Med Berth quandary

[itsonlymoney]

Re previous posts on the SoF
If SoF ends up too costly due to probability of having to purchase berth, does anyone have other suggestion as too were to get some sun. ie Spain, Portugal etc. Must be within a 2 hr ish. flight. Please give an idea as too cost / availability of berth and any other info.
Regards - Ian

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[MedDreamer]

Ian

When I was researching this subject before my move, the Costa Blanca south of Alicante seemed a good option - plenty of flights. The big drawback seemed to be the massive amount of building work going on down there (We never actually went there ourselves to see however).

Apart from the real "hotspots" the mainland was much cheaper (in some cases 2/3 less) but again it would be worthwhile getting some cheap flights and having a look.

Majorca is expensive - about the same as Windermere + you have to get there, and as you know it has not been a particuarly happy experience for us so far.

However, when the sun shines..............bliss

Martyn

PS TCM's dry berthing option sounds interesting - no fouling problems.



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[itsonlymoney]

Martyn
Its doin my head in (as they say) allready. And I have only been thinking about it since last Tuesday,I blame the Mrs for taking me there. I know one thing and that is I need to be there next few years cos this Brit weather is naff, and its too far to drive "Darn sarf" much rather be drinking scotch on the plane for two hours than driving to Poole or suchlike.
Ian

<hr width=100% size=1>Play the best game you can with the cards you've been dealt ! ! !

 

[tcm]

hi.

The med is really good as many will confirm, but there are loads of dreamers. Medreamers, i spose, cept he actually pitched up. Renting can be a bit of a nightmare.

The fact of the mater is that there are loads of enquiries in all the marinas about spaces every single day. Loads of these come to nought. Unlike queue-mad uk, they have no queues, and everyone is on 1 months notice. So unless you buy a space, "getting a berth" isn't a phew dunnit as in the UK - you could be out the next month, or the next year, whenever the guy who owns the long lease feels like it. I know several who had to fly down to the med to sort out the sodding berth, and have done a good share of top grovelling.

Under 12metres, plenty of places can squeeze you in - it's above 15m that a real biggish berth is needed.

As others say, except in public-owned marinas (and there are only a few) there are no "waiting lists" as such, merely a gaggle of people hoping to get in, planning to get in, deniteily planning to get in provided that the rates are only the same as last year, booking tio get in provided that they can have long credit, and so on.

Best would be to look at where a relevant dealer of your boat is/are located, and go there for the first year. A dealer can shout up your claim to a berth - if the dealers can't get a space, then they can't sell boats, then all hell breaks loose.

It is NOT like the UK where time is easy, you can fix and find stuff yourself, nip down for a weekend and so on. People turn up for a week or two, then back to the airport and they want each day to be fab, with the boat working, and don't do much long-passage stuff really. Chartered boats tend tio get help first, cos locals make big money from them, and their tiem really is money, whereas if peeps don't charter, they really want things to be sort-of fixed for free, or cheap.

I think i saw you praps thinking about a new boat(?), and if so this is an excellent time to chop out of one and into another - you'll buy a boat if there a space and bingo, you betcha there'll be a space. Note that it's a few grand to hoik your boat down there, so this wd help the swap. Mebbe bollox that u r thinking of a swap, not sure.

Finaly, about six years ago with an even worse spring than this summer, i booked a lorry, and the nice lady asked if we wanted the boat near cannes or in l'estaque nr marseilles. I said cannes, so she orgainsed it to get craned out in uk and taken there by transporter. I arrived to find it on the shore, but no prob, they wooshed aroudn to get it craned back into the water that afternoon. "and where is your berth?" asked the yard manager. Er, just put it anywhere in the marina, i sed. He gulped, made a call or two, and we were crammed in next to the loonie dive boat. The end of that season the marina sent me a "proposal" reagrding hoiking the boat out, a teensy bit cheaper than staying in, so i sed okay. The next April, they rang to say rightho, dya wanna go back in? Yes please. Where? they asked. Er, back where it was. Nochance, matey, that's been rented out! Argh. Hence their enthusiasm to chuck everyone on the shore. A month later i had bought a berth.

