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AUTUMN CRUISE 2021

25 September to 12 October

We eventually got back to Island Drifter in Leros, Greece, on 25 September 2021, having left her in Moor & Dock’s boatyard at the north of the island at the end of November 2019.

      

Leros airstrip and our boatyard at Moor & Dock

We had planned and re-planned to return to the boat, if only to service her, during the interim period, but decided not to risk doing so in view of the dramatically changing Covid situation and regulations in both the UK and Greece.

With the plethora of misinformation in the media, we didn’t know what to expect in Greece. On arrival, we found that masks are mandatory in shops, banks and other public buildings. Covid cases in Leros itself have, however, been negligible and appear not to be of undue concern. The state of the economy is, however, and tourists are more than ever welcome.

NOVEMBER 2019

We had returned from Greece to the UK at the end of November 2019, having cruised the east coast of the Peloponnese island, south of Athens, before returning to Leros where we had ID lifted out – little knowing that it would be almost two years before we saw her again.

Route taken on Peloponnese cruise

Our intention then was to return to Greece in the spring of 2020 and cruise the west coast of the Peloponnese, before returning to the Aegean through the Corinth Canal and thence to Leros.

Peloponnese island separated from mainland by the Corinth Canal

As it happens, the Corinth Canal has suffered a number of landslides that have closed it to all traffic. There is no indication as to when it might re-open.

COVID-19

Over Christmas 2019 and New Year Mike caught a virus that totally incapacitated him for a week or so; indeed, it took him over a month or more to recover. At the time the GP couldn’t identify what it was and simply prescribed antibiotics suitable for a chest infection. He’s since agreed that the symptoms were identical to those of Covid-19 – which was believed not to have reached UK at that time (we now know better!).

In late February 2020 we went to our beach chalet at Calshot to install a new water heater and to do some essential maintenance work. We’d already booked flights to Leros for 18 March.

On 17 March 2020, the Foreign Office advised against all but essential travel, thereby invalidating our health insurance should we have elected to ignore that advice. We therefore cancelled our flights.

Aegean Airlines’ interpretation of their liability (which we believe was wrong, but who can afford to sue them over it?) allowed them to deduct all but £28 of the £400+ we’d paid, on the basis that the differential was in respect of ‘admin charges’. Fortunately, our Lloyds travel insurance covered us for having to cancel due to Foreign Office advice and we were therefore able to recover the balance of our flight costs.

Needless to say, travel insurers now appear to have modified their contracts to cover one only in respect of Foreign Office adverse advice once one has left the UK.

On 23 March 2020, the first lockdown was imposed. We therefore chose to stay and finish the work on the chalet, avoiding all local contacts, before returning to Harrogate on 4 April 2020.

Mike enjoying a G&T break in March 2020 at the end of a hard day’s work

Thereafter we followed with interest the evolving Covid situation, complied with the rules and had a 2-month summer holiday back at Calshot, where we mixed with family and friends carefully outdoors – as advised! We did some Wayfarer sailing in the Solent, which partly eased Mike’s sailing withdrawal symptoms.

Mike sailing his Wayfarer past the beach chalet

We now realise, after 25 years’ ownership including the last two summers of ‘Staycation’ use by ourselves and our two sons and their families, what a wonderful investment our beach chalet has been.

While some fellow sailors did return to their boats in Greece, given that we had another option for the summer, we didn’t think it was worth the risk of getting locked down (or ill!) abroad.

Once the second wave of Covid began, we gave up any thoughts of returning to the boat in 2020 and made the best of the winter at home in Harrogate. With half-day walks every day we became as fit as the proverbial butcher’s dog!

In terms of communication, we, like many families, simply stayed at home, and Zoomed family and friends – a technique we mastered during Covid that has since proved to be at least one benefit of the pandemic for us. Also, like for many others, our family Christmas was ‘Cancelled’.

Enjoying Christmas dinner – on our own

The third wave of the pandemic, the fact that Greece was on the Amber list (the rules of which appeared to change at a moment’s notice) and the fact that we don’t like sailing in Greece in mid-summer (too hot) terminated any thoughts we had of returning there until the autumn. Instead, we enjoyed another summer at our beach chalet.

Calshot beach

Once the new Covid testing and quarantine rules were announced, we immediately booked flights to Leros for 24 September 2021.

