tcm
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Hello Temptress,
there are two sets of issues to be considered as you point out:
1. residency/liveaboard
2. crusing/moving around different countries in the area
you raise many valid points on which (as you may know if you lived in this part of he world) it is somewhat difficult to get definitive answers.
In regards to residency
You're absolutely right about Dubai regarding live aboard etc. but that's Dubai... the other emirates have slightly different approaches.
My choice is really Bahrain where by talking to local people who run chartering businesses told me the marine give the address, you can receive mail etc. On the other hand, is there anyone living aboard currently? It appears not. But when I discussed the matter with knowledgeable local people they did not react as I was suggesting some crazy or impossible/illegal, not one mentioned the heat problem as you suggested this is solved with more A/C. I have my residency in Bahrain since 10 yrs and my business is registered there. As you said things are easier.
Judging from the number of boats out on the on a weekend (really astonishing compared to Bahrain) I'd say Qatar is extremely boat friendly, and again when discussing the idea with local people who own yachts there they're were not shocked at all. The situation in Qatar is somehow halfway between Bahrain and Dubai, although I would say Doha marinas are quite nice, lots and lots of space available and as I mentioned and extremely lively boating community it seems. In the UAE Abu Dhabi appears to be liveaboard friendly (as a matter of fact I would say all the liveaboard stories I heard where of Abu Dhabi based expat, only two in Dubai who kept things under the radar which doesn't seem a reasonable thing to do. So eventually I will be visiting Dubai only for short periods and they looooove tourist (especially extracting money from them).
In regards to cruising
here things are just as hazy but easier to figure out by looking at how things actually work (maybe trying to go convince someone to go to Dubai or hooking up with somebody planning a transfer, at least this is my plan but maybe there are better strategies)
Regarding the sail permit in Bahrain it appears to be a pure formality. Of course one must understand that this is the sea separating Saudi Arabia from Iran not antibes from niceso there are some security concerns and informing authorities about sailing plans, locations, duration and reasons for sailing it would be a necessary part of the routine. Not to mention some part of Manama waters are patrolled by somewhat aggressive US navy.
I honestly have no idea how frequently yachts from neighboring countries move around, so I am determined to find out as much info as possible through local contact before making any decision.
Boat size
In this regard my concerns are multiple:
- comfort (BIG better)
- maintenance (from daily chores to major stuff) (BIG more work)
- maneuverability/agility (this is debatable...)
- mooring (BIG more costly but not too much of a problem around here, neither for cost or availability)
- market (resale appeal)
on the last point things are very unclear. The market is extremely polarized between boats up to 9-10 M and megayachts. 42-50 is where the medium range seems to be (with a minority of boats I feel) with the lower end of it being the most common. This obviously tells you boats here are not meant to be used more than a weekend at a time.
On the other hand I am thinking the type of boat I have in mind (older 60-70 footer) might actually be appealing to the chartering business which seems quite prosperous. So there might be a potential use of the boat once I decide to eventually go back to the land. In that case the person per foot ratio would definitely be in favor of a bigger boat.
I am just wondering what in people experience is a threshold between "big comfortable" and "big overwhelming".
I am firmly with the "bigger is better" idea. Bigger is more expensive, but aside from that ...
1 A bigger boat is NOT "tougher to handle" - a boat's windage increases in proportion to the square of its length - whereas it's weight/inertia goers up in proportion with the CUBE - so bigger boats are actually EASIER to handle, and my experience with 10-15m boats versus 20m + proves this.
2 With a big boat you get more help from marinas - cos they think the same as many here do - that bigger boats just gotta be harder to handle. Even though they aren't.
3 Bigger boats have space for nicer installations of things. So you can have proper sized equipment, not minaturised bilge pumps and so on .
Motorboat forum will have more people accustomed to bigger boats, and yerknow, new things....