Mooring Fees in the Med
Discussion
Hi all,
I was just wondering if anyone could give me ballpark figures for a permanent mooring in the med. A couple of friends and i are taking sailing lessons and going to buy a boat and want to keep it somewhere warm so we can fly down and use it whenever.
I have been told in the UK it's around 6-8k a yr but not sure about in the med?
I was just wondering if anyone could give me ballpark figures for a permanent mooring in the med. A couple of friends and i are taking sailing lessons and going to buy a boat and want to keep it somewhere warm so we can fly down and use it whenever.
I have been told in the UK it's around 6-8k a yr but not sure about in the med?
I would not rule out the Balerics, you need a decent cruising ground on your door step if you are going to pop in and out so that really rules in places like Palma or the South of France,
Cost wise l can not say with any accuracy but its worth looking at the slightly less popular places maybe on the edge of Palma or a few bays past
Mike
Cost wise l can not say with any accuracy but its worth looking at the slightly less popular places maybe on the edge of Palma or a few bays past
Mike
Which bit of Spain?
You do know there's bugger-all there, right? Just mile after mile of rocky coastline, with a small marina every 50 miles. Sail for a day to see another marina identical to the one you've just left, hardly fun.
Apart from Barcelona and Valencia (and that little town on the corner, just east of Barca that I can't remember what it's called, Palamos maybe?), there's basically nothing inbetween.
So, if you want cruising ground, it's the Balearics all the way, plenty of places to visit from there. Four islands, hundreds of little beaches and coves, perfect.
South of France is a better bet. Coastline is quite concrete with 'resort' towns, but the whole coast is only 200~odd miles long, and there are a lot more 'working' places, which are much nicer to visit. Port Vendres is a lovely little fishing town, and there are numerous others. Still no coves or bays though, it's quite straight.
Nope, you can keep Spain for me, and all the Paella too.
You do know there's bugger-all there, right? Just mile after mile of rocky coastline, with a small marina every 50 miles. Sail for a day to see another marina identical to the one you've just left, hardly fun.
Apart from Barcelona and Valencia (and that little town on the corner, just east of Barca that I can't remember what it's called, Palamos maybe?), there's basically nothing inbetween.
So, if you want cruising ground, it's the Balearics all the way, plenty of places to visit from there. Four islands, hundreds of little beaches and coves, perfect.
South of France is a better bet. Coastline is quite concrete with 'resort' towns, but the whole coast is only 200~odd miles long, and there are a lot more 'working' places, which are much nicer to visit. Port Vendres is a lovely little fishing town, and there are numerous others. Still no coves or bays though, it's quite straight.
Nope, you can keep Spain for me, and all the Paella too.
A 12m by 4m berth with parking in Puerto Portals can currently be yours for € 145,000.
http://www.primemoorings.com/index.php?option=com_...
http://www.primemoorings.com/index.php?option=com_...
I should add....
Moorings in Spain are often sold on debentures rather than annual payments like the UK. It's to cover the costs of the development, as most marinas are new.
So you 'lease' a mooring for 50 years or something, costing maybe 70k or whatever. Not sure if there's a method of financing these.
This system is much more common than the UK model of just renting a parking space annually.
France has more marinas with the UK pricing model as they're mostly older (and prettier). Even the new ones have a traditional feel to them. I remember pulling in to St Cyprien Plage (concrete holiday town), a fishing boat pulling in, and all the locals rocking up to buy their catch straight off the boat. That NEVER happens in Spain.
Costs, about 1/2 to 2/3 of the UK (or the Solent, at least), depending on the place. Balearics broadly the same as UK prices, if not a little more. BUT, you don't want to end up in any of the Brit type marinas (Santa Eulalia), they're bloody horrible, all karaoke bars, English breakfasts and lobster-hued Brits, basically Blackpool in the sun. Palma or Ibiza town would be my only two choices.
Don't forget to add the cost of flights to all this, you may find it works out the same as keeping a boat in the UK, but without the benefit of being able to pop down and do odd bits of maintenance, and have impromptu weekends whenever you feel like it.
