Leaving Faro for the UK in late March next year - what do we need to do?

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pat_detente

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I'm not sure if this has been covered previously - if so, please point me in the right direction.

Our UK registered boat is currently in Bruce's boatyard in Faro, and we are planning to launch and spend a month or so sailing northwards up the Portuguese and north Spanish coasts, across to France and onwards back to our home waters on the Menai Strait. Launch date will be just before or around 29th March. We are both UK citizens, and we spend most of our time in the UK, and have no residency/property in Portugal other than our ancient Moody 33.

I have tried to find out what we need to do regarding visas, clearing in and out of countries etc. and have ended up totally confused and none the wiser.

Will we need to get Schengen visas? Our trip is unlikely to take more than 90 days.

Will we need to clear customs and immigration for each EU country we visit, or do we only need do this when we leave France?

Or should we just launch, and sail as we would now, only providing paperwork if approached by the Customs boats?

Thanks in advance for any advice or suggestions as to who we could ask for a sensible/realistic reply.

Pat
 
pat_detente said:
I'm not sure if this has been covered previously - if so, please point me in the right direction.

Our UK registered boat is currently in Bruce's boatyard in Faro, and we are planning to launch and spend a month or so sailing northwards up the Portuguese and north Spanish coasts, across to France and onwards back to our home waters on the Menai Strait. Launch date will be just before or around 29th March. We are both UK citizens, and we spend most of our time in the UK, and have no residency/property in Portugal other than our ancient Moody 33.

I have tried to find out what we need to do regarding visas, clearing in and out of countries etc. and have ended up totally confused and none the wiser.

Will we need to get Schengen visas? Our trip is unlikely to take more than 90 days.

Will we need to clear customs and immigration for each EU country we visit, or do we only need do this when we leave France?

Or should we just launch, and sail as we would now, only providing paperwork if approached by the Customs boats?

Thanks in advance for any advice or suggestions as to who we could ask for a sensible/realistic reply.

Pat
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Absolutely nothing. You are in the EU so there are no restrictions on where you can sail not any formalities. However it would be sensible to read the section on taking your boat abroad on the RYA site so you can see that you have the right paperwork - registration, passports, insurance EHIC etc and courtesy flags for Portugal, Spain and France.

There is no need to formally check in or out, but be prepared for visits from authorities when you stop. You may be stopped by Border Force in UK waters but so long as you have a record of where you have been expect no issues.

In theory if you stop in the Channel Isles you are outside the EU and if going direct to UK in theory you should call customs, but most don't bother and it can be avoided by stopping in France after the CIs. They are not bothered and now you are back in the EU.

Have a good trip!
 
Thank you for the reply - as we took the boat to Portugal three years ago we are aware of the current situation and have all the paperwork sorted and sussed that we need as EU members. But, if as feared, we end up with a 'no deal' situation on 29th March, then we will suddenly find that we are not EU citizens; hence my question.

I am inclined to carry on as normal, and just launch and sail. But if we need to do anything as regards visas etc. then it would be prudent to do it....


Thanks for the quick response.
 
pat_detente said:
Thank you for the reply - as we took the boat to Portugal three years ago we are aware of the current situation and have all the paperwork sorted and sussed that we need as EU members. But, if as feared, we end up with a 'no deal' situation on 29th March, then we will suddenly find that we are not EU citizens; hence my question.

I am inclined to carry on as normal, and just launch and sail. But if we need to do anything as regards visas etc. then it would be prudent to do it....


Thanks for the quick response.
Click to expand...

Nothing is going to change on March 29th and even if there is "no deal" it is likely that nothing will change that affects what you want to do. Personally I think whatever "deal" is done there will be different arrangements for UK citizens travelling to the EU compared with current third country residents.

Anyway as of now you cannot prepare for something that is unknown as you will see from the long thread on the subject on the liveaboard forum!
 
We are in a more or less identical position - in Lagos rather than Faro, and have flights booked for 27 March - and have been through the same thought process. We have decided that as it is impossible to know, we will just set sail and pootle back, dealing with any issues as they arise. None of the transit countries s going to have it in for retreating UK yotties, and if 5he worst comes to the worst we’ll just gird our loins and head back in one hit. But really, for transit/holidaying timescales, it’s impossible to imagine any of those countries would deliberately bar UK spenders - bit of confusion maybe, but almost certainly less than the confusion we all feel now!
 
Pat, in your case I would just ignore what's happening with brexit with regard to your trip. No-one can give you definitive answers anyway as we don't know what is going to be the outcome of negotiations yet. If you're still worried then leave on the 28th and then just do the necessary legalities at each port of call on the way home. Personally I doubt very much will change that quickly.
The important part - enjoy your trip.
 
greeny said:
Pat, in your case I would just ignore what's happening with brexit with regard to your trip. No-one can give you definitive answers anyway as we don't know what is going to be the outcome of negotiations yet. If you're still worried then leave on the 28th and then just do the necessary legalities at each port of call on the way home. Personally I doubt very much will change that quickly.
The important part - enjoy your trip.
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✔️ Agree, very unlikely that anything will change on 29th Mar 2019 but if you are that worried, rather than leaving on the 28th, I would leave sufficiently early to clear Portuguese, Spanish and French Waters before 29th Mar.
 
Tranona said:
Anyway as of now you cannot prepare for something that is unknown as you will see from the long thread on the subject on the liveaboard forum!
Click to expand...

Sorry disagree. The whole object of ‘the long thread’ is to try to identify strategies that could minimise the effects of Brexit, whatever form it may take.

Or in other words to cover as many bases as possible.

But do agree, in practical terms, nobody has a clue as to what will happen post Brexit so whilst the boat will still be in Portugal, as things stand, although we would hope to have Portuguese Residents Permits, we plan to be back in the UK on 29th Mar 19.
 
I doubt anything will change immediately but, if you're worried, you could maybe launch before the official date, just in case. Yard has to present copy paperwork for all boats to the authorities and on occasion have been told not to launch some boats until cleared. It only needs one over zealous prat (like the one who impounded 26 boats in the yard a few years ago for not having name and/or port of registry on transom) to dream up new regulations and make life difficult.
 
nortada said:
✔️ Agree, very unlikely that anything will change on 29th Mar 2019 but if you are that worried, rather than leaving on the 28th, I would leave sufficiently early to clear Portuguese, Spanish and French Waters before 29th Mar.
Click to expand...

Am a fair weather sailor and not fancying Biscay in March. Have experienced Storm Force 10 in Biscay once in my life, and once is enough.....
 
Nooka said:
We are in a more or less identical position - in Lagos rather than Faro, and have flights booked for 27 March - and have been through the same thought process. We have decided that as it is impossible to know, we will just set sail and pootle back, dealing with any issues as they arise. None of the transit countries s going to have it in for retreating UK yotties, and if 5he worst comes to the worst we’ll just gird our loins and head back in one hit. But really, for transit/holidaying timescales, it’s impossible to imagine any of those countries would deliberately bar UK spenders - bit of confusion maybe, but almost certainly less than the confusion we all feel now!
Click to expand...

You could consider applying for Portuguese Residencia before 29 Mar 2019.

Then you would have up to 5 years to get your boat back to the UK!
 
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