Med berth this summer

[PLEK]

We will be travelling east from Port Napoleon at the end of April and have already received recommendations on good places to stay en route,thanks to those that responded.It is now likely that we will need to leave the boat at a more permanent berth for a couple of months in July/August but on contacting a number of marinas we have received fairly negative responses.I am about to widen my search and contact a lot more places for a berth but if anyone has a suggestion of a possibility it would be appreciated,I am happy to consider anything in France or Northern Italy and the closer to an airport the better.

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[Ric]

You have very little chance of finding a berth for that period by ringing marinas. All of their transitory berths are massively in demand in that time. They would rather rent them to short stay holidaymakers.

Your best chance is to find a private berth holder who is away sailing for the month of July and AUgust, who is willing to sublet. Not at all easy, I grant you!

What size is your boat?

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[MedMan]

Try the marinas in the Rade de Toulon. There is the marina in Toulon Town itself and a delightful marina in the little village of St Mandrier which you leave to port on your way in to La Grande Rade.

Toulon is a French Naval Port and, as such, is not 'fashionable'. For this reason it is much cheaper than most place on the coast yet it has superb communications. You can reach Nice or Marseilles airports easily or you can travel down by train. You can leave London on the Eurostar in the morning and arrive in Toulon on the TGV later that evening.

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[PLEK]

Our boat is 42 feet.

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[Ric]

42 foot is unfortunately about the hardest size to berth too. Sorry to be so negative!

If you can get your hands on a copy of "voile et voiliers" magazine for this month (issue 397 march 2004) they have done a survey on finding port places for the whole of the French med. The only ports that they could reserve visitors places for the summer were Saint Louis du Rhone, Saint Chamas, Villeneuve Loubet/Baie des Anges, Nice, and St Jean Cap-Ferrat (though I find the latter hard to believe - I can never even get a place in May!). I would try Baie des Anges (tel 04 92133222)- it is right next to Nice airport. Nice (04 9200 4214) is not great from security point of view.

If you are really desperate, and your boat is solidly protected against theft, and you have really good ground tackle, you could try leaving it at anchor "au sauvage". There are several boats that are left at anchor just to the north of the Lerins islands in Cannes, and in the Raid de Villefranche. It is not strictly approved of or legal, but you will almost certainly escape attention in summer as there are so many transitory boats lying there at anchor. At the Lerin islands, if you have scuba gear you can make your boat very secure as there are some big blocks of concrete lying on the bottom.

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[charles_reed]

Sadly, phoning or writing will probably have less than 0.0001% chance of success. Even if they haven't it's a question as much of machismo as any thing else to claim a waiting list of at least 3 years. Additionally your boat size is the one for which there is greatest demand and least provision.

However:
On the outer harbour at Stintino, are a number of pontoons and well-laid ground tackle.
last year, probably because of bureaucratic infringements this was not commissioned and I left my boat there for 10 weeks (I paid a gardiennage fee) for free. There is no water or electricity and you have a long uncomfortable walk to the pontoons in the inner harbour and this may have obtained planning permission and therefore be full and expensive.
The outer harbour is not ideally protected and during the summer you get a build up of coral (yes coral) on boats left there so clean-off is essential.
Stintino is an easy regular bus-ride from Alghero, to which Ryanair fly x2 a day from Stansted.

Your only other chance is arriving somewhere and (possession being 9/10 of the law) being sufficiently ingratiating to talk yourself into a berth (expensive but possible if you can claim risk to life) or finding someone whose prepared to let you
their berth (unlikely as the marina will want to have their cut on any free berth).

Still even Med high season prices are likely prove reasonable to anyone used to UK S coast marina prices.

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[Ric]

Another possibility to leave your boat at anchor is Pollensa bay in Mallorca. It is very well protected, is very shallow, and near the main harbour the bottom is good sand. Several people leave their boats there for quite long periods. You would probably have to pay a small fee, and it would be wise to pay somebody trustworthy to keep an eye on your boat, but it would be cheaper than leaving it in a marina.

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[Paulka]

Have a try at Formentera Mar.
O.K., it's neither France or Italy, but there is a good chance to get a place there, even in July/August.
May be even on the dry, as the place (the dry for that matter) is nearly empty at that time of the year.

Good luck.

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[Metabarca]

Not what you intended by 'Northern Italy' I'm sure, but for the record, you should be able to get a berth without too much problem in one of the marinas of Trieste and area, and cheap too. daily flight from Stansted via Ryanair, or several a day from Venice and Treviso airports 150 km down the road. PM me if interested.

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[Sailorbuoy]

Casle Sardo in N Sardinia is a cheap possiblity, fly Alghero. Arbitax is another possible. Would not recommend Fertilia, personal experience. Mooring buoy in Portoferiao Elba is possible.

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[jambaman]

Dear MedMan. Is there any reason why your book can not be used in reverse, as we will mostly be going from Corfu to the UK soon?

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[lezgar]

Is in Spain, but in this web www.buscoamarre.com you can find berths for rent in the Med and the telf numbers of the owners

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[catmandoo]

What was the problem with Fertilia?. Currently got my boat there . No problems apart from rats in the autumn and dogs barking at night

good access to Alghero
bus every half hour
marina may also lend you old Meccedes to do shopping
roll off boat to beach next door
good restaurants in Fertilia
Medical centre 24 hours for tourists for whole of summer season
ice cream very good
pub keeps a stock of very good malt whiskies
fishing excellent
.


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[Sailorbuoy]

You mentioned one or two problems.
Avoid instructions to do work, as I got seriously ripped off!
Antifouling job very poor.
Discusting toilets, no showers, but they were always promised.
Can't understand english when it suits them!
The worst experience of 7 years in the Med.
Definite NO GO!

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[BrianReynolds]

We have found that Toulon have been very helpful in the past tho can be very windy even in the marina. An alternatively isGenoa at Sestri Poneti (right next to the airport and I mean right next to - walking distance) Ryanir Stansted to Genoa. Currently in La Spezia where ther seem to be places. Brian

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[catmandoo]

there are several yards at Fertilia . The one on the Algheroside has toilets and they have a good reputation fotr application of paint, GRP mods and antifoulant .

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