Effect of coronavirus on UK/European sailing?

Mike the best thing people can do at the moment is stay put and stay at home , people really must be out of there mind to get on a plane at this time, that's if they can find a flight.
As far as we concern and when I say we , I mean us who are stuck on our boat is stopping people coming back from all over Europe is the best thing,
Although we been doing this life for a very long time believe me when I say being confined to your boats stop being fun very quickly.
There no leaving marinas any more or going out for a day sail. You can't do any work because every thing is close.
The odd time you meet another yachtie you having to raise you voice to talk to them as your keeping your distance.
No one is inviting anyone for drinks on board.
And although there no panic and we are all very claim about it, after all we use to staying claim in times of desperation we all very worried how this is going to pain out.
 
sailaboutvic said:
Mike the best thing people can do at the moment is stay put and stay at home , people really must be out of there mind to get on a plane at this time, that's if they can find a flight.
As far as we concern and when I say we , I mean us who are stuck on our boat is stopping people coming back from all over Europe is the best thing,
Although we been doing this life for a very long time believe me when I say being confined to your boats stop being fun very quickly.
There no leaving marinas any more or going out for a day sail. You can't do any work because every thing is close.
The odd time you meet another yachtie you having to raise you voice to talk to them as your keeping your distance.
No one is inviting anyone for drinks on board.
And although there no panic and we are all very claim about it, after all we use to staying claim in times of desperation we all very worried how this is going to pain out.
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And where are you sailaboutvic?

Meanwhile Montenegro is turning away boats that try to enter
Lefkas marina has closed its office to visitors and asks for everything to be done by email as has Gouvia

We are not flying out on 29th March to Lefkas even if the flight still happens.

TS
 
tudorsailor said:
And where are you sailaboutvic?

Meanwhile Montenegro is turning away boats that try to enter
Lefkas marina has closed its office to visitors and asks for everything to be done by email as has Gouvia

We are not flying out on 29th March to Lefkas even if the flight still happens.

TS
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Hi TS
We in Licata Sicily and well and truly stuck like many others all over and not just the EU.
Our options are ZERO now , nearly every country in the EU have stop welcoming boats and the once that are still open my guess is there won't be for much longer.
Staying put is the best thing everyone can do be it if your still at home or on a boat, our experience is people who decided to make a run for it are now in a worst position, some we are in contract with are now stuck at anchor in another country and they not allowed to get off for 14 days and that includes going for food , arrangement are made at their cost to have food brough and ferry out to them, needless to say their not happy.
two boats we know well are in hinding in a bay ?????? Hoping they not going to be spotted.
There one boat we know who,left Tunisia for Malta and now there are also stuck at anchor and told not to move for 14 days , there not sure what they will do if the bay there in become untenable if the weather changes .
Two boats left the marina early week as the ban came in one headed for pantellria an Italian island some 70 NM SW just to be told they couldn't anchor and had to sail on, the other sailed straight to France we not hear any more from both boats.
awaiting emails.
Although I swore I wouldn't go back to Greece for the foreseeable future if it was the only place left open I would have to swallow my words and go for it but the fact is that Greece will being in tougher restrictions.
So for now we just doing the most sensible thing and stay put, the fear is we may still be here six months down the line.
 
We were due to be launched at Cleopatra (Preveza, Greece) on May 1st. I cancelled the launch (and probably our summer season), a week ago. Since then, the situation seems to have deteriorated.

I decided that if either of us contracts the virus I’d rather be in the UK. Also, since the virus is concentrated in Xanti and the Peloponesse, our cruising area would be too restricted.

Anyway, I‘m happy with the decision, but unhappy to have to make that decision. I Imagine that a few ’house jobs’ will now be unavoidable in the next few months though.

It’s just such a shame that this could be the last year of free movement in the EU for us.
 
Yesterday I messed around in A Spanish marina, helping refit a keel, drinking coffee, washing down boat ready for a sail today. Suddenly we are state of emergency. Shops shut, marina shut. Police patrolling streets, bars, cafes all shut. Restricted movement. People not allowed to walk the streets. Flights turned around. I was very unbelieving of this “emergency” until today. UK may be next week. Forget about making any plans, just take it a day at a time. We’ll mostly be OK, but it feels very strange.
 
My daily routine was waking up, making coffee then picking up the internet and look at the weather now the first page I hit is the BBC news hope to read something good only to be dash with more lockdowns and the virus spending further .
Today we on our six day of lock down life just isn't the same although we all trying hard to adjust to it and make the best of it ,
any other Sunday we looking forward to our marina BBQ, but not today.
Yesterday was spend walking around a almost ghost town with a sheet of paper in out back pack to saying we are out and about to find a pharmacy in case the police stops us, how unreal is that.
The most surprise thing this week is how the people in Sicily are respecting what they are asked to do ,
I mean the Italians like the Greek and Spanish and other Med folks take rules with a pinch of salt but for now most are doing what's asked from them one good example is we not seeing the panic buying of food that's happen back home .
There no more hugging and kissing and people are keeping distance to each other.
 
I'm back home in Kuşadası after a couple of days in hospital in Istanbul. There have only been 6 confirmed cases of virus in Turkey so people generally are not taking it too seriously yet - some panic buying but still shaking hands and kissing acquaintances they meet while stripping the supermarket shelves. No particular precautions that I saw at the Turkish Airlines lounge at Sabiha Gokcen airport in Istanbul on departure or in Izmir airport on arrival. Schools are all closed but the Turkish Super Lig football matches continuing without spectators. Flights from 9 European countries have been banned but not including UK and Ireland although that may change in the coming week.
I expect the number of confirmed cases here will escalate in the coming week and people will start to take more precautions.
No restrictions in the marinas and boats out and about as i look from my terrace this morning.
If anyone on here has a boat in Kuşadası that they would like me to have a look at to be sure it's OK please feel free to PM me and I'll do what I can.
 
