Advice for new owners from Australia coming to Europe to collect a boat

[The Miss]

Hi Dave,
I just read out your response to significant other and he said "does Dave want to come with me?"
Come on Dave - go with the husband!

Cheers for advice, from what you say 4 weeks will give him plenty of margin to get boat to Turkey and then settled before returning.

the Miss

[monte]

4 weeks is doable but pretty tight. The weather late June should be a bit more settled once clear of Sardinia. I would want at least a skipper and 2 crew for that trip, especially on a new boat, I think it will be quite a few overnighters. Mistrals in June can easily hold you up for more than a week. This year Oliver, Barra and us all were held up for over a week in June (Barra for a few weeks but that was compounded by backward rudders )

[Miki]

Hi, The Miss

I crossed the Atlantic from Canaries to Barbados last January I advertised and got a very proffesional, superb, sailor to help me with the trip.
If you would like to PM me I can provide his email address.

Regards

Miki

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by The Miss

Hi Dave,
I just read out your response to significant other and he said "does Dave want to come with me?"
Come on Dave - go with the husband!

Cheers for advice, from what you say 4 weeks will give him plenty of margin to get boat to Turkey and then settled before returning.

the Miss

Dave is currently involved in a tech startup , I'm lucky to get a day or two racing at the moment !!!! Snif snif

Yeah I'd love to , but but but

Dave

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by monte

4 weeks is doable but pretty tight. The weather late June should be a bit more settled once clear of Sardinia. I would want at least a skipper and 2 crew for that trip, especially on a new boat, I think it will be quite a few overnighters. Mistrals in June can easily hold you up for more than a week. This year Oliver, Barra and us all were held up for over a week in June (Barra for a few weeks but that was compounded by backward rudders )

Yes that's the issue , sometimes , these trips go fast , sometimes you drink a lot of espresso.

Dave

[The Miss]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

Dave is currently involved in a tech startup , I'm lucky to get a day or two racing at the moment !!!! Snif snif

Yeah I'd love to , but but but

Dave

Thanks Dave good luck with the start up. No doubt the husband will find a good crew. Ones who like coffee if need be!

Cheers the Miss
Homepage | Miss Catana

[simonpickard]

Hello all,

Lots of good info in this thread. As an Austrlaian resident also coming to Europe to collect our boat and then sail her back I was wondering if I could hop on board this thread and ask a few questions of people?

1. In terms of the insurance did you use Australian companies or Euro based ones?

2. Did you register the boat as Austrlaian? So fly an Ozzy flag? Just wondering how you did this / costs / how long the process takes, etc?

3. I've read that it's easier going East to West in the Med? Is that correct? I.e. Sail quickly West to East early in the season and then take your time sailing back West?

4. Can you realisticlly see the Med in one season? We're picking the boat up early April in Gurnsey, need to be back in the out of the Med for the start of the ARC rally end of Nov 2014. Or is that too quick and should we take another season?

Thanks in advance, I hope it's ok to jump on this thread as I was about to start another one named the exact same thing!

Regards,
Simon

[The Miss]

Hi Simon

Welcome! We have been told two seasons is a minimum for Med, not sure if correct but that's now our aim. We have registered as Australian vessel which cost $1100 and off course GST once we hit AU waters. Process was easy just contact AMSA via website and download application.
Currently looking into insurance so will let you know what I find out soon.
Our plan is to sail over five weeks to deliver boat from France to Turkey then work our way back slowly. Boat in Bodrum boat show hence the agenda.
Congrats and look forward to hearing more of your adventure. Maybe our paths will cross.
Cheers the Miss / Reet

[simonpickard]

Hi 'Miss',

Thanks for the reply. Our plans sound very similar, and if you're anything like us you must be BUZZING with excitment! I hope to share a glass of wine somewhere with you both along the way!

Could you give me a few more details about the registration if you have time? Were you able to do that before you take ownership of the boat then? How long did the process take you start to finish?

Please let me know once you've worked out insurance if that's ok, we've spoken to a few people in Europe but they refused as the boat wasn't registered there.

All the best with your plans!

Regards,
Simon

[D&D]

Originally Posted by simonpickard

Hello all,

Lots of good info in this thread. As an Austrlaian resident also coming to Europe to collect our boat and then sail her back I was wondering if I could hop on board this thread and ask a few questions of people?

