UK boating Verse Med Boating ,

powerskipper

powerskipper

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What do you prefer and why.
Here's a few for the UK
We never get board as the weather changes everything all the time.( we get wet or cold or to hot or wind swept all in the same day and its never the same 2 days running)
Loads of tide to play with. so we can't always go to the same place . (I know talking about the tide locked stuff)
We have to work out our depths as we can't see the sea bed until we hit it.
We can be understood anywhere we go. ( except if we meet a real local dialect spoken person)
There are loads of marinas to visit. ( all waiting to take money off us)
We get to wear loads of different cloths. ( this is the girly bit, just to keep warm)
We will ware out our Oilys.
Our boats don't need washing off every trip ( as the rain got the salt off for us on the way back in.)
No restriction on how much gear we take (as long as we don't over load the boat that is.)

So anyone have any to add, or pros for the med boating.
 
Julie

Here’s why we prefer the Med

The weather doesn’t change all the time
Don’t have to worry about tides
Can see the bottom so don’t need to worry about depth
English widely spoken (except when querying repair bills)
There are loads of marinas to visit (all waiting to take money off us)
Don’t need clothes for every possible weather condition
Don’t need Oilys
Get too chilled to worry about washing off every trip
No restriction on how little gear we take

����
 
On its finest days the UK is as beautiful as anywhere indeed the Scilly Isles could be Mediterranean islands. But if you want more boaty days per year or tired of tides......
 
Here’s why I prefer the UK -

- I’m not in the position to move the boat to the Med just yet so have to make do, but as soon as I can, I’m off :D :D
 
Med = 10 weeks a year boating in shorts & t shirt in the sun versus 51 weeks in the UK wishing I could be be in shorts & t shirt. In my 3rd year of med boating after 20 in the UK - wish I'd done it years ago!
 
powerskipper said:
What do you prefer and why.
Here's a few for the UK
We never get board as the weather changes everything all the time.( we get wet or cold or to hot or wind swept all in the same day and its never the same 2 days running)
Loads of tide to play with. so we can't always go to the same place . (I know talking about the tide locked stuff)
We have to work out our depths as we can't see the sea bed until we hit it.
We can be understood anywhere we go. ( except if we meet a real local dialect spoken person)
There are loads of marinas to visit. ( all waiting to take money off us)
We get to wear loads of different cloths. ( this is the girly bit, just to keep warm)
We will ware out our Oilys.
Our boats don't need washing off every trip ( as the rain got the salt off for us on the way back in.)
No restriction on how much gear we take (as long as we don't over load the boat that is.)

So anyone have any to add, or pros for the med boating.
Click to expand...

As I am not wealthy, I have to clean and fix my boat myself. That isn’t a chore actually as for me it’s part of the hobby. I don’t want to spend my holidays fixing the boat.
It is a paradigm shift in cost to have everything done for you. So I can’t afford to keep my boat in the med. Those who don’t DIY have more of a free choice.

If I could afford it I’d miss evening trips after work, and impromptu “it’s sunny -BOAT” messages to my pals who turn up with beer when I say that.

If sun could be guaranteed for the summer holiday in the UK then it would be quite unbeatable. As it is, when the weather is great, you do appreciate it more.

When I retire it will probably change.

And if I was really wealthy I’d have a large rag boat somewhere hot - probably Greece - and something fast and weekender capable in the Uk.
 
Hurricane said:
Simple answer
I will post a video



https://vimeo.com/299294736

We have cruised both the UK and the Med.
IMO, the Med is definitely the better location.
Click to expand...

Lovely Mike. And having more than once been a recipient of generous hospitality on your lovely boat I can say the video doesn’t exaggerate how much you enjoy her.

If only I had the money and the time I’d copy you. I have neither!
 
