Welcome to Sailing Options. We bought our first boat and sailed it from Yorkshire to the Mediterranean sea through the inland waterways of France "The Long Way DOWN" from Dunkerque. Leaving the inland waterways behind us, we entered the Med and "turned left" to see what we can find on our new adventure: Sailing Options "The Long Way EAST"
Options is a great name for our boat, which is a Southerly 115 - Series Two, first launched in 1994. We renovated her in Hull Marina. The swing keel design allows this yacht to sail pretty close to the wind with the keel down, run with the wind faster with the keel half way up and float in 1m depth of water with the keel fully retracted into the hull. She will also stay upright when drying out on mud flats and sand banks. The swing keel gives us more OPTIONS, compared to having a fixed fin or bilge keel.
The fish farm is usually pretty calm - except you get the wake from the Corsica ferries, usually one or two an hour; it's usually a very long but sharp set so it tends to set most monohulls rocking like crazy if you happen to catch them beam on. Or if there's any sort of south-westerly wind and swell, if the swell is strong enough it'll curl right around the rock and hit you. The only absolutely calm spot in the fish farm is right up near shore where there's a sandy bottom, but as you can see it's prime real-estate so chances of getting in there are somewhere between slim and the Planck constant. Still, one of my favorite first-stop anchorages when coming out of port saint louis.
May be if we had arrived earlier in the day a calmer spot would be available I guess - but as always with good anchorages close to towns/cities with a large boaty population, the early birds catch the worm. Where are you sailing now?
@@sailingoptions I'm not sailing anymore; I'm afraid I joined the stinkpotters and am now fixing up an old rental Broads cruiser (an F.B. Wilds Bermuda) to go do the rivers and canals of Europe :) Kind of got tired of the Med to be honest, mostly due to high season :) Sailboat's for sale, sitting at Navy Service in case you know anyone who's interested in an oldie-but-goodie. As far as early birds; yep! Best way to get a good spot in the fish farm is to take a not so good spot, stay the night, and in the morning when there's some movement, snag it before anyone else does. Kind of rude but... it is what it is :D
hi there, thsnk's for this episode. where you happy with the port napoleon service? and wich periode in the year you would recommand for sailing in the med?
Thanks for watching our video and I hope you liked it 😊 The staff at Port Napoleon were helpful and despite the tragic fire they suffered in the main building still worked hard to meet the needs of boaters. The cost is much less than facilities further east. It is Camargue region so prepare for mosquitoes! We sail from March to June and September to November when temperatures are bearable and crowds have gone home. The Med is very busy and too hot during July and August. Stay safe and enjoy cruising JnS xx
Can't speak for the Options crew but I've always been pretty pleased with both Port Napoleon and Port Navy Service (both in Port-Saint-Louis-du-Rhone). Napoleon has floating moorings, Navy Service is ideal for parking long-term. Best periods of the year? March-June/Early July, and September-November; during the high season generally the weather is hot, hot, and more hot, and everyone and their dog is out and about which can lead to ...*cough* "interesting" issues in anchorages. And prices in most marinas are lower during the mentioned periods. Not always. And they'll have more availability. But not always.
Nice video, thanks! We have a similar trip ahead. Would you mind me asking how much it was to restep de mast in Chantier Allemand? And, most importantly, what the mast transport cost? We're considering carrying it on deck but would prefer to have it shipped.
