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B175Chris

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I read with great interest the story from the Whittakers in MBM this month about how they were almost hijiacked three seperate times en route to Cala d'Or marina!

The situation was very similar to my own as we towed our Bayliner down to France just over 1000 miles, however obviously we didn't need to go through Barcelona or Spain but france was also mentioned as being a hotspot for this!

We have been considering buying a new boat in the UK and towing once again to france, we probably still will but would that story affect your decision about towing through france or spain?

This post isn't so much simply to get an answer to that question, but to let people know that the article exists if you dont usually buy the mag, even if you only stand in Smiths and read it /forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif

Chris
 
To be honest i can't say i've heard of this happening alot in France. However, i've been advised not to travel at night, don't stop to sleep on the autoroute and avoid stopping where isolated. I would go on to say how it's totally safe,but i have to do the trip again in March so as not to tempt fate...

Interested to hear of others experiences
 
Well we slept in the car on the way over too in an Autoroute stop amongst motorhomes, as the F1 style hotel we booked into for half a euro a night (cos it was the only one halfway through france on our journey) was more like a prison, and the car park looked too seedy to leave the boat for an entire night by itself!

it was only the morning after that I picked a newspaper up from said autoroute services that there was a story about caravanners being gassed and their boats and caravans being unhitched/stolen from while they slept - made us feel very lucky!
 
We just bought our first boat this year - a RIB. We figured we'd buy a RIB, build up some experience and try towing the RIB to France. All of this before we build up to a larger boat.

And then I read that article /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif I have to be honest and say that it scared me quite a lot. The thought of having the kids in the car and that happening just puts you off going to Spain or Southern France. It will take quite a bit of experience before I decide to even dream about towing the boat to France. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif
 
I must say that the trip we had down to the South was an absolute dream; ferry access was good, clear roads in france, effectively one long direct road (save for a few motorway shifts)

I think they touched on the difference which is the Police presence; they seem terrified of police who are pretty much out and about each day waiting in motorway lay-bys (usually to pull you for speeding) and that makes you feel really safe, especially as they are all armed!

We never had any problems but considering the popularity of Cala as a boaters haven, it reminded me of the SoF /forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif
 
I wouldn't let it worry me too much I have to admit, having towed cars to France & Barcelona in the past to trackdays. Given that there were a number of us travelling separately due to speed differentials with fairly expensive cars (Elises, Caterhams, Westienails etc) on trailers I've never encountered any trouble at all and I don't recall anyone else having suffered any grief either. We've stayed in several hotels from Mercures upwards and left the cars / trailers in the car park without them being touched. I've been considering towing our boat down to the SoF or Spain next year for a couple of weeks so read the article with interest as it hadn't even crossed my mind that this could happen. It wouldn't stop me though, I'd just keep my wits about me and be sensible I guess.
 
In the past when we towed down to spain we had a situation in a layby where the car had an attempted breakin while we were asleep in the boat. Also on the return we stopped two San Cougat fellows getting in the boat at Calais. It would worry me if doing it again and I think I would seek out a campsite for a peaceful sleep.
 
I towed down last year for the first time when the boat was new. I made it to Beaune in the first day and stayed in a French Chateau (ref Michelin guide).
It was expensive but worth it for the piece of mind.
 
We always stay in beaune from now on, there is a lovely chateau type place called "Le Hostellerie Le Cédre" - pure luxury! I wonder if you mean the same place... it isn;t a very big town at all!

http://www.lecedre-beaune.com/

I don't suppose you've visited the steak place in the town centre have you?

http://www.piquboeufgrill.com/

If not and you plan on returning, i urge you to eat there /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
I read the article just after we had towed our boat 600 miles across Spain and it scared the brown-stuff out of me. I know someone who delivers boats for a living and he has been robbed twice in France, but I've never heard of people trying to physically stop a vehicle on the move.

Having said that, we had absolutely no problems whatsoever and I would definitely do it again; just think I will keep a baseball bat in the car with me rather than the wheel brace I had to hand in the door pocket /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif There is no way though I would sleep in the boat at the side of the road - we parked overnight at a Parador with CCTV in the car park and two sets of trailer locks on. IMHO it was just as safe there as it was at home on the drive.
 
Eek. As well as other precautions I'd definitely fit a GPS tracker to the boat. This would text your mobile phone as soon as the boat moved and if you slept through that (!) and the boat got removed from the hitch while you slept, it would only be a couple of hundred miles away and you can race after it. They cost < £300 or so. I have one fitted to my boat all the time and it texts me when the crew move it off its mooring, and if it is on loan to friends I always know where it is (displayed on CMap chart on the desktop computer here in London).

There are loads of these devices. I use this one and recommend it 100%. Note, several devices on this website are monthly subscription but this one isn't, you just buy it with a payg SIM card and top up the sim card now and again, and that's all cost-wise
http://www.text-link.co.uk/products1.htm
 
There is a big section on this in MBM just after the hijacking article, one of a three part series on theft if I remember correctly... it has a run-down of the range of various geofence systems stating at around £400 - might consoder one if we move up a size!
 
We have had eight holidays towing to the South of France or Northern Italy and have never had or seen this type of problem........ yet. We have spent the night on board at the service stations but tend to use one of the cheap chains nowadays on the longer hauls. We are carefull I suppose, and put the wheel lock on the trailer even if for a minute or to, and try to block it in somewhere with the car.
Would not let the article put us off but will take even more care in future.
 
We towed our boats down to Menorca via the French/Spanish motorways and Barcelona in 2001/2. We had a very relaxing trip down and had no problems at all.

While I feel sorry for the problems described in MBM, I think you have to look at the probability of it happening to you. I didnt feel a huge risk mainly because our boats were just too big to make a quick get away (And if they had knicked my new disco as well,it would have broken down before it got off the car park!!)



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IMHO the small risk is well worth it for the fantastic cruising once you get there. Take a few basic precautions, use manned services and stay out of unpopulated areas the risk would be even less.
 
Maybe we have led sheltered lives for 35yrs on the Continent, but we feel a lot more secure here than we do in the UK or Ireland.
 
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