Er yes Deleted User did say that but he also qualified that by saying those were his costs ie for a 50-60 footer and for a 30 footer, the costs are going to be considerably less. I can say categorically that without too much looking, you could find a location for your boat in the Med where it costs you no more to keep it there than in the UK. San Carles has been mentioned but then there is also pretty much anywhere in the Adriatic and where I am presently, S Sardinia. I will pay €8000 for the whole of this year to park my 63 footer in S Sardinia, there are regular flights all year round from the UK and of course the weather might as well be a different planet. I'm guessing it would cost me 2-3 times as much to moor my boat in the Solent and as far as I'm concerned there is no contest. There are 2 areas where your costs will probably be higher than the UK. Maintenance is one simply because you can't just pop down to your boat and do a few jobs yourself so you will probably pay somebody to do some of the jobs you might have done yourself in the UK. Then of course there is getting there but if you plan ahead flights can be very cheap
That is an issue but as Hardmy's photos show, it really is a fabulous cruising area, the best I've come across in my limited Med boating experience but yes youre right, there are probably 3 downsides to boating in Croatia. The first as you say is winter flights from the UK; AFAIK Dubrovnik is the only coastal airport operating year round flights otherwise if you want to get to central and northern coasts you have to fly via Zagreb (note to Jack Haines - Zagreb is the capital of Croatia, not Dubrovnik
). The second issue is maintenance; it is more difficult to get stuff done on your boat because the service infrastructure just isn't as well developed as the W Med (solution - take your boat to Italy over the winter as I did). The third issue is the winter weather; it is colder than the W Med in winter and therefore the boating season is a few weeks shorter
We were there 4 seasons and of course the weather was a little different every year but the reliable weather would start in early May and end in early October. It was surprising how quickly the weather changed in mid Oct often going from warm settled weather to cold rainy days in a short period of time and then of course the Bora wind blows more often in the winter. Of course you can still have mild days in the winter but I remember once visiting my boat near Split in January and desperately searching the local shops for a fan heater to keep the boat warm (the reverse cycle ac had broken down)
Thanks for posting some lovely pics, well worth of a specific thread!