@@tralaralaaaa1 thanks for watching and regarding your question, I guess prices will have changed since 2021 to 2022 but budget for £1000 transport and £200 step. Due to COVID our mast was in storage at Dunkerque longer than we hoped and so storage costs exceeded budget. In all the cost to traverse the inland waterways was around £1500 just for the mast - BUT it gave us chance to have clear deck space AND kept boat length down for easier lock handling. Marinas charge by overall length and the mast increases the boat length - this isn’t a cost though if you wild camp! WE left the boat overwinter and summer in safe marinas. The inland waterways are absolutely beautiful- not to be rushed IMO. Keep in mind depth reduces in summer and autumn until the rains arrive. Hope you have a wonderful journey - we certainly did 👍 Stay safe and enjoy cruising JnS xx
hi guys, thank you so much for all your wonderful information, it has been so detailed and useful. Question: have you recorded anywhere the costs of moorings along the way, particularly long-term moorings, where you can leave a boat for 3 months or so at a reasonable price...any information would be most appreciated, Karl
Hi and thanks for watching this video, we hope you might find some more useful information in some of the others we have uploaded. Providing costs is not advisable because prices can be out of date quite quickly and be a cause for disappointment if higher than expected. What we do recommend is planning your route and researching the places to moor up. Estimating where you might stop over for a long period is well worth the time spent. We have links to helpful websites in the description of this video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-CrvBGmrcgCA.html There are links in all of the videos, so I hope these will be more helpful to you. WE really hope you get on to the canals and enjoy the adventure as much as we did. Stay safe and enjoy cruising JnS xx
Hi guys love your channel looking at bring my boat from England to the eu been told you have to pay the vat but who do you pay any help would be great thank you and keep up traveling
Thanks for watching! I can't answer your question with experience because our boat was in the EU before the end of the Brexit transition and is therefore classed as an EU boat now. In the first instance I recommend checking the rules with one of the major UK boating organisations such as Cruising Association or RYA. Temporary Admission allows a non EU boat to cruise in the EU for 18 months. If you sail out of the EU and check into a non EU country for a day, the clock resets to another 18 months to sail in the EU. There are many cruisers who do this. For instance sail to Tunisia and back to Sicily. If you are a UK resident without and EU passport then the 90 out of 180 day Schengen rules apply. I've shown some links below - in truth it is all a little bit confusing but not a deal breaker. www.rya.org.uk/knowledge/abroad/entry-exit-formalities www.theca.org.uk/home www.boatshedsupport.com/article/370-vat-and-brexit#:~:text=It%20allows%20them%20to%20keep,for%20a%20further%2018%20months. s
How satisfying to see one of my designs being used for its true purpose. I worked for Dick Carter in the early 70's but after a few adventures, joined Northshore as design director in '81. The 115 was my first project using the 110, extrending it and 'inventing; the low aspect ratio rudder and the later 'B2' keel configuration. These mods transformed the handling and sailing characteristics as well as giving a much better aft cabin as well as better aeshtics. Pretty much an ideal cruiser. Sails OK - parks on beaches and ties to a lampost by the pub. Basically it saved the company. Unlike other designers I've spent a few tours in the French canals and really love trundling through France at walking pace buying stuff from the lock keepers and dreaming of the little restau for the evening. Magic. In retirement I've designed a follow on using later technology with a view to having it built in La Rochelle (used to live there working for Micky Dufour) and sailing in to the Med down the Midi. Keep posting - it's inspiring. All the best Chris Freer - Best canal moment was arriving in Auxerre (Nivernais) in the middle of the Montegolfier balloon festival. Spread the message !!!
Hello Chris, first of all thank you for watching our video. Second - thank you for commenting and your involvement in bringing the original 115 to market. It must have been a hugely exciting life event. So we thank you for the Mark 1 in 1983 and later the Rob Humphries influenced MK2. The design is still strong, as is the build. Ours is a 1994 model and people often comment on how it still looks younger than a 30 year old boat. This year we crossed from Sardinia to Sicily in strong winds and always felt safe. I hope you enjoy watching some of our other videos as we continue to on our life journey learning and growing. Long may it last! Best regards, JnS
@@sailingoptions You mention Rob. In the early 70’s we all lived in Hamble trying to be world famous yacht designers. Rob was the Y&Y journalist who did the sail test on my first production yacht, the Europa3000. Bryan Moffat of Northshore didn’t like designers very much and had a history of non payment of royalties. He thought he was doing them a favour. When I joined him in ’81 he was in legal dispute with Dick Carter, the designer of the original S105. Before this I had designed a 34foot cruiser at Bryan’s request called the Nordfarer. Without asking he gave my drawings to Eddie Meyer - but as the project was still born I didn’t complain. When I joined Northshore it was practically bankrupt and needed new product. The Southerly’s were difficult to control because the triangular keel stalled easily and, in turn, the outboard rudder stalled and the boat broached - and they went their own way in reverse under power. I came up with the barn door low aspect ratio rudder and this solved all the steering problems and allowed the hull to be extended losing the sawn off look. I won the two handed Round the Island Race in the in the first production boat. Your boat is the old 105 mould extended because we had no money to make a new design. The 115 saved the company. I also modified the tooling of the 135 so that we got another cheapo product that sailed properly. As a further exercise I saw that we could change the keel shape by simply adding chord to the existing mould (which also added stability) and I gave Bryan the drawings. (I still have them) Another cheap and successful mod. He then told me that he was not going to pay royalties on the 115. I left and he gave all my drawings to Rob. My father in law is Don Pye of Holman & Pye. - before his death we used to share betrayal and ‘royalty’ stories. You should get my book - I picked up the phone and said yes - dial it in to Amazon. May see you in the canals soon. Cheers C.