1. In terms of the insurance did you use Australian companies or Euro based ones?

We used Pantaenius; they were both recommended by very experienced people 'on site' in Europe and really the only practical choice for the whole voyage, Italy to Australia; that was, however, ~3yrs ago so options may be different now. We understand Club Marine (our insurers now, here in OZ) are keen not to miss out on the import market. In any event, Pantaenius were excellent for our needs back then.

Originally Posted by simonpickard

2. Did you register the boat as Austrlaian? So fly an Ozzy flag? Just wondering how you did this / costs / how long the process takes, etc?

Yes, on the Australian Register of Ships through AMSA...and very proudly flew the Aussie Red Ensign. The Australian Registrar at AMSA was very helpful, including setting all the paperwork up in advance so that we could effect the registration immediately when the vessel passed the sale conditions (survey and sea trials) and we were already in Europe for the trials.

Originally Posted by simonpickard

3. I've read that it's easier going East to West in the Med? Is that correct? I.e. Sail quickly West to East early in the season and then take your time sailing back West?

4. Can you realisticlly see the Med in one season? We're picking the boat up early April in Gurnsey, need to be back in the out of the Med for the start of the ARC rally end of Nov 2014. Or is that too quick and should we take another season?

About all we can add here is take as much time as you can possibly spare...and then some. Sadly our circumstances didn't allow that time luxury so we really just delivered our vessel, covering ~14000nm (via the Panama Canal) in 4 months; that was way too quick, but it was still a fantastic voyage.

Good luck in your grand adventure! We wish you good health and fair winds and following seas always.

[goboatingnow]

4. Can you realisticlly see the Med in one season? We're picking the boat up early April in Gurnsey, need to be back in the out of the Med for the start of the ARC rally end of Nov 2014. Or is that too quick and should we take another season?

If you can its too quick, the Med is a fantastic place and if you're unlikely to to be back , then take the extra season

dave

[Loredo]

Hi,
see the Med in just one season? That's way not enough time! Why would you want to miss out a TON of wonderful places???

For the insurance, I can also speak highly of Pantaenius. Just to mention a couple things, compared to several other insurances I've checked here in Europe they're very reasonably priced. The only insurance I'm aware of that replaces used for new. Let's say your 10+ years old outbord is stolen from your boat. They will repalce it with a new one, no questions asked.

Loredo

[Prairie Chicken]

Simon, our boat is Canadian flagged & we have UK insurance with Allianz so you might try them if other's are put off by the Oz flag. We've been with them forever and never had a claim so I can't say how they'd treat us if we do. Their rates were good years ago but we haven't done a comparison lately.

[Barra]

Originally Posted by simonpickard

Hello all,

Lots of good info in this thread. As an Austrlaian resident also coming to Europe to collect our boat and then sail her back I was wondering if I could hop on board this thread and ask a few questions of people?

1. In terms of the insurance did you use Australian companies or Euro based ones?

2. Did you register the boat as Austrlaian? So fly an Ozzy flag? Just wondering how you did this / costs / how long the process takes, etc?

3. I've read that it's easier going East to West in the Med? Is that correct? I.e. Sail quickly West to East early in the season and then take your time sailing back West?

4. Can you realisticlly see the Med in one season? We're picking the boat up early April in Gurnsey, need to be back in the out of the Med for the start of the ARC rally end of Nov 2014. Or is that too quick and should we take another season?

Thanks in advance, I hope it's ok to jump on this thread as I was about to start another one named the exact same thing!

Regards,
Simon

1. Pantaenius also our choice as recommended by many but from 1 jan you will have to use the australian branch (and policy) which is a little different so read the fine print
2. boat must be registered where it is owned so yes we registered with AMSA. Process ended up taking around 5 weeks all up but can probably be cut to 2 with some effort and planning. cost was $1200 odd plus some stickers. The non EU flag will trigger a few more hoops to jump through at times and some extra costs but mainly in the eastern med. france, spain, italy very relaxed (though good chance customs will check you out at least once)
3. East to west will be more downwind generally so overall quicker/ more comfortable.
4. plan for 2 seasons. one for the east and one for the west but which order is up to you. there is so much to see one season wont do it justice. Plus EU bureaucracy and weather will hold you up at some point and on a tight deadline that just leads to stress.

If you can only do one then dont try to see too much - pick just a couple of destinations and do them right rather than cover the whole med in a rush. We had friends this year who just did spain and turkey and are now in the carib. kinda good for contrast i guess but some long voyages in between!

[Barra]

PS as aussies you will need to work around or at least be aware of the shengen visa issues too ie 90 days max in the combined shengen countries in any 180 days. you can usually overstay but dont count on it in all countries.