New boat Costa Brava or straight home

[rlw]

After a few tries finally done a deal on a Targa 52 in Mallorca. Snag list still to be sorted out. I was very glad to have the help of Aquatom of this forum to look over the boat and engines for me. Takes a bit of the stress out of what is a big purchase for me.

The easy option is to take the boat to Palamos and then onto a truck to the Netherlands. Mallorca mooring prices were a bit eyewatering but am considering leaving the boat on the Costa Brava and having a holiday there the first weeks of July. I have found a possible mooring in Empuria Brava but got some feedback in July august the bay of roses can be quite windy from lunchtime onwards so not much chance to go out and anchor in the bay. Not sure my other half will stand much med swell. Will also be my first boat on shafts so need to get some low wind practice mooring in before we move on to the more exiting stuff.

Other options that have been suggested are Estartit or Palamos. As it is a new boat to me want to have a mooring with some nice sheltered anchoring spots closeby so I can get to know the boat before getting too adventurous or going to far.

Looking for some forum wisdom before I decide

 

[oldgit]

Get it home and on your doorstep. If its just round the corner you can quickly and easily get to the boat to fix all those niggly problems that will appear after purchase, or just go and sit on it and plan all those future epic trips.
Unless of course you like spending your weekends sitting in sweltering airports waiting for the last flight home wondering why you spent a fortune getting to your boat and virtually having no time while there to get anything done.
Save the "Med" for later when you are old and tired of real boating.

 

[petem]

You could always join us in Sant Carles. A 100 mile cruise from Mallorca. UK style berths, a nice sheltered lagoon to anchor in, a few nice ports within an hour or so's cruise, a pool, an hour from the airport, etc. Won't cost you a fortune either, has a great Volvo agent and coast2coast do regular drop offs and collections.

 

[rlw]

Oldgit is appealing to my sensible side Sant Carles was an option for me. Especially with some forumites over there. People seem to try to to want to talk me out of it. Would have the boat delivered and then drive down there with all my boat kit.

 

[markc]

I think it makes a lot of sense to keep the boat in the med for a few months.. It will give you some thinking time and some sun. If you like it, stay. SoF or Italy will be an easy drive (or TGV) from home and cheaper than the Baldricks. SCM is also a good Spanish bargain if not too far for you.

 

[DavidJ]

I’ve been in Empuriabrava for a decade now and the main reasons for staying are.
Great cruising grounds of the Cap de Creus within 15 mins

A resident population means it never dies.
Great supermarkets.....we like to eat on board
On a canal system so no marina swells.
Great car drives into the Pyrenees
Nice mix of Spanish, French and Germans.
A choice of good boat maintenance companies.
Secure zero problems in 10 years.
£5000 pa marina fees,, no extra charges for parking, elec or water (37 foot boat)

However
We do get the Tramontana winds from time to time.... head for the hills on those days.
Daily breezes of f3 quite common but you will hardly notice it with your boat.
August is horrendous with half of Europe turning up. If this is your only holiday then avoid. Sept 1st all goes quiet again.

Hope this helps

 

[MrB]

I’ve been in Empuriabrava for a decade now and the main reasons for staying are.
Great cruising grounds of the Cap de Creus within 15 mins

A resident population means it never dies.
Great supermarkets.....we like to eat on board
On a canal system so no marina swells.
Great car drives into the Pyrenees
Nice mix of Spanish, French and Germans.
A choice of good boat maintenance companies.
Secure zero problems in 10 years.
£5000 pa marina fees,, no extra charges for parking, elec or water (37 foot boat)

However
We do get the Tramontana winds from time to time.... head for the hills on those days.
Daily breezes of f3 quite common but you will hardly notice it with your boat.
August is horrendous with half of Europe turning up. If this is your only holiday then avoid. Sept 1st all goes quiet again.

Hope this helps

I concur with all of the above but not from a boating point of view as i don't have a boat there. I love Roses, it's not that commercial like many tourist parts of Spain so speaking Spanish does help but not a necessity. It's the heart of "Dali land" my favorite artist so i'm biased. The roads, if you like to drive, are breathtaking to say the least. There is a great sky diving center there too is that's your thing. My wife's grandparents have a house on the very top of the mountain/hill over looking the bay with 270 degrees view and it's my favorite place to people watch on the huge balcony sipping prosecco. It's a very easy going place with plenty to do and good places to eat, I love it there. Not much help from a boating prospective but it is a very nice part of the world to be in.

 

[DavidJ]

I concur with all of the above but not from a boating point of view as i don't have a boat there. I love Roses, it's not that commercial like many tourist parts of Spain so speaking Spanish does help but not a necessity. It's the heart of "Dali land" my favorite artist so i'm biased. The roads, if you like to drive, are breathtaking to say the least. There is a great sky diving center there too is that's your thing. My wife's grandparents have a house on the very top of the mountain/hill over looking the bay with 270 degrees view and it's my favorite place to people watch on the huge balcony sipping prosecco. It's a very easy going place with plenty to do and good places to eat, I love it there. Not much help from a boating prospective but it is a very nice part of the world to be in.