I had no idea about the way in which designers were treated! In my business if the designer was employed by the business, the design belonged to the business. If the design was not “in house” but worth investment to produce and sell, then we bought the design. No royalties. However we were an “appointed” manufacturer of a product designed in Sweden and royalty agreements were based on sales values. This opened doors (literally! It was a marine fire door) for other products in our range to be packaged for a vessel. You have experienced an interesting life Chris and I hope health and wealth extend that pleasantly. We won’t be meeting you in the canals, although I would like to meet you. Right now we are home in the UK for summer and Options is moored up in Marina Bar, Montenegro. Our adventure journey continues in September heading north to Venice. Stay safe and keep in touch. Jonathan
Hi John & Sheenagh. We're currently in Sardinia. We've been here for 3 weeks. We're mainly at anchor and a few day's here and there in the marina. We've just come into town and I rowed the 2km from where we're anchored and we've just seen a boat that looks remarkably like yours!!!! I don't know if you're currently out here or back in the UK? We hope you're both well. Daryl & Shirley.
Hi Daryl, thanks for getting in touch - we would definitely have met up but it wasn't our boat you saw in Sardinia. Options overwintered at Cagliari and now she's in Bar, Montenegro for summer layover. Where in Sardinia have you anchored/moored? We came down the east coast and a little up the west before sailing over to Sicily. JnS xx
Excellent! I had the privilege meeting the owners of the "Dragonfly" in Owen Sound marina approx 6-8yrs ago. They asked my friend and I to board and have a tour! Incredible memory ✅️💯
That is a good memory to hold onto. She is in Manotick Marina, Ottawa, passed down to the son and heir of the owner you probably met. Thanks for watching the video and I hope you enjoy watching some of our other episodes. Stay safe JnS xx
Hello and thanks for watching out videos. We are fine and back in the UK over summer school holidays - catching up on family and friends etc. I'll be working on editing the next video v. soon! Stay safe JnS xx
We’re really feeling well and enjoying Montenegro right now - videos of this country and Albania will eventually be edited and published. The Schengen 90/180 day restriction is a pain for in the … however we applied for and received a 6 month tourist visa for France. There’s a video about it on our channel page. Home means grandparenting, so I’m not complaining. Thanks for watching our amateur footage and antics. Stay safe JnS xx
Thanks for watching - 11.33m long, 3.6m wide, draft 0.8 to 2.4m and perfect for shallow motoring, deep sailing and close to shore anchoring 👍 Stay safe JnS xx
Brilliant vlog so professionally edited and very informative. We are building a widebeam canal boat with launch ETA of May 2025 and after a season in the UK intend to take her to France and spend a few seasons there. So now I’m looking forward to sitting back and watching a few more of your videos and becoming more knowledgeable. Cheers from downunder.
Thanks for your positive feedback Graham. I really appreciate that. You have a very exciting project with the boat build, and we wish you every success in your desire to boat through the canals of France. I’m intrigued to know if you are building the boat in Oz or in France. Best wishes.JnSxx Ps. The smaller canals have narrow locks and can be very shallow - especially during and after summer.
@@sailingoptions sorry should have said we are having the boat built in the UK by Bluewater Boats. Have had the most enjoyable afternoon watching about a dozen of your videos - have laughed out loud at some of your “adventures” and also recognised those times when you were challenged. keep in touch, cheers Swanny PS where are you now?
@@GrahamSwan-yi5gw those Bluewater wide beams are stunning and we met people on the rivers and canals who invited us aboard to stay - very different to our life living on the tilt! Right now we’re in Montenegro, heading today for Tivat area. I should think you’ll be biting at the bit to get your new floating home on the water. I hope you enjoy the UK canals especially the centrals. The channel crossing will be “interesting” ! Have you read “Narrow dog to Carcassonne”?
