shall i shan't i?

[sandygirl]

help all you cruisers. I have had an idea that we could buy a cruiser and moor in the med (a different place every year) and use it for short breaks and as a day boat for longer holidays. We have a speed boat and have boated for 30 odd years so are no strangers. This would be an alternative to buying an apartment.
OH and me love the sea and I see it as a new adventure in our mid life. Love to here your thoughts.
ps would also love to hear what recommendations as to size and make of boat to buy, we have 2 grown kids and 2 grandkids
would also love an idea of costs etc

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Sandy.

[monte]

It depends. On a lot! Cost wise your break even point would probably be around 2 months aboard per year. If it's your own boat you would likely spend 2 weeks getting it in shape during that two months. So let's guesstimate some figures as a starting point.
Cost to charter a 40' yacht for 2 months. $25 000
Cost to own a 40' yacht/year $25 000
Cost to rent an apartment for 2 months/yr $4 000

[skipmac]

Hi Sandygirl and welcome to the forum,

Hard to give you an exact answer on costs. The short, somewhat sarcastic answer is it costs as much as you want to spend. Like asking how much will a car cost. Depends on your budget and what you want. You could buy a Ferrari or a Fiat. Either one will get you do the store for a carton of milk but one will cost a bit more than the other.

But maybe a little more information on your plans and goals will help narrow that down.

First place to start, how much do you want to budget for purchasing a boat? You already have experience as a boat owner so you know to keep some aside for ongoing maintenance and repairs so just how much to spend on the initial purchase.

You mention the two children and two grandchildren. Are you looking for a boat with accommodations for all at once. Do the children have spouses, SOs, partners or friends they would bring along as well? Bottom line, how many beds and cabins do you want?

You ask about a cruiser but don't specify. Over here cruiser could be power, sail, mulitihull, monohull, trawler, cabin cruiser. Can you clarify what kind of cruiser you're considering?

Another question occurs to me. Over there, mooring I think can mean renting a dock space at a marina. Over here mooring is specifically not at a dock but tied to a mooring ball in the harbor or possibly anchored. Staying at a marina can add dramatically to the costs, depending on where you keep the boat. Most docking in southern France or the Balearics will set you back a LOT. Eastern Med, places in Spain, etc, not so much.

Any additional info or questions you can add will help the process.

[onestepcsy37]

Along the same lines, we have been thinking of buying a small powerboat and keeping it in France to do the canal system. Hauled out in the winter and used maybe 3 or 4 months a year. We are in the USA.

Has anyone here done this or can anyone here give us some basic information and advice?

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by onestepcsy37

Along the same lines, we have been thinking of buying a small powerboat and keeping it in France to do the canal system. Hauled out in the winter and used maybe 3 or 4 months a year. We are in the USA.

Has anyone here done this or can anyone here give us some basic information and advice?

If no one responds to this particular question (and most here are sailors rather than canal enthusiasts), you may want to consider using a Google search for starters.

[onestepcsy37]

Originally Posted by Stu Jackson

If no one responds to this particular question (and most here are sailors rather than canal enthusiasts), you may want to consider using a Google search for starters.

Stu, thats how we got to thinking about this. I read of a schooteacher couple in Maine who did just that.

[more]

Originally Posted by monte

Cost to own a 40' yacht/year $25 000
Cost to rent an apartment for 2 months/yr $4 000

This price is to high for yacht and for apartment is thru.
Sample i sale my bavaria 38 2003-year for 55000€ $60500 tax paid and every stranger whit valid EU visa can make registration in any contry in EU,CEFTa and other some country.
Comercial sea marina for this boat anual in Mediterranean area is from 2200-4400 $
Because he is USA citizen also for him is beter use drydock price is about 60-80$ meter of boat year. For my bavaria drydock cost $840 year manipulation is about 1400$ in/out. full Hull Marine Insurance,med insurance and italy is about 800$
basic necessarily insurance is about 26$ anual croatia and Med and italy about 60$
underwater paint $1000

[valhalla360]

An apartment rental is almost certain to be cheaper but not if you get a waterfront apartment in prime time.








We have done a few apartment rentals and just picked up a boat in Spain. We wintered in Rome last year 2 blocks from the coliseum (prime location) for $1200/month. Even though it was a small studio apartment, it had way more space than a typical cruising boat. The big advantage is when the rental is up, you get to walk away. Move away from prime areas and $500-800/month is very doable.


We just picked up a 34' catamaran. There will be ongoing maintenance and repairs. We need to pay for storage year round. We are figuring around $4-6k/yr but the Spanish marinas appear to be pretty reasonably priced. Other areas could be much more expensive. But it's our own place and it allows us to move around more easily.




You don't say where you are from. If you are a US citizen, Schengen Visa and Vat will be a major controlling factor for buying a boat. Search the forum and there are lots of threads covering it.
Beyond that...are there specific questions?

[Chalifour]

Hi, we sail the Med since 2011 on Dance Me, a Jeanneau DS43 ideal size for us and very comfortable. Also well suited for the sailing grounds. We sail 6 months a year, so well above the break even point especially with the low cost of living in the eastern part, Turkey and Greece. With what you plan to do you need someone you can trust while you are not there to look after your ship and do the maintenance. We can recommend SK Yachting in Marmaris Turkey if you can get in. Yachtmarina is the most important Marina in the Med with over 1700 ships in the winter. It currently have a waiting list? SKY has made a reputablefor themselves for being honest, competent and caring for your ship. They also run a Charter company and take privately owned ships in their fleet. Check the offering, it might be a good alternative to have a ship in a charter fleet as the operator usually assumes all costs and maintains your ship professionally while under contract. Additionally if you choose to go this route, you usually get a discount on the price of the ship. Check it out! The Med is simply Faboulous.

[lordgeoff]

I have a mate who has had a share canal boat in France for 15 years. If you want the ducks guys on canal boating I can put you in touch with him an his wife. FYI we are thinking of reading our 50ft yacht for a canal boat when we get a few years older. We have been sailing the Med full time for the past 3 years.
Geoff

[Mithril Bham]

I very much enjoyed my time barging in Europe. It's worth a thought. So many unanswered questions here. I would say 40ft is a good size. Think about a local partner who lives near the boat. Can save a lot of red tape, especially in France. Putting on the hard when not in use is a good idea. Look at Croatia.

[Scout 30]

Remember to include depreciation when calculating costs. Every item on the boat has an economic life. At the end of an items economic life the item no longer contributes to value. If your sails have a life expectancy of 10 years & they cost $5,000 to replace that's $500 per year. You have to pay this cost one way or another. You either replace the sails or get less for the boat when you sell it. If you buy the boat for $100,000 & at the end of 5 years, after performing average maintenance, you then sell the boat for $75,000 the loss is attributed to depreciation. Therefore, when estimating future costs you would include $5,000 per year. Average maintenance will not stop depreciation.

[Paul Mazza]

Depending on where you're from, Schengen may be a controlling factor. That is, if you plan to cruise the Continent for more than 3 months a year.
Chalifour, how do you deal with this visa issue. Can Canadians get a longer visa?

[DMCantor]

The Schengen treaty limits Americans (among others) to 90 days in any 180-day period. This includes most of the north Med, excluding only the Balkan countries and Turkey. Croatia will likely join Schengen in 2016. Leaving the area temporarily doesn't help.

If you buy your boat in Europe, you will pay value added tax at the time of purchase. If you buy it elsewhere and move it to Europe, you will get hit with a ca. 20% tax bill after 18 months. You can (probably) avoid this if you take the boat out of Europe before the clock runs out.