BREXIT

By then, the UK had left the EU and we now fell foul of Schengen regulations, from which we were previously exempt.

We, as individuals, are now restricted to visiting Europe (not just one country in Europe) for 90 days in any rolling 180 days. Not actually an easy calculation.  (An app has in consequence already been written to avoid travellers being fined for overstaying their ‘welcome’.) Not an insurmountable problem as far as we are concerned. Other non-Europeans having been successfully doing the ‘Schengen Dance’ (as it’s fondly known) for years. Nevertheless, it’s an additional consideration, particularly when balancing seasonal weather and days used/available with flight costs.

We gather that while Europeans are allowed up to 180 consecutive days in any year in the UK, they are not limited by the 90/180-day rule referred to above, and they can relatively easily get a visa for longer periods. There is a hope that reciprocal terms may be negotiated for Brits in Europe – but we’re not holding our breath!

Meanwhile, the Greeks, in the absence of any EU initiative, have altruistically introduced a system of ‘Temporary Residency’ (which doesn’t have the same tax implications of Residency as we know it). In effect, it gives the holder basically the same rights as Europeans have in the UK – but only in Greece. We have yet to apply for this residency now that we have become fully aware of it. We have not been able to do so on this trip, which was exploratory. (The bureaucracy involved is considerable and takes time.)

It initially appeared that following Brexit the boat would be limited to 18 months in European waters, after which we would have to take the boat out of those waters for at least a day (!) before returning to avoid paying Greek VAT. We have, however, managed to obtain from Greek Customs an Unlimited Transit Log (UTL) which formally evidences the fact that our boat was in Greece on 31 December 2020 and that VAT had been paid on it, thereby, hopefully, enabling us to avoid arguments with officials at every port. The UTL even allows boats to be taken out of Greek waters for up to a continuous three years – when cruising elsewhere.

While Greece responded promptly and realistically to their tourist crisis, the UK government to date has simply exacerbated the situation for British cruisers abroad. Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) announced that British boats that were abroad on 31 December 2020 must return to the UK by 30 June 2022 if they are to avoid being charged VAT again, based on a non-negotiable HMRC valuation. Can you believe it?

We gather from Chris Robb of the Cruising Association that they have taken Counsel’s advice and that this ruling by HMRC is illegal, albeit that has not yet been proven in the Courts. Indeed, we gather that neither the CA nor the RYA can get a single MP to take any serious interest in this blatant misuse of authority. (Reminiscent of the period when Customs impounded and crushed over 20,000 cars following the EU’s directive that unlimited of quantities alcohol could be imported if ‘for one’s own use’.)

We are left, therefore, with the decision next year as to whether we sail back 3000 miles to the UK (for one day!) to get evidence of the boat’s return before 30 June 2022 (and then turn round and sail 3000 miles back again) – or hope that, in the meantime, commonsense and reason will prevail. Again, we are not holding our breath.

RETURN TO GREECE

We travelled overnight to Greece, leaving Heathrow at 2215 hrs on Friday 24 September 2021, with a stop-over until dawn in Athens, before departing on a small turbo-prop plane for the one-hour flight to Leros.

Dawn at Athens airport as we left for Leros

After arriving at 0800 hrs at Leros airstrip, some 400 metres from our boatyard, we spent the rest of the morning unloading the boat on to a raft of pallets on the ground (which we kept covered under the neighbouring yacht) in preparation for a major clean-up.

SERVICING AND MAINTENANCE

After an initial review of the boat, we concluded that while, outside, it was absolutely and completely coated in red Saharan dust (known locally as ‘Gaddafi Dust’!), the interior was unaffected. Fortunately, we had removed and stowed below all deck gear including sails and running rigging. Those boats that had also been left for an equivalent time and had not taken these measures have had real problems.

On arrival, our boat did not look to be covered in red Saharan dust – but it was!

During our absence, ID had been moved to the perimeter of the boatyard. In this new location, we had stunning views from the cockpit.

View from cockpit within the boatyard

Sun setting over the boatyard

At midday we stopped work and drove in our hire car (delivered to us at the boat) to one of our favourite tavernas, Artemis, at the gorgeous bay of Blefoutis, some 2 kms away. After a very long lunch we had a belated siesta, before provisioning at the local supermarket.

