MDL Sant Carlos Following advise in the PBO forum I m trying here

steve6367

steve6367

Well-Known Member
Joined
28 Apr 2003
Messages
389
Location
Bournemouth, Dorset, UK
www.ybw.com
Going to pop down for a day and take a look when in Spain weekend after next - with a view to a possible move from Cobbs Quay.

Would like to get out on the water to experience it from that side - does anyone who is based there know if there are any options for hiring a small boat for half a day?

Steve
 
There's a guy out there who I'm sure will give you a tour.
Owns a Moody

PM me if you would like to know more.

My Princess has been down there for a year now.

If you would like to know a bit more - sign up to our private forum at www.scmchat.com

Great atmosphere - all the Brits get along - raggies and stinkies alike.
 
I would be interested to hear about the place too....am looking at marinas and boats in this area and the islands at the moment.

This was one of my choices as a potential marina, looks great and the rates are attractive...whats the catch?.
 
hi guys

im moving mine to MDL Saint carles on weds from ginesta in barca, cant wait (weather 27c till friday) :), i will upload pics from the area hopefully on thursday evening, ste i might be there on the weekend you are pm me in advance and im sure i could take you out for a look if im about.


The catch ..the rates are going up next year once the place is compleated, parking is currently free but ive been advised that will change in the future too, basically it looks attractive now but i guess next year things will be more expensive, theres not much space left (with whats built) theres quite a few med style moorings and a couple on the J pontoon ill be in J18 and i believe J6 is avaliable (this is what i was told), im going to see what its like i might move to another part as it looks to be a trek to the pool and office area. if you look on the plan theres another two pontoons being built up by the J pontoon area ,so it might get a little crouded around there. Again ill take some pics and put them up on here for you.

thanks for the link Hurricane Ive signed up for that forum too :)
 
Last edited:
Hi,

I moved my boat there earlier this year.

The marina is great, everything is new of course, and the pool really helps to make a good holiday.

Whats the catch people are saying?

Ok here goes:

There is a huge problem there with heavy fouling, in less than 2 months of launching my boat it was impossible to use it! massive amounts of growth covered all the stearn gear including the shafts. So much so that the engines would not develop any rev range and I honestly thought the turbos had given up. The marina is in the estuary of the river Ebron and the river has been used for mussel growing for years. The locals tell you that all stearn gear should be undercoated and then antifouled including props, but this made no difference to my boat and many other Brits boats! so every time you visit your boat the first thing you will need to do is have the boat lifted and power washed. Also hard standing charges are high, so you will not want to be on dry land for any length of time!

The next very real problem is the mosquitos! they attack just around the time you want to sit out and enjoy a lovely warm evening on the aft deck! so much so that you are often driven inside your boat, the bites are nasty and ladies seem to get the worst of it. They live here because there are many rice fields.

The current manager has been very fair with regard to the fouling and has reduced the price for the lift out and power wash, my boat is 11.3. metres and now costs about fifty pounds. MDL is also trying very hard to rid the marina of mozzies and the area is currently being sprayed from planes that fly low and drop their load on them, however we still get bitten quite a lot!

With regard to the prices, the Spainish are suffering from reccesion as well and I am told that marina prices in this part of Spain are unlikely to move much next year as there are marinas along this coast that are as competative, but who knows what MDL will do.

The sea area here is well known for its large rollers! and crossing to the islands can be dangerous! it is essential that weather reports are obtained. I believe it was earlier this year that a fifty foot boat sank in the area and the skipper and partner spent two days in their life raft before thankfully being rescued. So the Med is not always a kind benign sea a lot of people think it is!

The town of Sant Carles is very pleasant and so far unspoiled by lager louts! but almost no English is spoken here and very few restaurants have English on the menu.

Airports are basically Barcelona or Rues, I live in Surrey so have to fly from Gatwick to Barcelona, You then have the obtion of hiring a car and driving a hundred mile or catching a train, the journey is very pleasant along the coast and is less than ten pounds per person, however there is no station in Sant Carles so you have to get a taxi from the nearest station (Aldea Amposta) which costs around 25 euros and is about 15 miles away.
Rues airport is nearer (50 miles) but it would appear that Stanstead airport has to be used from Gatwick which is hopeless for me as Stanstead is on the wrong side of London for me. Again, not much transport and a car must be hired.

