Mykonos marina warning

[Chris_Robb]

There is currently a major problem in this marina.

60% of the lazy lines are missing, and boats are having to anchor stern too the west quay. Mykonos has the reputation of being the windiest place in Greece so pay attention!!!!

The harbour has several VERY heavy ground chains running the length of the harbour. In the last 3 days no fewer than 5 boats have had to have a diver to retrieve their anchors. It is too deep for you to recover yourself as it is up to 10 meters deep in places. The cost of the diver is €100.

This morning we had a meeting with the Mayor of Mykonos and the Port Manager, which was very productive where we presented a petition signed by all the yachts in the marina.

They have commissioned a diver to quote on restoring the 36 lazy lines, which are mostly on the bottom following cutting by propellers. These were all new at the start of last year!

Following the quote, the Mayor will, (if the money is available,) authorise the reinstatement of the lines, which is not a difficult job. He hopes that it will be finished by the weekend.

They have asked all Yachts NOT TO USE AN ANCHOR IN THE PORT.

Other notes following successful docking:

Water and electric is available on the West quay in 3 places ONLY: one at either end of the yacht mooring area and one in the middle of the mooring area. It is NOT available anywhere else - all the others are switched off. You have to buy a key fob at the Kiosk at the cost of €30. The number of ports are limited to 4 x 3 = 12 water and electric points. Because of the bulk purchase - enough water and electric for a couple of weeks the points are hogged by permanent boats, however if you are lucky you will get one.
We have been allowing others to use our pipe to fill up at €3 a tank full (breaking even on cost) so try asking someone connected if you can buy water from them.

Note: The reason the others are switched off is that they were unmetered and people were using unlimited amounts to wash boats. Mykonos has a severe water shortage and most is from a desalination plant. Be reasonable in your consumption.

 

[vyv_cox]

The cost of the diver is €100.

the 36 lazy lines, which are mostly on the bottom following cutting by propellers.

Or cut by the diver??? Sounds like a good investment in his time.

 

[Chris_Robb]

Or cut by the diver??? Sounds like a good investment in his time.

I was amazed at how easily I got to see the Mayor! Lets hope they do something. When the diver was here, we asked him to check our anchors - he wanted €100 per boat to check Foxtrot Oscar I think! - I now have the port managers mobile to call him if I have ANY problem!

 

[grumpygit]

[QUOTE=Chris_Robb;2973184

It is too deep for you to recover yourself as it is up to 10 meters deep in places. The cost of the diver is €100.

____________________________________________________

€100, not a bad price, the divers in Aigina which have sole rights to dive usually charge between €200 to €300 to recover your anchor.

If you try a DIY dive they (divers) go screaming to the Port Police and they haul you in and threaten you with akin to the death penalty........I've got the tee shirt for that one.

Good luck with you efforts with the Mayor and I hope it all comes to a happy end. I do hope you get gratification for your efforts.

_____________________________________________________

 

[Mr Cassandra]

Please remember however charming and kind you find the majority of Greek people, there are still a lot of them, that don`t think we are tourists but. PREY

 

[SeamanStaines]

It is too deep for you to recover yourself as it is up to 10 meters deep in places.[/I]

Ten Meters is not deep for a free snorkel dive if you are properly weighted. The old basic open water test for BSAC snorkeling used to be seven meters and that was usually done in a freezing cold quarry!

At Swansea when we used to have the tank we could comfortably get novices doing an eight meter dive (that involved swimming through a grate) and have thirty second bottom time, plenty to clip a recovery line on to either the anchor or the offending chain.

Practice!

 

[Chris_Robb]

Ten Meters is not deep for a free snorkel dive if you are properly weighted. The old basic open water test for BSAC snorkeling used to be seven meters and that was usually done in a freezing cold quarry!

At Swansea when we used to have the tank we could comfortably get novices doing an eight meter dive (that involved swimming through a grate) and have thirty second bottom time, plenty to clip a recovery line on to either the anchor or the offending chain.

Practice!

