Mooring in South of France

B

brianchesters

New Member
Joined
4 Oct 2008
Messages
15
Visit site
I am considering moving my Colvic 43 Sunquest from Sant Carles in Spain up to the south of France next year. Are there any suitable moorings for about 3000 EUROS per year? She is about 13 meters long.

We are about to take her for a run to Mallorca and back this Friday. Should be a laugh with six men.

Brian Chesters
 
I think you'd be looking at least twice that amount on the Cote d'Azur, if you could find a rental berth anyway. There may be better availability and prices near Marseille, but that area can be quite windy a lot of the time.

As a general rule you will not find a rental berth in SoF by phoning ports, they will always say they are full, or keep asking you to ring back until you tire and give up. You have to go there in person, or better still berth there over the winter and get chatty with the capitainerie staff. Most berths are owned by individuals, and although the ports in theory let the berths out on the owners behalf to the next person on the waiting list, in reality they let them to whoever they want, sometimes under pressure from the berth owner who is getting extra payments direct fom the tenant.

Having said all that, I don't know how much the berthing situation has eased with the credit crunch, so you may have more luck now.
 
What about St Laurent du Var, the marina at the end of the runway? Do they sometimes have spare berths due to their unappealing location? I'm on the lookout for a berth too as I may have to leave Majorca in the next few months
 
Maybe, I haven't really got my ear to the ground this year, as we've not spent much time in SoF. I do know that lots of boats on the leasing schemes have been reposessed, and lots more are for sale by their owners, but I guess they still need berths in the meantime. I agree St Laurent is most likely to have space, and certainly berths sell at about half the cost of most other marinas, but I don't know if this translates into rental being half the cost, probably not, as rental rates are set by the ports, not as yields on the value of the berth.

We're in Antibes for second half of August, so i'll ask around
 
tall order for that kind of money. You might find somewhere to the west of marseilles or maybe in one of the less desirable places like toulon. One of the best bets I reckon would be Isle Frioul just off Marseille. Not a bad place to be, compared with others like Port Napoleon which is the usually quoted cheapy in the S.of F. cheap, but not that cheerful. Plenty of wind round all those parts of course, and as others have said - if you are not on the spot, forget it. emails are ignored, phone calls are fobbed off. you just have to roll up and talk to people, which is a time consuming pain in the butt. Once (if) you get a berth, you then have to face the same routine on a daily basis when you cruise away from base.
 
blueglass said:
tall order for that kind of money. You might find somewhere to the west of marseilles or maybe in one of the less desirable places like toulon. One of the best bets I reckon would be Isle Frioul just off Marseille. Not a bad place to be, compared with others like Port Napoleon which is the usually quoted cheapy in the S.of F. cheap, but not that cheerful. Plenty of wind round all those parts of course, and as others have said - if you are not on the spot, forget it. emails are ignored, phone calls are fobbed off. you just have to roll up and talk to people, which is a time consuming pain in the butt. Once (if) you get a berth, you then have to face the same routine on a daily basis when you cruise away from base.
Click to expand...

Ile Frioul is OK for a summer visit but as a long term berthing option, I don't think it's v good. Obviously you have to get a ferry out there from the mainland when you visit and I bet the winter timetable is a bit bare and may not tie in with flight times. Then I can imagine that all the shops and restaurants shut out of season and security is non existent. Also there are no maintenance facilities. I know Port Napoleon (Port St Louis) is a dump but at least it's accesible, has onsite facilities including a hoist and maintenance companies and shops are a short drive away. Also the security is excellent. I would happily over winter my boat in Port Napoleon but not Frioul. All IMHO
Any idea what the marinas are like west of Port Napoleon? Port Camargue is supposed to be massive
 
Nick_H said:
Maybe, I haven't really got my ear to the ground this year, as we've not spent much time in SoF. I do know that lots of boats on the leasing schemes have been reposessed, and lots more are for sale by their owners, but I guess they still need berths in the meantime. I agree St Laurent is most likely to have space, and certainly berths sell at about half the cost of most other marinas, but I don't know if this translates into rental being half the cost, probably not, as rental rates are set by the ports, not as yields on the value of the berth.

We're in Antibes for second half of August, so i'll ask around
Click to expand...

At LEAST twice that on the Cote d'Azur. Mine isn't beamy enough for a Colvic 43 and it is more than that on rental .... although searching around you might find it cheaper somewhere like St Laurent .. rental rates went up by c. 3% (Euros) in most marinas this year. Annual rental much better option (in terms of cost} than season or monthly as a generalisation.
 
Last edited:
SoF is a big place

brianchesters said:
I am considering moving my Colvic 43 Sunquest from Sant Carles in Spain up to the south of France next year. Are there any suitable moorings for about 3000 EUROS per year? She is about 13 meters long.

We are about to take her for a run to Mallorca and back this Friday. Should be a laugh with six men.

Brian Chesters
Click to expand...

Where do you fancy? It's much cheaper over our way and nearer to Sant Carles than the Cotes D'Azur by a long stretch. Disadvantages? Windy, but mainly offshore. I think €3000 will get you into Port Leucate or indeed other similar marinas not far away. Have a flick through my picks - http://www.visitfrance.co.uk/accommodation.cfm?i=6370 - to see what the area looks like. Good luck with the move, if it goes ahead.
 
Deleted User said:
Ile Frioul is OK for a summer visit but as a long term berthing option, I don't think it's v good. Obviously you have to get a ferry out there from the mainland when you visit and I bet the winter timetable is a bit bare and may not tie in with flight times. Then I can imagine that all the shops and restaurants shut out of season and security is non existent. Also there are no maintenance facilities. I know Port Napoleon (Port St Louis) is a dump but at least it's accesible, has onsite facilities including a hoist and maintenance companies and shops are a short drive away. Also the security is excellent. I would happily over winter my boat in Port Napoleon but not Frioul. All IMHO
Any idea what the marinas are like west of Port Napoleon? Port Camargue is supposed to be massive
Click to expand...

I know what you are saying but the OP isn't just looking for overwintering, but a permanent base. Frioul in winter I agree would be pretty dead (bit like Port Nap come to that) I would go Frioul for the summer and out on the hard in Port Nap for the winter - have in fact done that in the past. For 3000 euros a year for a 13metre boat I don't think there is going to be anywhere nice, just maybe somewhere tolerable if he is very lucky. Port Camargue is indeed massive but also has (or had) massive waiting list, strictly applied.
 
brianchesters said:
I am considering moving my Colvic 43 Sunquest from Sant Carles in Spain up to the south of France next year. Are there any suitable moorings for about 3000 EUROS per year? She is about 13 meters long.

We are about to take her for a run to Mallorca and back this Friday. Should be a laugh with six men.

Brian Chesters
Click to expand...

Can I ask why you are leaving Sant Carles as I am looking at the possibility of moving our Targa 30 there as an alternative to Majorca?

Good luck

Sean
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top