Mediterranean:- Where to call home

[Eucablue]

Hi all.
We are currently starting to make plans for the next phase in our journey and are looking for suggestions on places in the Mediterranean that we should call home for 12 months at a time. For some background we are a 40's couple from Australia who have been working as expats for the last 8 years in London, Texas and again in London. C's next assignment is likely to be 28 days on, 28 days off in Eurasia so instead of commuting back to Oz we are planning on purchasing a yacht and living somewhere in the Med. This could be 1-5 years depending on the project and C's needs. We have owned a Beneteau 373 for a few years so are not complete dreamers.

So what we are after is suggestions on where you would live if you could for 12 months before moving onto the next place that has:
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





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[dlymn]

Have a look at Acciaroli or maratea or any of the towns in the Gulf of Policastro. The towns are truly 'cute' and developed for sailing. The gulf is great for sailing and Naples isn't too far away. Don't be put of by negative comments about Reggio di Calabria; this area is quite pleasant. Italy is not cheap; go to the Ionian for that. In Benitses, or Plataria or many other small Greek ports, you can tie up and maybe not pay anything although you might not have electricity. Many airlines fly out of nearby Corfu town. Malta is a lovely island but a little removed from everything else. The Aegean has some excellent sailing areas if you are skillful and can manage the odd gale. Rhodes, Kos and a couple of other islands have airports. PM me if you want more specifics.

[chuckr]

Hum -- you may have that nasty Schengen problem. That means 90 days in the EU and 90 out. We are have that problem - so we spent our first 2 winters in Tunisia - nice place but --
Croatia may work but a bit cold in winter
Albania would work but no real place to keep the boat over the winter
Turkey is lovely -- we are in Kusadasi - we walk downtown anytime we feel like it - a lot of English speaking - a bunch of Brits Germans Irish and a few other are here permanently in houses or apartments - the shopping is good and the food is tremendous with fresh everything and we do not eat out a lot but could - Medical is good (just had my gall bladder removed) - Izmir international airport is not far away

[multihullsailor6]

With your Schengen Treaty problems also look at Cyprus which is in the EU but is not a signatory to the Schengen Agreement.

[kas_1611]

Originally Posted by Eucablue

Hi all.
We are currently starting to make plans for the next phase in our journey and are looking for suggestions on places in the Mediterranean that we should call home for 12 months at a time. For some background we are a 40's couple from Australia who have been working as expats for the last 8 years in London, Texas and again in London. C's next assignment is likely to be 28 days on, 28 days off in Eurasia so instead of commuting back to Oz we are planning on purchasing a yacht and living somewhere in the Med. This could be 1-5 years depending on the project and C's needs. We have owned a Beneteau 373 for a few years so are not complete dreamers.

So what we are after is suggestions on where you would live if you could for 12 months before moving onto the next place that has:
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





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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

[PamlicoTraveler]

We spent two winters in the Med and found two great towns with lively liveaboard communities and modern facilities.

Marina di Ragusa - South coast of Sicily (Italy) - A modern port, wide docks, good liveaboard winter rates, friendly staff. Windy as #$%* sometimes, but recommended.

Finike, Turkey What a great town. The first thing I did was buy a bicycle from a local and made this town my home. I miss Finike. Everything is within walking distance of the marina.

If you have to "dot every i and cross every t" you will have trouble with Schengen in the European countries. However, if you can figure things out as you go you can find ways to stay over a winter. Lots of people do, and though there might be a horror story I never saw one. Lots of Americans and Aussies stay in Europe.

[Silverfox]

Not a village!... and it doesn't solve any Schengen issues but Barcelona has a marina in the heart of a wonderful city with the benefit of the travel connections.

I know Brits who do this.

[spiv]

We've just been in Turkey for the third time, we'll be back in two months.
Turkey has the best cruising grounds in Europe, super friendly people, great ecological policies, a strong police presence, good prices and as it has been said the best fruit....

Also it doesn't get as cold in the Southern part (Marmaris as an example).
After 5y aboard and a circumnavigation, we've seen many places and, (without wanting to get into any arguments) we would not go back to Croatia or Spain for the high cost and for the degraded marine environments. Other will disagree, but that are our experiences.

We also found Morocco even cheaper, with the strongest security and much warmer. Google Saidia Marina and the very new Tanger Marina. Not sure about airports here.

[Eucablue]

Originally Posted by dlymn

Have a look at Acciaroli or maratea or any of the towns in the Gulf of Policastro. The towns are truly 'cute' and developed for sailing. The gulf is great for sailing and Naples isn't too far away. Don't be put of by negative comments about Reggio di Calabria; this area is quite pleasant. Italy is not cheap; go to the Ionian for that. In Benitses, or Plataria or many other small Greek ports, you can tie up and maybe not pay anything although you might not have electricity. Many airlines fly out of nearby Corfu town. Malta is a lovely island but a little removed from everything else. The Aegean has some excellent sailing areas if you are skillful and can manage the odd gale. Rhodes, Kos and a couple of other islands have airports. PM me if you want more specifics.