Ya ya ya ---- I used to spear fish at 60 ft - but I was 22 then - now just a tad older. At the end of the yachting season I am sure I could get down, but not when its been tooo cold to swim here! 15C I only go in at 18C

 

[Ariadne]

La Caletta (Sardinia) May 2009.

Picked up a lazy line while moving berth (the line was too short so it was just below the surface!), in rainy windy sort of way.

Donned snorkel, etc, and jumped in - 2 nano seconds later the local diver comes screaming up screaming and shouting about me doing my own line recovery/prop clearence. He is the only person licenced and allowed by the Port Captain to dive in the harbour. I verified this as he was going to €250.00 to clear the prop.

I got him down to €100.00 after a short discussion in pidgeon itallian concerning his parentage and his Mafiosa connections. I had to pay, as I had no other choice, and we were opposite the Port Captains window who now alerted to our plight. So maybe €100, in Mykonos ain't too bad.

I tried to claim it back from the marina but as you can imagine it wasn't thier fault it was too short - it was the yachts who kept cutting it and making it shorter.

 

[Chris_Robb]

Today I had a progress report from the Manager - and the Mayor of Mykonos. They are making a major effort to reverse the criticism on the various forae.

This is the update - with good info on which places for yachts to go to, and also what they are doing to change the supply in water etc. with all the phone numbers you will ever need.

Dear Christopher,

We had an offer from the authorized diver (by Coast Guard), that will be discussed in the next board of Municipal Port Authority.
However, Nikos Rossolatos (security guy as mentioned on Forums) dived with sacrifice to repair 35 lazy lines, since 10th of June.
Hence we have 40 lazy lines on inner west quay.
In addition, Nikos managed to repair 34 on eastern quay, 24 for sailing boats and 10 for small yachts.

Reading your comments on forums, I would like to mention that wind gusts on west quay are strong, hence we suggest to sailing boats to use lazy lines on eastern quay close to OLIA hotel. In the near future we will manage to get water and electricity there, for sailing boats.

Pilots do not forget to contact Coast Guards before the entrance of our port.
Coast Guard tel. +30-22890-22218, fax. +30-22890-27825 VHF Ch 12 or 16

In addition, I suggest to all of you to follow the directions of Coast Guard & the security guy (NIKOS) for your own safety, because Coast Guard & Nikos knows exactly which lazy line is the best according to boats' length and which position is better for each type of boat, in addition they know the depth of each position.

Sailing boats avoid to use the west quay because the lazy line lengths are more or less for 20-25m yachts, according to our Master Plan that you have already studied in my office, hence lines are short for sailing boats.

In addition, authorized diver according to Coast Guard is Mr. Sgourakis Konstantinos (Kostas) and you can call on Tel. +30-22890-26539 or Mob. +30-6946383115, probably the negative comments about the diver in Mykonos happened because nobody called the authorized diver.
In the near future will have more divers contacts from the Coast Guards.
However, avoid to use anchors close to lazy lines, Nikos Rossolatos will give a guide to pilots where they can use their anchors in order to avoid troubles and extra costs.

Municipal Port Authority is not exclusive supplier of water & electricity in Mykonos ports, you can call anyone and you have the opportunity to fix the price per m3, in advance.
In the interval, I will give you all the water supplier of the island, in order sailors-pilots to have the opportunity to choose.

Water suppliers in Mykonos Island (Not all of them carry water to the port, but you do not lose anything to call them):
Nikos (Agrari) Mob. +30-6977-016353 as far as I know, Nikos visits Tourlos port every day at 09:00 and 19:00 in order to supply water
Papoutsas Kiriakos Mob. +30-6932462065
Kousathanas Giannis Mob. +30-6944532124
Nazos Nektarios Mob. +30-6945352772
Kontizas Mob. +30-6976212839
Assimomitis Spiros Tel. +30-22890-22168
Santorinaios Nikos Mob. +30-6944-391162
Santorinaios George Mob. +30-6932649127

According to the pillars' token, Board of Mun. Port Authority will discuss the option to produce key on price of 10Euros or 15Euros

Keep in touch, try to publish info on UK Cruising Association website, because I cannot register and we'll do our best to inform pilots in other forums.
In addition, updated info will be set up on our website and we are trying to digitized our maps in order to post them on Internet, probably will help pilots (www.mykonosports.gr - info@mykonosports.gr)

Keep in touch and thank you for your help.
I hope next time comments about Mykonos' ports to be better.

