Off to the med 2015

[martin]

Mrs M and I just decided next year is the year...whoo hooo!! we are off to the med....

So my challenge is to get the Princess 50 from its berth in St Katharine's Dock to Marbella Marina (this is initial destination just because we have a house and had several boats there and I know/trust the Marina Manager) in the Spring.
Am starting my list of things to do/plan today and of course my first starting point is to ask the oracle..(That's you guys)

Boat has :
No A/C
No Passerelle/crane
No Bimini

Doubt I will be able to do all three this year...which ones do I prioritise, what is the order of importance?

Also, which is the best way to get her there. I have Low engine hours (90hrs on a 2009 vessel) Should I

Hire Skipper and move under own steam ( I could join part of the way)
Send on a container ship ?

Don't fancy road method much as is a fly bridge and have seen the state they come back from the med in.. but could be persuaded but only if it was cheap enough to fund the re-build at the other end !

all advice greatly received..

 

[sonvida2]

Good luck with the move Martin.

You know the cruising area which is a good start and remove the will I / won't I anguish.

Other med experts will help you with your upgrade priority list but I will PM you regarding the possibility that I may offload the passerelle and bimini from a Phantom 50 I am buying.

I agree with the sail her down route and these guys are moving the Phantom 50 for me in a couple of months. They come highly recommended and my dealings thus far are excellent http://www.halcyonyachts.com

If you appoint them or similar maybe try and join them for at least some of the trip - should be fun at that time of the year.

 

[kashurst]

I think road would be cheapest even allowing for rebuilding the radar arch and a good scrub, however sailing would be the most fun

assuming you will be mooring stern to, then a passerelle would make things easy - however depending upon dinghy/rib what about a fold up manual unit - seen quite a few about and they work just as well.
bimini pretty much essential in the summer
aircon - you will need something July/August, if you have a house down there you may not sleep onboard very often in the summer so you could delay that, or get a portable unit for the cabin (s) and see how you get on.

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

Good move. You'll need the passerelle from the word go, so get that organised here. You'll want aircon in the height of the season, esp when in the marina, so I'd get that done here as well. Do you have enough generator capacity to run the aircon? If not, you might need to think about upgrading this as well.

Bimini is essential as well, but is the easiest and cheapest item on your list to organise - the simplest solution is one call to Flexicovers (OE supplier) and job done.

If you've got the time, I'd take it down by sea - great fun, but only if there's enough time to enjoy it, and wait out any unexpected weather. Otherwise, I'd shrinkwrap and truck it. (I've trucked mine twice now, it's the cheapest option, and is v easy).

 

[Nautorius]

Martin,

Ship it by Boat to Gibraltar where you can fill her up at 69p a litre then bomb up to Marbellaor lorry across France and motor her down on her bum through the Med for a week of adventure.

Good luck, Passerelle, a/c, Bimini and full service. Also get a load of spares for things like Bilge pumps, shower sumps, toilet parts etc.

Cheers

Paul

 

[kashurst]

good point re spares - volvo bits seem to be @ 20% more expensive in Spain, I usually drive down in the summer so take all the usual service bits with me then. I also take a few litres of Grotomar 82 with me as its hard to get and very expensive locally.

 

[paul salliss]

Out of interest, how have you found St Kats as a base, I would be interested in your experience?

 

[jfm]

Good move!
Paserelle has to be essential. Occasionally you'll get lucky with a berth that doesn't need one but often times it is essential

Bimini would be essential in my book, but depends how much sun you like and can withstand. You can sit on lower aft deck when anchored but not when underway

Airco is close to essential IMHO but opinions vary and plenty of people don't have it. To defer cost you could get the boat prepped in uk and fit the big hardware later. Prepped could mean one intake seacock and one outlet, plus a couple of 240v feeds run from the main electricity distribution panel to the location of two airco combined chiller/ compressor units, for example. I agree with Jimmy about genset sizing. Would be great if you had say 9 kvh but often uk boats have 5 and you will then need to size the airco hardware quite carefully. You might want to have 2 compressors if installing a split system. One of those cleaver mastervolt or victron inverter boost things could also solve problems here but they add cost too