Lunch at Artemis Taverna, near the boatyard

We had a quiet evening planning our work schedule. In particular, we now recognised that the rigging was absolutely filthy and could not be properly cleaned on the hard. If we were to get it clean, we would need to launch and motor the 10 kms down to the boatyard’s marina in Lakki in order to avoid getting the sails permanently stained by the red dust encrusted on the shrouds and stays. Just in case of an engine problem, however, we would need to have the No 2 genoa and mizzen ready for use.

We knew that it would take us time to acclimatise to the heat and workload, so we got up before dawn to start work each day, had a siesta after lunch, and worked again in the cool of the evening.

Fortunately, with a car for the first few days, we were able to quickly get around and visit chandleries, hardware stores, supermarkets, etc. It also enabled us to meet and re-establish contacts and, indeed, to enjoy a meal or two out.

Lunch in Lakki

Before leaving Leros in 2019, we had totally cleaned and serviced, as appropriate, everything on board. Once back in the boatyard this year, we concentrated on pressure-washing the hull and deck and checking that everything worked properly.

Helen pressure-washing the deck

Probably unsurprisingly, we found that several things did not work, most of which we fixed ourselves and a couple of which we got the boatyard to address.

Nikos, who has worked in the boatyard for 24 years, 

insisted on antifouling the pad patches prior to launch

During the first few days we serviced those items on the boat that needed attention, including the engine, vulnerable parts (such as the 13 port rubber seals and 9 seacocks), and flushing the two water tanks which we’d left full of a strong solution of Puri-Clean. We also reviewed gear and disposed of a significant quantity of items which we decided we really did not need. Some of the non-perishable provisions left on board were now out of date – but fortunately the gin and Metaxa were not!

LAUNCH

Having originally planned in the UK that, if necessary, we would simply service the boat and then return to the UK, it soon became obvious that an autumn cruise in Greece this year was a quite practical and attractive proposition. We therefore decided that we would go for it, albeit for a more limited period than in previous autumns.

Before launch we antifouled with the local product, used by fishermen, with which for our previous cruise in 2019 we’d overcoated our original Coppercoat. It had proved extremely effective.

Mike antifouling

We were the first boat launched on 5 October at 0800 hrs – after settling our account (‘no cash, no splash’).

ID in the travel lift on way to the launch dock. 

In the foreground is the hydraulic sledge which allows boats 

to be parked in narrower spaces than the travel lift can access

Thereafter we motored south, as planned, to Lakki marina where fortunately we had booked a berth (our contract with the boatyard gives us 30 free days a year on their quay). The French crew of the yacht approaching the quay in front of us were not amused when they were turned away and WE slipped into the one remaining berth available.

Lakki waterfront with Italianate building viewed from ID

It took three half-days to clean the standing rigging and another day and a half to put up the halyards and bend on the sails. The violent rainstorm (the first rain in Leros since February this year) we had the day after completing the cleaning of the rigging gave it the final washdown it needed.

Helen cleaning the standing rigging

Again, we tried to work in the early mornings and evenings – and have a siesta each afternoon. One additional advantage of being in the marina was that 400 metres away at the ferry terminal is what is said to be the best souvlaki joint on the island. We could eat (and drink) out there for less than 10 Euros a head.

Enjoying an excellent souvlaki supper at the nearby ferry terminal’s café

During our time in both Moor & Dock’s boatyard and at their ‘marina’ in Lakki, we were delighted to meet old friends again: Dave and Anne-Marie (Rappel); Roger and Freda (Maresca); Glenn and Margaret (Cynosure); Simon and Lin Clarke (Mia Hara); Julien and Josiane (Taurus) and John and Maggie (Lazy Pelican) – with whom we’ve kept in contact since leaving Greece, pre-Covid, in November 2019. We also met and enjoyed the company of Juan and Rose from Uruguay (Capicua) and Christian and Marie from France (Rose de Vents).

We are now preparing for sea and plan to leave Lakki in the next day or so in advance of a southerly gale which will make our berth untenable. Unlike our previous cruises where we had a specific objective, this time we are simply going to go with the wind – making sure that we can get back to Leros in time to put ID properly to bed for the winter before catching our flight back to the UK at the beginning of December.