The real difference imho is that the sea temp is 27deg + in the Med summer, which is a game changer. In Uk most boating is about being on the boat and going places but In the Med a much much more boat time is spent stopped and the boat becomes an island that you jump off a lot. I sometimes stay anchored in one spot for several days in the Med with no boredom - you would go crazy and claustrophobic if you did that in the UK. So the the question isn't, imho, whether the same activity of "boating" is better in uk or Med. It's whether you prefer Med boating or UK boating, which are two quite different activities imho.

Julie, women can wear as many different clothes in Med as in Uk, though not all at the same time :). Just to keep the vids going, here's one edited by a friend that I have not posted before, taken the July weekend summer 2018 when the Saturday was Bastille day (france's biggest holiday with great fireworks, in this case at Cannes) and the Sunday was France's football World Cup win, so there's some football edited in :).

 
Portofino said:
Travels not too bad tbo .
[video]https://share.icloud.com/photos/0rFlxHSM4o_3kpv_4ze6lmiFQ#Ried-Brig_&_Simplon[/video]
Click to expand...

:D

PF, one out of four, not bad...
Where's the Miura, the tractor/digger and the tunnel then?
Is it around the place they were filmed?
 
powerskipper said:
What do you prefer and why.
Here's a few for the UK
We never get board as the weather changes everything all the time.( we get wet or cold or to hot or wind swept all in the same day and its never the same 2 days running)
Loads of tide to play with. so we can't always go to the same place . (I know talking about the tide locked stuff)
We have to work out our depths as we can't see the sea bed until we hit it.
We can be understood anywhere we go. ( except if we meet a real local dialect spoken person)
There are loads of marinas to visit. ( all waiting to take money off us)
We get to wear loads of different cloths. ( this is the girly bit, just to keep warm)
We will ware out our Oilys.
Our boats don't need washing off every trip ( as the rain got the salt off for us on the way back in.)
No restriction on how much gear we take (as long as we don't over load the boat that is.)

So anyone have any to add, or pros for the med boating.
Click to expand...

There are some great video's from JFM and Hurricaine that demonstrate the med at it's best, however from the OP, you mention a lot of points which I find are great aspects to UK boating which I do miss.

I grew up boating on the Thames in the 90's, late 90's my folks moved their boat to Ocean Village and based themselves there for 20 years until retirement finally allowed them to shift to their dream of Mallorca last year. The Med is very much a point and shoot type of boating, nothing really to worry about (except rocks). It's all about anchoring, swimming and enjoying the culture, food and weather. It's definitely much more of a holiday. Unlike the UK, toys, tenders and such are an essential part of each day. It's a great feeling diving off the boat, which is something I only ever did a handful of times over the many years in the UK. The water is (generally) lovely although being in the water you notice a lot more the issues with pollution. When the weather isn't perfect then there's still plenty to do while still feeling the holiday vibe, although maintenance can also distract from that holiday.

Your post really does highlight a lot of things that I miss about South Coast boating. I always loved a bit of shitty weather. Rain, tides, the boat slamming through the chop and the down days in marinas when weather doesn't permit you to get home. They seem like a pain at the time, often risky, but you get that 'life on the ocean waves' feel and there's a satisfaction in reaching your home port and often a story to tell after. To me it's much more authentic type of boating.

I love both. Enjoy what you've got until you're bored. :)
 
For me the Med beats the UK for weather and for new places to base ourselves every other year compared to the “within a 4 hour drive of London” which held us around the South and East coast for years. The weather is almost always better and can be wonderfully (and a bit scarily) dramatic but the biggest difference is that anchoring is a joy not a chore as you float around in a huge turquoise swimming pool. And oilies very rarely used too.

Also I do my own DIY as much as possible and it is so different diving into some bilge or oily compartment fixing something then coming up for air to swim off the grime then back again in an idyllic bay - compared to hiding from the rain and trudging off to some shower block once a day. So a typical DIY long weekend might be to arrive - untie and go to a favourite local anchorage then settle down to the DIY before a great cold lunch and later a few beers in a taverna - all in a T shirt or less.
 
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