Med Charter

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DIW

DIW

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As part of our retirement plan we were considering Chartering (Bareboat) a cruiser in the Med for a period of 3 to 6 months as a 'taster' to evaluate whether or not we liked the life style before making a permanent move if all ok.
We have been informed by a charter company that due to legislation charters of this type are unavailable out of Palma (Balearics) and in Greek waters. Can anyone advise what this 'legislation' comprises please.
 
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DIW said:
As part of our retirement plan we were considering Chartering (Bareboat) a cruiser in the Med for a period of 3 to 6 months as a 'taster' to evaluate whether or not we liked the life style before making a permanent move if all ok.
We have been informed by a charter company that due to legislation charters of this type are unavailable out of Palma (Balearics) and in Greek waters. Can anyone advise what this 'legislation' comprises please.
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There is no legislation preventing what you propose but there is legislation that affects it. For example, a charter >90 days has different VAT treatment so that the charter company who provide you the boat must account for VAT in slices in all the countries you visit, rather than just in the country you start the charter in (I'm working from memory here; haven't checked the detail). Also there will be company policies involved here and insurance policy conditions, and owners who just dont want their boats to disappear for 6 months, none of which are "legislation" of course

At high season rack rates, bareboats cost around 2% of the boat's price per week of charter. That's 100% per annum. So six months at these rates is half the price of a new boat. Ok you might get it at say half price for a block booking, so 25% of the boat price. You'd surely be better just buying a boat? I just sold a boat in the Med that I bought in January 2009, for about the same price as I paid for it even after allowing for broker commission etc.
 
At high season rack rates, bareboats cost around 2% of the boat's price per week of charter. That's 100% per annum. So six months at these rates is half the price of a new boat. Ok you might get it at say half price for a block booking, so 25% of the boat price. You'd surely be better just buying a boat? I just sold a boat in the Med that I bought in January 2009, for about the same price as I paid for it even after allowing for broker commission etc.[/QUOTE]

Thanks JFM for your help and advice .The figures you quote equate very closely to my own calculations based on figures obtained from various companies. As you say much better to buy or take own boat even for a short period.
 
With no previous experience, we quite thought we'd like the life, so three years before retirement day we bought a 45 foot motor cruiser which was in a UK marina. We researched in depth, did day skipper practical and theory, and practised like mad. By the time we left, we thought we liked the life (although we'd only been on the boat at weekends and holidays). We then brought the boat down to the Med ourselves via Biscay, taking a leisurely five months, and by the time we got here we knew this was the life for us, although we had been prepared for the outside chance we didn't like it. And we are still, five years after leaving, living the dream, to use that awful phrase.
If you've got any specific questions, feel free to PM me.
 
PlanB said:
With no previous experience, we quite thought we'd like the life, so three years before retirement day we bought a 45 foot motor cruiser which was in a UK marina. We researched in depth, did day skipper practical and theory, and practised like mad. By the time we left, we thought we liked the life (although we'd only been on the boat at weekends and holidays). We then brought the boat down to the Med ourselves via Biscay, taking a leisurely five months, and by the time we got here we knew this was the life for us, although we had been prepared for the outside chance we didn't like it. And we are still, five years after leaving, living the dream, to use that awful phrase.
If you've got any specific questions, feel free to PM me.
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Thanks for sharing your story PlanB , it is exactly what we are considering . One immediate question - have you kept a home base or cut ties completely ?
 
DIW said:
Thanks for sharing your story PlanB , it is exactly what we are considering . One immediate question - have you kept a home base or cut ties completely ?
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This is a well trod path and frequently debated on the Liveaboard Forum. There are many ways of "living the dream" of a few years in the Med. They probably fall into 2 main categories.

The most common probably is buying a boat in the uK, getting used to it, upgrading as necessary then taking off to the south, either round the outside or through the canals. The advantage of this that you can tailor the boat to your needs and the trip there is part of the project. You also get perhaps a "longer" experience, maybe buying the boat 3 or 4 years before you actually go.

The second is to buy a boat out there. For some they buy a boat based in a particular location and use it has a holiday home. Permanent residential use can be a problem in some countries. Others cruise from place to place, often doing a circuit from west to east. At the end the boat can be sold, although often difficult to sell abroad.

Arguably the majority of people following this dream use sailing yachts or maybe motor sailers as power boats of similar size are much more expensive to buy and to run.

There is a lot to learn, and the idea of chartering is a good one, but you don't really need a long time to see if you like the idea. A couple of weeks charter in one of the less demanding locations such as Croatia or the Ionian will give you a pretty good idea as to whether you could live on a boat in the climate. You will also learn that a Med boat requires different equipment from a northern waters boat.

As to how you organise your life, that really depends on your circumstances and finances. Probably most people keep a UK base, perhaps renting out their house if they do go afloat for long periods. Makes sense to keep a foothold in the housing market so that you have somewhere to come back to when you give up. Others sell up everything to get the boat.

We bought our boat in the Med 10 years ago, financed it by chartering it with a view to having a couple of years more intense use when I retired. As it happens circumstances changed and we brought the boat back to the UK. However, my "rule of thumb" is that the boat should be worth no more than 10% of our net assets - so not a disaster if it all goes wrong. Others (probably most) are more adventurous!

Once you get into this type of thing there is masses of information in the magazines, books written by those who have done it and fora like this.Just finding out about it is a fun activity in itself.
 
We have an apartment each which we have rented out so that we have an income from that/foothold in the market and somewhere to go back to if necessary. We have a mailing address in the UK, but find that 90% of our dealings (banking etc)are over the internet. Having just had a two week holiday in the UK, we're in no rush to give up the boating life.
 
PlanB said:
I haven't got the faintest what you mean.
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Just that "plan B" sounds (to me, at least) like an alternative plan, as opposed to the more "normal" choice (plan A).
That's why I associated it with your decision to liveaboard... :)
 
Oh, get it! Plan A - leave it all in the bank.
Amusingly, in connection with some euro-nonsense, some French Euro politician had just announced "there is no plan B" as we hit France at the start of our trip. Everywhere we went, jovial froggies called "but there is no plan B!".
 
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