Long-Term Charter in the Med

[Jolly Roger]

I became more and more interested in this thread as I read. There are certainly many options, but I think Boracay gave the best suggestions of chartering in different locations and flying between them. That way you can enter and leave different countries and probably not overstay your visa. It might also be nice to visit some of the many land sites between sailing.
The only thing that comes to my mind is maybe you could work a boat swap with someone who might like to sail where your present boat is. But this still raises issues of return delivery from wherever you finish up.
One thing I do know about, having lived aboard in the Mediterranean for nearly eight years, (albeit some years ago), unless the weather and the sea has remarkably changed, you couldn’t achieve your planned subjoin in one short six months, starting in Portugal. The distances are too great, the winds in summer too light—yet strong weather can come at any time and keep you in port. Forget it from about December to April, except maybe in the far eastern sector.
Sorry to be a wet blanket, but I speak from experience. I suggest you start to sort it now, it might take another three years.
By the way, you didn’t answer Dave’s question about how much to ship your own boat to the Meddy. Perhaps there aren't enough “0’s” on the computer.

[lolarose]

Originally Posted by Curmudgeon

After researching this a little, an attractive option is Croatia, a non-Shengen country. I can establish long-term residency there as a liveaboard at a Croatian marina. .

then hurry up, croatia is full member of EU from 1/7/2013. after that, there is only two left, montenegro & albania...or turkey (or syria, israel, lebanon, north africa)

and you also wont from croatia to cruise BOSNIA??? i do not know what they are teaching in american schools but there is something definitely wrong. you can jump from croatian coast to bosnian coast

[Curmudgeon]

Just because Croatia is joining the EU doesn't mean that it will adopt the Shengen accords. Great Britain is in the EU and hasn't adopted them.

For my boat, Dockwise will cost around $15K (U.S.) each way from Newport or Fort Lauderdale to Mallorca. It's a little more if you sail over on the Dockwise freighter, but then you don't have airfare.

You can get cheaper shipping, but then you have to pay to step the mast at your destination. With Dockwise, the mast stays up. You sail the boat on, and sail it off.

As for the off-season between December and April, we plan to park the boat and ski. We've skied France, Italy and Switzerland, but never Austria, Maybe we can spend the Winter there.

[lolarose]

Originally Posted by Curmudgeon

Just because Croatia is joining the EU doesn't mean that it will adopt the Shengen accords. Great Britain is in the EU and hasn't adopted them.

they will. actualy they can not wait for shengen, (there's a lot of croats living in italy, austria and germany).they would like to have shengen from day one, but bruxelles told them they will not be redy before 2015..

[Jolly Roger]

Wow! That’s certainly a ton of lolly! Those sail-on-sail-off delivery boats are something else! I understand you can work on your boat while it’s in the dry dock as well. What an adventure! It just bears out my theory which I keep telling the kids, “You can do anything if you have money.”

[XgoDoT]

Apaca catamaran - vente de catamarans lagoon mediterranee cote d'azur

I believe they offer 1 year charters but only catamarans so far. Unfortunately their site is in french without English translation.

Also any other big charter company would be interested to offer long term charter since it would mean less work for them in general. In any case the security deposit will be quite larger and one has to arrange upfront scheduled maintenance checks every 2-3 months. (which would exclude smaller agencies without EU-wide networks.)

In any case its dueable but financially not very wise, since the rental cost together with the deposit wont be lower then 45-50K.

Good luck anyway

cheers,
XgoDoT

[a2ayachting]

Originally Posted by Curmudgeon

In three years my wife and I want to cruise the Med, beginning in April of 2015. The current plan is to use Dockwise to ship my boat over from the U.S. East coast, sail for 6-7 months, and then ship it back. But Dockwise isn't cheap.

Would it be possible to charter a boat long term to cruise the Med? Ideally I'd like to start in the Atlantic on the Algarve, and then head east via Spain, Sardinia, Naples, upinto the Adriatic, and then down to Greece and Turkey. I'd like a one-way charter, but if I had to bring the boat back to the starting point, I could do that.