Yes buy lots of spares unless you have fabulous stockists in Marbella

Each to their own but I woudl truck it down. Damage tends to be minor and easily fixable. Hours on engines stay light. Sure the trip is nice but that 10 days is nicer spent cruising the med than doing a delivery trip. 50 foot is fine by road- squadron 58s come down by road and are pretty much the limit. All IMHO of course.

 

[Lozzer]

Martin

The options you have mentioned are all vital and will make life more comfortable for you in the Med.

As people have said if you make trip by sea make sure you give yourself plenty of time to enjoy else you might just as well ship or trailer down. I have done it a few times in short time and its a bit tedious.

I should get the work done in the UK as in my opinion the cost of works here is certainly more plus you have a limited selection of people to do the work. I can think of only one person in the Marbella area that I would allow to do any of that work and I have been here for 10 years skippering yachts. when my boss bought his new Princess 85 we used Landau in Swanick to do a lot of the retro work for us Chris Doran would surely be able to help with the AC and passarelle. With the AC just make sure you have enough generator power.

Which harbour in Marbella will you be in? Banus, Deportivo or the fish port?

Enjoy the planning and execution of the project.

By the way if you need any help down here then PM me I know most people worth knowing on the coast. You also have Nick at the local Princess dealership who is very approachable.

 

[MapisM]

I would second each and every jfm point.

Passerelle is right there at the top of the list in the Med, unless you and your crew like the thrill of jumping/climbing, possibly with heavy luggage.
I'm just not sure that it'll be more convenient for you to source and fir it in the UK, considering that more than likely you will want to fit some Italian stuff.
My personal choice would be (hands down!) for Bitecnomare, which btw sells also directly, but each to their own on that.
Of course it will depend also on what your installer is more confident working with.

All the best anyway, and welcome to Club Med, so to speak.
When (it's in fact just a matter of WHEN, not IF) you will want to cruise the Balearics, and head further East to Sardinia from there, don't forget to let me know!

 

[jfm]

MM just reminded me. When we did our med move in 2002 we had the passérelle installed in SofF. Local guy there offered better price than uk due to his greater purchase volume and his firm knowledge of how many hours it takes to fit, because he does them often. Nice guy and he did a great job. It was an opacmare fwiw

But if you can get a deal off sonvida2 on his besenzoni that could be the best price of all

 

[MedDreamer]

Hang on, steady with SV's pasarelle I'm still trying to persuade him to put his boat in Mallorca!

He mistakenly believes that Malahide is the place to be but I'm trying to convince him that somewhere like Cala Dor would be more appropriate, especially if he knows someone with a place there who could...errr.....keep an eye on it for him when he wasn't there, perhaps even leaving a key so that his mate could just turn the engines over for him. ?

sadly he misguidedly feels he wants to have the boat local for regular use but c'mon SV after a nice 60 mile cruise which port would you prefer to find yourself in - Mahon or Holyhead ?

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Martin, I would be thinking about trucking the boat to somewhere like Port Napoleon or La Rague in SoF because that should be significantly cheaper than trucking it all the way to the Costa del Sol. This would then give you the opportunity to spend a lovely 2-3 weeks cruising the boat south to Marbella. These two companies will give you a good service

http://www.petersandmay.com
http://www.vandewetering.nl/en/boat-transport/

Agree with the others on priority of equipment ie passarelle, bimini and a/c. However IMHO a/c is pretty much a necessity unless you are going to avoid cruising in July and August. The problem with flybridge boats is that the saloon gets very warm with the large windows generally fitted and 2 large hot engines radiating heat throughout the accomodation. I guess though if you are just going to use the boat as a dayboat and you don't mind the heat, maybe a/c isn't essential. Personally I would get everything done in the UK before you leave for the Med because you can more easily supervise the work and you have a chance to snag any problems before you get there

 

[sonvida2]

Hang on, steady with SV's pasarelle I'm still trying to persuade him to put his boat in Mallorca!