hope some of this helps

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[MedDreamer]

Ian

The one thing that we did strike lucky with was renting a berth - but not straight away. I used the yacht services company that shipped the boat and they firstly gave me a dockside berth, impossible to swing out of, right next to the dustbins, the public footpath (NO security - passers-by leaning on the boat to pose for photos) and adjacent to a busy restaurant with late night music - we stayed a day and the next day met a english guy who was looking to sell or rent his 10m mooring. We shook hands on an agreement that we can rent as long as we wish and he has been a tremendous help in settling in - even sorting out a new anchor and chain for me when I errr... decided to leave it out in the bay.

The moral of this story is you have to be there to get it sorted.

When most of the Majorcan marina's were developed, 10m boats were considered the norm so many berths were built to that size. Since then average boat size has grown and 12m+ berths are like rocking horse pooh, but you should have no trouble renting 8-10m
This is certainly the case in Alcudia - the port office could sort you a berth easily. Your 2655 would only require a 8m berth (although they are measured in boat length what really matters in the beam.). In Alcudia that would be €270 per month.
Petrol is 65p per litre and, as long as you are careful who you choose, servicing costs are less than Windermere.

Use that to do the sums and I'll see you next year

Martyn




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[tcm]

right, er lets get this straight, you took a powerboat out to the balearix and then (gasp) there's some late nite music? Oh, and people leaning against it to get their photos taken. Surely you shld be a bit flattered, no?

Or perhaps you got in the local papers "English Loon leaves anchor in the bay" and they all wanted pix against the famous nutter's boat?

Anyway, imho it's vair handy being next to the dustbins, good for security, especially if you are often seen to be rooting through the contents. Nobody's gonna burgle you, are they?

As usual, more info required.

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[MedDreamer]

All I'm saying is that we never had this trouble when we rented a caravan at Filey!.
The Bingo always finished half an hour before last orders and the turn always got booed off by 9:15.

Funnily enough, nobody was taking photos until we put some offcuts of Alistairs "Bet Lynch" range Leopard skin cloth over our seats - That seemed to impress all the young locals.

My decision to leave my anchor and chain in the bay was taken on sound ecological groungs. Having read that it is now common practice to scupper old warships to create artificial reefs, I decided to follow suit. The problem is I do not have an old warship so improvised the best I could by sinking my anchor and chain. Just you wait, in 10 years time David Attenborough will be down there making a filum of the wildlife, and Greenpeace wil not doubt give me a special award (Order of the Clubbed Seal or suchlike)

What will the headlines be then huh......




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[tcm]

Meddy admits chains-in-(sea)bed Balearix scandal

nm

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[MedDreamer]

Meddy: Right to reply

A nice Mr Clifford has told me to say the following:-

"The assertion that I Mr MedDreamer released my chain and lost my anchor because I am an inexperienced idiot is ludicrous" (but not neccesarily untrue).

Apparently this worked for a Mr Beckham

This matter should now be considered closed (fat bloody chance)

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[mikemcgregor]

Try here....... http://www.empuriaport.com/indgb.htm its about 45 mins from Girona(Barcelona) airport. regular cheap flights to UK. Standsted is about 1 hour 45 mins away.


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[tcm]

Re: Meddy Media Frenzy

Headline "What a complete anchor!"

inside pages
1-6 pix: blurry pix of meddy's boat in alcudia bay losing anchor.
7-8 "Oh yes he did!" - scoop interview with meddy's neighbour on the pontoon
9-10 "Alcudia Chandler Has the Evidence" close-up till receipts of new anchor
11-12 "Oh no he didn't!" Soft-focus pix of meddy and mrs meddy holding hands, and NOT having a tizz on the deck about losing the anchor.
13-14 Sponsors unperturbed: interview with Gilette, Pepsi etc confirm meddy's prospects of winning multimillion pound sponsorship deals "aren't affected" despite losing anchor. "Lots of our customers are total tosspots with no idea of how important it is to tie off the end of the anchor with a bit of rope or a special shackle at the bitter end, and the fact that this may (or may not) have happened to Meddy gives him even more appeal across wider section of the UK, especially rural areas, where lots of villages have no idiots at all."




