Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
  #1   Report Post  
Wilson Bolsover
 
Posts: n/a
Default The Italian Lakes

Hi

I am thinking of towing my Fletcher 17 to the Italian Lakes next summer.
I am having difficulties finding information on suitable slipways, fuel
facilities and the like. Have any of you had experience of doing this? If
so do you have any helpful hints or sources of information? Are there any
published guides and/or maps etc.?

I guess an alternative would be to hire something similar there, so
information on that would also be welcome.

Thanks.

Wilson


  #2   Report Post  
lomaxelectrical
 
Posts: n/a
Default The Italian Lakes

Wilson
I don't know about the Italian lakes but FWIW:

We towed a 20' power boat to Spain (Costa Brava) this summer.
We did loads of research and tried to prepare for all eventualities but
found that it was very different when we got there.
Generally everything was a whole lot easier with relaxed attitudes and we
saw very little of the 'red tape' we were informed to expect. We stayed on a
park that catered for boats and had basic boating facilities except fuel. We
found that:
Fuel was available at most ports but not always on a Sunday. It obviously
cost more than on the road but still less than UK prices.
UK, French or Spanish customs were not at all interested in the VAT
documents for the boat or in any of the registration papers etc. we carried
with us (and went to great lengths to obtain). -Maybe I was just lucky. The
cost to take the boat on the ferry was half as much again as the car.
My International Certificate for Operation of Pleasure Craft never saw the
light of day, neither did my VHF certificate, Insurance or SSR, but there
was the occasional port patrol boat that, I suppose, could have asked to see
them.
UK customs were concerned about stowaways and contraband in the boat on our
return and, it would have been very easy for someone to hide under the cover
unnoticed as there were plenty of opportunities to do so. I will be more
vigilant next time! maybe even take the cover off before boarding the ferry.
(VHF etiquette is very different in Spain. The port and marina operators
could speak very little English, but we got by with mixed French and phrase
book Spanish. VHF use is more akin to citizens band radio. I still wouldn't
be without it though.)
There are literally hundreds of boat dealers, engineer shops, chandlers etc.
New and used spare parts galore, most considerably cheaper than in the UK.
Many beaches have dedicated informal boat landing areas, Slipways are
available at most 'club nautiques' but short stay/overnight moorings are in
short supply. Security seemed low key (virtually nonexistent?) at all that
we visited.
The weather can and does change very much faster and to greater extremes to
that here in the UK. A cloudless sky and slight breeze can turn into an
unbelievable hurricane in less than an hour. There is a English spoken
weather forecast broadcast on VHF at regular times but the announcement on
CH16 is in Spanish and with all the other chatter it is difficult to pick it
out. The marinas have the channel and times of these.
We picked up a book about cruising along the coast of Spain with quite
detailed information on ports harbours slipways and marinas giving some
chart info on most. We found this was much more use than the IMRAY chart of
the area for our purposes.
Whilst wandering along the quayside I noticed a few hire 'companies' and
priced hiring a similar boat out there, the cheapest deal was more than 2000
euros per week from a guy at a table on the promenade in L'Estartit. He had
a couple of photos of the boat and wanted cash up front! An other slightly
more reputable dealer trading from a nearby 'hut' quoted around 3000. Again,
only a few photos- you couldn't actually see the boat before booking it. I'm
sure that it would be possible to hire a boat but I would imagine a hefty
deposit would probably be required and would be suspicious if it wasn't!.
Towing was not as straightforward as expected. there was four in the car
with luggage for 3 weeks, all the usual holiday gear, and an arsenal of
spares, ropes, anchors, extra fuel cans and camping gear etc. We slept in
the boat en-route at a caravan site. This was great fun for the kids but you
don't get any sleep and, as we discovered on the return journey, its a lot
easier in a cheap motel. All this added weight made a considerable
difference to the driving. We must have been towing at least 2 tons (single
axle trailer) plus luggage with a Discovery. I have often towed the boat a
couple of hundred miles a day, and previously towed a caravan for several
years across the UK and on the continent. I didn't consider that the towing
was going to be an issue but it was a lot more stressful than I had
anticipated. Driving on the wrong side of the road from the wrong side of
the car with hardly any acceleration, near no rear visibility and greatly
increased braking distance at a maximum stable speed of 55 for over 1000
miles with your family is no walk in the park. (My hat is off to the long
distance lorry driver) . The standard strap-on towing mirrors are next to
useless as they don't stick far enough out to be able to see past the width
of the boat from the driving position, and they shake about too much. We
made it there and back without any (serious) incidents, narrowly avoiding
several detours to the divorce courts.
Sorry, I'm going on a bit here.
Overall, I would do it again, but I would
Take less weight, learn a bit of the language, allow extra travelling time,
get door mounted mirrors and not bother with boat spares that I couldn't
replace whilst afloat.
Shade in the cockpit is however essential as is a sympathetic bank manager!

At the risk of ridicule, a few snaps at
http://www.lomaxelectrical.btinterne...abrava2003.htm

The RYA have some advice about boating abroad
www.rya.org.uk

Good Luck, let us know how you get on.

Steve

"Wilson Bolsover" wrote in message
...
Hi

I am thinking of towing my Fletcher 17 to the Italian Lakes next summer.
I am having difficulties finding information on suitable slipways, fuel
facilities and the like. Have any of you had experience of doing this?

If
so do you have any helpful hints or sources of information? Are there any
published guides and/or maps etc.?

I guess an alternative would be to hire something similar there, so
information on that would also be welcome.

Thanks.

Wilson




  #3   Report Post  
Wilson Bolsover
 
Posts: n/a
Default The Italian Lakes

Very many thanks for some very helpful advice Steve. It is encouraging (I
think...)

