Cruising the Med has become a lot cheaper

[SwissMocha]

Originally Posted by chuckr

i just read your posting to my admiral. her response "he should just stay tied to the dock".

we have sailed from the azores into the med avoiding the berber pirates as they chased us up the spanish main until the kights of st john came out to engage them as we sailed over to sardinia and down to tunisia and the pirate ships. then we sailed up to corsicia and into bonifacio and went ashore where giant people chased us back to our boat and threw giant boulders at us as we sailed out but caught a few other cruisers and ate them.

as we entered rome the vandals were rampaging burning and looting at will. so we quickly departed to anzino only to be shelled and bombed by allied aircraft. not feeling safe there we high tailed to messina staits only to encounter giant whirlpools that swallow ships whole.

missing them we decided to go to albania and bounced off sea mines for weeks before escaping to dubrovnik where we left when the motor fire started coming close and headed to venice where we were safe for afew days but then on the return south we barely missed the sultans fleet as it approached ortanto.

sliding past them we made malta and the safety of the knights of st john who were preparing for the ottorman onslaught. deciding we were to old for that we slipped under the berber radar and arrived back in tunisia.

next year we will be a whole different set of problems.

i think i agree with the admiral you really need to think before you cut the docklines; it is really dangerous here.

moderators please forgive me for my sarcasim, i just could not resist.

chuckr, I looooove your sarcasm!! Thanks for entertaining us

[arsenelupiga]

Originally Posted by chris4911

Just wondering, is it safe to go there?

depends what safety means to you.

I returned rent a car to he airport in EU however noone there to take the key and we left it on table after calling some employee and were assured all fine and boarded the plain , and 1 month after extortion agency came after me because according to the police investigation, I sold rental car and run out of EU with all the profits. They asked for 11k eur immediately or 3 years prison & 40 k eur after 2 weeks. This is with all the cameras on the airport that recorded the car and they did not bother checking.

Apart from these little gipsy tricks, you are fine. EU culture is really broad term

[Kara Kara]

the way our A $ is going we will be hosting all tourists . our travel plans look to be on permanent hold !

[arsenelupiga]

Originally Posted by Kara Kara

the way our A $ is going we will be hosting all tourists . our travel plans look to be on permanent hold !

at least tourists will see wild life

however, i think AUD is poised for large rebound.

[SwissMocha]

Originally Posted by Kara Kara

the way our A $ is going we will be hosting all tourists . our travel plans look to be on permanent hold !

Interesting enough, the A$ was fairly stabile against the Euro in this recent turmoil of the markets.
Everything took a huge drop against the Swiss Frank after the Swiss National Bank abandoned the minimum exchange rate against the Euro (and they should have done that 2 years ago). OK, now everybody is hurt and licking their wounds and life will continue.

The Swiss Frank is too strong, or so tells us the Swiss National Bank. We will see.... However, and that is something you might not be aware of, the Swiss National Bank has introduced negative interest rates. So holding Swiss currency will actually cost you money (minus .75%).
Eventually this will (hopefully for the Swiss economy) weaken the Swiss Frank again.

[HVYJimmy]

Originally Posted by SwissMocha

Interesting enough, the A$ was fairly stabile against the Euro in this recent turmoil of the markets.
Everything took a huge drop against the Swiss Frank after the Swiss National Bank abandoned the minimum exchange rate against the Euro (and they should have done that 2 years ago). OK, now everybody is hurt and licking their wounds and life will continue.

The Swiss Frank is too strong, or so tells us the Swiss National Bank. We will see.... However, and that is something you might not be aware of, the Swiss National Bank has introduced negative interest rates. So holding Swiss currency will actually cost you money (minus .75%).
Eventually this will (hopefully for the Swiss economy) weaken the Swiss Frank again.

you see money is paper , paper is cheap , borrowed money is cheap, interest rates are cheap . = property bubbles stock bubbles .all good ,until someone wants there money back

[chuckr]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

Absolutely , the pillars of Hercules still stand and tributes must be paid to the Berbers

Dave


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absolutely! they use to take virgins but with virgins in short supply now i heard they were taking euros but now with the euro dropping a rumor is circulating that fresh baggets will get you past.

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by HVYJimmy

you see money is paper , paper is cheap , borrowed money is cheap, interest rates are cheap . = property bubbles stock bubbles .all good ,until someone wants there money back

everyones holding the paper, therefore none can "ask " for their money back,

its a great system when you think about it

it gets reset every time we have a decent asset crash. That wipes out wealth, debt are written off, and the cycle starts

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by chuckr

absolutely! they use to take virgins but with virgins in short supply now i heard they were taking euros but now with the euro dropping a rumor is circulating that fresh baggets will get you past.

