Question for the med based boys

[lanerboy]

just been looking at flying into Alicante and its more expensive than I thought, I have just been chucking random dates in and for a long weekend its about £150 pp well for a family of 4 that's a fairly hefty bill and a lot of miles in my boat in the uk

My head hurts trying to work all this out I know the med has the weather but it just seems too much trouble, effort and expense for me at our time in life I think I may have to look at it when its just the 2 of us and stick with Weymouth for a few more years

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

just been looking at flying into Alicante and its more expensive than I thought, I have just been chucking random dates in and for a long weekend its about £150 pp well for a family of 4 that's a fairly hefty bill and a lot of miles in my boat in the uk

You'll have to get used to that level of fares especially if you're flying with kids at half term or school holidays. Apart from the cost of the fare, the UK has one of the highest air passenger duty levels in the world so every time you fly you're giving a sizeable chunk of your money to the greedy govt

 

[MapisM]

it just seems too much trouble, effort and expense for me at our time in life

That's a good point, and obviously one you can only evaluate for your own situation.
Fwiw, I moved my boat in a place requiring a flight to reach it, only after knowing that I could go there for long(ish) periods.
Back in the days where I was mostly boating just in the weekends, it was strictly driving distance for me, thanks.
It's not just a matter of costs btw, I just hate airports with a passion.

 

[NGM]

If you plan to keep your boat in the Med you will no doubt book key dates well in advance (school holidays) and be prepared to get a little hurt on the ad hoc trips. In 2012 I commuted from Spain to London, Gatwick to Alicante and Murcia, my average flight was approx £50 single and that included peak Friday evenings back to Spain.

 

[Nick_H]

just been looking at flying into Alicante and its more expensive than I thought, I have just been chucking random dates in and for a long weekend its about £150 pp well for a family of 4 that's a fairly hefty bill and a lot of miles in my boat in the uk

My head hurts trying to work all this out I know the med has the weather but it just seems too much trouble, effort and expense for me at our time in life I think I may have to look at it when its just the 2 of us and stick with Weymouth for a few more years

Yep, med boating with a proper job or school age kids is definitely a trade off between quality and quantity. You spend less time on the boat, but get much better conditions when you go. Some years we only go to the boat 3-4 times, though one of those is for at least 3 weeks in the summer. Thing is, once you've enjoyed the warm sun day after day, balmy evenings, swimming all day in warm clear water, boating in the UK just seems less attractive, however often you can go.

 

[mcanderson]

Is it better, I don't know yet, but I will soon. We will be lifted from our present marina 10 March and will be down in Beaulieu Sur Mer a week later. We are heading down for 6 days at Easter, 2 weeks in May and September. I have a week in late July and we are planning a long weekend for June, July, August and October. End result will be considerable more time on the boat and as I fly from Heathrow back home every weekend already I just need to get on an aircraft bound for Nice rather than Edinburgh. Even after a small gin in the lounge I hope I can manage that. We are hoping for better weather, more locations to visit, more to do off the boat, but with a coastal location and enjoying being in a place we just love.

So far there are a lot more pluses than negatives.

I will post more on the move and the actual realities of having our boat in SoF.

For now 10 Mar is looming fast and I need onto get cracking on my list of things to do!

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

Is it better, I don't know yet, but I will soon. We will be lifted from our present marina 10 March and will be down in Beaulieu Sur Mer a week later. We are heading down for 6 days at Easter, 2 weeks in May and September. I have a week in late July and we are planning a long weekend for June, July, August and October. End result will be considerable more time on the boat and as I fly from Heathrow back home every weekend already I just need to get on an aircraft bound for Nice rather than Edinburgh. Even after a small gin in the lounge I hope I can manage that. We are hoping for better weather, more locations to visit, more to do off the boat, but with a coastal location and enjoying being in a place we just love.

So far there are a lot more pluses than negatives.

I will post more on the move and the actual realities of having our boat in SoF.

For now 10 Mar is looming fast and I need onto get cracking on my list of things to do!

Congrats on making the big decision - this all sounds worthy of a thread in its own right. Best of luck.

 

[lanerboy]

Congrats on making the big decision - this all sounds worthy of a thread in its own right. Best of luck.

+1 I also think you should start a seperate thread on this, I for one would be very interested in your move

 

[julians]

We manage about 5 or 6 trips per year out to majorca. From may to september, 3 long weekends ie friday morning to monday night usually over bank holidays, plus 2 longer holidays , a 2 weeker and a 1 weeker. We would use the boat nearly everyday , although we dont live aboard.

Flights typically average £160 per person.

