Please, let us pay our taxes
37° 30′ 16.8372” N 23° 27′ 40.0716” E
28th september 2020
“My job is not to help you. My job is to give you a fine, if you have not paid your taxes.”
The policeman is extremely unpleasant. First, he throws us out of an office with a sign saying Port Police on the door. Obviously, it is not meant for ordinary citizens to walk through that door. Later, he explains to us out in the hallway, that we must solve our problems ourselves. His job is to give us fines.
All we want is to pay our taxes.
Greece has introduced a sailing tax, called eTepai, which for our sailing boat amounts to 33 € for each month it is sailing in Greek waters.
We actually thought, we had paid the tax from home over the internet, where we had filled out forms and transferred money from our bank to the Greek state. But after a few days, the money comes back without any explanation. Now that we’re in Greece again, we’re trying to find another way to pay our taxes.
At first, we go to a branch of the National Bank of Greece. No. That kind of thing they will have nothing to do with. “Try in the city’s other bank, Alpha Bank, they have a machine that can handle those kinds of payments,” one of the bank’s employees tells us.
In the city’s second bank, Alpha Bank, they know nothing about this. We can ‘t transfers our money in their bank.
And then we end up with the port police. “Could you please tell us, where we can pay our sailing taxes?”
Well, they could not.
Then we go into a store that advertises that they make any kind of money transfer worldwide. Well, except ours. “There is no possibility, that you can transfer this money through us,” says the clerk.
Now only the post office is left. We line up with a number of other citizens. And, when it’s our turn, the miracle happens: The post office can handle our money. The money is transferred. We are again law-abiding sailors, who can walk past the harbor police with a straight back, while in our quiet minds we think, that it is so odd, that in this country an authority figure can’t be an executive police authority and at the same time acting accommodating and helpful.
In Greece you are very serious on Covid-19
37° 29′ 50.3988” N 23° 27′ 29.322” E
September 8, 2020
We sail back to Poros, as it turns out that our consumer batteries are still not quite ok. A battery is replaced by our regular mechanic / electrician / specialist. It helps.
We spend a few days enjoying the excellent beaches of Poros and studying the city life of Poros town. It is interesting to see how consistently the Greeks handle the corona situation. In each of the city’s 65 cafés, staff wear facemasks and hand alcohol on the tables. If you walk into a store, you will be asked to put on a facemask, and on the beach you will be warned not to move your sunbed closer to your spouse. “One meters distance. Basta. ” But actually we do understand it. Nearly 20 percent of Greeks work in the tourism industry. A total shutdown will really hurt.
In the harbor we meet a Canadian couple who have been in self-selected corona quarantine on their sailboat for half a year. Food, drink and medicine are brought to the boat. The couple themselves spend time to feed the city’s cats and chase away other sailors, who are trying to berth their boats too close to their self-proclaimed quarantine station. They will continue to Tunisia, Gran Canaria and then across the Atlantic in November. “We’re leaving tomorrow,” they tell us every day throughout the week. When we ourselves leave Poros, they are still there.
We make an arrangement with our friend in Vikos Marineshop, that he will look after Ronja, while we are at home in Denmark for the next 10 days.
Close to falling in
37° 20′ 46.6044” N 23° 14′ 44.016” E
September 4, 2020
Happy that the hassle is over, we sail further south and call at Ermioni in the Peloponnese.
We are still not thrilled with the Greeks’ tradition of berthing “backwards” to the quay. Often the distance between the boat and the quay becomes too great, and when we went ashore in the evening, Kirsten’s jump only reaches half the distance (her dress was probably too tight :-). Fortunately, Per has a good grip on her arm and mitigates a fall into the water. Relieved and only slightly bruised, we continue up into the city.
Ermioni turns out to be a gem. We find a wonderful walk around a peninsula with beautiful views, cicadas and a massive scent of pine trees.
From Ermonia we take a water taxi to the island of Idrhá.
Idrhá is also a gem, but a very touristy and busy gem. We are glad, that we did not sail to the island ourselves, because the harbor is a huge chaos of water taxis, ferries, fisher boats and yachts, all of them trying to find space in the small overburdened harbor.
Idrhá is car-free, and the street scene is – in addition to tourists – characterized by donkeys dragging groceries home from the supermarket. Truly a beautiful and charming town.
Elderly lady with starting problems
37° 29′ 50.3988” N 23° 27′ 29.322” E
We sail south to the island of Poros and find a place alongside right in the center of town. Poros is a lively city, a mecca for sailors, beautifully situated in a narrow strait between Poros and the Peloponnese.
And now the hassle begins. It turns out that fourteen months without care leaves its marks on a boat. It takes time to get Ronja up to speed. She is after all an elderly lady, and she has problems with starting, problems with the toilet problems and problems with the battery.
Fortunately, Poros has two excellent marine stores. One sends us a plumber to repair the toilet. The other sends us a mechanic to check the motor and later an electrician (who turns out to be identical with the mechanic) to fix our battery system.