I need to know so much - Help!

[Ampletum]

I have a dream which on looking at this forum it seems I share with a lot of people. Yes I want to retire on live on a boat in the Med. I am thinking of a 40ft motor boat but am a complete novice.

I knw the difference in quality between a BMW and a Ford, but what about a Fairline Targa or a Broom or a Sealine and all the rest. How does one brand compare to another?

What qualifications do I need to cruise in the Med? Which type of hull is best, planing or displacement?

Which is the most economical type of boat to run?

Any help with any of this would be much appreciated.

Thank you in anticipation

 

[Tranona]

Welcome to the forum.

Perhaps you need to define what "living on a boat in the Med" means to you.

Generally speaking if you plan to cruise extensively visiting lots of countries, then a motor boat is perhaps not the best thing to use as the costs of fuel and maintenance to cover large distances is prohibitive. Most people use a sailing boat for this purpose and there are many types and designs around 40' that will do the job.

If, on the other hand your idea of living on a boat is moored up in a marina and occasionally going out to visit another port or anchoring in a nearby bay, a motorboat has much to offer, particularly in terms of space and outdoor living. The majority are planing designs, although there are some displacement or semi displacement boats around. None of these are "economical" in the same way as sailing boats are, but the differences become apparent when you want to go anywhere and fuel costs dominate. More powerful planing boats also require a lot more maintenance, not just engines, but systems as a whole.

While there is no formal qualification requirement to use a British registered boat in the Med, it makes sense to take an appropriate RYA course and get an International Certificate of Competence. This will give you the basic skills to handle the boat, but you will also need a good crew to handle a boat that size. There are other "formalities" to consider, particularly if you are planning to become resident in another EU country with your boat, and this may affect your pattern of usage.

It is a big jump from nothing to owning and running a boat of this size and type. Most people get there after significant experience with smaller boats, working their way up so that they have a pretty good idea of what to do when they get there - and know whether they are going to like it or not.

Probably the best start is to sign up for a weeks course on the type of boat you think you might like. Most sailing school use sailing boats as these a what most people want to learn on, but there are some Power Boat orientated schools. You can get a list on the RYA website.

Hope this helps.

 

[vyv_cox]

For an idea of the costs discussed by Tranona, I know a couple who own a nice 38 ft motorboat similar to a Grand Banks, the type of displacement cruiser that many yacht owners might aspire to when sailing becomes too difficult due to age. Their fuel consumption at his most economic rate is 2.5 gallons, about 11-12 litres, per hour, doing around 8 - 9 knots. I sail whenever possible, in a slightly smaller boat, but when motoring at around 6 knots my fuel consumption is around 1 litre per hour.

If you were to buy a boat with a planing hull that consumption would increase significantly. A sailing friend started with a motorboat of this type. It used to cost him £100 to circumnavigate Anglesey, 60 miles, and that was 20 years ago.

 

[little_roundtop]

If you're thinking of a mobo because you like mobos then go ahead, but if you're thinking of a mobo because you don't know how to sail you're making a bad choice.

Learning to sail is not difficult. Yes there is a lot to learn, especially from a safety standpoint, but it's not rocket-science. I'd suggest you find an RYA training centre near you and go and talk to them about what you plan to do. They won't laugh at you. That's exactly what we did 10 years ago and although there was a fairly sharp intake of breath (because we were total novices then too) they gave us lots of good advice and they got us started sailing pretty quickly.

We now liveaboard full-time on a 45ft sailing yacht, mostly in Greece, and have done since 2005. As Vyv has mentioned the fuel consumption difference between a sailing yacht and a mobo is huge. When we're motoring at about 7 knots in a flat sea we're burning only 2.5 litres an hour, under sail we're burning nothing - and we can often make 7 knots, and more, under sail. A sailing yacht gives you long legs, if you don't mind long passages and a 5 or 6 knot speed you can cover hundreds of miles in a few days at almost zero fuel cost.