Hi John & Sheenagh. I hope you're both well. We've had all our boat maintenance carried out in Motril, Granada. We left Motril on the 28th April and we were in Ibiza a week later. On the way we got hit by a squall 18 miles off Alicante and were in 50 knots of wind with boat rounding up into the wind!!! From Ibiza we crossed to Palma Mallorca and then up to Alcudia. Last Wednesday we crossed to Menorca and stayed in Ciutadella marina for 5 days. We crossed back to Alcudia, Mallorca on Monday and that is where we currently are. With regards to your anchor, you should definitely upgrade to a Rocna and go one size bigger. You will never ever drag again and it will give Sheenagh total piece of mind. We dragged with our previous CQR anchor and upgraded to a Rocna 25kg. It was one of our best investments, that and our Torqeedo 1103 travel outboard. When you sail and you know high gusts are coming, which is inevitably always the case in the SOF you should only have a little bit of mainsail out. You can then easily reef the foresail to reduce sail quickly should the wind pick up. We had our solar installed on the rails like yourselves. We had two Victron 175 watt panels on separate Victron mppt controllers. It's working an absolute treat and most days we get a minimum 140 amps and some days in excess of 150 amps. How are you finding your solar? Let us know if you're thinking of heading towards the Balearics and we'll look out for you. Take care and sail safe. Daryl & Shirley.
Hi Daryl and Shirley, love your journey account from Southern Spain up to beautiful Mallorca and Menorca, we flotilla sailed there with our son back in 2016. Thanks for the advice too. Currently we are anchored in Montenegro heading north from Albania, so we won’t be meeting up anytime soon. Please accept my apologies for the delay in reality v posting videos - our last one “Jelly Sting” was filmed in late June 2023. I’m hoping to catch up to the present by 2025 🤣🤣🤣 so please be patient 🙏. We’ve mastered the reefing and anchoring, so Sheenagh is much more confident in the holding that our 15kg Bruce gives, but still prefers to be level like in a canal 😉. Always learning 👍👌 Thanks for your comment and don’t be shy in messaging us again - I hope we can help others enjoy the wonder of sailing and exploring by sea. Big hugs JnS xx
@@sailingoptions we'll be up to Carcassonne on Tuesday to meet some family and take them for a tour of the cite and a meal. Are you still down this way?
@@grahamepigney8565 have a great time with family 😀 Right now we’re sheltering from big waves in southern Adriatic. Tomorrow heading north towards Budva, Montenegro 👌
Nice to see you back. Hope Sheelah is ok. My daughter at 7 got stung by a jelly in Nerja a few years back. The helplessness is awful. Looks like you are ok and those starters you cooked ! ❤❤❤❤❤
Thanks for sticking with us and our learning - I’ve been trying out lapel type microphones and the DJI unit is excellent 👍 just have to remember to use it 🤣
Thanks - sorry for the delay in posting new content - we’re finding it difficult to get editing time because we’re enjoying the travelling so much! Big love JnS xx
Thanks for watching. In the statement which accompanied our application we stated that we lived aboard our boat, which was based at Port Napoleon. If you are land based and touring then you will need to include an itinerary, which you might keep as loose as possible but include destinations you will visit and hotels/camp sites etc. Hoping this helps you. Stay safe JnS
@@sailingoptions Thank you for the reply, I appreciate your insight. We have just completed our application and are in the process of booking the appointment. Was just a bit concerned as it asked for the address so I just put one where we have already booked a 1 month stay (with free cancellation policy) but just wanted to check to see whether their expectation would be that we will be in one place for the entire six months as our plan is to move about etc but I will try to book as much accommodation as I can and give a guide etc where hopefully this will be enough for them. Fingers crossed. Thanks again
Great video. I like the sailing boat your Swedish friends have, is it an LM? Just wondered about their draft, must be bigger than yours as not a swing keel...?
Hi! Sorry we haven't responded until now. I don't know the make of the Swedish boat, but it had a shallow draft keel and is smaller than the Southerly 115. I hope you enjoy watching some of our other videos. JnS xx
Hi! Sorry we've taken so long to respond. The boat is a Curtevenne Sport 980. Our friends sold it, went home to Duncan, Victoria, BC and bought a holiday home in Mexico!!! Thanks for watching and I hope you enjoy some of our other episodes. I'll be back on editing again v. soon, Stay safe JnS xx
Pity you skipped Arles, Its a lovely city with the famous Van Gogh connections and Roman ruins. We'll be going there and further down the Rhône as our draft is too great for your route. I was invited to a Camargue bullfight near Nîmes but not my cuppa tea. Funny eating Japanese in France but the best Japanese I've ever had was in Rio and the best Chinese in France!
