Known for it
by John Curnow, Editor, Sail-WorldCruising.com 5 Dec 2018 21:00 UTC
A stunning anchorage at Kalymnos, Greece © Hilda J Luyt
Interesting laws and even more intriguing interpretations of them is pretty much a byword in those parts. Lord knows they have been labelled an economic basket case, and far, far worse in recent times. Yet when you have a law that says that because you have reinforcing bars sticking out of the pillars of your house, for you are going to do a second story one day (... not), then you don't have to pay tax on the dwelling, well, what do you expect?
Similarly, when they finally did a fly over a well-to-do area of Athens, and found that there were something in the order of 3,000 pools in the ground, yet something like just three were on the books, well, low and behold, it was another flouting of the rules.
So a while back when the Greeks announced they were going to implement a cruising boat tax, well it received the furore it deserved. It also had some very intriguing policing aspects to it as well. 'Quelle surprise', I hear you all say... It is hardly surprising then to learn that a newer, updated TEPAH (version # 'whatever' by now) was almost secretly legislated, mandated, launched, and due for payment, all in back half of November, 2018!
Already, prudent sailors/owners do not Winterize their boats their for a host of reasons, and now with payments held over until April 2, 2019, there is a solid chance they will affect their own season, let alone all the economic benefits of food and beverage consumption, airport taxes, marina berthing, fuel excise, chartering, consumption taxes, and so on, and so on... Yes. It smells of shoestring productions' latest delivery of an ill-conceived idea.
Naturally, confusion reigns supreme, with the tax to be paid only online at www.aade.gr, yet not only is this not operational as yet (and is only available in Greek BTW), it is not clear if it is even linked to their recently launched e-registration for vessels, which is also a new item on the agenda. Oh, yes. Nice work team!
At any rate, the Cruising Association is hard at work trying to make sense of it all, and have the Greeks implement something that is workable, and understandable. Here. Here. Good luck, and thanks on behalf of everyone. Lots of people will be losing their hair (Boom, boom, Basil Brush) over this, and I am so glad it is not me.
All right. Let's get onto something a bit more palatable as we wind up, and it is linked by virtue of being about the Med. Saw a note from a sailor who wanted to bring a boat from Europe to the Pacific North West, and was asking about the best route. His main reason for shopping so far afield was that the price points made the boats he wanted far more attainable. OK, fair enough.
Yet it is a long way, and I am not entirely sure the sailor had the kind of experience to pull it off, but at least the question was being asked. Would you sail it yourself, use a delivery crew, or ship it. Now that is all fine, but the really important element was that if you were going that far, would you use it for a few years there to see some stuff, then do the Caribbean and the Canal, before making it to the Pacific, seeing Hawaii maybe, and then up on home? It is a lot better than going up over the top, which could be fatal, but alas, does require loads of time and money. At that point, buying something local may well turn out to be cheaper if all you really wanted to do was use it at home! So many self-builds sit languishing in paddocks because the budget to include rigs, sails, berthing, fuel, time off work, food, and a million other things were not entirely factored in. Just saying... It is important to conceptualise the whole deal, not just the entry ticket.
OK. Today you will find that we have information for you from Portugal, Tasmania, illegal fishing, the Coral Sea, the Caribbean, South Africa, Raymarine radios, the Young Endeavour, cleaning up Midway, looking after Sea Lions, whales, flounder in Boston Harbour, as well as much more.
So you see, there are stories, lessons, inspirations and history to regale yourself with. Please do savour... We're really enjoying bringing you the best stories from all over the globe. If you want to add to that, then please make contact with us via email.
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In the meantime, do you love being on the ocean? Well remember to love them back too. They need our help. Now more than ever! Until next time...
John Curnow
Editor, Sail-WorldCruising.com