He mistakenly believes that Malahide is the place to be but I'm trying to convince him that somewhere like Cala Dor would be more appropriate, especially if he knows someone with a place there who could...errr.....keep an eye on it for him when he wasn't there, perhaps even leaving a key so that his mate could just turn the engines over for him. ��

sadly he misguidedly feels he wants to have the boat local for regular use but c'mon SV after a nice 60 mile cruise which port would you prefer to find yourself in - Mahon or Holyhead ��

Ha, nice try Martyn.

The bloody passerelle sticks out over the platform and poor MrsSV will need to practice the limbo to get a line on the stbd side. However it does provide an opportunity to buy a nice RIB. Can't see the bimini being of much use other than a handy seagull perch.

You know we love Mallorca and our annual trip to SV but no intention of moving the boat until we can take extended holidays.

 

[martin]

Well thanks for the info..

Looks like a passerelle and a bimini plus part 1 of AC install essential prior to move
Road transport to France with cruise to Marbs sounds like the best transport mode...

I have my orders ;-)..

 

[sonvida2]

Well thanks for the info..

Looks like a passerelle and a bimini plus part 1 of AC install essential prior to move
Road transport to France with cruise to Marbs sounds like the best transport mode...

I have my orders ;-)..

Wow - sounds exciting.

Don't forget the camera and cruise report

 

[GSL]

After 5 years in the Med, I agree with above except the thoughts about upgrading a Genset to run the air con.

We have always found that aircon is an absolute necessity in Marinas (when connected to Shore power anyway), however time spent on the hook, open hatches and a breeze blowing through is normally fine, no air con ( and therefore bigger genset) needed.

In saying that, our 6kva Westerbeke powers the two aircon units and whatever else we need without problems when anchored out if required.

Graham

 

[Hurricane]

Yep - same advice as everyone else above.

In order of priority
Air Con
Passerelle
Bimini
But all are essential IMO

Also as many spares as you can think of.
We do our own servicing - engine oil is expensive in Spain so we take it out from the UK
You could put a season's worth on board.
Having said that, we have a "lock up" store in Sant Carles - somewhere to put all this stuff when you get there would be VERY useful.

How about some Bikes?
We now have 4 electric bikes that we take everywhere with us - they do the shopping etc when we are away - in fact, they do the shopping when we are in our home berth as well.

As far as shipping the boat out.
Road transport would be cheapest but the Spanish roads have different rules and bridge heights etc - so if you were to use the roads, shipping through France and then cruising the boat back would be the best option for you.
Having shipped a boat out myself - here's a suggestion.
Take the time and enjoy the experience - you won't regret it.
Don't pay a skipper - do it yourself.
The money that you pay a skipper could offset some extra air fares for you back and forth if you need to leave her enroute.

I remember that we did Torquay to Sant Carles in 7 days - and that was staying every night in port and getting a good night's sleep.
We even had a lazy day after Gib - staying in Banus that night.
So, we effectively did Torquay to Puerto Banus in 5 days.
So, my advice is that you should treat the shipping of the boat as a "lifetime experience" and, believe me, you wouldn't regret it.

After posting this, I'll find my report and include a link to it on this post.

EDIT
Here's the link to my report on our delivery to the Med
www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?174931-Princess-67-Delivery-UK-to-Spain-Loads-of-Pics-and-Video

 

[martin]

BTW

Genset is 11kw onan
So should be ok for A/C upgrade

 

[martin]

One question.. The previous owner had a brand new Eberspacher hydronic 5 fitted with units in all cabins just before he sold it to me.
Don't suppose I can adapt this to A/C in some way ?
Failing that...any recommendations on best A/C systems ?