Irish Rover said:
I'm back home in Kuşadası after a couple of days in hospital in Istanbul. There have only been 6 confirmed cases of virus in Turkey so people generally are not taking it too seriously yet - some panic buying but still shaking hands and kissing acquaintances they meet while stripping the supermarket shelves. No particular precautions that I saw at the Turkish Airlines lounge at Sabiha Gokcen airport in Istanbul on departure or in Izmir airport on arrival. Schools are all closed but the Turkish Super Lig football matches continuing without spectators. Flights from 9 European countries have been banned but not including UK and Ireland although that may change in the coming week.
I expect the number of confirmed cases here will escalate in the coming week and people will start to take more precautions.
No restrictions in the marinas and boats out and about as i look from my terrace this morning.
If anyone on here has a boat in Kuşadası that they would like me to have a look at to be sure it's OK please feel free to PM me and I'll do what I can.
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Seems some doubt about the reliability of tests in Turkey
Turkey's control of coronavirus testing kits fuels concerns over cover-up - surgeon | Ahval
US surgeon casts doubt on testing kits behind Turkey’s ‘one coronavirus case’ claim
 
jordanbasset said:
Seems some doubt about the reliability of tests in Turkey
Turkey's control of coronavirus testing kits fuels concerns over cover-up - surgeon | Ahval
US surgeon casts doubt on testing kits behind Turkey’s ‘one coronavirus case’ claim
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I can't obviously comment on the reliability of the tests but the anecdotal evidence in Western turkey at least suggests not too many people are sick with it. As I said I was in hospital for 2 days in Istanbul and the doctors and nurses there told me there was no evidence of increased incidence of sickness. I have 3 very close doctor friends in Kuşadası and they are telling me the same. Another friend owns a large private hospital in a nearby rural town and he says they're seeing no increase in patient numbers. All say we cannot escape what is happening globally and it will accelerate here soon.
 
Just heard that in Belgium any form of watersports is prohibited until early april. The news stipulated that this includes solo sailing in Belgium territorial waters of the North Sea. Everyone has to stay at home. "Home" in this message very specifically is defined as "bricks on land".
 
PHN said:
Just heard that in Belgium any form of watersports is prohibited until early april. The news stipulated that this includes solo sailing in Belgium territorial waters of the North Sea. Everyone has to stay at home. "Home" in this message very specifically is defined as "bricks on land".
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Measures don't have to be logical. I don't understand, for instance, the teams of sprayers shown on TV walking down streets pouring disinfectant on the ground like weird dance troops. Even the Pope must have suspended kissing of the ground these days...

By contrast, wiping contact surfaces seems sensible.

Mike.
 
Babylon said:
Firstly, I'm surprised that its taken this long for this topic to be directly raised in Scuttlebutt - so well done Dom.

Secondly, having now gone ahead with having my boat lifted out for a month (which could mean the planned re-launch date is delayed for some considerable time?) my personal analysis is this: during an extended peak crisis I'd rather be at home in the village with loads of countryside around me for walks and a garden for the puppy, a well-stocked freezer and larder, home maintenance and garden jobs, my son's stuff all here, fully functioning broadband, a plywood tender to continue building, nearby hills for radio-controlled slope soaring, my voluntary-job to carry out if I can in the local town, etc.

Alternative: stuck (possibly in crap weather) someone on the South Coast on a 27 footer in an Italian-style lockdown??
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We have that dilemma. Currently in the Grenadines in our boat but off to Grenada tomorrow before they close the border. At least in Grenada we are relatively safe from Hurricanes, we can live comfortably on the boat in nice weather in a self isolation kind of existence if we need to. If we left the boat and went home we could be in a hot bed of virus in a couple of weeks time with an ineffectual NHS that needs 500,000 ventilators and has only 5000. Its not ideal but its a reasonable option at the moment
 
PHN said:
Just heard that in Belgium any form of watersports is prohibited until early april. The news stipulated that this includes solo sailing in Belgium territorial waters of the North Sea. Everyone has to stay at home. "Home" in this message very specifically is defined as "bricks on land".
Click to expand...

I can confirm that the Ministry of Transport has stated that all watersports are prohibited in Belgian waters, including the territorial waters, until 3 April.
This seems strange, it is a simple application of the ban on organised recreational sports, without apparently knowing how yachting works. In times like these it is always easier to impose blanket bans than make endless distinctions based on subtleties.
The good news is of course that most people haven’t started the new season, but if this pandemic drags on, the consequences may be more serious. Working on the boat on the hard is still allowed, so that is what we do for the time being.
Of course in the bigger,picture this is a non-issue, there are plenty more serious things to worry about.
 
Babylon said:
Public gatherings of more than 100 people have been banned in France, but it has been reported that demonstrations are exempt."
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“Hypocrisy is a fashionable vice, and all fashionable vices pass for virtue.”

Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (Moliere), French Playwright, 1622-73
 
Marina Veruda near Pula in Croatia has mailed owners asking for all requests/contact to be by mail or phone and payment by internet banking.

Looks like the boat is out of service until this pandemic has subsided - quite apart from all the closed borders and lockdowns I'd need to cross to get there.

Looks like this season is over before it has begun. Such is life. ?⛵☀
 
Baggywrinkle said:
Marina Veruda near Pula in Croatia has mailed owners asking for all requests/contact to be by mail or phone and payment by internet banking.

Looks like the boat is out of service until this pandemic has subsided - quite apart from all the closed borders and lockdowns I'd need to cross to get there.

Looks like this season is over before it has begun. Such is life. ?⛵☀
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No doubt they still expect to get paid....
 
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