Moorings in Spain are often sold on debentures rather than annual payments like the UK. It's to cover the costs of the development, as most marinas are new.
So you 'lease' a mooring for 50 years or something, costing maybe 70k or whatever. Not sure if there's a method of financing these.
This system is much more common than the UK model of just renting a parking space annually.
France has more marinas with the UK pricing model as they're mostly older (and prettier). Even the new ones have a traditional feel to them. I remember pulling in to St Cyprien Plage (concrete holiday town), a fishing boat pulling in, and all the locals rocking up to buy their catch straight off the boat. That NEVER happens in Spain.
Costs, about 1/2 to 2/3 of the UK (or the Solent, at least), depending on the place. Balearics broadly the same as UK prices, if not a little more. BUT, you don't want to end up in any of the Brit type marinas (Santa Eulalia), they're bloody horrible, all karaoke bars, English breakfasts and lobster-hued Brits, basically Blackpool in the sun. Palma or Ibiza town would be my only two choices.
Don't forget to add the cost of flights to all this, you may find it works out the same as keeping a boat in the UK, but without the benefit of being able to pop down and do odd bits of maintenance, and have impromptu weekends whenever you feel like it.
It is odd Maser that the most expensive areas can sometimes be the most bland.
When I picked my boat up in Marseille everybody on board had a hankering for rushing off to the Cote D'Azur for three weeks and coming back as I had arranged transport from there. We ended up spending all three weeks around Cassis and the Calanques as it was so cracking.
The danger with motor being that we could have passed the whole lot without realising it was there in the space of a couple of hours.
When I picked my boat up in Marseille everybody on board had a hankering for rushing off to the Cote D'Azur for three weeks and coming back as I had arranged transport from there. We ended up spending all three weeks around Cassis and the Calanques as it was so cracking.
The danger with motor being that we could have passed the whole lot without realising it was there in the space of a couple of hours.
Maser you have been a huge help!
That has given me some food for thought on where is good to moor. What you say about Spain, if that's true then it wont work for me. I would like to sail between places that are interesting and worth stopping off. Not looking to fly down and then sail for miles and miles to see something. It's purely going to be for leisure & short breaks during the summer months. I have found a website now with moorings for sale and seen some for around 40-50k on a 10 yr basis so working out about 4-5k a year.
I've got some sailing lessons booked in now so am hoping to have a boat either this summer or the next.
That has given me some food for thought on where is good to moor. What you say about Spain, if that's true then it wont work for me. I would like to sail between places that are interesting and worth stopping off. Not looking to fly down and then sail for miles and miles to see something. It's purely going to be for leisure & short breaks during the summer months. I have found a website now with moorings for sale and seen some for around 40-50k on a 10 yr basis so working out about 4-5k a year.
I've got some sailing lessons booked in now so am hoping to have a boat either this summer or the next.
fellatthefirst said:
Maser you have been a huge help!
That has given me some food for thought on where is good to moor. What you say about Spain, if that's true then it wont work for me. I would like to sail between places that are interesting and worth stopping off. Not looking to fly down and then sail for miles and miles to see something. It's purely going to be for leisure & short breaks during the summer months. I have found a website now with moorings for sale and seen some for around 40-50k on a 10 yr basis so working out about 4-5k a year.
I've got some sailing lessons booked in now so am hoping to have a boat either this summer or the next.
That has given me some food for thought on where is good to moor. What you say about Spain, if that's true then it wont work for me. I would like to sail between places that are interesting and worth stopping off. Not looking to fly down and then sail for miles and miles to see something. It's purely going to be for leisure & short breaks during the summer months. I have found a website now with moorings for sale and seen some for around 40-50k on a 10 yr basis so working out about 4-5k a year.
I've got some sailing lessons booked in now so am hoping to have a boat either this summer or the next.
Do some research, but having done it myself, I wouldn't be in a hurry to go back to Spain. It's a huge long coastline with really very little on it. You don't appreciate this when seeing it from land, but seeing it from the coast is very different.
