Congratulations with your new boat!
Sailing from
France to
Turkey should not give you too many problems, but be aware of local
weather systems that can arrive very quickly out of nowhere, even in the middle of the summer. There are a lot of nice places to stop on your way. France and most other EU countries will not give you any big challenges with clearance, but to save time make sure you have the proper paperwork prepared upfront. If your boat was EU registered and only had EU citizens onboard you would not even have to clear Immigration between countries as long as you where inside the EU/Schengen area. I presume you do not have EU passports, so that means you have to report to
Customs at a Port of Entry with the ship's
registration papers and passports when you arrive in a new country. noonsite.com has very good country information. If you are Australian citizens you do not need a EU visa, but there is a 90 days per 6 months maximum staying time, more info here
http://www.noonsite.com/General/RegionalAgreements
In Turkey the formalities will probably be more demanding, I would definitively find an experienced local agent that can help you. But, check the
references to make sure he can be trusted and has a reasonable
price, again noonsite.com has valuable info. Also there is a
member of this forum that I think run a
charter business in Marmaris that maybe can help you find the right person, his profile page is here
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...loya-7613.html
As soon as you have arrived in Turkey you will find that it is a beautiful country with friendly people, it is one of our favorite destinations.
Safety is general good, but be aware that the bureaucracy is more rigid than EU and there are a lot of rules and
regulations on visas and max visit time for both you and your boat that you must follow.
The
Med side of France and
parts of
Italy is really expensive, especially in the high season July to September. Turkey is generally
cheap, but here you need to make sure that the
price you agree on is the final price, they are experts in coming up with additional
fees when you checkout. In Turkey you are also expected to negotiate almost every price to get a bargain, even the marina
fees. Again check Noonsite for more information.