Mediterranean:- Where to call home

[Eucablue]

Originally Posted by kas_1611

Croatia.



Great sailing with 1200 islands to bounce around, good winds, great food, friendly people, excellent infrastructure.



We stay just up the coast from Split Airport in a small town called Rogoznica and have been there for 5 years of working 4x4 rotations. 30 mins to the airport, direct flights daily all year to Frankfurt from Split with international connections from there or via Zagreb.



Not the most inexpensive place but a lot cheaper than some parts of the Med



My vote anyway



Keiron

Kas_1611
Thanks for the feedback, good to see someone else making the rotational role work out. Rogoznica actually looks lovely and would offer some great sailing in each direction so could be the sort of place we are looking for, Croatia seems to get those that love it or those that don't. Will definitely be adding it to our growing list.


Sent from my iPad using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[Chalifour]

We're in Turkey since 2013, In Yacht Marina, Marmaris. Safe, comfortable with all the amenities and low cost on a yearly contractual basis. SK Yachting who operates a small charter base takes care of our ship by putting their technicians and resources at the service of private owners. They are honest, competent and have perticular affinities with Aussies. The sailing grounds are fantastic with a fantastic Turkish coast and hundreds of Greek Islands just in front. A definite recommendation! For further informations check skyachting.com and speak with Peter or Metin. Alternatively consider Croatia out of either Split or Pula in Istria. Little more cold in the winters but as someone said again fantastic sailing grounds, lots to see and "the Mediterranean as it used to be" as the advertising said, very picturesque. In Pula where we stayed for 3 years, we used ACI Marina and had Slaven from Nautor take care and service our ship. You can contact him at nautor.hr. To purchase a yacht we dealt with Mihael Promirac from Bach Yachting out of Split. He was efficient, honest and found what we where looking for in less than a week. We are Dance Me under Canadian flag and hope to cross one day your wake. Good luck Hilda and Jacques

[reed1v]

The Adriatic is loaded with islands and really nice towns, on both the Italian and the Croatian side. Great sailing, less expensive than the western side of Italy, and a lot of history to see. Along the Dalmatian coast, you could even pick up a Dalmatian dog while your visiting.

[Clivevon]

My vote would go to Alcudiamar Marina in Port d' Alcudia in the north of Mallorca, in the Balearic Islands, part of Spain. My boat was based there on annual contracts for 10 years while I came and went from UK (not part of Schengen). Apart from the usual passport checks at Palma airport, i was never asked for anything by anyone.

The area is a bit touristy without being overdone and is very scenic, next to the World Heritage area of the Tramuntana mountains. You have lots of good local sailing possibilities around Mallorca, Minorca and further afield if you want. The port has every marine facility and a good range of local marine trades if needed. The marina itself is extremely well sheltered and has good security.

If you stay away from the obvious tourist hotspots, Mallorca itself is extremely beautiful, and in the local area around the Marina you have the old towns of Alcudia and Pollensa, as well as the resorts of Port D'Alcudia and Port de Pollensa. The city of Palma is a popular cruise ship destination and is about a 1 hour bus ride away, also has its major airport with connections all over Europe.

Gets very busy and hot for about 8 weeks during earlyJuly to early September but is otherwise surprisingly civilised. Also enough of a real local community so still has plenty open all year round.

Worth a good look for part of your time and very convenient.

[eddi]

I would suggest to check Montenegro, which take the part of the coast (~100km) between Croatia and Albania. Cheaper than Croatia and safer than Albania or Turkey. In fact the safest I have ever seen. There is Porto Montenegro marina in Tivat got the rewards last couple of years in London.
An international airpor of Tivat.
Historical Boka Bay of Kotor whith many villages to explore.
Couple other quite big marinas on the south - Budva and Bar. And some small marinas around.
~50km from Croatian Dubrovnik and its international airport.
~100km to a couple sky resorts in the winter.
No visa. May stay for 90 days then sail to Croatia and get back the next day for another 90.
Besides a huge market of boats for sale in Croatia.
I could offer some in Montenegro if I may ;0)

[hoppy]

Originally Posted by Eucablue

1. A nice Marina with good services, safe enough to be left alone and to leave the boat when needed
2. Cute and interesting village within walking distance so we can be feel part of a community
3. Interesting sailing areas that we could utilize in C's 28 days off
4. Likely to be able to obtain the required visas or residency permits
5. Able to get to an airport that gets C to work on time

point 4 should be number 1 and only until you can establish where you can legally stay

[med]

Originally Posted by makobuilders

I was wondering if the boat is in the name of a foreign company/trust/etc., and you have authority as captain, then would it would be a visiting boat (180 days VAT free visit allowed) even though you may have EU residency or even citizenship?

Then I found this website: https://www.gov.uk/government/public...-non-eu-vessel.

Personally I'm still not clear. There has to be a way around VAT for residents.

You can avoid VAT (and import taxes) for the boat and your cars if you import them when taking up residency. You cannot do it afterwards. When you take up residency you need to fill out a declaration of all the stuff you are importing with you (at least it was like that when I did it).

A mate of mine recently imported his Corvette from California into France without having to pay any taxes. He sold it 9 months later for about 2X what it was worth in California.

[Amblecampbell]

We're an Australian couple who have stayed at Marina di Ragusa for the past three years. The staff are terrific and very understanding of Shengin regulations. There's a great beach with friendly locals, and the SE of Sicily is a beautiful area to explore. And as a previous response advised, the liveaboard community is very strong here.
Hope that helps.

[Symphony]

great thread.
seems to be basically - stay out of mainland France, mainland Italy because they're too expensive.
North Africa is a question mark.
Cyprus, Malta, Turkey depends on the exact spot...
and the Euro is "cheap" and likely getting cheaper if you aren't a Schengen member.

[Chalifour]

Humm! I don't think you got it. Read again!

[chuckr]

Originally Posted by Amblecampbell

We're an Australian couple who have stayed at Marina di Ragusa for the past three years. The staff are terrific and very understanding of Shengin regulations. There's a great beach with friendly locals, and the SE of Sicily is a beautiful area to explore. And as a previous response advised, the liveaboard community is very strong here.
Hope that helps.

The thing you want to watch for in overstaying Schengen is not the local port authorities or the marinas - it is at the airports and borders and not just the country where you are staying but when you leave the EU - some countries are worse than others - and some airports are - we had heard that Frankfort was checking Schengen days even on passengers changing planes but when we flew through they just took a quick look at our passports and passed us on through - so it is a guessing game and a game of chance when you fly -

[Eucablue]

All
Thanks for your great ideas, has given us lots of options to think about and has raised a lot of questions on what we are after. We think we need to get our head around bigger city or quiet village, how long we want to stay in my one place and what we will not be able to see. We figure there is no rush, if C stays working we have 4-5 years to fill in. So our current thinking is we can get the right visas is a year in Croatia, a year in Greece, a year in either Turkey or Southern Italy, before making our way slowly to meet up with the ARC start. I know the Schengen is a concern but hoping if we plan on a home harbor for a year we can get long stay visas.


Sent from my iPad using Cruisers Sailing Forum