Med owners- time on board

Whitelighter · 3 Jun 2016

We go go long periods on board rather than day trips/the odd overnight.
So the difference is we get 2/3 long (week or more) holidays a year. And these feel like proper holidays - pretty much guaranteed good weather, a flight abroarda d crucially really comfortable accommodation when we get there. We can travel light as our boat is really like a second home, we can arrive when we like etc etc.
The other advantage of where we are is I can keep a 50ft boat comfortably and my yearly running costs are less than a berth for the same boat in Southampton.

I do miss the ability to just pop down to the just but in reality that rarely happens ed with kids sports,clubs, work etc

Cheery · 3 Jun 2016

I'll hijack the thread further and ask why anyone in their right mind would base a decent sized Mobo here. I say decent sized as, if you can afford that, then cheap Med flights make it a no brainer. In the next few years if all goes to plan, we intend to buy a small boat and live on it for a few years. Some bays may be crowded (bit of company) or deserted (peace and quiet) but not being a millionaire, if we are provisioned well then we can live out in a bay for days at a time. Jumping in every now and then to cool off and/or snorkel. I can't imagine trying to do that in Abersoch or IoW too regularly.

SWMBOs only concession to a boating life is 'it has to go where I point it'. Having visited our son in the BVI, she has seen the merits of my years of badgering her about getting a boat. I would love to say I can afford a large boat but I can't, however when I sell my small shop and house plus what pensions I have, we should be alright. There are some very nice small boats which don't require a King's ransom to purchase and provided it passes a thorough survey we should be up and off.

Hurricane · 3 Jun 2016

BruceK said:
It would be interesting to hear more about the cosmopolitan side, cruise destinations, island hopping etc.

jrudge · 3 Jun 2016

Re Bruce K post

From a personal perspective I leave the marina and then return at the end of my holiday - so I cruise around.

The main thing I think is that the boat is the destination as opposed to the port. In season we anchor and swim all day, water ski, hot dog rides for the kids, trip to the beach etc. I think you would do little of this in the Uk for the simple reason the water is cold and murky.

The weather also plays a huge role in terms of eating outside in true warmth etc.

The view is also nicer ( although I did visit Salcombe not long ago and that was lovely ) and in particualr clear blue water.

At the end of the day what do people ( generally) go abroad for their holidays - the weather and a change of food / culture.

If your boating is man against the elements ( and many sailing boats seem to take this view point) then that is one thing - but if you want true facility holidays the the med wins.

We were in La Rochelle for 4 years so tick the box re food and culture, but one day we say on the beach in June and it was cold. 2 weeks later the boat arrived in Barcelona and then we took it to mallorca.

Everyone is different which is why boat to the med threads always have opposing views.

BruceK · 3 Jun 2016

I'm beginning to see the appeal. A quick look through some of Hurricane's posts pictures tell a beautiful story. We don't do much re water sports, maybe when the kids of older. We like scenery and exploring bays and Anglesey has that in spades, but the waters in H's pic's look stunning. No where near his budget though being a working schlebb but a 40 footer class boat or so is within reach. Although in saying there is a wonderful Trader Sunliner 535 that has caught our eye and the wife is all for buying. But it would not suit our needs here, the Med yes.

Deleted User YDKXO · 3 Jun 2016

Steruth1 said:
s:
have you used your boat more or less since moving from the uk,and
has it lived up to your dream or do you wish you had stayed in the uk.

We moved to the Med in 2003 after about 12yrs of boating in the E Channel. We made that decision whilst holed up in Cherbourg waiting for a weather window to get back to the UK one Whitsun bank holiday week when, yet again, our cruising plans had been decimated by the weather

When we boated in the UK, we used our boat on average 1 out of every 2 or 3 weekends throughout the year plus 3 or 4 weeks a year of extended cruising. When we first started boating in the Med we were based in SoF and we did initially try flying out Friday nights and returning Sunday nights but in our case we had a young child and the novelty of hanging around at Luton or Nice for yet another delayed flight soon waned and the cost of flying 3 people there and back for less than 2 days pleasure seemed excessive. Gradually we got into the habit of reducing the number of trips to the boat and increasing the length of each trip. After a year in SoF we moved on to Spain and then the Balearics and latterly Croatia and Sardinia. In some of these locations, weekend boating is impossible because Friday night/Sunday night flights don't happen and the transfers to marinas are too long and we decided that it really wasn't worth travelling to the boat for less than 4 full days on it. In recent years we have been doing about 35-40 nights per year on the boat which is much less than what we used to do in the UK but of course the chance of bad weather is much less so the number of days stuck in harbour due to bad weather is far lower. In fact probably the number of enjoyable days we get on the boat in the Med is higher than we had in the UK despite the fact that we spend far fewer days on it