If it really is a mobo you're after then pop over to the mobo forum, you'll get better advice on boat types there I think?

 

[bazobeleza]

A semi planing Trader 50' mobo I helped deliver used a tenners worth of diesel every mile at 14 knots. Ouch! and that was five years ago.

My Nauticat 44 motorsails at 10 knots and 4 litres an hour. I find her a good compromise between the sail/mobo conundrum. I sail when I can for nothing but a big engine when I can't.

 

[Grehan]

Get some 'hands on'

Welcome also. This is a great place to get advice and opinion, sometimes contradictory . . .
YBW/Liveaboard forum members here are amazingly helpful and make great efforts to 'guide' sailing/boating newbies. But, with the greatest of respect, a lot of what you might read will mean little unless you actually get yourself on a boat or two and have a play around.
You might love the idea of sailing, harnessing the wind or find that yachts seem cramped 'down below' for living aboard permanently. You might love the idea of a spacious well-equipped motor boat but baulk at the considerable running cost.
Do a basic RYA Competent Crew course, find a few people to take you out and let you handle some ropes, take the wheel, read some books, visit the Boat Show (Southampton coming up in mid-Sept) - they'll all give you a glimpse as to what this lark is all about.
To continue your analogy, choosing between a BMW and Ford is all very well, but first you have to 'know' what a car is, and whether you tend towards a fast saloon or an off-roader . .

 

[maby]

What sort of budget do you have to purchase the boat?

As several others have said, the running costs of a reasonably large mobo are becoming almost astronomical. You need to give careful consideration to how much you will have available to cover fuel and calculate the likely limit on your cruising range based on this and the various figures quoted above. In any mobo large enough to realistically live aboard, you are going to be thinking in multiple pounds per mile.

Also, as others have said, sailing is not difficult - particularly if you are just thinking of coastal cruising in the Med rather than having ambitions to cross oceans! If you are prepared to travel everywhere at a leisurely pace, a yacht in the forty foot range will make a very nice home and you'll be able to cover the entire Med without breaking the budget.

 

[PlanB]

We've done what you want to do - from a starting point of no experience. Following an intensive period of research, we bought a 45 foot Princess (sailing was not a lifestyle we wished to achieve at our time of life), spent three years learning how to use her and researching the trip, then set off for the Med round the outside. And we've never looked back.
Yes the fuel cost coming down was high, but we'd budgeted for it as it was our dream retirement trip. We don't go very far these days, but our life is everything we hoped it would be.
If running costs are a factor, you do need to take seriously what others here have said about sailing boats. Our best friends have one. But if sailing was the only way to afford what we have done, we'd have done something else, I'm afraid. I just wouldn't enjoy the sailing and wouldn't enjoy living on a sailing boat.
PM me if you have specific questions.

 

[bazobeleza]

another point in favour of a Mobo would be the fact that if you were buying in the uk and you travelled to he med via the canals, you would gain valuable experience in boat handling in a relatively safe environment and due to the low speeds on the canals your fuel bill is likely to be much reduced. and the lesser draught of a 40 ft mobo is much less than a 40ft sailboat. Certainly look up the magazine articles on such a trip, it looks very tempting.

 

[Tranona]

another point in favour of a Mobo would be the fact that if you were buying in the uk and you travelled to he med via the canals, you would gain valuable experience in boat handling in a relatively safe environment and due to the low speeds on the canals your fuel bill is likely to be much reduced. and the lesser draught of a 40 ft mobo is much less than a 40ft sailboat. Certainly look up the magazine articles on such a trip, it looks very tempting.

However, there are height restrictions which are too low for some Fly Bridge, and big powerful planing MOBOS can be a bit of a handful at low speeds.

Agree with that strategy for a displacement boat, but the choice is limited if you also want one suitable for sea use.

 

[hlb]

I have a dream which on looking at this forum it seems I share with a lot of people. Yes I want to retire on live on a boat in the Med. I am thinking of a 40ft motor boat but am a complete novice.

