Winter Hard-stand Storage in the Mediterranean

[David B]

Hello all,

My wife and I, have decided that the time is never right, so we have just decided to 'do it', and as a couple of 58 year olds, we are venturing into the world of cruising. We take delivery of our new Oceanis 50 on 1st June in Canet, France, and due to the very limited time we have this year, will be looking for somewhere to keep our new 'baby' on the hard from July till May 2013 when we hope to be able to spend a little more time discovering the Med.
Our immediate problem is to find an affordable and safe place to store our yacht. We were advised that winter storage over there is quite cheap, but so far my investigations are a bit frightening. Can anyone suggest a yard or two that we can approach. We expect to be somwhere along the French Riviera, East of Marseille by the time we need to return to Australia. We may get into Italy, but I doubt in the four weeks we have, and allowing for the few days we will need to prepare our yacht for winter, that we will cover much coast this first time out.
My thoughts were for a small family yard, rather than a big marina, but open to all suggestions - we just need haulage and a place for our yacht to stay on the hard, plugged in to power to keep the batteries topped up, and the dehumidifier running. We might get as far as Corsica, if there was a place there that could do it for us.
I look forward to your coments and suggestions.
Thank to all,
David

[Jacques2]

hi !
Wellcome in the Med.
I live in Corsica and as far as I know, it will be difficult. The only spot could be "PORT TAVERNA" on the east coast, south of of Bastia, far from anything, but well managed. Not sure they speak english...
IMHO, you will have to sail to the West to have an opportunity. I suppose, at the end of your search, it will be something like :

Port Napoléon : mediterranean marina and ashore storage

[athene]

Welcome to the Med. It's not easy finding a place to lift out along the Riviera coast. We lifted out in Antibes one year (see Antibes - a Cruising Guide on the World Cruising and Sailing Wiki). There are two yards there, one small family yard and a larger commercial yard, which can lift up to 45 tonnes. You might also look at Beaulieu sur Mer, where there's a large marina and associated yard, or Villefranche (see Villefranche-sur-Mer - a Cruising Guide on the World Cruising and Sailing Wiki) where there's a 30 tonne travel hoist. As Jacques2 says, you'll struggle in Corsica (we returned to Antibes because we couldn't find anywhere). Finally, you could look at the north coast of Sardinia if you're prepared to go that far. I seem to recall there's a travel hoist at Castelsardo (see Castelsardo - a Cruising Guide on the World Cruising and Sailing Wiki). Good luck!

[Irish rambler]

Hello and welcome to the Med, If you guys would come west there would be more choice. I can highly recommend Henri Allerman,Grau D'Agde in the river Herault, tel no 0033(0)467-94-24-19, it's a small family business with all you would need for repairs, electric & well stocked chandlery. They can lift boats 50 ft no problem and they speak English in the office. I have used them, as have my friends and have never heard anything but praise for them and best of all their prices are the most reasonable along the coast. Another option is Frontignan which OK if a bit bleak.
If you need further info drop me an email geoffwoolley@rocketmail.com
Happy to help.

[cathyoz]

I am French From Nice ( French riviera )
and i live in Australia ( Noosa)
i am organising a 43 boat for a friend from Sydney to stay in dry storage
there are few places around Marseille.
around 3000 euros for a 45 fts per year
contact me directly , i will explain to you
Cathy 0402 624 357

[cathyoz]

http://www.semovim-martigues.com/Sit...rifs_ports.pdf
idea of price list

[Irish rambler]

Hello David B, If you contact Chantier Naval Henri Allermand by Email at contact@chantier-allemand.com They are based at Grau D'Agde, 800 metres up the river Herault from the sea. Plenty of depth as it's used by huge trawlers. Highly recommended, Marianne in the office speaks English and will help you. cathyoz, I tried your tel no but couldn't get through, is it a French or Oz tel no ? The same info as above should help you make direct contact. Basically the closer you get to the Riviera the more expensive it becomes, supply and demand. I hope this helps you both. Another option is the sea marina at Frontignan.
Hope this info helps you both.

[Roaring Girl]

The most likely place for a lot of that size is Port St Louis which is about 15 miles west of Marseilles. There are two lift outs. One is Navy Service (much cheaper but much more basic) and the other is Port Napoleon (a bit dearer, good facilities and security.)

Port St Louis itself is not a brill place to spend a lot of time and it has big mozzies but it is very well equipped, there are always loads of live aboards and you can get lots of work done on the boat. You can find current prices and so on by googling either.

There may be others but as soon as you get east of Marseilles prices will rocket. I don't know the places Irish rambler suggests but they sound well worth looking at for price comparisons. Do not forget to include the price of getting there, which may include trainplustaxi from Marseilles, Montpelier or Nimes. (This may be small compared to getting there from Oz.)

In Corsica opportunities are limited, because it's a small and mountainous bit of land. Plus getting there is more complicated. Italy hard standing is very expensive on the north western coasts.

We left RG in Port Nap for eight months while in UK and NZ in 07-8 and we know many other people who have used both yards. No other connection.