Dlymn
Thanks for the feedback, it has given us a couple of additional options to consider. We had not looked at or even heard of the Gulf of Policastro, but will add it to the list as it looks interesting and like the idea of sailing down to Naples or across to Sardinia. Not necessarily after cheap at this stage, as C will be working month on month off so more about maximizing the experiences.


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[jckb]

Originally Posted by Eucablue

Hi all.
we are planning on purchasing a yacht and living somewhere in the Med. This could be 1-5 years depending on the project and C's needs. We have owned a Beneteau 373 for a few years so are not complete dreamers.

So what we are after is suggestions on where you would live if you could for 12 months before moving onto the next place that has:
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

1. If you have permits (or can get permits, and it's quite easy for Oz nationality) which allow you (both!) to work or reside in the EU or an EU country, then Schengen visa limitations which would otherwise be a real pain will disappear. See http://www.jimbsail.info/going-foreign/time-abroad for far more detail.

2. This puts a restriction on the boat you buy. As an EU resident (albeit Oz nationality), you're only allowed to use boats with free circulation in Europe. So you'll need to buy a VAT paid boat. See the boring detail in http://www.jimbsail.info/going-foreign/docs-and-VAT

3. An alternative is to base yourselves outside the Schengen zone; Croatia or Turkey or Tunisia, and ensure you never spend more than 90 days out of any 180 in Schengen. But be aware that (if you have residency in the EU due to your work) this doesn't solve the need for a VAT paid boat.

4. As to choosing which area, your best communications with the rest of the world are near the major cities. Start with browsing http://www.jimbsail.info/mediterranean for the broad brush comparisons between the major areas of the Mediterranean. Then drill down to the pages giving more detail.

5. There are great cities to enjoy. For local atmosphere, it would take a lot to beat Cartagena, Palma, Cagliari, the canals by Rome, Syracuse, Dubrovnic (a bit chilly further north of there in the winter), the Athens area.

6. More tourist oriented areas are going to be quiet in winter, although there are some strong English speaking live-aboard and ex-pat communities around. I'll leave others to recommend those - each to their favourities. Massive Examples are Levkas, Marmaris and Gocek.

7. Areas with villages and charm? Well, I've chosen mine. The Messini peninsula. Base yourself in Pylos or Kalamata. And learn some Greek . . .

JimB

[Eucablue]

Originally Posted by chuckr

Hum -- you may have that nasty Schengen problem. That means 90 days in the EU and 90 out. We are have that problem - so we spent our first 2 winters in Tunisia - nice place but --
Croatia may work but a bit cold in winter
Albania would work but no real place to keep the boat over the winter
Turkey is lovely -- we are in Kusadasi - we walk downtown anytime we feel like it - a lot of English speaking - a bunch of Brits Germans Irish and a few other are here permanently in houses or apartments - the shopping is good and the food is tremendous with fresh everything and we do not eat out a lot but could - Medical is good (just had my gall bladder removed) - Izmir international airport is not far away

Chuckr
Thanks for the reply, yeah I understand the Schengen can be a real challenge. From what we understand there are some countries where you can get a residence permit for if you have a fixed address and can demonstrate financial independence. We are currently leaning towards Croatia as we understand that if you have a 12 month marina contract you should be able to get the residences permit but would like to find out more about this and if it applies to other counties.

Will keep Turkey on our list, and monitor, we have been there a few times and love the county but acknowledge that they have some internal and external challenges ahead.




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[reed1v]

Try Trieste. Protected harbor, near Slovenia, Austria, and of course Swiss Cheese country. Next best is Malta of course. Fantastic harbor, people, food, etc. If you like to travel, Trieste is about the best. If you like to get absorbed into the local culture and stay a while, Malta still has the old world charm.

[SkipMark]

You might take a look at Agmar / Lakki Marina on the Greek Island of Leros. We have kept our boat there for 4 years now, although we are living in Norway. Nice marina in the Lakki Bay, and complete boatyard at Partheni on the north end of the island. There is also a new, larger, fancier marina (Evros) in the Lakki Bay, so you have a choice. Winter population on the island is about 5000, only doubles on the summertime, as compared for example to Kos, which increases in population by a factor of 8 or 10 or something.

[mako]

Originally Posted by jckb

As an EU resident (albeit Oz nationality), you're only allowed to use boats with free circulation in Europe. So you'll need to buy a VAT paid boat.

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.

[jckb]

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.

I'm afraid corporate ownership of boats is outside my pay grade! And several tax authorities are well aware of VAT evasion schemes.