New 70ft+ boat for the Med

[PowerYachtBlog]

Like anything there is bound to be advantages and disadvantages.

As a fixed permanent base I think Sardinia and Croatia are tops.
Sicily and Greece being second, but lack the service there is in the the first two.

Sicily is improving and gaining ground, also the country had a decade experience in building a good product with Aicon yachts, so in some areas especially around Palermo and Messina service is good.

With Sardinia you also get Corsica with it, it is a package, while with Sicily you get the Calabria region, and Malta. Greece has also Albania, Montenegro as neighbors.
So possibility to cruise a bit further and enjoy new places exist.

 

[MapisM]

Sicily is improving and gaining ground, also the country had a decade experience in building a good product with Aicon yachts, so in some areas especially around Palermo and Messina service is good.

Yup, the potential of Sicily and its smaller islands (Aeolian and Aegadian particularly) is huge, and they are indeed improving, albeit not as fast as they could and should. And in more ways than one, inland the area is at least as interesting to visit as its coastline - which is also true of Sardinia, btw.

Ref. Aicon, having seen several of their 56, I'm not sure I would call them a good product. Definitely not very good, anyway.
But I guess you are right in saying that there are still skilled folks left from the yard ashes.
Fwiw, I heard praises also about Scala boatyard in Licata by someone who commissioned them some extensive refitting on his 24m Ferretti.
It's near the southernmost tip of Sicily btw, not far from yourself!

 

[PowerYachtBlog]

Yup, the potential of Sicily and its smaller islands (Aeolian and Aegadian particularly) is huge, and they are indeed improving, albeit not as fast as they could and should. And in more ways than one, inland the area is at least as interesting to visit as its coastline - which is also true of Sardinia, btw.
aying that there are still skilled folks left from the yard ashes.
Fwiw, I heard praises also about Scala boatyard in Licata by someone who commissioned them some extensive refitting on his 24m Ferretti.
It's near the southernmost tip of Sicily btw, not far from yourself!

Scala is Pozzallo, and many Maltese do take there yachts to service there. Also Riposto yard is good, and there is another good one in Milazzo (which is where Aicon used to be build) as far as I was told.

The Aicon 56 especially the first hulls where okay, but they improved overt time, and then the Aicon 64 was a good product.

 

[Eren]

Doh!
Sorry Eren, I said it was Hardmy to have mentioned S IT, after replying to him with my previous post.
But of course I was referring to your comment.

No problem MapisM!

Gimme a shout, whenever you'll be around Sardinia! :encouragement:

Of course! Planned for 2021 summer, if all goes well

 

[Eren]

The equations "well known places=boring" and "new places=entertaining" is sort of understandable, but very simplistic, and in several respects wrong, imho.

For me it is different than "well known places=boring" and "new places=entertaining". While I am in Croatia, I miss Turkey, while in Turkey, I miss Greece and vice versa. All these places are very very beautiful. I change places with more of a feeling of exploring new places, not because of getting bored of the place.

By the way, "sorry" for the forumites at that region but, I don't miss SoF. There I didn't feel the advantage of being there with a boat. There are very few bays where no roads have been built to. Almost to any bay that I can reach with my boat, a guy with a moped can also reach to. So where is my payback of traveling with a boat and spending a considerable sum to maintain it every year? Or I don't like to anchor between 200 other yachts between the Lerins. OK, sometimes it is nice to go to Pampelonne beach and have lunch with celebrities at the next table but may be once or twice in a summer. Anyhow, each to their own. I don't have very high expectations about the Balearics, for similar reasons, even though I will still go there to see and live. In general, I am looking for more privacy, some bays that can only be reached by a boat, etc. South Italy will be more for my taste I believe.

Having the luck of visiting 60+ countries, I can say that North Med can be considered the most beautiful part of the world. Some of us at this forum are the lucky ones to be able to explore these wonderful places by the sea. I wish to use this chance to the furthest extent, by cruising to all parts of North Med, within a relaxed period of time (15 years may be?). I think I had done around 60% of it within the last 8 years and looking forward for the rest.