New Cruiser, Winter in Atlantic Coast France?

[goboatingnow]

The impression I got was that they had come down from the UK after an extended stay in France... and Portugal won't accept the the evidence presented.. not spreading myths mate..

No as I understand it they berthed in portugal, and made a trip to the channel isles. which is not sufficient to take them out of the customs union. There are in excess of teh 18 month limit , but are trying to present evidence that sailing out of territorial waters is sufficient ( This is the interesting bit for me, to see if it will be accepted that voyages outside the custom in waters are accepted as a TIR reset )

Dont now buy YM regulary , must have a gander at it.

NO myths, just confused truths, need to h.d. r.al f.cts fr.m PRISIM y.u se.

dave

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

Dont now buy YM regulary , must have a gander at it.dave

Is it still going...?
I used to buy it for the classified sales and jobs... dreams of being Capt Ron....
Don't have to any more...

[monte]

You might also want to read and print and keep this on board
http://www.douane.gouv.fr/data/file/7268.pdf
Also note the chandlers in La Rochelle are great with doing the paperwork so you dont have to pay or claim back the VAT, especially Accastllage Diffusion where I purchesed a lot of items.

Also interesting to note on that document
"The discharge of the temporary importation procedure does not require any formalities ; the boat simply has
to leave the EU territorial waters. "

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by monte

You might also want to read and print and keep this on board
http://www.douane.gouv.fr/data/file/7268.pdf
Also note the chandlers in La Rochelle are great with doing the paperwork so you dont have to pay or claim back the VAT, especially Accastllage Diffusion where I purchesed a lot of items.

Also interesting to note on that document
"The discharge of the temporary importation procedure does not require any formalities ; the boat simply has
to leave the EU territorial waters. "

nothing new in that piece, standard 18 month TIR. note that the Directove says that boats have to leave the Customs Union of the EU, which is NOT the same as the territorial waters. ( ie channels islands isnt EU territorial waters but is inside customs union)

I find it strange ( and it occurs elsewhere in france) that they provide goods VAT free, if you are a long stay, then you arnt entitled to a VAT refund. I suspect peps dont actually say when they are leaving !!

dave

[jckb]

Originally Posted by arhoton

Hello, we are brand new cruisers scheduled to pick up our Lagoon 380 in Les Sables-dʼOlonne in late October. We do not intend to brave the Bay of Biscay in winter and were looking for recommendations on marinas where we can live aboard and prepare and get familiar with the new boat. We are looking for reasonable to inexpensive price. The goal is to eventually make it down the coast and into the med when the weather gets better. Also, given we will need to purchase some equipment for the boat is the Atlantic coast of France reasonable as we have heard it can be expensive.

Angela,

There are some excellent tidal rivers accessible along the Biscay coast of France which are often used by live-aboards. For instance, Port Launay on the river Aulne accessible from the Rade de Brest and further south there's the Villaine river

These pages also refer to many other good places, though it's difficult to fit catamarans ito some of the best spots.

With regard to regulations which affect you,

The coastlines leading down to the Mediterranean offer great cruising, and athough the weather is a lot more unsettled than in the Med, most people who have explored France, N Spain, Galicia and Portugal en route to the Med have commented that they should have spent far more time on the Atlantic coasts.

[monte]

Agreed with Jack, although once around Cape Finisterre the Portuguese trades develop around June/July and the weather is much more predictable. Generally Northerlies at 10k mid morning increasing to 20k in the afternoon. It makes for very good sailing and the swell is generally from the North as well. Theres also a ton of safe harbours and anchorages right down the coast and you can easily day sail the whole way. Some close due to swell but with an eye on the weather you can usually find a protected marina or anchorage. That was our experience last July. We spent about a month on the West coast of Spain and Portugal making our way South.

[GRIT]

We spent the winter in Les Minimes (The main marina in La Rochelle) and loved it. The prices were quite reasonable, services were good and proximity to La Rochelle was a pretty 15 minute walk.

If we were to do it again, we'd split our time. Perhaps 2/3 of our time in Les Minimes and more time on the shoulder season going up and down La Vilaine, and a week or two in Roche Bernard.

Regards your trip south from France. I agree with the previous poster, enjoy the sail down, and stop often. Galicia is very nice; We loved Bayona (Baiona); Stop in CasCais to see Lisbon (20 minutes on a train to Lisbon).

The Atlantic coast is really under-rated, we loved it.

Good luck and Enjoy France.

Paul.

[arhoton]

Thank you all the feedback. The suggestions have been VERY helpful!! We have a lot of great information.

It looks like our boat is now going to be ready end of November so still have plenty of 'winter' time to outfit. Curious what is the earliest folks have started making their way south?