Regards


Nikolaos Hris. M. Vardalahos
Electrical Engineer
MBA, MEng, MSc(Eng)
Municipal Port Authority of Mykonos
Tel. +30 22890 28935
Fax. +30 22890 28934

 

[vyv_cox]

What an excellent response! It appears that he is doing his best to resolve an unhappy situation and to explain some of the negative reports that have been generated. If only a few more were so accommodating.

 

[blenkinsop]

We have just spent 2 nights in Mikanos. There was no sign of any official presence, no sign indicating a VHF channel to help. The second quay to starboard had lazy lines on its north side, but all other berths seemed to have to risk using anchors apart from those who lay alongside on the east side,
Waterman minimum 15euros, 5 elsewhere eg Patmos.
(but also no mooring fee! surprising for a popular port in a cash strapped country)

 

[sailinglegend420]

What a confusing response from the Mayor.

As Blenkinsop says there is no one to help. The first day we arrived he moved us from the outside of the east quay to the inside and was happily directing boats into the area where they had to lay their anchors. Maybe he is the brother or friend of the diver who sits in the cafe on the west quay waiting to be called.

I would suggest all boats go alongside and raft up - and ignore any security man who tells you to move. Tell him you have spoken with the mayor, but the work he promised has not been done yet. It is irresponsible to make people drop their anchors when they know there is a problem. Alternatively stay on the east wall of the east quay - just a bit bumpier - or just stay away 'cos its noisy from the ferries and miles from town.

What some clever skippers have done is dived down and picked up a lazy line and used that.

 

[Chris_Robb]

What a confusing response from the Mayor.

As Blenkinsop says there is no one to help. The first day we arrived he moved us from the outside of the east quay to the inside and was happily directing boats into the area where they had to lay their anchors. Maybe he is the brother or friend of the diver who sits in the cafe on the west quay waiting to be called.

I would suggest all boats go alongside and raft up - and ignore any security man who tells you to move. Tell him you have spoken with the mayor, but the work he promised has not been done yet. It is irresponsible to make people drop their anchors when they know there is a problem. Alternatively stay on the east wall of the east quay - just a bit bumpier - or just stay away 'cos its noisy from the ferries and miles from town.

What some clever skippers have done is dived down and picked up a lazy line and used that.

I have sent a link to this forum to Nikolaos.

 

[nvardala]

Dear all,
we would like to thank you for your time typing your comments for Mykonos ports.
Special thanks to Mr. Robb, because he spent his time to find Mayor and Municipal Port Authority in order to make clear to every one the problems you have faced on our ports.
(Christopher, we really thank you, and we hope that you have not regretted your initiative to move from new to old port in order to discuss all of these issues)

Therefore, give us the opportunity to explain what is going on in our ports:
All ports in Mykonos are public and there is not private marina.

Therefore the fees for mooring are according to the Greek Law and Coast Guard is responsible for charging the boats before their departures.

Moreover, captains - pilots are responsible to inform Coast Guard before the entry of their boats, on VHF Ch 12 or 16 or tel. +30-22890-22218, fax. +30-22890-27825, please let me know if you have different process in your countries.

In the old port (down town) due to traffic reasons, sailing boats are prohibited, only yachts are allowed.

Therefore, sailing boats are mooring at the New Port (Tourlos Area) 2,5km from the Down Town of Mykonos. Tourlos port is a new port and just finished the 3rd phase of one of the largest marine project in Greece. There are some more phases, next phase will cover the building of the cruise ships and ferries terminal. Ministry of Infrastructure will publish a public bid in the near future (Budget around 6.5 mil Euros).

