Taking Small Boat to Corfu

[davidcorfu]

Does anyone have experience of taking a small boat to Corfu / Greece? Any experience would be welcomed as for warned is fore armed!

I am thinking of taking a Maxum 5.7mts bowrider to Corfu, what do I need to know / do?

My thought is to get it on an SSR but I do not have the original VAT, indeed no documents showing VAT paid, for the boat. It was purchased privately in the UK.

 

[Davy_S]

Do you mean take it there for a holiday? You do not need the original VAT paid to register on the SSR, you will need proof of insurance, preferably in Greek as well as English, you will also need a PBL2 or icc . Small boats in Greece over 30hp need proof of competence. I presume you are going to tow it there? If you are simply going for a holiday you may have no trouble at all, but be aware, you must carry all the safety equipment, if you get stopped by the port Police on a bad day, it could cost you dear in fines.

 

[davidcorfu]

Hi Davy_5

Thanks for the response, I have a house there and its the intention to take the boat there and leave it (dry stored) but keep it on the SSR given I have a UK address. Understood on the PBL2 / ICC, I have the former.

Good point on the safety gear, flares ect., may be a problem on ferries / tunnels but I could have them waiting when I get the boat off the ferry. Rest of it is easier, and cheaper, to do from this end.

 

[Denis O]

I did exactly this a few years ago. Towed a 19ft Chaparral from Kent to Corfu.

I used motorways all the way as, although there are tolls to pay, certainly in France the roads are pretty empty. Rough route was Calais to Mont Blanc and onto somewhere in Northern Italy for an overnight. It was a secure hotel as I didn't fancy leaving the boat on the street. Then onward to Ancona on the 2nd day. Ferry to Igoumenitsa and then the short hop to Corfu. The guys on the Ancona ferry were great and very helpful. Put me on the camping deck so loads of space. The gits on the ferry to Corfu were less then helpful. I drove onto the ferry which was wide enough to turn round in 1 go. Drove up to the front and I though I was parked. Not a bit of it. The little Hitler then wanted me to reverse all the way to the back of the boat and then park. What was really annoying was when we returned to the car, having docked at Corfu, there were no more cars than when we parked our rig.

I actually had my VAT invoice as the boat was imported from Canada but I would suspect it was more useful across France and Italy. I'd be amazed if anyone in Corfu would give a toss. Flares should certainly be carried, as should oars although moving a ton of boat with a couple of dingy oars, ain't happening. Ask me how I know. Impeller went coming out of Gouvia after filling with fuel so tried to row. No chance so had to wait for a tow.

Mine is SSR registered but I insure locally with ERGO. It's through a broker who also does our car and house insurance. As already mentioned you'll need Power Boat 2, or equivalent for anything over 30hp. We did ours at Corfu Sea School and I also did my VHF license with them as the boat has a Standard Horizon VHF fitted. We always carry copies of these, the SSR registration and our passports, in a waterproof folder. Used to take the originals but decided that wasn't wise.

Will you be trailering. I did for the first couple of years but it was such a pain at the end of a lovely day on the water. We ended up leaving ours in the water all summer. It sits with a load of hire boats and the guys who own the hire boats look after it, have it ready when we want to go out. Works really well for little outlay. The boat looks more used now but not much point in having it without using it.

Most of our cruising is in the channel between Corfu and the Greek mainland/Albania. It's usually very calm with not much above Force 3. We keep promising to go to Paxos but haven't done it yet.

If you need any help when you get here, give me a shout via PM. Happy to assist.

 

[Braddersmd]

I imported a new 33' Formula to Corfu this summer - I keep it in Kassiopi in the harbour when I am there. Also have a smaller Four WInns there that used to leave in the harbour too when I was out there. For the new one I had a full set of papers onboard (PB2, SSR, Insurance, radio etc) but nothing with the old one, as I bought it second hand in Corfu a few years ago. Never had any checks on the old boat at all, but I did have a "close inspection" this year by the patrol boat when I stopped for a swim around the caves at Pirgi (near Ipsos). They seemed happy with a wave before taking off again, papers unseen.

As mentioned by Denis, you may find it easier to have the boat stored in a yard and put in the water ready anti-fouled for your arrival than launch it each time you want to use it.

Denis - we went to Paxos for the first time this summer - it is somewhere I will visit time and time again. We did a run from Kassiopi to Paxos (Longos), then down to Gaios for a coffee (stunning place to visit), to Antipaxos for a swim in the clearest aqua sea I've ever seen, before doing a circuit of Paxos to look at all the caves on the s/w coast. Then over to the mainland at Sivota to have a look around, and then late lunch back in Corfu at Boukari before heading back to Kassiopi. A fantastic day out!

 

[Denis O]

All that in a day. Well done.

Our plan would be to go over to Logos and refuel. Then onto Gaios and then down to Anti Paxos. Back to Gaios for an overnight and then back to Corfu the following morning, early. It appears that the open sea between Corfu and Logos is at it's most benign before 11.00 in the morning. With a 19ft bowrider I don't need any heroics or big swells. There'll be 2 boats going to mitigate any possible problems or breakdowns. Looks like next year now.

I've been to Paxos, via the ferry from Corfu, on a couple of occasions and really liked it so it will be great to do it on our own boat.

 

[Braddersmd]

Sounds very much like you've got the ideal trip planned. I will be planning a stay over trip next summer too. There are quite a few folks with boats from Kassiopi that spend time on Paxos as well during the summer. Can't quite believe that after all these years visiting Corfu I'd never been before.

We hit the open sea at around 11am this time around, and back again at about 2pm for the trip over to Sivota. Quite a swell on an otherwise calm day elsewhere - reminded me a lot of doing my PB2 in Middlesborough and heading out into the North Sea. Fun if you like that sort of thing, but one to avoid if you don't - I can see the sense in heading over earlier in the morning before it picks up.