The other thing about Spain is it's almost exclusively built up (although remote, there's not much to see from the sea!), as there's a road that runs the entire length of the coast. There's one single 'hump' in the south-east (can't remember the name), where the road veers inland for about 40 miles or so, and that's the only really nice part of the whole damned length if you're travelling by water.
The Balearics are superb if you avoid the 'Brit' parts. Ibiza town, Formentera, the north coast of Ibiza and Mallorca are all brilliant and ideal for exploring, dropping the anchor to eat/swim/drink/relax and so on (southern Mallorca is the built up bit as it has all the sandy beaches, north Mallorca is more rocky, so much more small coves, bays, villages, and little large scale development). I think in almost the entire coast of mainland Spain, there is hardly a single bay or cove. Almost all of the marinas are purpose built (by building a large, rocky breakwater, similar to land reclamation). Menorca, I never made it to, but have heard it's even nicer than the other islands (partly due to being 'penalised' by Franco who refused to let them develop the islands for tourists, Mallorca, on the other hand, was given free-reign to do what they wanted....).
Ibiza immediately has both Ibiza town (which is a large bay), Talamanca bay immediately next door (lovely), and numerous little coves and bays in the north, as well as bays and coves in Formentera a few miles away.
For holiday sailing, I would definitely go with either;
1) Base in Mallorca or Ibiza, which would give you a sailing area of all of the Balearics within a fortnight, or maybe even Corsica if you're keen or have a little longer, or;
2) Base somewhere in the middle of France, which would give you 100-ish miles of French coast to explore in either direction, and again, maybe Corsica too. From France, it's a 2-3 day passage down to the Balearics, so possibly feasible for a 2-3 week holiday.
Finally, if you're holiday-ing, food. Spanish food is, I'm afraid, terrible. Once you've had a couple of their signature dishes, you've pretty much used up the cook-book and are stuck with the same for the rest of your trip. French food, well, goes without saying, and it's even better by the coast (especially if you like seafood).
I remember pulling in to France after three months in Spain. Had been perfectly happy eating paella, roasted veg and goat's cheese, things like that, all very nice. Pulled up in France on a Monday in Port Vendres, and EVERYWHERE was closed. Totally and utterly closed, apart from one, single restaurant with a neon sign outside, plastic garden furniture and laminated menus. If I have a rule, it's never to eat in a restaurant with plastic chairs, or laminated tablecloths. But it was either that, or go hungry. Being in France, and with it being a fishing port, I went for the plat du jour. Half a dozen fresh oysters, a spectacular curried fish, home made creme brulee and 1/2 a litre of wine for 11 EUR. Every single bit of it was absolutely delicious, the best food I've probably ever had, anywhere. Kicked myself for staying so long in Spain when I could have been eating like this for weeks, for almost nothing.
That said, I LOVED Ibiza. Only pulled in for breakfast, top up the water and fuel, and planned to head immediately to Mallorca the same day. Six weeks later I was still there.
Admittedly, I was 25 years old at the time, and I might feel differently now! But Ibiza old town really is superb.Sailing in the Med is easy, no tides, winds are normally favourable. BUT, you will need some local language skills. Hardly any of the marinas I visited had English speaking berthing masters, which made booking by radio almost impossible, same in both France and Spain. You'll also need a boat with some sort of step on the pushpit, as most of the pontoons are ridiculously high, and it's lethal trying to board your boat in the dark if you have to get on at the transom. Bear this in mind when choosing a yacht, both Elan and Moody boats have steps on the pushpit, and I think Jeanneau stared doing this recently too?
Berthing is almost always stern-to (you very seldom see fingerette pontoons like you get in the UK), picking up a line for the bow (make yourself busy when this happens, the bow-lines are always filthy!!!). You'll need some practice specifically in spinning a yacht round and 'reverse parking', which can be tricky if it's windy.
