. A SanLorenzo or something? Or is it the Mochi 63 (of the old series, before Mochi went lobsterboaty) at the very end of the quay left hand side? Not mine, anyway. Chalice, if you mean the Itama 75, is a gorgeous boat. It only arrived on Mole Sud last weekend and I've never seen it before and don't know anything about it, but it is a fabulous machine as you'd expect from a black Itama 75! My berth is about six places to starboard of Chalice; someone is renting it from me at the moment. Lady Dahlia is number 3 or 4 in the ISA 47 metre series but I hve no idea who owns her, sorry
 
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