Transport to the Med

[CJ1]

As I reflect upon another miserable winter sitting inside looking at the rain, I have started to think how nice it would be to have a bolt hole in a warmer climate. So now I'm thinking next winter, why not keep my boat (27' Moody) somewhere warmer like the Aegean and I can go down whenever I feel like and get a bit of sunshine.
Then the question is, what's the best way of getting my boat down there ?

I don't fancy sailing all the way round on my own in October. A trip through the French Canals is a possibility but I expect after lock number 250 would get a bit tedious. So the third option is sail to a port on the North French coast and get the boat shipped down on a truck to a Mediterranean harbour.

Does anyone have any experience of shipping a boat across France, and in particular how much it would cost ?

As usual any advice greatly received.

 

[LONG_KEELER]

I don't know how much it would be , but both ways sounds expensive.

How about buying another boat to keep in the Med . I expect you would get your money
back after not many years.

 

[wingdiver]

Hi. There is a Dutch transport company that ships from (and to) Breskens called Van de Wetering. They move boats to the Med and Aegean. We used them to move our boat from Port Napoleon (near Marseille) to Breskens in 2006. (The original plan was from Portoroz in Slovenia but the tunnel heights through the Alps scuppered that!). They were very helpful and efficient. Van de Wetering – We’ll transport your boat

 

[banger]

Another one for Van den Watering, used them to transport our boat from Rottodam to Maldon, worth contacting them as they do Netherlands to UK often

 

[pvb]

No idea what it costs, but you might also consider moving your boat by ship. Peters & May run regular routes, with no need for unstepping the mast.

 

[DoubleEnder]

Lots of people enjoy the canal trip so don’t write it off. Buying another boat already in Greece isn’t daft. Lots of them for sale with all the necessary Med gear and mods done. Pinnacle Yacht Sales in Corfu is often well spoken of but there are other brokers and I reckon a gentle enquiry on the Liveaboard forum might elicit a few offers

 

[wingdiver]

Another one for Van den Watering, used them to transport our boat from Rottodam to Maldon, worth contacting them as they do Netherlands to UK often

The one thing I would say in regard to this is that we were told that the cost of a ferry crossing on a truck was pretty high as a proportion of the total cost especially as the chance of a loaded return was not good for the company so we would be paying the cost of the empty truck returning to base in Breskens. Getting dropped there and doing the rest of the trip ourselves saved us a fortune. Then again, it may be much more reasonable for a 27' Moody so don;t write it off as an idea.
If you want the boat in Greece and don't want to sail round Italy to get there (although we would recommend doing this as there are some great places to visit on the way) then you can get shipped by road directly to Greece by Van de Wetering.

 

[SeaAndSea]

We used Seven Star to transport our Trader47 from Port Napoleon Marseille to Antwerp. Great price and great service. max@sevenstar-uk.com was our contact.

 

[Old Bumbulum]

Don't mean to sound a a negative note but one or two thoughts occur.

Firstly I suspect transporting a boat down there would be prohbitively costly. If you wanted to keep the boat why not take it down the Danube/French canals and get there on it's own bottom? What an adventure!

Secondhand boats are always available in that area and small ones are not popular in the E Med. You'd pick up a nice boat relatively cheaply down there especially if you were willing to fettle it up a bit.

You mention escaping the rain for some sunshine...people sometimes miss the fact that almost all the direct island flights are seasonal, as are many of the mainland ones. Indeed Athens and Thessaloniki may be the only ones accesible direct from UK in winter. Even the big islands like Crete, Kos and Rhodos lose direct flights off-season. Merely getting to your boat out of season may not be at all easy, and may often not be cheap in season either. I'd recommend careful study of this - as you'll be involved in perhaps lengthy and sometimes weather dependant ferrys or local flights from Athens or Piraeus. Flights at each end of the season can be astronomically expensive too.

Finally, the weather. Greece isn't warm and sunny year round, indeed for much of the winter it rains and rains and rains which is why there is a seasonal aspect to flights. When you most want to be there (UK winter, early spring) it isn't much good and when you can (July, Aug) it's too bloody hot! In between it's glorious of course, for several months - utterly wonderful, but believe me maintaining and using a boat that far from home involves quite a lot of work and effort.

If it suits you then it's a great place to sail and relax but don't plunge in with rose-coloured specs still in place! The other thing we don't know yet (do we?) is just how Greek bureaucracy will react to UK boats in Greek waters. They were none too helpful even when we were in the EU so that may be another consideration.

 

[CJ1]

Thanks for all this excellent advice, and things to consider.

 

[DavidofMersea]

Finally, the weather. Greece isn't warm and sunny year round, indeed for much of the winter it rains and rains and rains which is why there is a seasonal aspect to flights. When you most want to be there (UK winter, early spring) it isn't much good and when you can (July, Aug) it's too bloody hot! In between it's glorious of course, for several months - utterly wonderful, but believe me maintaining and using a boat that far from home involves quite a lot of work and effort.

Why go to the Eastern Med.? The weather in the Western med is much better. Ibiza is warm enough to swim in all the year round, and Valencia is warmer still

 

[johnalison]

Why go to the Eastern Med.? The weather in the Western med is much better. Ibiza is warm enough to swim in all the year round, and Valencia is warmer still

I imagine he wants to sail rather than swim. From what I remember from school geography, there are more knobbly bits sticking out of the water with impossible to remember names in the east than in the west, so that in a cruise of a few weeks he could visit more places without have to do long passages, though with the disadvantage that he might bump into some forumites, perhaps even RichardS if he is unlucky.