SOF Berth - How?

jcwads

jcwads

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I know its been asked and discussed a thousand times before. However, I am looking for an 'idiots guide' to getting a berth in the SOF. Not to buy but ideally rent for a few seasons. Port Vauban seems ideal or anywhere close to Nice Airport.

I am going to hopefully get out there in September for a nosey, but would like to plan ahead for next season so I can secure a berth and then make preparations to get the boat out there next year.
 
jcwads said:
I know its been asked and discussed a thousand times before. However, I am looking for an 'idiots guide' to getting a berth in the SOF. Not to buy but ideally rent for a few seasons. Port Vauban seems ideal or anywhere close to Nice Airport.

I am going to hopefully get out there in September for a nosey, but would like to plan ahead for next season so I can secure a berth and then make preparations to get the boat out there next year.
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Bless!
 
Given current lease expires Dec 2021 buying one would be the easiest and possibly only route to securing a berth without moving every 2 to 3 days. Great home port.
 
Beaulieu-sur-Mer has just had its lease extended until Dec 20 so you could buy a lease of a berth that would last until then and then you have a berth if you want to stay or can leave if you choose. What happens after Dec 20 is unknown. Beaulieu-sur-Mer is on the other side of Nice towards Monaco. 20 mins by train from Nice Airport (with a 10 min walk to the train) or 30 by car.

PM me if you want the name of a local broker who might have a berth or two on his books.
 
Dont know if it works for your size of boat, we were investigating for the 8m to 10m bracket, and have not seen it discussed here, but our intention in the future is to find a storage yard that launches and recovers for you when you want, then you just use visitor berths when afloat. Such facilities seem to be to the west of St Tropez, due to flatter and less dense development I suppose.
 
jcwads said:
I know its been asked and discussed a thousand times before. However, I am looking for an 'idiots guide' to getting a berth in the SOF. Not to buy but ideally rent for a few seasons. Port Vauban seems ideal or anywhere close to Nice Airport.

I am going to hopefully get out there in September for a nosey, but would like to plan ahead for next season so I can secure a berth and then make preparations to get the boat out there next year.
Click to expand...

As others have said, buying is your only option - unless you wait a couple of years until the leases end at PV and the whole place goes rental.
 
How Med spec is your current boat ?
Ready for a better one ? There must be an itch that needs scratching ?
Reason I ask one way in renting is to buy a boat from a dealer / broker .They have caches of berths for there customers and with a bit , not a lot of negotiating = bobs your uncle so to speak you are in .
Strongly recommend you visit La Napoule, where the dealers hang out and make contact with theses people for berth advice
http://homeport.fr/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=47&Itemid=69&lang=en
 
jcwads said:
I am going to hopefully get out there in September for a nosey, but would like to plan ahead for next season so I can secure a berth and then make preparations to get the boat out there next year.
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Best of luck. As a start it might be worth contacting the berth brokers like Inwards https://www.inwardsmarine.com/berths or Triangle https://www.triangleberthbrokers.com/berths-for-rent. I see that Triangle are advertising a berth in St Laurent du Var for rent at present. Yes you could consider buying a berth as the current leases in many of the marinas are coming to an end but then you'll need to sink a considerable amount of cash into it. As a very general rule youre going to find more berth availability if you go west beyond La Napoule or east beyond Monaco into Italy. Yes it is worthwile taking a few days holiday and visiting each capitainerie in person but expect to get rebuffed everywhere unless you get lucky. St Laurent du Var is a possible because it is next to Nice airport and less sought after because of that as is Baie des Anges because the adjacent buildings are, ahem, pig ugly
 
Deleted User said:
Best of luck. As a start it might be worth contacting the berth brokers like Inwards https://www.inwardsmarine.com/berths or Triangle https://www.triangleberthbrokers.com/berths-for-rent. I see that Triangle are advertising a berth in St Laurent du Var for rent at present. Yes you could consider buying a berth as the current leases in many of the marinas are coming to an end but then you'll need to sink a considerable amount of cash into it. As a very general rule youre going to find more berth availability if you go west beyond La Napoule or east beyond Monaco into Italy. Yes it is worthwile taking a few days holiday and visiting each capitainerie in person but expect to get rebuffed everywhere unless you get lucky. St Laurent du Var is a possible because it is next to Nice airport and less sought after because of that as is Baie des Anges because the adjacent buildings are, ahem, pig ugly
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Many thanks. I will start making enquiries
 
jimmy_the_builder said:
As others have said, buying is your only option - unless you wait a couple of years until the leases end at PV and the whole place goes rental.
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Could be priced out unfortunately not sure I can get the funds for a purchase right now. Will probably then look at a wider area
 
jcwads said:
I expect I will keep the T40 for at least another 4 years.
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Ok. Is it med-spec already? ie aircon, generator, passerelle? If not, you'll want to get that done before you come down. I did aircon and generator in the UK but baulked at the cost of a passerelle - and regretted it afterwards.