Im not sure anyone has seen a virgin in Europe for some time, last sighting was around 1960.

however cows are always valuable, if tricky to untie from the transom

[Sailor_Hutch]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

Shengan will be fixed this year to give 12 months in with a 12 month extension! But wont be effective till late this year. So I am putting off my trip to the EU till 2016.

This year I will be mooching around the USA east coast

Maybe I can pick up a hottie and learn to eat burgers...

Interestingly, with both the Cuba thing, the Euro and Shengan the American cruising grounds could change quite dramatically in the next year. Exciting times for all.

I guess you might find a hottie (she'll be an ultra feminist tho, so be prepared to take orders) - but the burgs are way past passe`

You missed the burger window by about twenty years. Now it's all Tex-mexicana and Vegan Delight.

[robert sailor]

Originally Posted by Brob2

Disagree. Assimilation is not the problem, respect for different cultures and for the law of the country are. French, Muslim, Hindi, whatever, have co-existed in the past and can with tolerance.

OK I agree with the last part of your comment. So when Sharia law was being pushed in Ontario that was a sign that the Muslim population was fine with Canadian laws? We live in Vancouver which has probably one of the most diverse group of nationalities in the world and as a group of people we are about as tolerant as they come but we still get many honor killings every year, does this happen in Halifax? Does that suggest that people coming to our country feel that they should assimulate at least to the point that they respect our laws? I don't think so and in many ways our multiculturalism does not work.

[hoppy]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

Im not sure anyone has seen a virgin in Europe for some time, last sighting was around 1960.

however cows are always valuable, if tricky to untie from the transom

In England some trains, mobile phones and airplanes are Virgins

If you are that way inclined

[Barra]

So the Swiss central bank knew something the rest of us did not with the announcement of the 60billion euro per month "QE Euro style" now official. If they werent a central bank it would be called insider trading and someone would go to a white collar prison for a bit

Im in finance but Im not sure how some asset (stocks) inflation will help the unemployed in europe one bit but once this starts in March the euro will be another leg down just in time for the summer so at least its good for us foreign yachties.

Thanks Mario!

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by Barra

So the Swiss central bank knew something the rest of us did not with the announcement of the 60billion euro per month "QE Euro style" now official. If they werent a central bank it would be called insider trading and someone would go to a white collar prison for a bit



Im in finance but Im not sure how some asset (stocks) inflation will help the unemployed in europe one bit but once this starts in March the euro will be another leg down just in time for the summer so at least its good for us foreign yachties.



Thanks Mario!

Indeed 60 billon per month till end of 2016.

By the way this QE was well flagged for a while. So the Swiss actually didn't know anything. Switzerland had retained peg between the franc and the euro and would have to have sold francs by the shipload to maintain the link as the euro traded down.

I agree , the ECB and the EU want to drive the euro down to try and stave off a general recession. However the feeling is the borrowers are not there or have no appetite .

QE has had a mixed record in both UK and US , this is new ground for the ECB. but a euro floating around 1.25-1.30 is a disaster for the euro zone. Parity or 1.10 would be far better . However since the ECB has a Germanic role in controlling inflation, if it's sees signs it will stop QE.

the East German housewife isn't happy either, so we,ll see what really happens

Come on in, the boats are getting cheap , sale , sale ,

Dave


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[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by Polux

That has not to do with the default but with the attitude oft the party that has the bigger chance to win the elections in some days: We don't pay has been their campaign.

Merkel had said that if it was for real they would have to leave the Euro and many countries agreed. Leaving the Euro does not mean to leave EC. There are countries in the EC that don't have the Euro has currency.

Yes it will be worst for Greece but it seems they will be voting on a demagogue and believe in miracles.

While the market may punish Greece for a short term for a default, I've yet to see a mechanism for a country to be forced out once they are full members (maybe I'm wrong but have yet to see a legal precedent quoted).

A Greek default will be almost as harmful to Germany as it is to Greece. Germany is looking down the barrel of a Swiss style de-pegging if Greece and the rest of the PIIGS leave the system. Great if you are sitting on a huge pile of Euros, not so great if you have them invested or you are relying on a job in any remote way linked to exports.

Argentina defaulted (looks like they may do it again shortly) and within a few years, they were getting loans again. The system has a suprisingly short memory.

Right now, there is a lot of bluff and bluster going on. The question is what really happens if Greece calls Germany's bluff.

But back to the point, as someone spending a few months this winter in the EU and bringing the boat over in a year or so, it's good news. We'll see what happens in the near future.