Marinas.S of England v. S of France

[doris]

It is extraordinary how often I hear the marinas of the south coast of England slagged off and those of France praised to the hills. It is necessary to compare the S of England with the S of France rather than the rather deserted N of France. After a few days in the south of France I saw the reality of comparing like with like. The berthing cost for a 36 foot boat was between 25 and 40 euros per night, showers (usually cold) 2 euros a go extra. That is if there is any room. When a harbour claims 315 visitor berths it would reasonable to expect to be able to get in when things a quiet. Not a bit of it! All the visitor berths are filled with ‘long term guests’ ie. a year at a go. Spaces are around but should you try and used them the security chaps tend to get more than a touch sniffy. Maybe being municipal employees there is no need to generate extra revenue or maybe they are just too lazy. Either way frequently there was no room at the inn, at any of several marinas end of story with in a reasonable proximity. On top of this if you got lucky and did get in you were probably so far from civilisation that an on-board bike for each crew was an essential. Suddenly The Solent/Torbay/Poole etc did not seem too unreasonable!

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[circumnavigation]

I don't think it is the SofF that this refers to. SofF is getting the way of SofE. Most, like us, on the west coast of France, including S Britttany have some of the cheapest and best facilities, including sailing anywhere in Europe. After 10 years here we are now seeing more Red dusties than ever before. For the Med; now you see and feel the wind, and now you don't!

<hr width=100% size=1>http://www.mpcee.co.uk/katoema.html

 

[Magic_Sailor]

I see your point about "crowded sailing areas" but I don't really think it holds water (if you see what I mean!)

You can compare Brittany and S England. As follows

1. They are in the same geographical/cruising area
2. There is not a space problem in sailing in the Solent in the Summer which would justify a higher charge on a supply and demand basis.
3. Brittany is easily just as crowded as the Solent in the Summer months. This does not mean that they have high charges.

See my post elswhere for a comparison which is more realistic - comparing prices for the same season of the year.

We live in a country where the "profit centre" is king. In France it would appear that local authorities provide "seed money" to subsidise amenities like marinas with the subsequent increase in local business this generates. There is no real difference in the quality of the marinas. I know which I think is better.

When I arrived back a couple of weeks ago my immediate feeling was of being very badly ripped off - not a pleasant experience.

Magic

<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://hometown.aol.co.uk/geoffwestgarth/myhomepage/travelwriting.html>Click for website!</A>

 

[tcm]

Mitigating factors

not totally unfair but there are some mitigating factors

1) Marina prices in Sof F vary by at least 50%. So you pay 50% of annual for may/june/july + aug and 50% for the rest of the year. Some places are even more skewed than this. Hence summer prices very much higher.

2) South of France marinas cost a bomb to build,with long sea walls and solid drive-on pontoons all in deep water. Whereas yer average MDL marina is some nice cheapo floaty wooden pontoons lashed the banks of a river. To recoup some of these costs, marina had to sell berths, and therin lies the problem - that over 75% of berths are privately held.

You are right that there are few berths. But comparing one with another isn't realistic. Book ahead by phone is needed is summer . Oh, and you can just sneak in after 8pm - everyone is at dinner And also you can have free lunch stops as well - unlike grasping UK.

Erm, your boat is supposed to have its own facilities, I think. Hence four showers in Antibes.

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Agree with you, Doris. We've just moved our boat to the SoF and the overnight charges are definitely more expensive than the South Coast of England. That plus the fact that there are never anywhere near the number of visitors berths advertised discourages people from cruising so even the largest boats end up mainly day boating
More experienced SoF hands have told me just to turn up and keep nagging the Capitannerie until you are allocated a berth but we've been turned away from marinas on a couple of occasions. Obviously it helps if you speak reasonable French

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[doris]

I'm not sure that I see your point. One has to compare similar population centres. There is a very sparce population in north or western France but it is a tad crowded in the south, just like the UK. It is easy for the frogs to provde lots of facilites and space when it is freely available but when things get crowded they are even worse than the the capitalistic rosbeefs.

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[mpprh]

Hi

Interesting.

I'm paying GBP1200 annually for a 10.5 m sailboat in Port Camargue. This includes 1 haulout and return per year + land storage for 10 days (DIY allowed). Port Camargue has 4800 moorings and just about all the facilities you could hope for. There are quite a few Brits with permanent moorings who use Ryanair as low cost transport.

I paid about Euro 30 for a night in Cassis on July 13. Isle Frioul, Marseille was free July 14. I've never been turned away from a marina as a visitor. I've never paid for a "lunch stop".

Peter
Languedoc, France
Homepage: http://tlp.netfirms.com





<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[pugwash]

Just like Ryanair ?

Yes, local authorities provide seed money for amenities to attract visitors and get business going -- just like Strasbourg Airport (with others likely to follow) where Ryanair has had to withdraw because Air France got stroppy about cut-price competition. We don't go that far in "profit centre" Britain. I don't think France is such a good example!

<hr width=100% size=1>