Municipal Port Authority is trying to run it, against the Greek crisis that bereave recruitment and minimize our budget for next years.

However, the Board decided to put in place Mr. Rossolatos Nikolaos, plumber of Mun. Port Authority, to assist pilots - captains to moor with safety, because he knows the positions according to the master plan and the lazy lines according to boats' lengths.

Nikos is working overtimes without extra payments (probably due to crisis) in order to help Mykonos' visitors, after long travel.
In addition, Nikos knows the operations of the pillars and as technician can give you an aid in case of having trouble with electricity and water.

Nikos, in order to be identified by the pilots, is wearing a yellow security vest and a green ID Card, as authorised personnel of Municipal Port Authority, containing his photo and personal details. He drives the small white van (PIAGGIO) of Municipal Port Authority with the yellow line all over the car, orange plates and beacon. You can stop anytime to ask for help, his English is not the best but he will try to help you.

Municipal Port Authority of Mykonos, as a public organisation, operates Monday to Friday 07:30 - 15:00
Our office is located on the Old Port of Mykonos (Down Town).
Tel. +30-22890-28933/28935
Fax. +30-22890-28934
email: info@mykonosports.gr
www.mykonosports.gr

New Port (Tourlos Area) Information Office (Nikos Rossolatos)
Tel. +30-22890-28790
Mob. +30-6946942091

Trying to help you, Nikos is available on Mobile all day long, but please use it with care, because as a human, needs time to eat and rest, especially during the night.

Tips are prohibited to civil servant, even if we have not be paid our overtimes, (probably due to crisis). Do not pay extra money to nobody.

The only things that we want from you are the followings:
1. Follow the directions of Coast Guards before your entry in the ports.
2. Call Nikos Rossolatos, in case, you have trouble to find position in the port
3. If there is Port Policeman or Nikos on the port, do not ignore their directions, probably they will save your time and you will avoid traffic troubles
4. Sailing Boats are safer to moor on the east quay, in order to avoid north wind gusts.
5. Sailing boats avoid, if it is possible the west quay, because the lazy lines are short, and even shorter after cutting to ravel by propeller. (Yesterday two sailing boats are moored on west quay and two yachts entangle the propellers on the sailing boats' lazy lines, even if Nikos advised both sailing boats to use eastern quay, but they ignored his advises).
6. Buy pillar's token from the Cantin (kiosk) of new port, in order to have electricity and water.
7. Eastern quay was not envisaged at this stage of the project to have electricity and water networks. Nikos, as a plumber, tries to supply all the pillars with water. I am studying as Electrical Eng to light the area for safety purposes. However, you can buy water from the island's water suppliers. I have read the comment about the price of water, sorry we do not regulate the market and water prices. Take into account that water in Mykonos is a bit expensive, because we use desalination processes, due to drought.
8. Pay your mooring fees, are very low, especially compare to private marinas are much lower, will help us to improve our infrastructure.
9. Taking into account that Coast Guard Office is 2,5 km far away from Tourlos Area and it will be a bit difficult for you to stamp your boat's papers there, Coast Guards or Port Policemen visit the information office on the New Port (is located just on the entrance of the port - Nikos Office) in order to collect the fees and make boats' papers. This happens, once or twice during the day, usually. I used the word "usually" because due to limited human resources of Coast Guards, sometimes it could be impossible to collect your fees on the port. It would be grateful, during those rare occasions, if you can visit the Head Quarter of Coast Guards in the Down Town, before your departure in order to pay your fees and stamps you boats' papers. Nikos is informed about the Coast Guards schedules - visits on Tourlos port, so he can give you directions where you can stamp your papers.

I hope our info will be helpful, in case of any inquire we open to help you.
We know that everything is not perfect in our ports, however we are trying to become better, against to our limited resources and public bureaucracy
Please help us, with your comments, come in our offices to discuss, or send us an e-mail, even with negative comments.