Fyi in my first season here I was a renter in PV. They insisted that I needed a 15m berth, which at the time was about €1300 a month in the summer, plus I got moved all the time, sometimes more than once a month, plus I had to backhand them €100 a month just so they'd find me a place for the next month. Not much fun. Buying does take that all away, and with the very short leases, you're only paying rental value now anyway, there's no premium.
 
JtB, are there any marinas in the CdA that are renter friendly?

J, I would seriously look at the Empuriabrava area as an entry point to Med boating.

Failing that, where we are has loads of plusses, for example proximity to Alicante where you could even fly to from Southampton.
 
jimmy_the_builder said:
Ok. Is it med-spec already? ie aircon, generator, passerelle? If not, you'll want to get that done before you come down. I did aircon and generator in the UK but baulked at the cost of a passerelle - and regretted it afterwards.

Fyi in my first season here I was a renter in PV. They insisted that I needed a 15m berth, which at the time was about €1300 a month in the summer, plus I got moved all the time, sometimes more than once a month, plus I had to backhand them €100 a month just so they'd find me a place for the next month. Not much fun. Buying does take that all away, and with the very short leases, you're only paying rental value now anyway, there's no premium.
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Aircon and Passerelle needed, so will be looking at getting this done over the winter.
 
jcwads said:
Aircon and Passerelle needed, so will be looking at getting this done over the winter.
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Aircon is easy enough; plenty of UK installers to choose from. I used Seacraft Marine for a Dometic installation.

Passerelle is admittedly tricky: the oe solution is a cassette passerelle which goes in that locker under the cockpit companionway. But it is crazy expensive (like, £10k). There are various other hydraulic options available but they are all ugly and still pretty costly. The alternative (which I eventually went for) is a simple folding passerelle which you stow in that same locker. The main issue that I've found with this is that in many places the dock is quite high relative to the boat, and your passerelle ends up being really steep from the boat up to the dock. I had an upstand made for mine to try and mitigate this, but it's an imperfect solution. Possibly the best compromise answer is a couple of passerelle deck sockets, one low down, and the other up on top of the garage at the back of the aft sunpad.
 
jimmy_the_builder said:
Aircon is easy enough; plenty of UK installers to choose from. I used Seacraft Marine for a Dometic installation.

Passerelle is admittedly tricky: the oe solution is a cassette passerelle which goes in that locker under the cockpit companionway. But it is crazy expensive (like, £10k). There are various other hydraulic options available but they are all ugly and still pretty costly. The alternative (which I eventually went for) is a simple folding passerelle which you stow in that same locker. The main issue that I've found with this is that in many places the dock is quite high relative to the boat, and your passerelle ends up being really steep from the boat up to the dock. I had an upstand made for mine to try and mitigate this, but it's an imperfect solution. Possibly the best compromise answer is a couple of passerelle deck sockets, one low down, and the other up on top of the garage at the back of the aft sunpad.
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Cheers. Shame about the retrofit being so expensive, it would fit neatly in the existing locker!
 
The renter friendly marinas on the Côte d’Azur simply don’t exist. We are on an annual rented berth. We joined a wait list in 2011 got offered the berth two years later and had a week to make our minds up. At the time our boat was in Edinburgh! We upgraded our boat when we got offered a larger berth which occurred 2 years ago almost to the day.

Prices go down the further you move from Nice. The last place with a train service from Nice is St Raphael/Frejus, but these trains are not often and it’s an hour by car. Don’t ask about taxis as they are licensed thieves!

A T40 might be allowed on a 12m berth, but you might be forced on to a 14m berth depending on the local rules on length.

Annual rent for our 12m berth is €8150 all in no elec or water charges. A 14m is closer to €12k.

You appear to be fixed on Antibes, but there are many other options. One I would suggest is Riviera Ports http://www.riviera-ports.com/en

They run a few places and you can call the head office and ask about annual berths. I have always found them very helpful when calling about berths for overnight stays.

Remember it’s peak season right now so people are pretty busy and might take some time to get back to you.
 
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