Purchasing a Jeanneau in Med

[mlibkind]

I've been sailing with a club in San Francisco Bay and crewing for others on cruises. Now it is time to buy a boat and have more control of my own destiny.

I'm looking for a 2000 to 2008 Jeanneau 45 with traditional rigging (not in-mast furling). Traditional rigging is not common in the U.S. but easy to find in the Mediterranean area.

I'm wondering if anyone out there has bought a boat in the Med and then brought it back to the U.S. (after cruising the Med). I wonder what the pros and cons are.

I know that the European boats will come with 220V circuits and that will have to be changed to 110V. Seems like that should not be difficult and I can't think of any equipment on board that would be 220 and have to be changed out ... other than maybe a microwave or some other small appliance.

Any insight you can give will be appreciated.

[aussieodyssey]

You would also have to change the hot water service element and any inverters on board.

Greg

[Zanshin]

Due to European voltage being 220V@50Hz and American being 110V@60Hz the amperage ratings that a line can carry and the current drop for a given line diameter are different. Generally going from U.S. to European is good, going the other way means you need to ensure that you aren't drawing too much power.
All the AC electrics would need to be looked at - from battery chargers to AC water heaters. But there is hope, as I do with my 220V boat while in the Caribbean where many marinas don't have 220V. Often they will "fake" 220V by doubling up 2 110V leads, giving me the requisite 220V but with 60Hz instead of 50Hz. My battery charger (a Victron) couldn't care less but anything with an electric motor (vacuum cleaner, coffee machine, washing machine) will run up to 20% faster and hotter. The real problem is with Air conditioning units and the Waeco units installed by Jeanneau can run at either 50 or 60Hz and won't burn out.
Thus you might just want to keep your 220V boat at 220V even in the US. A lot of modern electrical devices will run at either 110V or 220V so that shouldn't be an issue.

[davidknell]

One factor is that you'll probably find that VAT (sales tax) has already been paid on boats in the Med - unless you head East towards Greece/Turkey/Croatia. This is approximately 20% of the value of the boat and is worth nothing if you're planning to take the boat back to the USA.

You might also find some of the paperwork a bit baroque - we bought ours in Greece a couple of years ago; the legal system here is idiosyncratic at best, and the Hellenic Registry of Shipping, motto "Efficiency Integrity Credibility...", is widely reputed to be lacking in most of these.

--Dave

[davidlymn]

We bought an Espace 1100 in the Med and leave it there. I agree with comments about size of cables; you should install a 110/220v transformer and leave everything as is on board. If you buy a boat that has EU VAT paid, you will lose that immediately. Having VAT paid is no asset to nonEU owners. It also means that you must register your boat in the US before you sail back there. Without registration, you might not benefit from the protection agreements the US have made with other countries in an emergency. This took me three months and $1200 in Australia. I even had to get all foreign documentation translated into English.

[alcheringa]

We bought our 2005 43DS in Mallorca Spain in July of this year. It was an interesting experience to say the least. We covered detail in two episodes of our blog if you're interested.

dreamtimesail.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-joys-of-buying-yacht-in-spain-part_2045.html

dreamtimesail.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-joys-of-buying-yacht-in-spain-part-2.html

Good luck.