I knw the difference in quality between a BMW and a Ford, but what about a Fairline Targa or a Broom or a Sealine and all the rest. How does one brand compare to another?

What qualifications do I need to cruise in the Med? Which type of hull is best, planing or displacement?

Which is the most economical type of boat to run?

Any help with any of this would be much appreciated.

Thank you in anticipation

Think your on the wrong forum, but anyway, as to build quality. Your looking at Princess, Fairline, Broom, then the rest.

Having said that, they all have the same bit's stuck to them, so things will break down. To give an idea of cost, my Princess 35 would do just a bit better than one MPG at about 20 knots and not much less till about 6/8 knots, when it would do much more. Maintainance, say around 5 grand a year, marina around another 5 grand in the UK. In the Med it could be much more.

 

[blampied]

For long distances with a motor boat, think slow

Me & Wife are planning the same, head for the Med in a motor boat. Have been planning it for years. Like you I have no inclanation to sail (Im diabetic & all that rope pulling would have me passing out) What is needed is a slow displacement boat (maybe a dutch steel Pedro or similar) then fuel costs are in MIles per gallon rather than gallons per mile, and you can use the french canal system to get to the Med.

We expected to go in 6 years time once child has been to uni, but now looks like both of us will be made redundant later this year so maybe we will get to go next year. (once we find out what sort of redundancy packages we are likely to ge it looks like sell the house & buy a boat time)

Good luck with your plans, maybe we will see you down there.

Regards

 

[Victoria Sponge]

Me & Wife are planning the same, head for the Med in a motor boat. Have been planning it for years. Like you I have no inclanation to sail (Im diabetic & all that rope pulling would have me passing out) What is needed is a slow displacement boat (maybe a dutch steel Pedro or similar) then fuel costs are in MIles per gallon rather than gallons per mile, and you can use the french canal system to get to the Med.

We expected to go in 6 years time once child has been to uni, but now looks like both of us will be made redundant later this year so maybe we will get to go next year. (once we find out what sort of redundancy packages we are likely to ge it looks like sell the house & buy a boat time)

Good luck with your plans, maybe we will see you down there.

Regards

It's horses for courses! However, I'd just point out that as the one who does the "rope pulling" it's really not such a problem. I'd always choose a sailing boat for the med over a mobo, purely because the way of life out there is slow, it's hot and you're never in a hurry to get anyway. Plus the savings on fuel are immense.

 

[maby]

It's horses for courses! However, I'd just point out that as the one who does the "rope pulling" it's really not such a problem. I'd always choose a sailing boat for the med over a mobo, purely because the way of life out there is slow, it's hot and you're never in a hurry to get anyway. Plus the savings on fuel are immense.

You'll save enough in fuel from the first decent voyage to pay for electric winches!

 

[jimbaerselman]

Tranona's point about not being put off by the need for sailing skills is a good one. Thousands of non-sailors have started Mediterranean cruising through the Flotilla route, starting with an Introduction to Yachting course on site - in Greece or Turkey. And significant numbers of those now own boats and live aboard them in the Mediterranean.

See http://www.neilson.co.uk/introduction-to-yachting-|-neilson-holidays/ for an example of how that works.

 

[Grehan]

Quite right, Jim. We started off with a 2 week family flotilla holiday on Lefkas. I'll always be grateful to young Lucy, who gave us our week's introduction to sailing. The things we did and the calm and friendly manner in which she took us through them, was exemplary. And then a second week 'in flotilla' which was also great fun and a great learning experience. A year or two after that that we downsized radically, bought Grehan and started some 'serious' sailing and some serious 'escape planning'.

 

[blueglass]

Agree with all comments re running costs of a mobo , but one major advantage of the mobo as a liveaboard is the vastly superior interior accomodation generally found. You even get windows you can look out of and enjoy the view rather than the cave like interior of a yacht. and deck space you can actually walk around and relax in, rather than cramped into the single sitting space of the average yacht cockpit.