I hope this gives you some insight to Sant Carles Marina, I'm not sure if I am really happy with the boat here and may move to another marina. I really like the marina and its such a shame that it has the above mentioned problems, but thats life isnt it?

Medskipper
 
Oh do tell, Whats Ginesta like then?

Don't let me put you off Sant carles, I just think being forwarned is forarmed!

I can put up with the mozzie bites, but I know over a period of time SWMBO is not going to want to be there all that often, which of course means I can't go! we do cover ourselves with bite spray, but it does not seem to stop the little sods biting you!

The fouling is a problem, but a lift and wash sorts this out, I couldnt believe the difference it made to my boat once it was all washed off again! It does mean of course you lose a day mucking about having this done but I think they will tow your boat to the crane and put it back in the water a day or two before you arrive if you want, personally I prefer to be there so I can see whats going on! The manager is due to leave the marina shortly which is very unfortunate as he really is a good bloke. Any new man taking over may well decide that the lift and wash is far too cheap!!

Do tell us what Ginesta is like?

Medskipper
 
FunkyMonkey said:
oh this has me a lil worried now :confused: i was hopping it would be a little better than ginesta....
Click to expand...

Wait until you've got there.
Barry's points are valid but he has only picked up on the bad issues.

On the transport side of things - as he sais, Reus Airport is much nearer than Barcelona. There are scheduled Ryanair flights from Luton to Reus and quite a number of other local UK airports fly to Reus during the high season. We live in the west country so have been Bristol to Reus - in fact I've got a two seats booked in a couple of weeks - £40 all in (for both - inc taxes and Ryanair's booking fees). Most of the time we have a hire car and its about 50 minutes from the Airport to the marina - I've done it lots of times - picking up kids and dropping people off etc.

Barry mentions that the boat yard is a bit expensive to store ashore - yes but if you are just lifting for an annual maintenance, try comparing the whole thing (lift, scrub, stor and relaunch) with UK prices and I think you will be pleasantly surprised. For example when we berthed our 51 foot Sealine in the Hamble the cost of lifting scrubbing and relaunching at Hamble Point was over £1000 - 4 years ago. This year I had the Princess 67 lifted, scrubbed, stored ashore for a week and relaunched for just over £500.

Add to this the ability now to have a cheap mid season clean up. JW will cost me about £87 to lift and scrub. Next season, I will probably lift her several times - a quick lift and wash before a long cruise will pay for the saving in fuel many times over.

And dont forget, even if the fouling at Sant Carles is agressive, it isnt much more than the rest of the Med - you still get barnacle growth on your props - where ever you are. I believe that in the Balaerics its common to have a diver down several times each year to clean the props - lifting is a much more effecient way of cleaning - and you get the time to inspect the underside more often.

Mosquitos - I know that people have pestered by the mosquitos but it does happen generally in this part of Spain. My parents once owned a villia about 25 miles south of Sant Carles and mosquitos were a problem there as well. Aircraft are often seen spraying the general area to keep the quantities down. Personally, we hardly have any of the little critters but we do keep the cabins closed and airconditioned. Our side of the marina also seems less affected as well.

That just answers Barry's comments in a positave way but there are loads of other benefits in the area.

The islands are only 90 odd miles away and there is some superb cruising when you get there.

Then there's the lagoon - a streatch of almost enclosed water about 6 miles long, a mile and a half wide and about 6 metres deep. Good anchoriges in almost all weather conditions - it doesnt look like it but there was a good force 5 blowing when this photo was taken - at that time it would have been very rough and uncomfortable out in the main sea.

IMGP1624Medium.jpg


Not to mention the lagoon restaurant

IMG_1966.jpg


Barry also points out that the town is very unspoilt. Not much English spoken etc. This is exactly why we like the place - other parts of Spain have become overun by Brits and we wanted somewhere a little quieter. Sant Carles strikes a great balance between being peaceful whilst still being a town large enough for good shopping and restauramts.
 
To be fair, the kind of lift out costs you are talking about are far lower than the Balearics so even if you had your boat lifted 5 or 6 times a year, it's not a huge cost. I pay €200-300 a time for a diver in Palma to clean the sterngear so SC sounds cheap. In fact I'm half thinking about running across to SC for a lift out this winter myself. Any idea what a lift out/in + 4 weeks on the hard would cost? What about maintenance services? Are there good quality peeps available?
Shame about the mozzies. Inevitable when there's a body of static water close by
 
I am going to try to visit there on October 22nd, if I get my business in Barcelona finished in time.

