The cost of running a Squadron 58 - first season ...

[henryf]

Well, it's not like Med boating necessarily means all that...
Besides, waddumean by let's see in 5 or 10 years?
Are you expecting the global warming to make the sea around Britain Med-alike, sort of?

I was more thinking along the lines of emerging markets taking some of the traffic.

I keep a close eye on South East Asia and there have been a number of developments particularly in Thailand which make it an increasingly inviting proposition.

Henry

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

I Henry's referring to when his gets kids older and he has more freedom.

I think the bribing stuff is more prevalent in France, according to what I read here.

From memory, I've paid a bribe to get a berth 3 times in the Med but well in the past. In 2003 when we first came to SoF, I had to pay the harbourmaster in a half empty Fontveille in October to get a berth and in crowded Le Lavandou in August which I suppose is slightly more forgivable. Then I paid a few Euros to an official in St Eulalia in around 2006 to let us stay on the waiting berth overnight

My impression now is that this practice has all but died out and whilst I still tip helpful marineros I havent bribed anyone to get a berth in more than 10yrs

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Are you expecting the global warming to make the sea around Britain Med-alike, sort of?

Well the UK already makes better wine than Italy so it would be a natural progression, dont you think?

 

[MapisM]

Well the UK already makes better wine than Italy so it would be a natural progression, dont you think?

Funny that you should mention wine, 'cause recently we took the opportunity of S not being able to walk a lot for driving to the Prosecco area of Valdobbiadene - which btw is in the process of being recognised by Unesco.
Some beautiful landscapes indeed, well worth the trip for that reason alone.
And needless to say, the wineries tour was VERY interesting.
Highly recommended, whenever you would be around NE Italy for work with a day to spare! :encouragement:

PS: This webpage is a nice appetizer, for anyone interested.

 

[jrudge]

I was more thinking along the lines of emerging markets taking some of the traffic.

I keep a close eye on South East Asia and there have been a number of developments particularly in Thailand which make it an increasingly inviting proposition.

Henry

Don't care how good it is ( and i go alot and its far too hot!) I am not getting on a 12 hour flight to go on the boat!

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Funny that you should mention wine, 'cause recently we took the opportunity of S not being able to walk a lot for driving to the Prosecco area of Valdobbiadene - which btw is in the process of being recognised by Unesco.

One of my manufacturers in NE Italy is owned by a family who also own a vineyard in this area and they make an excellent Prosecco as well as 2 good red wines. I buy about 500 bottles of their wine to give away to customers at Christmas as well as for personal consumption

 

[henryf]

Don't care how good it is ( and i go alot and its far too hot!) I am not getting on a 12 hour flight to go on the boat!

Summer in Europe and winter in SEA has some merit, particularly as the least intense heat is our middle of winter. I think it all depends on how long and how often you genuinely visit the boat. If you take lots of short trips then clearly it won't work. But if you spend weeks or even months on the boat then it makes more sense.

It won't be for everyone but definitely on my radar for the future.

Either way the infrastructure is improving all the time thanks to people like Princess Southeast Asia and their Boat Lagoon developments which have credible boat yard capacity.


Henry

 

[Illetas]

Thank you for an interesting post.
Re the cost of mooring in the Ibiza marinas maybe I can share our experiences as we've had boats there since the late 90s.
Yes, it's horribly expensive now but the problem is one of supply and demand and the shear number of boats in Ibiza during the peak months is amazing and has grown enormously in the past two or three years. Lots of these are charter boats catering for the short term users but the main attraction for everyone is the fact that Ibiza and Formentera are fantastic places to be on a boat .
Normally the season has been from mid July until the end of August but this year even in early June there were very large numbers of boats in the water and we've never seen Formenera as busy early in the season.
However, September is here and it is now really quiet - it's a pleasure to be in Ibiza and Formentera again and you can even get a table at beach restaurants without booking days in advance.
What has also changed is the size of boats - when we first went to Ibiza a forty foot boat was pretty big and a fifty footer was a whopper but now a fifty footer is dwarfed by many of the boats you see there .
The marinas generally weren't built for these bigger boats and there is a shortage of berths for them which is why Marina Ibiza which caters for large vessels is able to charge accordingly, plus its in the centre of all the smart restaurants,nightclubs etc and is just a short trip to Formentera.
Botafoch is in flux as the existing concession ends at the end of next year so there is a certain amount of uncertainty about what is going to happen there so Santa Eulalia and San Antonio have probably picked up clients from there.

Hope that helps.Sorry to have been a bit long-winded!

 

[Eren]

From memory, I've paid a bribe to get a berth 3 times in the Med but well in the past. In 2003 when we first came to SoF, I had to pay the harbourmaster in a half empty Fontveille in October to get a berth and in crowded Le Lavandou in August which I suppose is slightly more forgivable. Then I paid a few Euros to an official in St Eulalia in around 2006 to let us stay on the waiting berth overnight

My impression now is that this practice has all but died out and whilst I still tip helpful marineros I havent bribed anyone to get a berth in more than 10yrs

In 2015, just 2 years ago, I had to take my hand to my pocket in order to get a berth both in Fontvielle and also in Port Vauban. I think things are still pretty much the same in SoF.