Has it lived up to my dreams? Yes and no. On the downside, I hate the travelling. I travel quite a lot for my business so I can really do without the travel to my boat. And I still miss not being able to go down to my boat for an afternoon and carry out odd jobs and generally potter about on it. In the Med I have to pay somebody to carry out virtually every job because I'm not willing to spend my precious days repairing the boat and I think my SWMBO would mutiny over that too. The other downside is cost. Yes you can man maths it and convince yourself that by mooring in a cheap marina and booking cheap flights it all makes financial sense but it doesn't, at least not in my case. Because my Med boating days are limited, I want to moor in a nice marina close to an airport and with good cruising grounds nearby and that costs as much as a nice marina in the UK. Add in the costs of flights and the extra maintenance costs because I'm paying somebody to do all of it, the total cost of keeping my boat in the Med is considerably higher than the UK

On the upside as I said, I think my best boating days in the Med are better than any of my best boating days in the E Channel. For me, I also really enjoy the warm water. In 12 yrs boating in the E Channel, I swam twice off my boat and regretted it both times. In the Med you can swim in warm water for 5 months of the year and I swim a lot. Then there is the Med itself. It is a far bigger boating playground than the E Channel with a greater variety of scenery, ports, peoples and history and we have really enjoyed the adventure of moving on to new places every few years and having different boating experiences all within 1.5 - 2.5hrs flying time from a London airport

Would I move my boating back to the UK? No

julians · 3 Jun 2016

BruceK said:
I'm beginning to see the appeal. A quick look through some of Hurricane's posts pictures tell a beautiful story. We don't do much re water sports, maybe when the kids of older. We like scenery and exploring bays and Anglesey has that in spades, but the waters in H's pic's look stunning. No where near his budget though being a working schlebb but a 40 footer class boat or so is within reach. Although in saying there is a wonderful Trader Sunliner 535 that has caught our eye and the wife is all for buying. But it would not suit our needs here, the Med yes.

I'm just a day boater in the med (25 foot cuddy cabin), we go out and come back to the same place,no cruising for me. A boating day consists of heading out to a small bay, drop the hook, go for a swim, get the kayak out and have a paddle,have lunch, more swimming/snorkeling, go wakeboard, back to the marina for a drink, then back to the apartment.

We do the odd overnighter maybe once or twice a year.

Andy Bav · 3 Jun 2016

BruceK said:
My apologies to the OP because I already have put a counterpoint in. Not sure what you want out of the question but if it's to get a balanced view it's fundamentally flawed to get a positive, the Med is great answer, by targeting an audience that for them this is the obvious preference. I am following this thread with interest as a future potential but it would be interesting to hear more about how you actually use your boats in the Med because to be honest the times quoted in nights on board, canopy down etc do not actually vary much from my own use, and hence that of my peers too. Granted the weather is more predictable and undeniably better, but is that all there is to it? Does it just boil down to weather? As I said previously the only bar we have to weather is making trip plans in advance. i.e. we often chose a destination three days in advance of leaving based on (in)accuracy of the weather forecasts, but seldom abandon a outing altogether. Conceded, plunging into the water and sunbathing on the decks is a rarity here, and if that is the ideal then the Med makes sense, otherwise I'm struggling with it. It would be interesting to hear more about the cosmopolitan side, cruise destinations, island hopping etc. Or do the boats largely venture out from and return to a home port much like the UK use?
Apologies to OP once again for a thread hijack.

I understand your point Bruce - and as other replies intimate perhaps we are not comparing like for like. We had a discussion before making the move that we would have to fundamentally rethink our attitude to the boat. This meant changing it [from our point of view] from a hobby / pastime that we would go to do a bit of fettling, take out if we were lucky and enjoy what we could when we could - and we could have done that fairly frequently if we wanted to - but there was a 230 mile schlep to get to the boat.

When we did our recce, it took us as long to get from our front door to Barcelona car hire, as it did to get from Kent to Torquay - and that helped us make the decision. Had the boat been closer to home, we may have taken longer to decide, but looking back at the relatively short time we have been in the Med, I can honestly say we made the right decision.

But to your point. Do we use the boat the same as we did when we were in the UK ? No. But do we enjoy how we "boat" more now than in the UK ? Yes. Our boat has a large sun pad on the stern which we thought it a waste of space in the UK, in the Med we sit on that 75% of the time, and if Bavaria wanted to give me their latest equivalent model I would decline, as it has seating at the back which you have to convert.

