Marina D'Arechi Help !

[oldgit]

My very bestest mate (at moment) has finally purchased a decent boat P46 after selling a rather horrid cramped pointless tent boat(T43).New boat is currently lying in Palma and will be there for a month or two until moved most probably round to Cala D Or.
Bit of a constant swell in town harbour has hastened move.
He is not a great lover of down to earth a spade is a spade Spain or the Spanish and has always dreamed about keeping a boat in the all fur coat and no knickers joke that the Italians project as being the dolce vita.
Cala d Or want 14K PA but Marina D'Arechi appear to be asking 7 or 8K.
Is it next to a sewage plant or perhaps surrounded by a scenic combination of cement works and discos that play europop and do not shut until the sun comes up.

Anybody know the area who can provide me with irrefutable proof to convice him to keep his boat where I want it in Spain. ?

 

[MapisM]

I'd rather pay 14k for Marina d'Arechi than 7k for Cala d'Or, but each to their own.

I'm also not sure I'd want someone who qualifies my previous boat as a horrid cramped pointless tent, and wants to convince me to keep the new one where he fancies, as my very bestest mate.

Then again, did I say each to their own?

 

[oldgit]

I'd rather pay 14k for than 7k for Cala d'Or, but each to their own.

I'm also not sure I'd want someone who qualifies my previous boat as a horrid cramped pointless tent, and wants to convince me to keep the new one where he fancies, as my very bestest mate.

Then again, did I say each to their own?

So back to my original question.
Why is Cala D Or asking 14K and Marina d'Arechi asking the sort of price that would not get you a tank of diesel even in a place as bankrupt as southern Italy.
Perhaps a quick look at Google Earth will reveal all.
Nice handy commercial port to go and watch the bulk ore carriers unload and a handy football stadium plus a railway marshalling yard for spending those hot sultry nights trainspotting.
Salerno also get a mention in the FCO website

"Cars, at rest stops and motorway service stations are targets for robbers. You should treat offers of help with caution if you find yourself with a flat tyre, particularly on the motorway from Naples to Salerno. There have been reports that tyres have been punctured deliberately."

 

[DougH]

Cala D'Or is without doubt the safest marina on Mallorca with regards to weather.

Just look at the shape of the marina and it will be obvious why.

This is an inland marina not one built on the edge of the coast with all the problems that winters give you.

Mallorca is littered with places to go on the boat and by road, and Cala D'Or has it's own 24 hour security staff who patrol all night.

Cala D'Or is expensive but when you look at all the facilities immediately on hand and the bonus of what is without doubt the finest yacht club in the Med you can see the benefits.

The marina is extremely well managed with very helpful staff and the owners do not stop upgrading the facilities.

We have been there 3 years and would not consider moving.

If you would like to talk please give me a pm with your phone number.

PS don't try to haggle berth fees with Yann the owner, he knows what his berths are worth and he has no urgent need to fill the vacant spaces.

 

[MapisM]

So back to my original question.
Why is Cala D Or asking 14K and Marina d'Arechi asking the sort of price that would not get you a tank of diesel even in a place as bankrupt as southern Italy.

As I understood it, your original question didn't have a lot to see with prices, did it?
Prices simply depend - as for anything else on this planet - on offer and demand, rather than on the actual value of whatever is being traded.
They might well be the other way round, in a not so distant future.

Re. being bankrupt, let him who is without sin cast the first stone, as they say.
Have you been in Spain lately? Not to mention the UK, who went bankrupt well before Greece did - the main difference being that the latter couldn't do what the former did, i.e. quantitative easing.

Now, going really back to your original question, while you are on Google Earth, have a look also at the coastline and the islands around there.

 

[MapisM]

without doubt the finest yacht club in the Med

Now that's a bold statement, if I've ever seen one.

 

[oldgit]

"If you would like to talk please give me a pm with your phone number."


Thanks for the input.My chum is familar with Cala D Or having boated there for a few years having previously been in Nice. Have had some great times around there with his Targa 43 "Eau Rouge".
Having just bought a P46,he was just searching round to save a few pouinds and noticed the ad in YBM and wanted to find out a bit more without flying down there in the first instance.
Sorry Mapism if my comments were bit flippant,just pleased he has got a boat down there regardless of what it is and where it is kept.
Ps.It is still to hot most of the time.
PPs.Have been in the Club Nautico for slap up dinner do and obviously offered to buy my my mate a pie and pint in my clubhouse in return.
Wonder who got the better deal.