 

[kashurst]

going back to Lanerboy, how about taking the boat up to the west coast of Scotland on a lorry for a summer, complete change of scene from south coast - try Kip or Largs, loads of well protected destinations and the scenery, welcome, food etc is fantastic. Loads and loads of very sheltered waters so getting out and about is much more likely. Yes its quite a drive but you will get proper use out of the boat over a summer and a few half terms. We went @ 6 years ago and Daughter still talks about it.
Some of the locals even speak English ;-)

 

[Bertramdriver]

thanks very much for all the replies, this is making me think very seriously about moving to the med one problem I have is I love my boat and don't want to change it but 2 things no air con and no passerelle

Other thing is I need to try and find somewhere that is a decent price, good facilities, lots of English speaking people and can be accessed via east midlands airport. anyone got any ideas as I would also like to go in the colder months when some airlines stop flying to certain destination

cheers

Try Kanonis boatyard
Aegina Island
Just south of Athens

Around half the price of a UK boatyard on a per annum basis
Don't worry about the Passerelle,, easily and cheaply fixed and you only need the aircon during late July and August. Just fit a few 12v fans around the cabins (I use computer fans, cheap efficient, quiet and low current draw)
Plus you get the adventure of a west to east med crossing.

 

[lanerboy]

Some of the locals even speak English ;-)

LOL I was thinking the med to get more sun I go to my boat about twice a month on average so get plenty of use from it, but would just like better weather to be honest that's my reason for thinking of moving, I like Weymouth but the sunshine doesn't most of the time

 

[jfm]

Congrats on making the big decision - this all sounds worthy of a thread in its own right. Best of luck.

There is a thread - Scuttlebutt! Mcanderson I'm very glad to hear it is all coming together for you. I hadn't realised you were also a weekly air commuter - yes as you say it is just as easy to fly to Nice as any other Edinburgh. I will look forward to your thread about the actual move, and you'll see a lot of us anchored in Villefranche many a weekend so drop by for a beer

 

[jfm]

Lanerboy, I don't have much to add to what the others have said.

From June to October inclusive it is wall to wall sunshine and the chances of you coming to the boat for the weekend and getting lousy weather are perhaps 1 in 20 - but you'd see that on the forecast anyhow. May can go either way. Rest of the year there are 30-40% of the weeknds that are very nice, and others rainy and/or a bit cold/grey. I was in Antibes yesterday and it was grey and rainy. The weekend before we had nice sunshine and I took the RIB out and anchored off the beach having a picnic (in jeans and a fleece). Week before that was monsoon; one before that sunshine, and so on.

The issue with weahter is not number of days of sunshine; it is all about predictability. In UK we have sun, but I gave up boating because I didn't know which weekends were going to be the sunny ones. If you organise a trip in advance with family/friends and it turns out to be raining that weekend, it isn't huge fun. In the Med summer you have reliable sunny weather. In Med winter you get plenty of sunny weekends but it isn't predictable so you might want to buy more flexible plane tickets (Avios flights are fully refundable for example)

Beach picture below is Antibes town beach looking NE to Cap Ferrat on 10 November 2013 - kids playing in the sea. Quayside pic beow is shot from my sunday lunch table in Villefranche, wearing a shirt with no jumper/fleece I remember, 4 weeks ago. But there are as I say rainy weekends between these sunny ones, in the winter, which I don't bother photographing

The fact the summers are so reliably good is imho the reason to move to the Med. If only 40-50% of winter weekends are nice that's ok tbh but isn't a decision changer either way. Your boat will go on a lorry so a try-out move isn't the end of the world cost wise

But as I say the reason to move there is for the summers, and you just can't beat it if you want a flight under 2 hours and you love boats. At risk of boring you to death below is a random click of Med photos all taken in recent summers. All the anchorages pictured below are kids paradise and they will spend all day in the water and loving it. In fact the Med opens up a whole dimension that you don't get in UK, which is the sea itself. You can get in it and dive in it and see stuff in it. Entertains adults all day long too in between beer and wine!

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

Toby needs to licence that picture from you, that's an absolute cracker.

 

[jfm]

Toby needs to licence that picture from you, that's an absolute cracker.

This vid shows you a lot of med beaches and anchorages Shawn. It is St Florent at the topof Corsica, a big bay with a town, marina, and perhaps a dozen beachy anchorages. July 2012. At 1:25 in the video I am flying over exactly the same spot where I took the sunset photo from the beach (Saleccia beach) of Match2 and her tender in September 2013. I mean the photo immediately after the sunset-toby's-horns photo

 

[MapisM]

the sea itself. You can get in it and dive in it and see stuff in it.

+1.
If you add that you can also find great food in it, and eat it raw onboard, you've said all there is to say about it.

 

[Steve C Cronin]

We get some very good weather right through the winter in Corfu but being Greece's wettest part, when it rains!!!

 

[Andrew M]

Brilliant thread and thanks for starting it Shawn,

It is currently all we are talking about at home: the possible med move in which case it would almost certainly be SoF. We are on the Thames and love it but just keep looking and looking at what do we want from our boating time.

Great comments all, thanks,

Andy

 

[rafiki_]

Shawn, forget about the passerelle and aircon, it is the underwater lights that should be first on the list for a Med boat