Nikos Rossolatos does not speak English fluently, in case of better communication please let me know, at nvardala@mykonosports.gr. If sometimes we have a delay on our response is due to job's obligations. Take into account that some of us are working hard, overtimes and under pressure in order to come to an end, especially during summer period. We are trying to satisfy the needs of 1.7 millions passengers on our ports, excluding sailing boats and yachts.

It is the first year of official operation of inner port (marina) for yachts and sailing boats, on Tourlos area, we hope to get improved.
Imagine that two years ago, we did not have even the main infrastructure to moor your boats.

I do not use it as an apology, but I would like to mention the progress.
I hope to overcome our limitations and to serve you in a better way during your next visit.

We hope to see you again in Mykonos soon.......


P.S. It would be grateful if I can post photos from our marina, with the correct positions of the boats according to their type and length.

 

[Mr Cassandra]

Thank you

We have to give you credit and a thanks for that informative reply.

And the same go`s to you Chris
Thank you .
Bob t

 

[jaba]

Thank you!

 

[Chris_Robb]

Could someone respond to Mykonos with how to post photos please, its been ages since I have done it, and I have got a decidedly dodgy internet connection at the moment.

It is great that they are responding so well. Perhaps we should all take a greater interest in providing feedback to the major etc of any of the islands that we like. It appears that people are there to listen. - A simple short document signed by the majority of the boats in the harbour - and you are away. It really did not take very long, and it was blowing a hooly at the time so nothing else to do!

 

[nvardala]

Lazy Lines

Dear all,
I would like to inform you that Nikos Rossolatos repaired 10 more cutted lazy lines in our marina.
Moreover, it would be helpful to support Nikos by tying the used lazy lines on your boat as good as you can and before your departure, please secure lazy line condition in order to be ready for use by the next skipper.
Nikos is driving around marina and he has spare line in order to tie the lazy lines avoid sinking and causing problems to other boats propellers.
Give a hand to make Nikos' life easier by helping to tie the lazy lines in order to be there until your next arrival.

Regards
Nikos Vardalahos

 

[Etesian]

We were just in Mykonos last week, July20th - 23rd. The place is still a mess. On one side there are only 3 lazylines that work. The rest are not attached. The week before we got there the winds in the marina were clocked at 55 knots. Because of the lack of mooring lines, boats would pull into the quay only to discover they could not tie up their boats. With the strong winds, the next thing that happened is the boat would start crashing into the other boats around them. I would estimate that over 50% of the boats were either hit by another boat or hit another boat. It is a mess.

Nikos is of no use. He blows his whistle then gives no assistance when eh pulls up a mooring line that is no longer attached. We were afraid to get off of our boat with all of the banging around that was going on. It is not a safe marina. Not having water and electricity is the least of their problems.

The port police now have an office at the marian and are collecting fees from eveyone, but no offering any help in solving the major problems that are at this port. You have to really want to see Mykonos to dock your boat in this port. It is not good at all.

 

[Chris_Robb]

We were just in Mykonos last week, July20th - 23rd. The place is still a mess. On one side there are only 3 lazylines that work. The rest are not attached. The week before we got there the winds in the marina were clocked at 55 knots. Because of the lack of mooring lines, boats would pull into the quay only to discover they could not tie up their boats. With the strong winds, the next thing that happened is the boat would start crashing into the other boats around them. I would estimate that over 50% of the boats were either hit by another boat or hit another boat. It is a mess.

Nikos is of no use. He blows his whistle then gives no assistance when eh pulls up a mooring line that is no longer attached. We were afraid to get off of our boat with all of the banging around that was going on. It is not a safe marina. Not having water and electricity is the least of their problems.

The port police now have an office at the marian and are collecting fees from eveyone, but no offering any help in solving the major problems that are at this port. You have to really want to see Mykonos to dock your boat in this port. It is not good at all.

Its a shame to see that they are not getting their act together. Even without the wind, I personally would give Mykonos a miss - its only purpose is for meeting Sleazy Jet. Too many tourists for me!