The One Thing I Wish I had known Before I Started ...

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Ravi

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Hi all,

I've been and gone and done it and booked a flight out to Corfu next month to start the long dreamed of adventure. Nothing too ambitious, just year of pottering around Greece in a little 30' ex charter boat. After that, who knows?

I am at the organising, packing and (gulp) making a shopping list for the chandlers stage of things.

I have tried to prepare myself with as much knowledge as I can from the forum but I would be interested to hear if there is a one single piece of advice that you experienced live aboard folk, (especially, those in in Greece), feel made all the difference. The sort of "If only I had known that when I started" knowledge.

One excellent piece of advice that I have already been offered is to make a priority of getting a local mobile contract on day 1 to avoid frittering money away on calls.

Any other suggestions about things I should know for getting the boat set up (in Corfu) and getting on my way?

Rav.

(As a bit of background, I have done a few thousand miles around the UK and Greece over the last 10 years and I had a boat in the UK for long enough to develop a love hate boat relationship.)
 
Join the CA. This will get you 6% off mooring and launch/lift at Gouvia and 6% at Boatman's World Chandlery at gate to marina - also run by a brother and sister who speak very good english as their mother was english. In the Kondokali Village there is also the very helpful Frank at Nautilus. Being Irish, his english is pretty good too!

A lot of the basic chandlery like screws, nuts and bolts etc are MUCH cheaper there but hold onto something solid when you ask the price of antifouling, oil and batteries!
 
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I second Steve's suggestion about joining the CA. You'll find a wealth of cruising information - and at your fingertips if you use their free CAptain's Mate app. The cruising information they have available is huge, and written by people who have actually been there. Their online network (MedNet) can put you in touch with the collective knowledge and experience of the entire membership in a single email. A huge number of ports have a resident Honorary Local Representative (HLR) who can offer a wealth of local help and advice. The one nearest Gouvia is Peter Papageorgiou at Boatman's World. And then there are the discounts, it's quite possible to save your years subscription in discounts.
 
Steve C Cronin said:
Join the CA. This will get you 6% off mooring and launch/lift at Gouvia and 6% at Boatman's World Chandlery at gate to marina - also run by a brother and sister who speak very good english as their mother was english. In the Kondokali Village there is also the very helpful Frank at Nautilus. Being Irish, his english is pretty good too!

A lot of the basic chandlery like screws, nuts and bolts etc are MUCH cheaper there but hold onto something solid when you ask the price of antifouling, oil and batteries!
Click to expand...

Thanks all.

- I hadn't thought of joining the CA, but I will do so now.
- The boat has a 12 Kg Bruce + 50m x 8mm chain (+ 12 Kg Brittany, kedge). I will see how the Bruce performs. I like the idea of a bigerg anchor, though.
- A rattrap will go aboard, although I hope that rats look for a better class of yacht.
I am not sure whether the peanut butter is meant to be for the rats or me!

Steve - The chandlery information for Gouvia is very helpful. Frustratingly, none of the Corfu chandlers seem to have online prices. I might email them my shopping list to see what prices they can offer. Where possible, I'll be buying stuff and taking it across but there is some heavy stuff (e.g. outboard) that I will have to buy across in Greece.

One question that I have is about postal deliveries. I won't have a marina base for the summer and was planning on using POST RESTANTE. Is this the done thing in Greece and are there any post offices which are better than others?

Thanks everyone. Just the sort of thing that I was hoping for. Especially, the CA advice.

Rav.
 
Poste Restante works well in Greece. In some of the smaller villages and towns there is just a box on the counter that you rifle through to get your post, in the larger POs you have to ask. We have never had a problem with post in Greece. If you find yourself staying somewhere for a while you can always ask the locals to accept mail for you, useful if you're expecting a larger item. For example, we have had items delivered to the local butcher and various bars.
 
NornaBiron said:
Poste Restante works well in Greece. In some of the smaller villages and towns there is just a box on the counter that you rifle through to get your post, in the larger POs you have to ask. We have never had a problem with post in Greece. If you find yourself staying somewhere for a while you can always ask the locals to accept mail for you, useful if you're expecting a larger item. For example, we have had items delivered to the local butcher and various bars.
Click to expand...

Thanks. That is reassuring to know.

It occurs to me that if I give 'them back home' a taverna as my my postal address, there will be a rolling of eyes. It would be amusing if I could find a friendly monk to take my post at Corfu monastery. That would set them wondering, back home! ;)
 
"- The boat has a 12 Kg Bruce + 50m x 8mm chain (+ 12 Kg Brittany, kedge). I will see how the Bruce performs. I like the idea of a bigerg anchor, though."


That sounds like a handy set up. However I think Bruce anchors came in 10 and 15 kg varieties. I have used a 10kg version on a similar boat and have had few problems. 15kg would be handy for a greater margin of safety but is on the maximum for pulling up from deep water by hand, you need a good back.

If you do have a 12kg job it may not be the original Bruce article.
 
Before entering a mobile contract keep in mind that per June 2014, EU will dictate that roaming within EU must not incur extra cost - ie. be at same cost as national traffic.
 
Spi D said:
Before entering a mobile contract keep in mind that per June 2014, EU will dictate that roaming within EU must not incur extra cost - ie. be at same cost as national traffic.
Click to expand...

SPI. I was not aware of that. Good old EU! If that means my UK mobile will make and receive Greek calls at the same rate as a Greek mobile that is great.
BTW - Last year, I found that calling home from Greece on my Greek PAYG mobile was twice as expensive as calling from using UK mobile contract!
I am off to read up about this law change. Thanks.
 
http://ec.europa.eu/news/science/130916_en.htm

European Commission on their homepage said:
An end to roaming charges

From July 2014 you would no longer be charged extra when you receive a call on your mobile phone while travelling in another EU country. Companies would need to offer “roam like at home” packages that apply across the bloc, or allow you to use a separate roaming provider without changing your original SIM card.

International call charges would be capped at the price of a long-distance domestic call and intra-EU mobile calls at €0.19 per minute (plus VAT).

The Commission also supports ‘net neutrality’ – the principle that the Internet should be an open system – which would mean restricting companies from offering deals, for example, on higher data‑transmission speeds, which could restrict access by their rivals.
Click to expand...
 
What have I learned?
Don't spend any more than you have to on equipment. Hard use creates failure just as quickly in expensive stuff as cheaper.
Don't take anything with you that will hurt if you lose it ( SWMBO?)
Don't get obsessive about keeping your boat pretty. A few days in a harbour on the flotilla routes will see your collection of scratches and dents grow daily.
At least half of what you thought you'de need before you set out will never be used and stuff you never thought of become vital eg Pyrex mixing bowl
Believe everything in this string about anchors and chains. It's the one thing that can totally ***** up your week.
Other than that good luck and God speed.
 
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