Grrrrr…….eece!!! An Odyssey begins.
Caution this particular page is not really about fun cruising in Greece as our shitty luck continued. The following pages will be upbeat and about fun places and people I promise.
After a less than auspicious start at first light in Montenegro we headed down their coast through Albanian waters to Corfu. We had very high hopes for Greece, hoping the warm and benign cruising in the Ionian Sea would dissolve the recent stresses. As previously mentioned we were down to one engine due to a drive belt issue on the port engine after the new alternators were installed. The passage was largely uneventful, just lumpy with few favourable winds to assist over the 26 hours it took us.
Normally entry into Greece is considered straightforward albeit various officials in different departments in different ports interpret reasonably understandable rules, well,…… differently! With a view to gaining residency in Greece and for both of us with different nationalities in an Australian boat, we decided to make things as smooth as possible and engaged a local agent to navigate the labyrinth for us. Hopefully he would lay straight rails for the rest of our stay over the next 18 months at least off and on.
As Corfu hove into sight in the bright sunshine which had been absent for a few days, we were tired but quite excited especially with the prospect of seeing Cian and Hugh in the next couple of days and Pete and Deb Campbell also joining us in Corfu town.
Pericles our agent was prompt, helpful and friendly and whilst unfamiliar with gaining residency was hopeful of a quick turnaround with the Port Police, Customs and Immigration. Relatively unconcerned later in the day he contacted us saying there was a hiccup with Customs and our boat VAT paid status. Two days later we were getting concerned! It is a Greek thing and as we learnt, and the EU is continually pretty unimpressed with Greek implementation of EU regulations and interpretations.
At issue was their acceptance of the Bill of sale and invoice stating that Cooinda was EU VAT paid. The documents were fully EU compliant! We were given 30 days to sort it out or pay 200000 Euros + in VAT again or leave Greece. We felt very welcomed. We tried a number of avenues and engaged with Greek maritime and immigration lawyers to intercede with no joy for us.
Over the next couple of weeks I visited 3 further Customs offices and also contacted Head Office in Pireaus with the same stupid response each time. Their original issue then changed. They then wanted a letter from the French Tax department stating I had not received a VAT refund. I pointed out that it is hard to ask for proof of something that hasn’t happened. In any case the French just laughed and said “NON.” This request stemmed from the Cruising Association CA in the UK getting such letters of comfort for a few UK boats from one office of HMRC which tried to help post Brexit but ended up causing havoc for many.
Towards the end of our 30 days, by which time we were down near Preveza, we bit the bullet and on legal advice reflagged Cooinda to be a Polish boat. The Greeks could do nothing about this as all EU registered vessels have to be VAT paid and the Poles like other reasonable Europeans accepted our evidence. It was galling to give up our nationality, especially having spent 6 weeks waiting for our Australian reflagging at 150 euros a day in Menton.
So, 12 nm off the coast in international waters, with a toast of Polish vodka we begrudgingly lowered the Australian ensign and hoisted the Polish flag. Why Polish? The efficiency, timing and ease made the choice a no brainer. We considered Irish, but it takes quite some time which we didn’t have.
There is an upside with the EU flag in the freedom of movement it brings. It obviates the ridiculous Greek law saying foreign vessels captains must go to each port office of ports or harbours they visit to check in AND check out. This is not necessarily strictly enforced everywhere but in Greece you can’t know who will and who won’t.