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[jfm]

Re: Meddy Media Frenzy

LMFHO!


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[MedDreamer]

Re: Meddy Media Frenzy

I cannot comment further as we have signed an exclusive deal with OK Magazine for a full, frank and sickly sycophantic feature.

OK: "Med, you must have been hurt by the frankly absurd and unfounded comments made about your anchoring technique"

MD: "No, I am used to it. In my position you have to have a thick skin, I have had similar comments made in the past about my mooring style. I'm just a normal bloke, a good person and have never sent a text message to any other boater asking where I can buy a new anchor...honest"

OK: "Like most other Yorkshiremen, you are known for your charm generosity and outstanding sexual prowess, when you combine this with your magnicent boat handling technique, how difficult is it too keep both feet on the ground?"

MD: "Errr you're not wanting to borrow money are you? Cos if you are you can bugger off..""

OK: "He, he such wit..............

etc..etc...etc...

As I write this Mrs Meddy is out shopping to ensure she is wearing a different outfit on each page



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[PhilF]

Re: Meddy Media Frenzy

eek, ergh, what is all this about, too miuch sun methinks

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[MedDreamer]

Fred Drift

Not exactly addressing Ian's original question, I'll give you that.

Martyn

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[BrendanS]

Re: Meddy Media Frenzy

Scarily insightful knowledge of junk magazines. You been going to the dentist a lot recently?

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[Metabarca]

Not quite Meddy, but there are berths to be had here in one marina that has just been built, and more on the way. Good security. 10 mins from airport. daily ryanair from Stansted. Cold in winter, though (colder than UK, but much dryer). The place? Monfalcone, just west of Trieste.

usual disclaimer (no connection, satisfied customer, etc.)

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[itsonlymoney]

Lucian
Looks very nice, but is it "Hot" /forums/images/icons/smile.gif
Ian

<hr width=100% size=1>Play the best game you can with the cards you've been dealt ! ! !

 

[itsonlymoney]

On a similar topic.
Is the sea water quality in the med as bad as people keep telling me ?
I must admit to swimming past a few bits of debris at Nice but its seemed ok generally.
And if its true what is the explanation for it to be this way ?
Ian

<hr width=100% size=1>Play the best game you can with the cards you've been dealt ! ! !

 

[tcm]

med water

the water around the french med is availbale for inspection by predominantly french people, hence the judgement is that it's absoluitely awful. The food is often so-so, the traffic awful, the foreign tourists awful, the parisians even worse, the politicians all crooks (actually, in Nice that true - a recent mayor is in brazil!) and of course, the sea is filty i tell you, just filthy.

Actually, on the beach at Nice anyway, the seawater is nearly blue. A mile or so offshore, it really is blue.

The med is staggeringly deep: 100 metres offshore especially nearer Nice than Cannes, it is over 100metres deep, and a couple of miles offshore more than a kilometre, with depths well over 2000 metres over large parts of the med. Compare this with the english channel and North sea, where depths are always les than 100 metres, near 60m max. Hence lots more food for fishes, and lots more fish than in the compartively and suprisingly barren (fishwise) med.

The blueness merely means there no algae, not that it's not filthy. But except in a few inshore anchorages and on a few beaches during settled weather (when nothings been stirred up for a while) french med water is pretty dang clean, really. So don't worry. But if you swim from a beach, have a shower.

All the same applies to Spain - inshore from a beach, it can be iffy, but only a short distance offshore, it isn't.

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