As for boating itself, sitting in the marina with a real community spirit is great, taking the boat out, sitting at anchor cracking a bottle of Hurricanes favourite Cava and letting the breeze cool you down can not be beaten IMHO

With careful holiday planning around Bank Holidays etc, we can be on the boat more than 50 days a year, and as my boys have got older, they too can have a holiday in the sun costing no more than a flight and car hire (I paid 11 Euros for 10 days last week) which further justifies the move ... in my mind.

BruceK · 3 Jun 2016

Thanks Mike, that puts the realities into perspective and thanks Julians and Andy Bav for the perspective. I think the hobby / pastime vs holiday really hits it on the head. Flying is difficult for me with a young family and a boy with ASD. I have a villa in Candidasa Bali which I inherited and keep a traditional Jakung there. However as for use, because of flying, once in the last three years sans family. What I am looking for is actually moving residence to the Med until the kids are old enough to fly the coup before retiring to Bali. As such I am viewing the Med boating maybe slightly differently to the typical Med boater here. Hurricane's photos make for a compelling argument though :encouragement: if the wife saw them, I'd be beaten into buying the Trader 535

Hurricane · 3 Jun 2016

BruceK said:
No where near his budget though being a working schlebb but a 40 footer class boat or so is within reach.

I think you would be surprised just how cheap it can be.
Sant Carles is (by far) the cheapest place that I know to keep a boat - of anywhere.

For example, I know of a 15m berth in Sant Carles coming up in a few weeks time that will cost around £4000 pa.
Thats the nominal size of the berth - The marina rules allow you to go over the nominal length by 10%.
So a 16.5m boat in the Med for £4000 and that includes all your electricity, water, local taxes and one free lift/scrub in the boatyard.
The marina at SC is more like a holiday resort than UK marinas.

Here's the promotional video

and a short professional drone video of the site

Deleted User YDKXO · 3 Jun 2016

BruceK said:
Thanks Mike, that puts the realities into perspective and thanks Julians and Andy Bav for the perspective. I think the hobby / pastime vs holiday really hits it on the head. Flying is difficult for me with a young family and a boy with ASD. I have a villa in Candidasa Bali which I inherited and keep a traditional Jakung there. However as for use, because of flying, once in the last three years sans family. What I am looking for is actually moving residence to the Med until the kids are old enough to fly the coup before retiring to Bali. As such I am viewing the Med boating maybe slightly differently to the typical Med boater here. Hurricane's photos make for a compelling argument though :encouragement: if the wife saw them, I'd be beaten into buying the Trader 535

I forgot to mention 2 major factors that influenced our Med boating. If you have school age children it then becomes near impossible to get away to the boat during term time and once the kids get to a certain age they have other interests and hobbies which stop them going at weekends. So you may be limited to school holidays and half terms and of course flights get more costly then too. They may, as in our case, get fed up with the boat and not want to go anyway. I would say that if you have school age kids think very carefully about how you're going to manage this Med boating thing

The other factor is, as has already been mentioned you've really got to be self employed or a business owner so that you can take time off when you want. I don't see how you could really enjoy a boat in the Med on 25days holiday a year from your employer

mcanderson · 3 Jun 2016

Just had a great lunch of seafood with lobster and rosé, went for a swim and are now back in the port wondering which restaurant to go to tonight, but then again have a coté du boeuf in the fridge that is winking for the grill tonight!

This of course is in France.

BruceK · 3 Jun 2016

Deleted User said:
The other factor is, as has already been mentioned you've really got to be self employed or a business owner so that you can take time off when you want. I don't see how you could really enjoy a boat in the Med on 25days holiday a year from your employer

Indeed, I'd need to go contractual but that would not be an issue in my line of work.

pks1702 · 3 Jun 2016

Cheery said:
I'll hijack the thread further and ask why anyone in their right mind would base a decent sized Mobo here. I say decent sized as, if you can afford that, then cheap Med flights make it a no brainer. In the next few years if all goes to plan, we intend to buy a small boat and live on it for a few years. Some bays may be crowded (bit of company) or deserted (peace and quiet) but not being a millionaire, if we are provisioned well then we can live out in a bay for days at a time. Jumping in every now and then to cool off and/or snorkel. I can't imagine trying to do that in Abersoch or IoW too regularly.

SWMBOs only concession to a boating life is 'it has to go where I point it'. Having visited our son in the BVI, she has seen the merits of my years of badgering her about getting a boat. I would love to say I can afford a large boat but I can't, however when I sell my small shop and house plus what pensions I have, we should be alright. There are some very nice small boats which don't require a King's ransom to purchase and provided it passes a thorough survey we should be up and off.

With weeks like this it does make you wonder.