Reference the issue with having to swap lines side to side, I'm debating how many to carry. I was thinking fore/aft and a single spring each side and a couple of extra long ones plus a couple of spares. I notice you have a mixture of twisted and braided. Do you use them for specific purposes? I have found the braids much easier to handle for locks and the like but twisted (with shock absorbers if necessary) when mooring for a while.
Hi! Sorry we haven't responded earlier! You're on the right tack with the mooring lines. WE use the rubber shock absorbers to get a quiet night when moored in Marinas when passing boats or swell cause the lines to creak around the cleat :) However, soft polyprop line is great to handle and stretches to eliminate "snatching". JnS
Hi! Thanks for asking 👍 Starboard is the French courtesy flag hoisted for being in France and port side is where club or personal flags/burgees are hoisted - ours is the Cruising Association (design combines signal flags for C and A). Membership provides oodles of information helping to wend our way through Europe 😀 JnSxx
Thanks for watching and I agree but internet connection has been awful with limited access recently being quite remote but you’ll see the video’s of this journey stage later 👍 We hope you like the stuff we’re creating. JnSxx
Thanks for the advice and for watching our amateur video. We are learning and honestly it’s difficult enough editing on the boat as it is 🫣😀 but I’ll seriously consider the voice over route. Hoping you watched other videos on the channel 👍 and appreciate your support. JnSxx
@@sailingoptions no absolutely thank you for posting these videos. I hope one day to do the same trip. So I appreciate them and it’s clear that you are both lovely natural people too. It’s a refreshing change from all the “influencers”
@@sailingoptions yes we watched it with interest. What type of things do you need for a extended visa also what about the boat , is there a timeliness for its allowed stay in the EU waters. ? Thanks for getting back to me.
@@anthonywhitehouse2295 the French authorities want you to spend your hard earned cash in their country and need to know that your self sufficient financially. They also request an itinerary or your tourist visit - we stated living aboard travelling the south coast of France with a base address of the overwinter boat yard in France. If your boat is Uk registered then you must check the latest EU regs via RYA or CA to determine length of time you can have your boat in Europe and return goods status. We don’t have that issue because our boat entered Europe while Uk was still in Europe in 2020. It’s complicated but doable.
@@sailingoptions that's very informative thank you. Our boat is still in the uk . We're trying to get as much information as possible so we can prepare for the future travels. Love watching you and your adventures keep the videos coming. God speed and fair winds.
Ahoy, love your videos very informative and well put together, I recently become a proud owner of Southerly 115 mk1 , iam going to move it to Canal to work on it so I have to unstep the mast and build a frame to put the mast on deck, do you know what is the clearance from water line to highest point of boat without the mast on and from waterline to deck please?
Hi thanks for watching and congrats on becoming a Southerly owner. My measurements on our Mk2 are: Waterline to mast step is 1.475m Highest point on our boat is the MFD housing at the helm, then there’s clearance to stand up at the helm. Waterline to full clearance including standing at the helm is 2.6m You should be careful and measure your own boat before going further really I think. There will be differences and getting it wrong at the lowest bridge could be costly 😳 Best wishes with your project 👍 JnS xx
@@sailingoptionsThank You wery mutch for your answer realy apricate it, lovest bridge on the avon and kenneth canal is 2.4m so i think i have to put it as close as possible and will have to duck 🙂 i better go this weekend for a cycle trip along the canal with a tape measure 🙂 fair winds.. will catch up one day if you go at this tempo on you Long way West 🙂 keep up with nice videos, i realy wish to see a boat tour one
I love switching off the engine 😀 and squeezing as much as our boat and sails can out of a good breeze 👍nothing better on the water! I’m glad you liked the extended sailing section. JnS xx
Hello friends! we were there in April 23. Nice to see that you visit the same places as we did. We went to Genoa and then back to the Netherlands because of the low water in the French canals. We especially liked Menton and the old town of San Remo. Enjoy and have fun! Ruud & Bep Fontaine
@@ruudfontaine great to hear from you and hope you’re both looking forward to getting out on the water very soon. You will get to these places much faster than we do in your beautiful speedy boat. Drop me a line and let us know your plans for this year 👍
Been through Marseille airport many times but never been to the city, will have to remedy that! BTW: Could you not buy an unlocked iPhone in France rathe than go through all that grief?
Fantastic! Really enjoyed following your trip as I hope to do it next year only, instead of turning left, Im going to go right into Spain a bit then back to got up the Canal du Midi