.

 

[DougH]

Now that's a bold statement, if I've ever seen one.

Nope not a bold statement Mapism.

If the same clubhouse was in Italy you would agree with me.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

I would be tempted by Marina D'Arechi myself but there might be a couple of downsides. First, having spent 5 years in the Balearics myself, I reckon its just about the best cruising area in the W Med although I'm not sure I'd opt for Cala D'Or myself at its a bit of a schlapp from the airport, its pretty dead in winter and when an easterly blows up, you're not going anywhere. Personally I prefer a Palma marina for the convenience, relative shelter and proximity to the bright lights of Palma. Looking at the location of D'Arechi, I'm not sure there are the same cruising opportunities as Majorca. Then there is its proximity to Naples which as far as I'm concerned is a crime ridden fleapit although the gelato is good.
Then there is the cost of fuel. Last time I heard, marine diesel in Italy was €1.60/litre and rising and I believe that diesel in Spain is still a fair bit less. Personally Having 'done' the Balearics, I'd happily give D'Arechi a go but given the choice between the 2, not having done either, I'd opt for the Balearics. There are other advantages about the Balearics too such as an excellent English speaking boating infrastructure, plentiful cheap flights to Palma and loads of stuff to do when the weather is lousy. I would still be tempted by that dolce vita in Italy though

 

[Portofino]

Oldgit
" A man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing"
Oscar Wilde
That what your original post sounds like to me
" value" just keep putting the price up when peps stop buying , drop it a bit , to recover sales - that's the value

 

[MapisM]

Nope not a bold statement Mapism.
If the same clubhouse was in Italy you would agree with me.

Well, if someone (not me, btw) would think so, at least the "without doubt" part of your statement would be proved to be wrong, I reckon...

 

[oldgit]

Oldgit
" A man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing"
Oscar Wilde
That what your original post sounds like to me
" value" just keep putting the price up when peps stop buying , drop it a bit , to recover sales - that's the value

Oscar Wilde,is that the bloke who died destitute and alone in a crummy Paris hotel at the ripe old age of forty-six ?

 

[benjenbav]

Marina D'Arechi appears to feature in the latest MBY. Reading between the lines I got the impression from that article that they were keen to subsidise the first intake so that it doesn't look like a lonely place no-one wants to go, so that more people sign up reassured by the fact that others already have and so on.

Maybe some good deals for early adopters. Mebbe not.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Marina D'Arechi appears to feature in the latest MBY.

It was a paid advertorial more than a feature so I'm not sure how much you can believe. You certainly wouldn't want to sign up at LIBS without first having checked the place out

 

[jfm]

I can't make the comparison having never been to D'Arechi. It looked nice enough in MBY. Each to their own but i think Cala D'Or is a great marina and I would choose it if I wanted to be based in Balearics. Very sheltered and secure and has a very nice clubhouse. Ref Deleted User's comments, I would rate cala D'Or much above Palma. Palma is ok, but the berths are swelly, and there isn't great crusing really close by, and the place feels a bit industrial in some directions. The improved road cuts the journey time from airport to Cala D'Or by a useful amount. Ref Doug's comments, the cludhouse in Cala D'Or is very fine indeed but of course it isn't the best in the Med: Monaco and other places beat it, and lots of places in the Med (losts in Corcsica and SofF) have bars etc on the quayside so that you don't need a clubhouse. But we're splitting hairs I suppose and Cala D'Or is definitely #1 in mallorca in my books

Coming back to pricing, there are quite a few marinas coming on stream in Italy and they seem to be 1/2 full or less. I think a lot of the locations are not hotspots for N Europeans in the way Cala D'Or and others are, and the domestic demand in IT isn't there. So they are cuttting prices big time. Probably worth it then for a couple of years if you want to save the money, and if the crime thing checks out ok. Cruising is good aroun Arechi - certainly a few years worth to play with

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Palma is ok, but the berths are swelly, and there isn't great crusing really close by

Yes some berths in Palma can be swelly but those in Club de Mar and Club Nautico are usually fine. Certainly, in our 5yrs in Club de Mar, we never found swell an issue. As for cruising, the big advantage of Palma Bay is that it is sheltered from 3 sides so that you can usually always find an anchorage somewhere and the anchorages at Portals Vells and Illetes are fine anchorages in their own right. I have spent some months moored in Cala d'Or and the big issue as far as I'm concerned is that as soon as you leave the cala you are exposed to any wind and waves from 3 directions and sea conditions can be unpleasant. As for swell, I have seen a big easterly push a swell into the harbour so Cala d'Or is not immune either