Wilson

"lomaxelectrical" wrote in message
...
Wilson
I don't know about the Italian lakes but FWIW:

We towed a 20' power boat to Spain (Costa Brava) this summer.
We did loads of research and tried to prepare for all eventualities but
found that it was very different when we got there.
Generally everything was a whole lot easier with relaxed attitudes and we
saw very little of the 'red tape' we were informed to expect. We stayed on

a
park that catered for boats and had basic boating facilities except fuel.

We
found that:
Fuel was available at most ports but not always on a Sunday. It obviously
cost more than on the road but still less than UK prices.
UK, French or Spanish customs were not at all interested in the VAT
documents for the boat or in any of the registration papers etc. we

carried
with us (and went to great lengths to obtain). -Maybe I was just lucky.

The
cost to take the boat on the ferry was half as much again as the car.
My International Certificate for Operation of Pleasure Craft never saw the
light of day, neither did my VHF certificate, Insurance or SSR, but there
was the occasional port patrol boat that, I suppose, could have asked to

see
them.
UK customs were concerned about stowaways and contraband in the boat on

our
return and, it would have been very easy for someone to hide under the

cover
unnoticed as there were plenty of opportunities to do so. I will be more
vigilant next time! maybe even take the cover off before boarding the

ferry.
(VHF etiquette is very different in Spain. The port and marina operators
could speak very little English, but we got by with mixed French and

phrase
book Spanish. VHF use is more akin to citizens band radio. I still

wouldn't
be without it though.)
There are literally hundreds of boat dealers, engineer shops, chandlers

etc.
New and used spare parts galore, most considerably cheaper than in the UK.
Many beaches have dedicated informal boat landing areas, Slipways are
available at most 'club nautiques' but short stay/overnight moorings are

in
short supply. Security seemed low key (virtually nonexistent?) at all that
we visited.
The weather can and does change very much faster and to greater extremes

to
that here in the UK. A cloudless sky and slight breeze can turn into an
unbelievable hurricane in less than an hour. There is a English spoken
weather forecast broadcast on VHF at regular times but the announcement on
CH16 is in Spanish and with all the other chatter it is difficult to pick

it
out. The marinas have the channel and times of these.
We picked up a book about cruising along the coast of Spain with quite
detailed information on ports harbours slipways and marinas giving some
chart info on most. We found this was much more use than the IMRAY chart

of
the area for our purposes.
Whilst wandering along the quayside I noticed a few hire 'companies' and
priced hiring a similar boat out there, the cheapest deal was more than

2000
euros per week from a guy at a table on the promenade in L'Estartit. He

had
a couple of photos of the boat and wanted cash up front! An other

slightly
more reputable dealer trading from a nearby 'hut' quoted around 3000.

Again,
only a few photos- you couldn't actually see the boat before booking it.

I'm
sure that it would be possible to hire a boat but I would imagine a hefty
deposit would probably be required and would be suspicious if it wasn't!.
Towing was not as straightforward as expected. there was four in the car
with luggage for 3 weeks, all the usual holiday gear, and an arsenal of
spares, ropes, anchors, extra fuel cans and camping gear etc. We slept in
the boat en-route at a caravan site. This was great fun for the kids but

you
don't get any sleep and, as we discovered on the return journey, its a lot
easier in a cheap motel. All this added weight made a considerable
difference to the driving. We must have been towing at least 2 tons

(single
axle trailer) plus luggage with a Discovery. I have often towed the boat a
couple of hundred miles a day, and previously towed a caravan for several
years across the UK and on the continent. I didn't consider that the

towing
was going to be an issue but it was a lot more stressful than I had
anticipated. Driving on the wrong side of the road from the wrong side of
the car with hardly any acceleration, near no rear visibility and greatly
increased braking distance at a maximum stable speed of 55 for over 1000
miles with your family is no walk in the park. (My hat is off to the long
distance lorry driver) . The standard strap-on towing mirrors are next to
useless as they don't stick far enough out to be able to see past the

width
of the boat from the driving position, and they shake about too much. We
made it there and back without any (serious) incidents, narrowly avoiding
several detours to the divorce courts.
Sorry, I'm going on a bit here.
Overall, I would do it again, but I would
Take less weight, learn a bit of the language, allow extra travelling

time,
get door mounted mirrors and not bother with boat spares that I couldn't
replace whilst afloat.
Shade in the cockpit is however essential as is a sympathetic bank

manager!

At the risk of ridicule, a few snaps at

http://www.lomaxelectrical.btinterne...abrava2003.htm

The RYA have some advice about boating abroad
www.rya.org.uk

Good Luck, let us know how you get on.

Steve

"Wilson Bolsover" wrote in message
...
Hi

I am thinking of towing my Fletcher 17 to the Italian Lakes next summer.
I am having difficulties finding information on suitable slipways, fuel
facilities and the like. Have any of you had experience of doing this?

If
so do you have any helpful hints or sources of information? Are there

any
published guides and/or maps etc.?

I guess an alternative would be to hire something similar there, so
information on that would also be welcome.

Thanks.

Wilson






Reply
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules

Smilies are On
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Just a few names... John Smith General 0 May 2nd 04 11:32 PM
December Great Lakes Cruiser [email protected] Cruising 0 November 30th 03 09:43 PM
Threats to lakes grow faster than cures: More bad news RGrew176 General 0 September 24th 03 05:39 AM
September Great Lakes Cruiser [email protected] Cruising 0 August 29th 03 04:37 PM
The 4th and boating.Lake Oroville. basskisser General 9 July 14th 03 06:24 PM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 12:52 PM.

Powered by vBulletin® Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 BoatBanter.com.
The comments are property of their posters.
 

About Us

"It's about Boats"

 

Copyright © 2017