Like you we are in the land locked capital of the UK but endure the 3.5-4 hr journey to our boat most weekends. If the weather is good there is a sense of 'worth' in the time traveling, when like this week you question your sanity. Having the same thoughts as many here, good boating weather seems very appealing.

Best of luck to you :encouragement:

Portofino · 3 Jun 2016

It's the weather for us ( never MoBo ed in the Uk can,t possibly comment )
We are accidental boaters after buying a berth 2003 - and getting 10% return renting it out .Only 24 months later to get a letter from the marina office "when are going to bring your boat to your berth ," after drawing my attention to clause xyz which limets the duration of a berth holder to renting out for 24 m .
8hit

It's been a steep learning curve

Here pic of our local golf club house 29 May this year in Switzerland

Hers a pic of my son resting after Uni end of term exams 22 may SoF during a farther + son catch up session -note what he,s wearing -that's the clue

We spend approx 8 weeks in the season on it ' ,use a guardian to look after it contracted to clean it every 2 weeks and check everything , etc -get it ready when we arrive - take covers off , put cushion out , start fridges , and the air con , ready the passerelle / make sure it all works -even fuel it up if I ask -arrange all the repairs if any things bust - etc before we arrive -and clean it up after we leave -
,never really go Nov - May -boat 3rd or 4 th in hobby/pastime

CLOUD9 · 4 Jun 2016

First Med season. Perhaps still in 'honeymoon period' but reading others comments, that could last decades!
Boating in UK since a boy with family. Solent, Bristol Channel and most recently out of Torquay.
We are loving it in Mallorca. I'm sat here at 8:30am 22 degC. Our evenings eating outdoors in the restaurants or onboard are a joy.
However, I stuck with the U.K. whilst still working. I'm not a happy traveller and the thought of rushing about to get back to work wasn't for me. I know many cope with this happily though.
Also not sure I would have been in a position to be on my boat in the sunshine this morning if I was constantly drawn away earlier in my career!
I am getting used to not having CLOUD9 a couple of hours down the road..... I am missing that a little, but the compensation, for us, is enormous.. We have already enjoyed 2016 more than the whole of last season, and the season here has not really even started. Staying on board 2 or 3 weeks at a time with a break of generally 3 weeks at home in between.
Off on our first longer trip today, a week in company with a dozen other boats to Ibiza and Formentera..... so excited.

Hurricane · 4 Jun 2016

CLOUD9 said:
Off on our first longer trip today, a week in company with a dozen other boats to Ibiza and Formentera..... so excited.

A very good yachtie friend of ours is in Formentera right now.
Boat called Showtime (a Jeanneau 49).
I can't remember if you met him but he and his wife are in the middle of their early season cruise.
Good friends of the Vikings who you did meet.
They are currently in Espalmador - you might see them.

petem · 4 Jun 2016

Deleted User said:
I forgot to mention 2 major factors that influenced our Med boating. If you have school age children it then becomes near impossible to get away to the boat during term time and once the kids get to a certain age they have other interests and hobbies which stop them going at weekends. So you may be limited to school holidays and half terms and of course flights get more costly then too. They may, as in our case, get fed up with the boat and not want to go anyway. I would say that if you have school age kids think very carefully about how you're going to manage this Med boating thing

The other factor is, as has already been mentioned you've really got to be self employed or a business owner so that you can take time off when you want. I don't see how you could really enjoy a boat in the Med on 25days holiday a year from your employer

Mike, I certainly agree regarding the school age kids bit. As you know our boy is older now and its absolutely paradise being able to travel on a whim. In fact we'll be avoiding the busy and expensive school holidays from now on.

I'm not sure I agree with you regarding being an employee. I get 30 days holiday a year and hope to move to a 9 day fortnight over the summer when I get a boat so in theory, making best use of weekends and bank holidays I could be on board 50+ days a year. And in my job I have skilfully managed to avoid any responsibility or stress so don't have the same issues that some business owners have.

Pete

petem · 4 Jun 2016

jfm said:
More, almost every weekend
Has lived up to the dream.
I moved to the med in 2001 and could have come back anytime since then but haven't.
It does depend on exactly where in the Med and how easily you make the air travel, imho

I think in your case you work / live close to the London airports and also travel alone which makes things a lot easier. Living in the sticks, as I do, means finding convenient flights is more of a challenge . Particularly when the closest airport is an 45 mins drive (90 mins when you include parking and contingency).

MapisM · 4 Jun 2016

I don't understand what the fuss with travelling is all about.
There's an easy fix for that - just reduce these trips to the bare minimum.
I mean the trips back home, of course!

Med owners- time on board

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