The Med - ogaryo wants to berth there next year

oGaryo

oGaryo

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Just got down the boat after two weeks in Crete to be welcomed by rain. Just not good enough so seriously considering selling Bizzy Bee and buying a 30ft + boat to berth in the med.

This topic has been aired on the forum sooooo many times but am hoping I'll get some good advice from those who have been and done it recently.

Advice needed on both counts please. What boat to buy and where to berth it. Budget as yet undecided but will be under £60k without succumbing to the temptation of a boat loan.

Thank you
 
FWIW, I'd go with a boat I know much rather than fixing one I dont in a foreign language with foreign contractors! Get her into fine fettle and a week later shes there. We've no a/c either, so avoiding peak months when its busy and costly anyway but have got some 12V / USB fans to help. Not everone's idea of good but its the weather we want so we'll see if it works! Plus got a stow-away passerelle and had biminis made, job done. Funny enough, our first week at SCM, starting tomorrow, looks like rain! Ho- hum!
 
Gary I know how you feel and I am pondering on two thoughts either sell the boat and pack up for a while then start again in the med in a few years or move my boat to the med asap as like you I too am SICK off this uk weather. I think if I stay in boating I will ship my boat because I knows she is tip top as I am sure yours is so I would ship your boat out there.

Could you not use a portable air con unit like I put in my bedroom for 2 nights a year, I know this would only work in the marina off 240v and not at anchor but this would be most the nights I expect and only about 3 months of the year, and I am sure the med lads say the sea breeze is sufficient when out at sea.
 
Andy Bav said:
We have standalone unit coupled to 2 fans, did the job for us in a hot (35 degree) July with 5 on board - in fact #3 son sleeping in saloon complained he was cold....
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Yes Garyo i can see where you are coming from, personaly i think weather wise the seasons are getting shorter the past two years have been similar no pattern to it , boat show looming end of season for us. i am also thinking of sunnier climes. go for it.
 
What do you want and what is realistic for you?

Where to go is wholly dependent on your answers to these questions.

For example, if you could manage one two-week holiday on the boat plus a couple of other weeks separately then you aren't going to be too worried about how long it takes to get from the plane to the boat and so you can look at places where you are an hour or so away from the airport and there's only a couple of convenient flights every week.

If, on the other hand, the plan is to catch the 18:05 flight out of London every Thursday night and be back at 09:30 on Monday then you are going to want to have the boat a cab-ride away from the airport.

Apart from that, my #1 concern would be: is the place full of biting insects? I'm so sweet that, in the Med, they come from miles around for the tasting menu. :D
 
Plus, do you want to pop down to the thing and just fettle or do you want a turn-key holiday?

If the former, the Med won't work. If the latter (with family) I'd want a minimum of 50' because I'm fecked if I'm going to spend two weeks living in something smaller than my kitchen at home.
 
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Gary

There are at least two Corvettes near the med presently. One with Boatshed, and another in Minorca. Won't b that far off your budget and have all the accom you need.

Come round for a beer and I will show you what you are missing.
 
Two points I'd like to make here Gary. Firstly, you're not allowed to go...I just won't allow it! Secondly...will the grass really be greener over there? Just a thought hon.
L
:)
 
lisilou said:
Two points I'd like to make here Gary. Firstly, you're not allowed to go...I just won't allow it! Secondly...will the grass really be greener over there? Just a thought hon.
L
:)
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Tee-hee, of course the grass isn't greener over here - because it doesn't rain so much! :D

To the OP: I went through the love-it-or-list-it debate when I decided to come down here, and decided to stay with my UK boat. Given that when you buy a new boat you want/need to spend a bit of time getting to know your way round it, maybe the decision comes down to how much time you can get away from work when you get the new boat?

Here's a couple of my old threads on the subject:

http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?292262-Best-small-boat-for-the-med

http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?303333-Moving-from-Brighton-to-the-Med-we-re-off!
 
Find a suitable do able marina near an Airport first.
Disconnect from UK boat scene ,this means selling up .Buy a ready speced Medboat from a cherished owner .
It's all about outdoor living .
Go for a good Italien make Ferreti Itama (I know iam Biased )
Sea keeping + plenty of room are in my view most important ,you will and family will enjoy it all the more the deeper the V
Here's an example -there are loads of similiar -fully speced ready to go -factor in a bit of discount -off you go.
You can Pootle too do not have to blast around .
9 knots D speed in mine burns 17 L per side .if its calm we can and do enjoy taking all day basking in the sun .
http://www.yachtworld.co.uk/boats/1991/Itama-45-2851256/Italy#.VeLXsmt5mK0
No outdrive maintenance issues either -
 
oGaryo said:
Just got down the boat after two weeks in Crete to be welcomed by rain. Just not good enough so seriously considering selling Bizzy Bee and buying a 30ft + boat to berth in the med.