I think we spend more time driving around than boating.
Have you visited Gala’s castle in Pubol (Gala was Dali’s wife .....Info for others)
It goes without saying, but for others, Dali’s house is in Port Lligat (on Cap de Creus) you can get there by boat. Someone on this forum about five years ago reminisce about Dali letting him fill up with water from his tap when he was sailing some many decades earlier.
Did you ever get into “El Bulli”?

 

[rlw]

Hi David,

If it goes ahead I would be in Empuria Brava for the first 2 weeks of July. Force 3 sounds ok. How long does the tramontana last?

 

[DavidJ]

Hi David,

If it goes ahead I would be in Empuria Brava for the first 2 weeks of July. Force 3 sounds ok. How long does the tramontana last?

Sometimes one day sometimes three days. However the local forecast is accurate so you never get caught out. Check out the forecast in the marina office. I think they use meteo.cat
Have you got a booking, there is limited space for a boat of your size. Rosas marina is an alternative and a pretty town.

 

[jrudge]

Mallorca is expensive, but it is also an amazing place to keep a boat.

Peak season will cost you circa E2k a month so I would suggest you spend a few weeks boating round the island before you head to the main land.

 

[Switch]

Take a look at Llanca - just north of the Gulf of Roses. They have a nice marina there which I don't think is that expensive.

 

[DavidJ]

Take a look at Llanca - just north of the Gulf of Roses. They have a nice marina there which I don't think is that expensive.

We love Llanca, lovely quiet Spanish family seaside place. Best marina loos in the Costa Brava. Great stopover to wait for a quiet weather window to cross the Golf of Lion.

 

[Montemar]

There is Roses which has a marina and further round is Port de la Selva which is smaller.
Both are in or close to a Natural Parc and very nice.
French border only 40 Km away and Collioure is within striking distance.
Check out http://www.roses.net/webcam/wc5en.asp for webcams of Roses and Almadrava. Somewhere there are also webcams of Empuriabrava.
The Costa Brava is lovely and much more attractive than the high rise block/polytunnels found in the South.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Excuse my bluntness but I think you’d be mad not to leave it in Majorca for the summer whatever it costs. Compared to what you have spent already and what you’re going to spend on UK berthing, maintenance and depreciation, the extra cost of leaving it in Majorca is neither here nor there. You never know, you might like Med boating and stay!

As for the Costa Brava, we did spend a 2 week summer holiday cruising that coast when we were based in Majorca a few years back and nearly every day was blighted by wind. Also apart from around Rosas we didn’t think the cruising was particularly interesting. Each to his own though. I do know that there are forumites based there who love it

 

[Bandit]

I have never boated in the med, from what I have seen of Majorca over two weeks on land is its stunning boating.

If I was you I would use the boat in the Majorca waters as much as I could over the summer and then make up my mind.

The weather is far better, the living is cheap its a golden and cheap opportunity to try it.

 

[westernman]

Take a look at Llanca - just north of the Gulf of Roses. They have a nice marina there which I don't think is that expensive.

Roses costs here:-

http://portroses.com/eng/tarifes.asp

They have plenty of space at the moment.

They also have the most efficient marineros of any port I have been in. They understand exactly how to best help get you safely parked. Backing a 34 ton long keel pilot cutter with a 16ft bow sprit with no bow thruster in a strong cross wind is not completely trivial - but the marineros know exactly what to do to help make it easy.

I just left this last weekend to move to a new to me marina across the other side of the bay - Estartit.
The marineros are not nearly as good and they only have one lazy line to pull up two warps. How the hell am I supposed to get one each side of my bowsprint????

 

[petem]

What's Empuriabrava like as a place to live? The marina / village looks quite sprawling. Are bars restaurant spread out or concentrated in a single area?

 

[DavidJ]

What's Empuriabrava like as a place to live? The marina / village looks quite sprawling. Are bars restaurant spread out or concentrated in a single area?

There is a mixture of high rise and luxury canal side villas and everything in between. Bridges restrict access to most properties. I would need a hinged arch to get my 37 footer through.
Most restaurants/bars are consentrated a couple of blocks from the sea and the main marina area but there are half a dozen good supermarkets spaced down the backbone to the main road.
Properties are expensive for Spain comparing them to those I see on programmes like “homes in the sun”
Hope this helps

 

[jfm]

Excuse my bluntness but I think you’d be mad not to leave it in Majorca for the summer whatever it costs. Compared to what you have spent already and what you’re going to spend on UK berthing, maintenance and depreciation, the extra cost of leaving it in Majorca is neither here nor there. You never know, you might like Med boating and stay!

As for the Costa Brava, we did spend a 2 week summer holiday cruising that coast when we were based in Majorca a few years back and nearly every day was blighted by wind. Also apart from around Rosas we didn’t think the cruising was particularly interesting. Each to his own though. I do know that there are forumites based there who love it

Gotta say I agree. You're in some of the finest cruising ground anywhere so why not stay a while. Park in st Carles de la Rafpta if you don't want to pay mooring fees and just commute the 100nm to Mallorca. But for sure Google image and youtube es trenc, formentera etc before you decide to leave. Here is a forum anchorage in Cala d'or mallorca a couple of years ago and there are loads like this https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mvqar_tlQr8