Would you recommend the train or hire a car for a first time visit? Is it a big station at Aldea Amposta, can you always get a taxi? What about on the way back - can the marina guys call one for you?

Would you say that in order to enjoy the local town you should be able to get by in Spanish? Will I struggle if the only spanish I know is "habla inglise"?

Any travel tips gratefully received!
 
Will I struggle if the only spanish I know is "habla inglise"?
Click to expand...

If in doubt, find a child of school age, or a young adult. All Spanish kids study English from (I think) their first year at primary school and have done for some years (but bear in mind that they don't start school until they're seven, as Spain is a civilised nation :)).
 
PEJ said:
I am going to try to visit there on October 22nd, if I get my business in Barcelona finished in time.

Would you recommend the train or hire a car for a first time visit? Is it a big station at Aldea Amposta, can you always get a taxi? What about on the way back - can the marina guys call one for you?

Would you say that in order to enjoy the local town you should be able to get by in Spanish? Will I struggle if the only spanish I know is "habla inglise"?

Any travel tips gratefully received!
Click to expand...

Wow - thats more Spanish than most of us speak!!!

A car might be better if you have the time to explore the area a little.
Otherwise the train will be the cheapest.
You've picked the correct station - as far as arranging a taxi is concerned - for the return, the marina will order one for you and I should think its best to telephone the marina for a taxi om the way out as well. Serena is English but most of the other girls at the marina speak really good English as well. Earlier in the year, I phoned the marina from the train and they arranged for a taxi to meet us at Aldea Amposta. Its a good fast service from Barcelona Saints.

SWMBO and I are flying out there (via Reus) on the 22nd as well - its an early flight se we should be there by 11 or 12 o'clock. If you do get the chance to visit, pop down to the end of Y pontoon and say hello - JennyWren

Mike
 
Medskipper said:
Oh do tell, Whats Ginesta like then?

Don't let me put you off Sant carles, I just think being forwarned is forarmed!

I can put up with the mozzie bites, but I know over a period of time SWMBO is not going to want to be there all that often, which of course means I can't go! we do cover ourselves with bite spray, but it does not seem to stop the little sods biting you!

The fouling is a problem, but a lift and wash sorts this out, I couldnt believe the difference it made to my boat once it was all washed off again! It does mean of course you lose a day mucking about having this done but I think they will tow your boat to the crane and put it back in the water a day or two before you arrive if you want, personally I prefer to be there so I can see whats going on! The manager is due to leave the marina shortly which is very unfortunate as he really is a good bloke. Any new man taking over may well decide that the lift and wash is far too cheap!!

Do tell us what Ginesta is like?

Medskipper
Click to expand...
hi barry i can tell you what ginesta is like ,
its very nice but more expensive than st carles i stayed for 2 nights in the summer at a cost of about 75 euros per night all the best
stuart
 
Medskipper said:
The manager is due to leave the marina shortly which is very unfortunate as he really is a good bloke.
Click to expand...

Is that Neil Salter? I met him a few times when he was in the UK and he struck me as a really nice guy so guessing it may be (he mentioned at the time he was going out to run SC).

If so, any idea where he's going on to? Another MDL marina?
 
had a great day for the trip down today ...i believe its called flatter than a flat thing...



spotted this on the way in ..verry nice :)

 
with reference to ginesta, its expensive for what it is, and i also found the water to be pretty rough even in the marina, last night i slept on the boat and it was all over the place, admitly its not such a big boat but neither the less, not a very comfortable nights sleep. last time i was over i had to battle the breakers at the marina entrance to get out to sea where cruzing is pretty limited in a smallish boat, i like the idea of the sheltered waters in SC epecially as ill be taking my family out!

Also im hopping to go over to the islands next summer and heres a great place to do it from!

So far SC is great, nice people nice facilities although im a bit dissapointed with the walk to them, as im stuck out on J pontoon, hopefully something wii come up a bit closer.

Well im off to kill a few more mozzies, the boat is begining to look like it has chicken pox theres that many spattered inside!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top