This topic has been aired on the forum sooooo many times but am hoping I'll get some good advice from those who have been and done it recently.

Advice needed on both counts please. What boat to buy and where to berth it. Budget as yet undecided but will be under £60k without succumbing to the temptation of a boat loan.

Thank you
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Ive been in SCM for seven years now, I went just before I retired.

1. You really don't absolutely need AC. Nice to have but not essential as you acclimatise.
2. If you are still working? How much holiday time can you realistically take out there?
3. I always went to my boat every weekend, not always took it out I just pottered about on it doing little jobs. Can't do that when its so far away!
4. If you are not a hands on person, it's expensive to get things done by other people and if you are hands on you must take time off work to go to visit your boat to work on it.
5. I purchased my current boat last year in the Netherlands with no fear of not knowing the vessel, trucked it to Spain, great exchange rate and anything can be fixed or sorted on a boat, just look for one in good condition and have it surveyed!
6. We do suffer from Mozzies and incredibly bad fouling. If you can't go every few weeks your boat will need to be lifted and power washed off every visit which is expensive. The mozzie bites are not pleasant!
7. Last but not least, SC weather this year has not been great either! Loads of rain! But I grant you on average it is more reliable.

Good luck.
 
lanerboy said:
Could you not use a portable air con unit like I put in my bedroom for 2 nights a year, I know this would only work in the marina off 240v and not at anchor but this would be most the nights I expect and only about 3 months of the year, and I am sure the med lads say the sea breeze is sufficient when out at sea.
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I did this in Barcelona and it was actually very effective and £200 instead of £2500 (then)
Check that the unit will go through the door, our's just made it.
The domestic unit exhausts hot air through a 4" pipe. This was ok poked through a window until it rained when you need A/C the most as humidity rises. We never quite resolved that one but bought a "proper" system as you will eventually do.
The £200 unit now cools our home bedroom (used only twice this year) which is nice.
 
You know what you need Gary, a bigger boat in the UK. (think we had this conversation before!)

you get a lot of use from Bizzy Bee even if its just staying on here, i reckon you would miss that if you were to move to the med....
 
I made the move in June, but moved house as well as boat. Went down in April, bought the house then had to search for a berth ... tried half a dozen marinas, all wanting to rent a berth for quite a lot of money, for a 30 footer, and some with no room at all so in the end decided to buy a 30 year lease (I should live so long!) in St.Cyprien Marina which was by far the nicest one in the area. It cost 25k euros (last years rates which was good of them) for a 10 metre berth on a pontoon in a very quiet, and recently appointed, part of the marina ... nice and quiet at the bottom end. (Google a map) ... water, electric, loo, showers etc incl. Had the boat brought down on a low loader which took 2 days from Port Solent and cost £3.4k. The boat isn't really big enough to live on for more than a few days but we make do and only live half an hour up the road, swimming pool etc., so life is really quite pleasant! No aircon on the boat but we leave all the windows open and the cabin stays surprisingly cool, especially if there's a bit of a breeze, not that we spend much time down below! Now Sunday evening ... bit of an onshore breeze blowing today so quite a chop but we went out for an hour, got thoroughly soaked and came back into the marina, hosed it all down and had a little light lunch .... 32 degrees all day, now dropped to 30 so dinner on the terrace ... and no mossies! I did get a reasonable berth rental quote from a very friendly guy at San Carles but in the end we decided we'd prefer living in France, and so far I think we made the right choice. PM me if you want any more suggestions or if you need a bed for a few days to look around ... Perpignan nearest airport and very handy, i.e. easy taxi ride to St.Cyprien!
 
We are new to being coastal as of last November when we changed boats and moved berthing to Lymington from the Thames. All I keep hearing is that this year has been far worse then normal, especially at the weekends. We are loving it though and whilst I will admit we can say that we haven't had that many brilliant weather weekends we've still got out and about a fair bit and have had a great time down there.. We bought this boat with a long term view of possibly going med based but we can see that will be a long way off as there is soooo much to do on the south coast anyway, and work just won't allow the required time to be med centric for some time yet. I fully get the attraction of being down there but can see that lots of factors have to be in place to make it feasible, ie spare time, finances, type and condition of boat, being happy being away from home and UK so much etc etc. It may even be that we keep the boat here and just do holiday weekends in the sun.
I understand the wanderlust of sun and lovely crystal clear warm water but conversely we are looking forward to some fab crisp Autumnal morning coastal dog walks looking out over the Solent and then back to the boat or marina restaurant for bacon sarnies and steaming mugs of tea.

Andy, ( still loving it but new, so let's see.... time will tell):)
 
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