Cruising Expenses.

[davidlake]

Hello. Nice forum, lovely to read.

I have a question.

How much does it usually cost per night for a sailboat to stay in a marina in Europe. I know that Barcelona is probably more expensive than say, Durres, Albania. But could someone give me a idea of the range?

And another thing. Is it always free to anchor?

Best regards. David

[MMNETSEA]

Here is the link to our Cruising WIKI - it lists all the Med countries with info charges etc (this one is for Greece)

C L I C K

[vandal]

Originally Posted by davidlake

Hello. Nice forum, lovely to read.

I have a question.

How much does it usually cost per night for a sailboat to stay in a marina in Europe. I know that Barcelona is probably more expensive than say, Durres, Albania. But could someone give me a idea of the range?

And another thing. Is it always free to anchor?

Best regards. David

We have cruised from Plymouth, England to Sicily, Italy over the last 18 months and of course the charges vary considerably. Firstly, the good news-it's free to anchor everywhere we have been so far. We hear that is not the case in Croatia but it is so in Spain, France, Portugal and Italy. On marinas, obviously it depends on length but also on country and even more so, season. The peak months of July and August should be avoided in favour of anchor at all costs. The Atlantic coast of Spain and Portugal are about 50% cheaper than the Med and in many ways, more interesting and better sailing. Hot spots like the Balearic Islands of Spain, most of Italy and especially Sardinia are very expensive but in Italy, you can find free lodging in fishing harbours if you look hard enough. There are some fine, free bullet proof anchorages-Faro (Portugal), Mahon (Menorca), Porto Colom, Soller and Pollensa in Majorca, Vulcano in the Aeolian Islands spring to mind. Bottom line is that in high season in our 50 footer, we have been charged up to 38 euros per night in the Atlantic and asked for up to 120 euros in the Med (which we refused to pay). In low season in the Med, we have had to pay anything from 25 euros to 55 euros per night here in Italy. The best news, saved till last, is that there are some really sweet deals out there for wintering and we have one right now, Marina di Ragusa in southern Sicily, where they are offering a promo package of full winter (1 October to 30 April) for 1130 euros only-less than 200 a month! You can pay that for one night in Sardinia in July.

Hope you make it

Stephen

[redbopeep]

This is the second time in the last week that I've heard the very positive news that one can cruise Europe and stay at anchor readily most places or cheaply berth. Thank you so much for the information Stephen.

Fair winds,

[Wiggly]

How close can one get to port when anchoring like that?

Presumably you can't block other boats but do you need to be a certain distance away, out at sea, or tucked up close?

And how are the charges in other parts of the world?

Thanks

W.

[MMNETSEA]

Originally Posted by Wiggly

How close can one get to port when anchoring like that?

Presumably you can't block other boats but do you need to be a certain distance away, out at sea, or tucked up close?

And how are the charges in other parts of the world?

Wiggly,

Not sure how many questions are in the above post?

The first question "How close can one get to port when anchoring like that?" answer :- it depends where the 'port is relative to where one can find an appropriate place to set one's anchor'

The second multipart question "do you need to be a certain distance away" yes, one need to be at a distance 1) that ensures that your boat will not drag down on others. and 2) that ensures that other boats don't drag down on yours. The distance depending on a number of factors including:- the wind, the current, the tide, storms etc.

The third question "how are the charges in other parts of the world?" In a few place charges are made to levy a charge to anchor in an anchorage - the amount will vary from a few pennies to an exorbitant amount per foot or boat. Again it depends on how greedy the local authority may be.

[JeanneP]

In our experience, the only two places we have been that charged for anchoring were Gustavia in St. Barthelemy Island in the Caribbean, and Cocos Island, owned by Costa Rica in the Pacific off Central America.

St. Barth's because the harbor is very small and the island is very popular and a bit greedy. Incidentally, St. Barth's is French, and I was told that by French law a boat could not be charged for anchoring. So go figure. but just outside Gustavia is a lovely anchorage in Baie Gros St. Jean that is free.

Cocos Island is a national preserve and Costa Rica has imposed expensive charges for anchoring there. I thought that eventually they would drop the charges, but apparently not. But few boats stop there because it's a tough place to anchor even if it is beautiful.

Other than those two examples, we have never been charged for anchoring. In some harbors and bays it is safer to pick up a commercial mooring than to drop one's own anchor, and then one is charged. This is relatively common in the British Virgin Islands and the island of Bonaire where anchoring is damaging to the coral and also very risky, and in some places in the Bahamas. In other words, places with a lot of visiting yachts all the time.

"How close to port" - in port. Most ports are in sheltered bays, "harbors". One is not forced to anchor in an open roadstead miles from the town, but rather within a reasonable five- to ten-minute dinghy ride from the town docks. If there is no safe anchorage within the harbor itself, one would normally go to another harbor, but we've not ever had to do that.

Another example, in Kuching, we anchored off the cement plant up the river, and dinghied to a rather rickety dock. an adventure. Caught the bus into Kuching. Safe and secure.

So for the most part, anchoring is free.

[Wiggly]

OK, thank you, that's good to know.

W.

[Istioploos]

In Greece and Turkey marinas tend to be relatively expensive but town harbors charge a nominal fee of 5-10€. However, most anchorages (coves) are absolutely free.

Fair winds

[Wiggly]

Thanks - but what's the difference between a marina and a town harbour?

It's OK, I checked with Wiki' - because in the UK a "marina" can be on a canal.

Seems marinas are specifically designed for recreational boating?

W.

[JeanneP]

Originally Posted by Wiggly

Seems marinas are specifically designed for recreational boating?

I don't think so, but I might be defining recreational boating a bit differently than others. Some marinas cater to commercial fishing boats, commercial ferry boats, etc. I think that a reasonably accurate description of a marina is the first sentence of tie Wikipedia definition, leaving out "recreational". to quote: "A marina is a harbor with wharfs keeping boats and yachts and with services for boating." I think of marinas as privately owned and operated. But then, Florida's municipal marinas are genuine marinas owned by a town.

Town harbors is not something I'm familiar with in the US, but there are some, and in the Netherlands, where every town has a canal running through it, the walls of the canals are the town harbor where anybody who can squeeze their boat in can tie up, pay a nominal fee, and stay the night. We stayed in lots of marinas and town harbors when we cruised the Baltic in 2007. Not quite the same as US marinas.

In Florida there are a lot of municipal marinas, run by the various cities and towns - I'm not sure if they would be the same as town harbors, probably not. Oh, this confusing language called English.