SANTORINI

Tranona said:
It is just jobs for the boys with no evidence that it has any effect on safety.
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I would go further and suggest it has a significant negative effect on safety. A boat owner will be more reluctant to seek assistance at an early stage of a problem.

A rope around a prop that might easily and safely fixed with tow from a fellow boat owner looks a very un appealing option with an extra 600 euro fee and the associated bureaucratic delay.
 
This compulsory survey requirement and high charge are just one example of the high cost of regulation that Greece suffers from. For many professions or activities, only a limited number of licences to practice are issued. Examples are taxi drivers, lorry drivers, public notaries, lawyers and many others - surveyors, pall bearers . . . you name it.

This limited number means lcences have high value - so selling or granting them is very lucrative. A big capital gain for a licenced incumbent selling a business, or a big fee in the pocket of an official granting one.

And, of course, adding a range of events which call for a licenced person to provide a compulsory service, and not permitting others to perform that service, raises the value of the licence still further. More demand, no new capacity to compete, means the service price rises, and the licence price rises still further. Bigger fees for the licence. Worse and more expensive service for the consumer.

Nice little rules have arisen to squeeze yet more value out of the system - and slow Greece down with low productivity for its incredibly hard working people. Yes, they work longer hours per annum by far than Germans do . . . but can do far less with that labour due to these rules, protected by well off lobbies.

Lorry drivers may only carry goods from their licenced locality. So the return journey has to be empty. Goods from the destination can only be carried by lorries licenced to carry from that place. Taxi drivers strike when it is proposed to issue more licences . . . because their business will lose value. All documents had to be notarised if they were to be used for official purposes - big problem now that the EU has introduced an "Apostille" system- foreigners can now bypass the oataries for most foreign documents.

This is the nighmare that Greece is now chipping away at - removing the barriers to easy business for the younger generation. And my word, aren't the old guard good at protecting their privileges! Guess why it costs nearly six times as much per kilometre to build a Greek highway compared to a similar German highway . . . and why so many who grant contracts retire early in grand mansions with nice big Mobos.
 
It is customary for the nearby vessels to start search-and-rescue. Large scale operations start after usual procedures failed.
 
Glyka said:
It is customary for the nearby vessels to start search-and-rescue. Large scale operations start after usual procedures failed.
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That again is where we differ. Emergency calls are handled by the Coastguard who take control and task the most appropriate service to respond. This of course includes asking any other vessel close by if they can be of assistance.
 
It can happen in the uk as well! http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?361771-Beached-trimaran-can-you-believe-what-happened
Last year I towed a Dutch flagged yacht into harbour, I only towed it about 150 yds, he had fuel problems and if he had attempted to get into the harbour and the engine stopped, he would have blown against the wall. As it was, I simply towed him to the far side, he dropped the hook, all was well. To be honest I never gave it a thought that he could have ended up having a costly needless survey. If you could make it into the harbour under sail or rubber duck and egg whisk alongside, I could only presume that would or should be classed as making it in under your own steam, so no need of survey?
 
Davy_S said:
It can happen in the uk as well! http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?361771-Beached-trimaran-can-you-believe-what-happened
Last year I towed a Dutch flagged yacht into harbour, I only towed it about 150 yds, he had fuel problems and if he had attempted to get into the harbour and the engine stopped, he would have blown against the wall. As it was, I simply towed him to the far side, he dropped the hook, all was well. To be honest I never gave it a thought that he could have ended up having a costly needless survey. If you could make it into the harbour under sail or rubber duck and egg whisk alongside, I could only presume that would or should be classed as making it in under your own steam, so no need of survey?
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Suspect as with many things in Greece, regularly reported here, what happens depends on the day of the week, who is on duty, what he (or she) had for breakfast etc.etc. In other words, inconsistency, so you have the appearance of rigorous standards, but nearer to anarchy in real life. In most cases people rub along with it OK but in this case sticking to the "rules" achieves little and places huge costs on individuals for no benefit.

BTW, suspect there is more to the case you referred to than meets the eye. Mostly only one side of the story reported.
 
jimbaerselman said:
This compulsory survey requirement and high charge are just one example of the high cost of regulation that Greece suffers from. For many professions or activities, only a limited number of licences to practice are issued. Examples are taxi drivers, lorry drivers, public notaries, lawyers and many others - surveyors, pall bearers . . . you name it.

This limited number means lcences have high value - so selling or granting them is very lucrative. A big capital gain for a licenced incumbent selling a business, or a big fee in the pocket of an official granting one.

And, of course, adding a range of events which call for a licenced person to provide a compulsory service, and not permitting others to perform that service, raises the value of the licence still further. More demand, no new capacity to compete, means the service price rises, and the licence price rises still further. Bigger fees for the licence. Worse and more expensive service for the consumer.

Nice little rules have arisen to squeeze yet more value out of the system - and slow Greece down with low productivity for its incredibly hard working people. Yes, they work longer hours per annum by far than Germans do . . . but can do far less with that labour due to these rules, protected by well off lobbies.

Lorry drivers may only carry goods from their licenced locality. So the return journey has to be empty. Goods from the destination can only be carried by lorries licenced to carry from that place. Taxi drivers strike when it is proposed to issue more licences . . . because their business will lose value. All documents had to be notarised if they were to be used for official purposes - big problem now that the EU has introduced an "Apostille" system- foreigners can now bypass the oataries for most foreign documents.

This is the nighmare that Greece is now chipping away at - removing the barriers to easy business for the younger generation. And my word, aren't the old guard good at protecting their privileges! Guess why it costs nearly six times as much per kilometre to build a Greek highway compared to a similar German highway . . . and why so many who grant contracts retire early in grand mansions with nice big Mobos.
Click to expand...

In fact, it's this structural rigidity which is the main reason for the low productivity of the Greek workers. Years of clientist politics, showering benefits on each of their supporters, as Pasok and New Democracy took turns to burgle the state, have resulted in a situation which the EC is trying to unblock. The average Greek is now suffering, unnecessarily, for the political system which they allowed to flourish. It is indeed ironic, that the country who coined the word "democracy", should have such a dysfunctional system.
 
macd said:
Harwich.

Before we get an eruption of xenophobia:
http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?361771-Beached-trimaran-can-you-believe-what-happened
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As has already been noted, this is a very unusual case, certainly not common, and there is probably more to the story than has been reported by the one side.

The criticism of our authorities is usually that they don't (or can't) take action when leisure sailors decide to do something considered unsafe, or get into trouble and insist on carrying on.
 
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