Question for the med based boys

[mcanderson]

For flights BA are good for using points. We have two club Europe returns for the 2 of us for 2 week breaks and I have one for me for Easter (plus one day either side). Good time of day, normally okay and again easy from Nice to BSM.

 

[John100156]

Just looked up flights from Luton to Reus - 45 mins motorway door-to-door to SCM, as follows - note the final cost for two adults:

 

[jfm]

Blimee John well spotted - rising in the east over the boatyard, just as you suggest...... but have you noticed the flying fish just about to re-enter the water, close to the suns reflection....they drive the seagulls mad!

Ah I hadn't noticed the fish. Yes that's quite a jump! Here are my few pics of SCM from 2011, April I think.

Arriving SCM...

Being escorted in by the very helpful marina team

Deciding to use Mk1 eyeball not chartplotter inside the marina

Passing Hurricane's ship to Port

Fuel berth, right in your sunrise shot John

Departing SCM at dawn the next day with 350nm to run in one loooong day to Antibes

Heading eastwards towards Barcelona

 

[Richard Shead]

@JFM - are my eyes deceiving me or do you actually own one of those silver tops for the Marmite ?

 

[lambohill]

+1 for the med. I am just back from SCM, having taken the plunge from feedback received on here and delivered our boat to Sant Carles last week.
It was a pleasant change from home. Blue skies, sunshine, albeit some windy days, it was still like a may day at home, doing work outside in a t shirt with sunnies on, and it was last days of january. As far as flights go, we need friday nights and sunday returns at school holidays, and so have accepted this cost and pre-booked all school hols so we are covered. Combined with otherwise reasonable costs, i feel the flights are just part of the overall boating package and IMHO boating in the sun provides the fun.
For information, flights have cost between £70 and £150 return pp. when booked early and this has included the friday pm departures. Car hire is incredibly cheap, between £5 and £10 a day and I am not troubled by the quick drive down the motorway from either Reus or Barcelona. We are giving it a go, and are looking forward to how it fares over the next 12 months.

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

We are giving it a go

Good for you. As a relative newbie to the Med myself I'll be interested to hear how you get on - keep us posted. Best of luck!

 

[lambohill]

Good for you. As a relative newbie to the Med myself I'll be interested to hear how you get on - keep us posted. Best of luck!

Thanks very much. It has been the posts on here such as your own, and replies to an earlier thread I posted that have cemented the move.

 

[jfm]

@JFM - are my eyes deceiving me or do you actually own one of those silver tops for the Marmite ?

You gotta have a bit of theo fennell on the boat Richard . It's a special engraved version - I'll get you a close up pic sometime
http://www.theofennell.com/acatalog/Sterling-Silver-Marmite-Lid-500g-1746.html

I noticed it when posting but didn't think anyone would spot it in an 800x600 pix photo. Your eyes are good!

BTW, I do not have the Heinz ketchup bottle silver cover. Yet

 

[jfm]

Good going Lambohill. Wishing you a nice 2014 season, and please let us know how you get on, with lots of pictures

 

[lambohill]

Good going Lambohill. Wishing you a nice 2014 season, and please let us know how you get on, with lots of pictures

Thank you. I will do just that and get some pictures coming.

 

[John100156]

Well, here’s a sunset in SCM, plus a few other shots, some of the grand-kids that visit from time-to-time – mostly taken on the iPhone so low quality:

Daughter lounging around the pool – she would kill me if she saw I posted this!

Grand-kids helming the boat in the lagoon – priceless..

An hour later they're playing in the pool…

Then there are the frequent fun events held in the marina bar…

General marina shot…

And of course, the local blue flag beach right next to the marina…

It’s fair to say it’s not as busy and indeed as beautiful as some of the bays and places in Mallorca, Menorca, SoF and other parts of Spain but SCM remains quaint, easy and quick to reach, has excellent facilities, a good spirit, English speaking and very helpful staffs, very good boatyard and all at a very reasonable cost indeed.

Good place to start your sojourn into the Med! I think it’s time JFM brought his old crate back for a visit - I missed his last one!

Plenty of room in SCM for a YBW Forumites get together later this year….. We just need to nudge MDL to provide some free visitors berths..!

 

[adey]

....is it tee shirt weather down there is the sea calm have you been out on your boats etc etc, just good HONEST answers please
what is it really like down there compared to the uk at this time of year

I think the real answer is yes, it's slightly better than the UK but no, not wall to wall sunshine and shorts. A good idea is to check webcams like these covering NW Italy.
This my my marina at present.
http://www.liguriawebcam.com/webcam_chiavari_porto.asp

Then there's the issue of flights. Fine if you're in London and the boat's in a tourist hot-spot but getting to Croatia, Greece etc might not be so easy in the winter. eg for me there are no flights from Bristol to Pisa in Jan or Feb.
On the plus side it never seems to get windy in this corner of the Med.
Would I switch back to the UK? ... NO, not just yet.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Then there's the issue of flights. Fine if you're in London and the boat's in a tourist hot-spot but getting to Croatia,

There are no flights from London airports between mid Oct and mid April to the coastal Croatian airports of Split, Zadar and Pula and that is a big problem for year round boating there. The only way to get to our boat near Split in winter is via Croatia's capital, Zagreb or Dubrovnik and both are 3-4hrs drive away. Thats why we move our boat into Italy during the winter. The Croatians moan about the lack of tourists during winter but they really need to persuade the airlines to fly there first

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Plenty of room in SCM for a YBW Forumites get together later this year….. We just need to nudge MDL to provide some free visitors berths..!

What's the cost of diesel in SCM currently?

 

[John100156]

It's around €1.50 so certainly not as cheap as it is in Gib, you could probably negotiate a discount for large quantities. Hurricane's enroute so perhaps he can update in due course.

 

[Seastoke]

the trent

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 destinations

cheers

 

[Coastgal]

+1 for the med. I am just back from SCM, having taken the plunge from feedback received on here and delivered our boat to Sant Carles last week.
It was a pleasant change from home. Blue skies, sunshine, albeit some windy days, it was still like a may day at home, doing work outside in a t shirt with sunnies on, and it was last days of january.

FAB! Going down next Friday for the weekend to check on the boat and relax a little. A few more weekend trips planned before we sail off into the sunset for a year from April Looking forward to getting the sunnies out, with a couple of Barby's in the cockpit

 

[DavidJ]

Three weeks ago in Empuriabrava where you can snow ski in the morning and water ski in the afternoon. I had a lay in and wandered down the cafe.

 

[jfm]

Ah hang on a minute David. If this is a competition about "black and blue" days, ie ability to get to a ski resort within an hour* of your Med boat, please can I enter Antibes? Picture taken in Port Vauban Antibes yesterday

* = by car. The superyacht boys and girls do it in 15 mins by chopper straight from the helideck

 

[Portofino]

Or step out the the front door .
T,other way round SoF is 5-6 hr drive ( legally )