 

[jfm]

Yes some berths in Palma can be swelly but those in Club de Mar and Club Nautico are usually fine. Certainly, in our 5yrs in Club de Mar, we never found swell an issue. As for cruising, the big advantage of Palma Bay is that it is sheltered from 3 sides so that you can usually always find an anchorage somewhere and the anchorages at Portals Vells and Illetes are fine anchorages in their own right. I have spent some months moored in Cala d'Or and the big issue as far as I'm concerned is that as soon as you leave the cala you are exposed to any wind and waves from 3 directions and sea conditions can be unpleasant. As for swell, I have seen a big easterly push a swell into the harbour so Cala d'Or is not immune either

That's interesting to hear Deleted User and I know your days experience of Mallorca = probably 100x mine. Are you saying in a proper nasty easterly that waves go all along the "river" into Cala D'or marina? And are you saying that conditions at the mouth of cala d'or are so bad that you can't come out of the "river" and anchor in Cala Gran (the little bay just to the east of Cala D'Or)?
A PITA issue with Cala D'Or is the awful quality of the street water. It's salty. Boat looks a mess after a washdown and, worse still, it makes awful tea. I have to use Evian to make tea when in Cala D'Or though I must admit the juxtaposition of Evian in t'kettle on t'stove and Yorkshire Gold tea bags (ee ba gum) makes me smile .

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

That's interesting to hear Deleted User and I know your days experience of Mallorca = probably 100x mine. Are you saying in a proper nasty easterly that waves go all along the "river" into Cala D'or marina? And are you saying that conditions at the mouth of cala d'or are so bad that you can't come out of the "river" and anchor in Cala Gran (the little bay just to the east of Cala D'Or)?
A PITA issue with Cala D'Or is the awful quality of the street water. It's salty. Boat looks a mess after a washdown and, worse still, it makes awful tea. I have to use Evian to make tea when in Cala D'Or though I must admit the juxtaposition of Evian in t'kettle on t'stove and Yorkshire Gold tea bags (ee ba gum) makes me smile .

I have been in Cala d'Or in an easterly gale (on one of the old Peters' moorings next to their office) and whilst I wouldn't describe it as waves coming into the marina, certainly there was an uncomfortable swell coming into the marina. I wouldn't want to make too much of it because as you know, Cala d'Or is very sheltered generally and I'd very happily leave my boat there permanently. Btw I've also seen snow on the ground in Cala d'Or too. Its can be a bit cooler than Palma which is obviously a good thing in summer
Definitely Cala Gran can be untenable in E or S winds and its subject to the afternoon sea breeze as well. Cala Gran is a bit of a wierd place for SWMBO and me because, the last time we visited, we realised that we'd both been on honeymoon at the same hotel in Cala Gran with our first spouses. Spooky or what
Yup, the water quality in Majorca, particularly in the N and E can be a bit dodgy especially in the summer when the consumption goes up. For example, we've been told not to drink the water in Alcudia or Pollensa during summer. I didn't realise it was an issue in Cala d'Or though

 

[oldgit]

Have stood on the cliffs near that fort at the end of the inlet and watched on or two bravish boaters go out when things were rough,must admit was pleased that we had decided to do a bit of island exploring that day by car.
Following day was much calmer.
Visited nice restuarant over at Port de Vallesmosa, down a long windy dead end road .MA113.

 

[DougH]

A PITA issue with Cala D'Or is the awful quality of the street water. It's salty. Boat looks a mess after a washdown and, worse still, it makes awful tea. I have to use Evian to make tea when in Cala D'Or though I must admit the juxtaposition of Evian in t'kettle on t'stove and Yorkshire Gold tea bags (ee ba gum) makes me smile .

Agree the water is not fit for use.

It is not salty but has a heavy concentration of calcium and it is the calcium that makes boat cleaning a pain.

I pass all cleaning water and none drinking water though a 3 stage filter block and this seems to solve the problem, but the filters do not last more than 6 weeks of concentrated use.

Most locals use the mains water for cooking but we use bottled water for all human consumption purposes.

We also have a water maker and this makes the sweetest water.