Working on a boat in Croatia or Montenegro from U.S.

[jgw50]

Planning on buying a 38-40' production cat in Croatia or Montenegro to be ready to go this May. If it is not bought in Croatia we will most likely head that way first thing

Croatia has Schengen benefits, looks like a great place to visit, and it set's up a nice itinerary for our plans, but I have no clue what it would be like working on a boat there.

Boat will most likely be between 5-10 years old and will require work. Nothing major but I expect weeks of working on the boat cleaning, fixing, and prepping for cruising the Med and on to the Caribbean. How much depends on how good of a job we do finding the right boat! Not anticipating hiring much work out, but that may change.

The question: What is it like working on a boat in Croatia or Montenegro vs. in the U.S?

Are there good marine shops to buy supplies and equipment?

Is mail order / shipping an option? (currently 100% used to two day shipping on anything imaginable in the states, wondering if Amazon ships to Croatia and how long it takes)

Are there stores where cheaper tools are available?

What are prices like compared to U.S?

Anyone have personal experience with trying to get VAT back after leaving?

One example of a larger project that's possible is installing dockside AC. Would need an AC unit, through hull, hoses, elec water pump, breaker, and numerous small supplies. This is something 100% within my abilities in a boat yard in the U.S. but wondering how much more difficult in a foreign country knowing very little of the language.

Thanks for any advice / insight.

[coopec43]

Unfortunately I have never been there but as I thought you certainly wouldn't have any problems building or doing maintenance there.

Marinas in Croatia

"The majority of Croatians speak at least one other language. According to a recent poll, some 80% of Croatians are multilingual and, of that group, 81% are English-speakers. The next most popular language is German at 49% followed by Italian at 24%." (Croatia Traveller)

Ebay to launch in Croatia in December - Telecompaper
https://www.telecompaper.com/news/eb...ember--1114200
Nov 18, 2015 - Online marketplace eBay will be available in Croatia from 1 December, report Seebiz. Although everything will be done via an intermediary, ...

https://www.aliexpress.com/country/hr-croatia.html

Clive

[CatNewBee]

Croatia is NOT part of SCHENGEN, but is in the EU (important for VAT) and has its own currency.

Montenegro is not in the EU and not in Schengen, so completely different beast.

In both countries you will be subject to tourist tax (Weekly, up to 1 year based on boat size, for a 40 ft catamaran a yearly tax even for EU citizen is around 1000 USD, the week is around 400hrk / 60€) and annual sailing permit tax for the boat based on calendar year of 474hrk / 70€, it is quite expensive to stay there. Check the Internet for prices. Marinas in Croatia are also very expensive compared to Italy, France etc. Good news is, when winterizing the boat, and not staying on board (locked in the marina), tourist tax must not be payed. But if you live aboard, they may charge you.

Montenegro has similar taxes for cruisers.

Because Croatia it is a EU country, shipping of goods between all other EU is import tax free and you can buy anything from anywhere there online, this might not be the case in Montenegro, which is not part of the block, you have to rely on local availability of the parts or import them through customs.

Montenegro may have different Visa requirements too.

Some reading about Croatia: https://www.total-croatia-news.com/t...crease-in-2018

Croatia is one of the countries that emerge after Yugoslavia fall apart, it was a socialist country and they are really greedy to get to the western standards, starting withe the prices and taxes on tourists. We even had to pay 10€ for anchoring in a bay near the city of Rovinj a month ago, on the market, they try to sell you the kg of grapes for 10€, while in the store around the next corner they cost 1.5€ / kg. I guess you get the point. Just keep an eye open and double check. Eating out and provisioning is still affordable - and off-season even more - it is cheaper than in other EU countries, but this can change quickly.


Sailing is great, a lot of islands to visit, but they start to impose more and more restrictions / protected areas and parks to restrict access to some nice sites or to impose more fees.

The winter is wet and cold, prevailing winds are Jugo (warm and wet from the south) and Bora (cold & dry from the north) and can be quite nasty at sea with high swell, the water is cold during the spring time. Especially January, February and March can be not so pleasant, in April and May the first tourist come and places become crowdy.

During the winter time, live just dies, many stores, restaurants and facilities are closed and you think you are in a different place.

[Franziska]

Not to scare you, but to emphasize the need for proper ground tackle and a well protected harbour over there, here a video of a typical Bora storm in Croatia.

https://youtu.be/JJwppTT3OWo

Can actually happen all year round to some degree.
Croatia is a beautiful country, but with an overpriced infrastructure when it comes to yachting.
Italy and Greece are better from that respect.
The latter are both full members of the EU and Schengen though.

[Kenomac]

Croatia is not part of Schengen and it’s very expensive to have work done on a boat here or store a boat during the season or off season, which is why we always return to Italy during the off season. Croatia costs five to six times more than Italy.

[Kenomac]

In over six years in the Med, we’ve only been able to recover VAT twice on purchasing new sails from the UK, and it’s a HUGE PITA, otherwise after it’s paid, don’t plan on ever seeing it again. You can only recover VAT on items exported that have never been installed which still remain in their original packaging.

Forget about even trying to recover VAT in most cases because it’s simply a waste of time... you won’t get it back even after all the trouble of trying.

[CatNewBee]

Language wise, even Crotian is a language less understood (slavish origin, but they use latin alphabet), croatian people are well educated and do speak very often English and German, in contrast to Italy, the more south you go the less English they speak - they talk to you in Italian, no matter if you understand them or not, they not even try to - same in France btw..

Regarding boat chandlers, there are some around, It is a sailors country, so chances are you can find skilled people to help you.

[glynhome]

We’ve kept our Moody 41 Classic in Pula for the last 5 years. During that time I’ve had local companies fit a retractable bow thruster (£4K cheaper than a factory build option) and electric main winches, with no problems cost or otherwise. I have also worked on projects myself such as fitting a second holding tank with pump transfer and discharge, no issues and plenty of materials from stores such as Bauhaus (big DIY store). Comparing to the UK, labour and long term berths are cheaper in Croatia, transient berths and transient moorings are more expensive as they are driven by the charter market with boats full of people sharing the costs.

That video is NOT a typical Bora (NE) , most are between the mid 20’s gusting to mid 30’s

[glynhome]

I should add however, that it’s always wise to pick a storage, berth, mooring or anchorage with an eye on shelter from the NE and avoid areas such as the Velbit channel when there is risk of a bora.

[tackleandtax]

For what it's worth a friend stores his boat in Montenegro. He loves it there - apparently storage is much cheaper than Croatia and just about everywhere else in Europe.

Whenever his family is travelling within Europe they moor up there and fly out to wherever they are going as it ends up being cheaper in the long run.