I need a 35-40 ft. monohull, nothing too fancy, but seaworthy and with a good galley. Are there any charter outfits that offer such a long-term option?

I am not sure if you have now got your charter adventure behind you or not but its worthwhile to know we have arranged numerous long term yacht charters in both Mediterranean and the Caribbean. Clients have sailed from Turkey to SOUTH of France with a 40ft catamaran over the course of 5 months or from Greece across all of the East Med, Italy and the Adriatic (currrently there) and should return to Greece again in November (8 months charter). Others have sailed extensively just around the Adriatic or across the Atlantic from 8-12 weeks on 45' catamarans or 40-50' sailboats.

[a2ayachting]

[QUOTE=goboatingnow;898145]Oh good perhaps you might enlighten others as you seem, to have cracked an impossibility.

No such things as residence permits in Europe. There are work permits but they are like hens teeth, also long term visas in one EU country, does not entitle you to extended stays in other EU countries.

As to schengen, you've obviously done your research. It a 90 day visa then you must leave for 90 days. That's 90 days in total amongst all EU countries except Ireland and the Uk..

Good luck to ya there

Dave[/ Shengen Visas allow 90 days in 180 day period.
180 days is roughly between 1st March and the 1st September
If you are to sail out of Greece for 3 months, you could go to Montenegro or Croatia and stay there for a suitable period before returning back to Greece or Italy or elsewhere in the Med/Shengen area for anoter charter. In general, LONG TERM YACHT charter can be done in many circumstances and we have arranged many]

[a2ayachting]

For all those enquiring about Long TERM Yacht Charters including CROSS COUNTRY and ONE WAY sailing SEAbbaticals, without making any advertisement on here, you are welcome to discuss your plans, budget and difference between buying a boat (and later selling it) or chartering outright with our YACHT CHARTER DIRECTOR by simply sending an email to our facebook page A2A YACHTING.

We will be glad to advise, assist and provide quotes to sample in order to compare with your initial plans and ideas. We can also get you in touch with some of our clients who chartered such yachts already, some of which hired boats one way from Turkey to France for example or sailed 8 months across all of the East Med Countries (EXCLUDING Albania). There are also videos to view and references to read on third party web sites.

[A2A YACHTING]

Originally Posted by Curmudgeon

In three years my wife and I want to cruise the Med, beginning in April of 2015. The current plan is to use Dockwise to ship my boat over from the U.S. East coast, sail for 6-7 months, and then ship it back. But Dockwise isn't cheap.

Would it be possible to charter a boat long term to cruise the Med? Ideally I'd like to start in the Atlantic on the Algarve, and then head east via Spain, Sardinia, Naples, upinto the Adriatic, and then down to Greece and Turkey. I'd like a one-way charter, but if I had to bring the boat back to the starting point, I could do that.

I need a 35-40 ft. monohull, nothing too fancy, but seaworthy and with a good galley. Are there any charter outfits that offer such a long-term option?

Hello Sailor,

Even though your post is a few year old, it is worth commenting.
Such long term charters can be arranged.
We had clients sailing:
1. 5 months on a one way charter from Turkey to France on a Lagoon 400 in 2014, (check our YachtingPages profile for feedback on this)
2. 8 months on an Oceanis 40 in the East Med (check our facebook profile for geedback on this)
3. 4 months on a 42ft Cat in the Caribbean
4. 5 1/2 months on a newish 40ft cat across Med
5. 3 months on a 36ft monohull across West Med 6. 4 months on a 45ft motor yacht in Croatia
6. A number of other longer term charters and seabbaticals mainly in Med and the East Caribbean
etc....
This year we already have another 2 similar charters arranged and are discussing at least 5 other ones as we speak in January 2019. Some of these turn into a BUY A BOAT alternative as charter option is not suitable and we tend to provide a suitable advice on what to do where possible.