Planning the BIG trip

Most of the warranty issues are now fixed and Spirit is booked for a lift and her bottom painted in May.

Thoughts now turn to the challenge of getting both ourselves and the boat out of Europe. Many will know that the boat has permission to stay in Europe for 18 months, however, the poor skipper and crew are only allowed 90 days out of every 180, a new rule because of our departure from the EU.

This has led us to rethink our plans and consider our options if we want to take more time sailing the Mediterranean.

So what are the options? Fundamentally both Spirit and ourselves need to relocate in a non EU country.

The number of countries are quite narrow as most of the Mediterranean north coast are EU countries except for Turkey, Albania and Cyprus.

Obviously, you have your choice of the far east and the southern Mediterranean but most of these countries are at war or have civil unrest. This narrows the choices down to Morocco, Egypt or Tunisia which are relatively stable countries. The problem with these countries, however, is that you have a long sail to get into the traditional cruising grounds.

After much reviewing, web surfing and asking those in the know we have decided to take our boat to a marina in the Turkish territory of Cyprus where we can enjoy ourselves without any time restrictions.

Our original ambition was to relocate to Turkey, however, most marinas are eye wateringly expensive and those that are not are fully booked. Looks like we are not the only ones migrating east. To put this in perspective I approached several Turkish marinas and where they had availability, they were asking between eight and seventeen thousand euros for an annual berth. Bonkers.

This would be a 1600 mile passage not dissimilar to the sail from the UK to San Carles. On that trip we had only two of us doing six on and six off shifts which, whilst doable is hard work. This time we would want crew and I approached a friend who lived in the San Carles if he fancied a bit of an adventure. I am pleased to say he was up for it. Whilst it is not good to have a fixed schedule when sailing this did help to craft the passage plan given the time we had available in the EU. We also had the complication of some medical appointments that Debbie had to attend which would require flights back to the UK. We did not plan to use marinas due to the ridiculous prices they charge in peak season except to recharge our diesel tank.

San Carles to Mallorca

So to the plan. We arrive at San Carles on the 12th of June and to start our journey on the 19th. First stop will be Pollensa in northern Mallorca to meet up with some good friends who have just bought a fantastic pad near a town called Bonaire. Nestled just below their villa is a small harbour which I have received permission to tie up on the breakwater entrance. We are two big to get a berth. We plan to stay for a few days then go and meet other sailing friends around the island at various anchorages. Debs would then need to fly back from Mallorca to the UK and meet us at our next destination.

Mallorca to Sicily

This would be the first lengthy passage of approximately 5 nights at sea and some 700 miles. We would leave Mallorca on the 25th of June with an ETA of arriving in Palermo around the 1st of July. Debs would then fly back into Palermo on the 5th July which would give us enough time to restock and get a few beers down.

Sicily to Zakynthos

Zakynthos is an Island at the entrance to the gulf of Corinth. Again, this would be another long slog of 5 days at sea. The reason for this target destination is to enter the Gulf of Corinth and go through the Canal which separates the Peloponnese from the rest of Greece. This has always been on both mine and Debbie’s bucket list. The canal had been closed for most of last year, but we understand on good authority it will be open at the beginning of July.

Zakynthos to the Corinth Canal

From Zakynthos we planned a series of day sails with enough time in our schedule to stop off for a day or two if a particular anchorage took our fancy.

Corinth to Paros

Once through the Corinth Canal we would island hop through the Cyclades with a view to be at anchor in a bay on Paros by the 19th of July. The kids are booked in to fly to Athens on the 20th and then get a ferry to Paros to enjoy a few weeks sailing the islands before returning to Athens for a flight back home.

Paros to Simi

Once the kids had returned, we plan to sail to Simi which is one of the far eastern island of the Cyclades to clear out of the EU. We needed to be out of the EU by the 23rd of August latest this being the last date of our 90 day allowance.

Simi to Marmaris

Once we have cleared out from Greece the next stop will be Marmaris to clear in with Turkish Customs. I have the name of an agent which will do all the necessary paperwork for a couple of hundred Euros. Once cleared in we plan to meet up with our friends, Davis and Tina, who completed the same journey in 2021 on their Jeanneau 51.

We then planned to sail the Turkish Islands until October and then do the last passage to Karpaz Gate marina in Cyprus which is a one night passage from southern Turkey. Then back to blighty for Christmas.

Should be FUN!