Don't bother with Navtex, waste of time in the Med as hardly anybody transmits anything. I got my weather reports via Navtex from Algeria, which goes to show.
August is HEAVING in the Med, when all the French and Spanish go on holiday for the month. On the 30th July you can get a berth, anywhere. On the 1st August, you're locked-out cold. It happens that quickly, and when it's 50 miles / 8 hours to the next marina, that can easily leave you in trouble if the weather is bad. Marina berths in August are sometimes booked weeks in advance, and can even change hands on the 'black market' like ticket touts.
Rod Whatsisname wrote a book on Med cruising, which might be worth a read, I'm pretty sure it's updated regularly.
Other things I would specifically want on a boat for the Med;
Air conditioning if you're there specifically in July/August, it's HOT.
Those funny wind things that direct air down in to the cabin.
Mozzy nets fitted to all the cabin hatches.
Good anchoring kit, with at least one kedge.
A pulpit you can walk 'through', rather than have to step over.
A pushpit with seats that can be used as 'steps' down to the cockpit.
A bimini cover.
Being a bit biased, as we are based there, I can thoroughly recommend Ibiza. Fantastic island with numerous calas for anchoring, Formentera for the best beached in the Med and you are pretty much central for cruising either to Mallorca or the mainland.
Yes, you can buy berths in Ibiza but if you prefer to rent, a 12x4m berth in Santa Eulalia would cost around 10/12000 euros for the year. There are marinas in Ibiza town such as Botafoch or the incredibly expensive Marina Ibiza but Santa Eulalia is friendlier. There is a marina in San Antonio - but there are also countless 18-25 year olds partying like there is no tomorrow!
Yes, you can buy berths in Ibiza but if you prefer to rent, a 12x4m berth in Santa Eulalia would cost around 10/12000 euros for the year. There are marinas in Ibiza town such as Botafoch or the incredibly expensive Marina Ibiza but Santa Eulalia is friendlier. There is a marina in San Antonio - but there are also countless 18-25 year olds partying like there is no tomorrow!
Alcudia (Alcudiamar) in the North of Mallorca is one of the safest marinas on the Island.
I know, I live there
The Balearics are great for sailing. Thousands of calas to explore.
The food's good too, you just need more imagination than Paella...
If you're thinking of buying a berth, I wouldn't bother. Most of them have only 7 years left on the lease.
If you're interested I can ask tomorrow what price to rent a berth for your boat.
I know, I live there
The Balearics are great for sailing. Thousands of calas to explore.
The food's good too, you just need more imagination than Paella...
If you're thinking of buying a berth, I wouldn't bother. Most of them have only 7 years left on the lease.
If you're interested I can ask tomorrow what price to rent a berth for your boat.
TimJMS said:
A 12m by 4m berth with parking in Puerto Portals can currently be yours for € 145,000.
http://www.primemoorings.com/index.php?option=com_...
As I said I rest my case !http://www.primemoorings.com/index.php?option=com_...
A UK South coast mooring for 6-8k a year would translate to around 5-6k a year, in, say, Club de Mar, Palma. Fab place to be. Very secure, and good cheap direct flights. Plenty of rogues (UK expats and Spanish) ready to rinse you for poor-quality maintenance and guardianage, so beware.
Also, it's often just as cheap to rent a mooring monthly rather than buy one on a long-term lease. Have never been able to work out why...
Also, it's often just as cheap to rent a mooring monthly rather than buy one on a long-term lease. Have never been able to work out why...
mickrick said:
Hi Ben 
A 4.5 x 14m berth in Alcudia is €964.73 per month with IVA, Plus T5 tax which is €0.051 m2 per day.
As above, they're very good in Mallorca at stealing your eyes and them coming back for the sockets!
It's a great Med base though!
Hi Mick! I miss Mallorca on grey days like today...A 4.5 x 14m berth in Alcudia is €964.73 per month with IVA, Plus T5 tax which is €0.051 m2 per day.
As above, they're very good in Mallorca at stealing your eyes and them coming back for the sockets!
It's a great Med base though!
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