[David B]

Originally Posted by Jacques2

hi !
Wellcome in the Med.
I live in Corsica and as far as I know, it will be difficult. The only spot could be "PORT TAVERNA" on the east coast, south of of Bastia, far from anything, but well managed. Not sure they speak english...
IMHO, you will have to sail to the West to have an opportunity. I suppose, at the end of your search, it will be something like :

Port Napoléon : mediterranean marina and ashore storage

Thanks Jacques, could not find any contact indformation for Port Taverna, but have contacted Port Napolean - looks great, pity it is in a windy area (thinking of winter gales and winter covers being torn off).
David

[David B]

Originally Posted by athene

Welcome to the Med. It's not easy finding a place to lift out along the Riviera coast. We lifted out in Antibes one year (see Antibes - a Cruising Guide on the World Cruising and Sailing Wiki). There are two yards there, one small family yard and a larger commercial yard, which can lift up to 45 tonnes. You might also look at Beaulieu sur Mer, where there's a large marina and associated yard, or Villefranche (see Villefranche-sur-Mer - a Cruising Guide on the World Cruising and Sailing Wiki) where there's a 30 tonne travel hoist. As Jacques2 says, you'll struggle in Corsica (we returned to Antibes because we couldn't find anywhere). Finally, you could look at the north coast of Sardinia if you're prepared to go that far. I seem to recall there's a travel hoist at Castelsardo (see Castelsardo - a Cruising Guide on the World Cruising and Sailing Wiki). Good luck!

Thanks Athene - sounds interesting, but my Imray Pilot for that area gives contact details for the port, but not the actual yards. Google does not help either. how does one find the individual yard contact information ? (remember this is all absolutely new territory for us, complicated by a foreign language).

David

[David B]

Originally Posted by Irish rambler

Hello and welcome to the Med, If you guys would come west there would be more choice. I can highly recommend Henri Allerman,Grau D'Agde in the river Herault, tel no 0033(0)467-94-24-19, it's a small family business with all you would need for repairs, electric & well stocked chandlery. They can lift boats 50 ft no problem and they speak English in the office. I have used them, as have my friends and have never heard anything but praise for them and best of all their prices are the most reasonable along the coast. Another option is Frontignan which OK if a bit bleak.
If you need further info drop me an email geoffwoolley@rocketmail.com
Happy to help.

Thanks Geoff,

Trying to stay in the lower wind areas, with winter gales and tearing covers in mind, but will have a look at those suggestions.
David

[David B]

Originally Posted by cathyoz

I am French From Nice ( French riviera )
and i live in Australia ( Noosa)
i am organising a 43 boat for a friend from Sydney to stay in dry storage
there are few places around Marseille.
around 3000 euros for a 45 fts per year
contact me directly , i will explain to you
Cathy 0402 624 357

Thanks Cathy, will do.
David

[David B]

Originally Posted by Roaring Girl

The most likely place for a lot of that size is Port St Louis which is about 15 miles west of Marseilles. There are two lift outs. One is Navy Service (much cheaper but much more basic) and the other is Port Napoleon (a bit dearer, good facilities and security.)

Port St Louis itself is not a brill place to spend a lot of time and it has big mozzies but it is very well equipped, there are always loads of live aboards and you can get lots of work done on the boat. You can find current prices and so on by googling either.

There may be others but as soon as you get east of Marseilles prices will rocket. I don't know the places Irish rambler suggests but they sound well worth looking at for price comparisons. Do not forget to include the price of getting there, which may include trainplustaxi from Marseilles, Montpelier or Nimes. (This may be small compared to getting there from Oz.)

In Corsica opportunities are limited, because it's a small and mountainous bit of land. Plus getting there is more complicated. Italy hard standing is very expensive on the north western coasts.

We left RG in Port Nap for eight months while in UK and NZ in 07-8 and we know many other people who have used both yards. No other connection.

Thanks RG, and all of the others that have been so helpful (is this an indication of the support the Cruising Community gives ? Fantastic !)
Will investigate also, and yes, cost is a significant consideration, so perhaps we will be leaving our yacht more west than planned - at least until we are ready to head to the Adriatic and beyond in a year or two.
Speaking of cost, how does one get from Marseille to Canet without a car ? We are trying to arrange a hire car to get us from possibly Germany, by at least from Le Sable to Canet, but it seems when we are done with it, we need to get it back to Marseille. so, is there a train back to Canet, or a bus, and how long does it take - any one have experience ?
David

[Jacques2]

Just to say : "Port Napoleon" and "Port St-Louis du Rhone" are the same port !

David I would like to help you concerning your transportation question. But I need the exact names of the different towns. For example, south of France, there are 2 different towns : "Le Cannet" and "Canet ". I give you the links with their websites (tourism information services - in english). One of them will be useful to you.


Canet en Roussillon
Le Cannet Cte d'Azur - Official City Website

[athene]

For Antibes, try the following link to Noonsite
http://www.noonsite.com/Countries/France/Antibes/?rc=RepairFacilities. I don't know which is the bigger of the two yards - the one we lifted out at was called Caratini but I guess M. Caratini has sold out or gone to those garlic fields in the sky. for Villefranche, try
http://portcapferrat.fr/index.php?option=com_contact&Itemid=3. I know their hard standing is quite small, but they do have a crane that could lift you.