Cruising from Spain to Turkey during this virus?!?!

[Barbaria]

Originally Posted by more

leave the airport building and enter on Spain soil, this is your most bigger challenger

Agreed
Maybe you can ask Brad Pitt for advice as he showed up in Belgium not long ago.

[more]

Originally Posted by Barbaria

Agreed
Maybe you can ask Brad Pitt for advice as he showed up in Belgium not long ago.

what you think Every person is equal before the law, yes on paper, law paper is very grey and stretched.

[DougSabbag]

Originally Posted by Barbaria

If you look at MarineTraffic you will see leisure boats moving all over the Mediterranean, and that is only boats with AIS enabled. We have followed two Norwegian sailers on AIS from Gibraltar the last weeks. One is now in Sardinia the other just left Crete direction seems to be Turkey. So lockdown for sailors seems to be “variable” depending more on the port than the actual rules. We also talked to a Swedish sailor currently in Spain who said “tourists could sail in Spain”, but I have not been able to verify if that is actually true.

We are anchored down for the Easter lockdown here in Italy, but will move as soon as the holidays are over.

Wonderful to hear! Not to 'beat a horse to death', but, these sailors are able to come ashore too, correct?

[DougSabbag]

Originally Posted by more

leave the airport building and enter on Spain soil, this is your most bigger challenger

So.... if we've managed to get out of the Spanish airport, we should be able to cruise (and stop along the way for food, etc.), fairly easily?

[more]

Originally Posted by DougSabbag

So.... if we've managed to get out of the Spanish airport, we should be able to cruise (and stop along the way for food, etc.), fairly easily?

yes, nobody kills you because you come in port. follow normal customs rules for coming/leaving in the country. shut of AIS transponder.


Greece
https://travel.gov.gr/#/protocol_sea
France

https://www.gouvernement.fr/en/coronavirus-covid-19

But all this is valid now for one week who knows, nobody when you 48 hours before coming to spain ask this information. If not give me 7 numbers for the lotto. You must know in EU is a democracy, a thousand politicians litle soul without morals make these rules. Everybody has a different agenda and goal.

[Barbaria]

Originally Posted by DougSabbag

Wonderful to hear! Not to 'beat a horse to death', but, these sailors are able to come ashore too, correct?

One of them had a Facebook page and I asked how he was able to sail. He answered that he had given up on the all the different rules. He sailed to the marina and asked the harbormaster what was allowed and followed the rules they had, if any.

We have the same experience, large marinas will have more bureaucracy and forms to fill out, small marinas don’t care. Contact the marina at least 24h before arriving and check formalities. For anchor no one seems to care.

Do keep an updated logbook and a some kind of health scheme updated daily for all onboard. We have one going back to May 2020.

[Joh.Ghurt]

Originally Posted by DougSabbag

So.... if we've managed to get out of the Spanish airport, we should be able to cruise (and stop along the way for food, etc.), fairly easily?

Yes, the traffic picked up a lot in the last few days and I've seen more boats coming into the marina I'm sitting in and the one in the next town for a stopover.

Also here in Spain, the restaurants don't have to close at 18:00 any more, they're still open later in the evening. Provisioning never was a problem in recent months.

[Dogscout]

So I'll throw a little more into this.


I have seen a few boats moving around in Preveza during the past week or so. Mostly i believe is that this is because of the 4 yards in the area and boats going to the yard for work or coming out of the yard. The movement I am seeing is for commercial reasons. Greece still restricts recreational boating and the movement of people outside the local administrative area.

This is all stated on Gov.gr https://covid19.gov.gr/menoume-asfal...os-tis-choras/

This is expected to change, perhaps as soon as tomorrow, but the feeling is that it will not.

Recently a person I know was refused permission to move his boat to another yard that is further away. The port police would not grant permission to travel between islands.

Use this information to make your own decisions.

[Joh.Ghurt]

Doug,

I had a chat with a nice French couple that just arrived from the Baleares on their 47' catamaran. They experienced in the past month no restrictions on the islands specially for Yachties, they never had a problem with getting a berth or infrastructure, nobody ever asked for a Covid-Test.

For provisioning the same restrictions as for all Spanish applied, so until recently no bars / restaurants open after 6, now after 10.

If you can make it onto the flight, you'll be good.

[Montanan]

FYI.

Incidents of Covid are rising due to the more virulent variants. Regions of Spain are further tightening interprovincial travel. The closure of travel by land and by sea between Portugal and Spain has been extended from March 31, yet again to at least April 15th, the border had been initially closed on January 28th.

Spain's national infection rate, as measured over the past 14 days, rose to 165 cases per 100,000 people on Tuesday, up from 128 cases in mid-March, but still well below the 900-case peak seen in late January.

Wary that increased social contact over the recent Easter break might fuel further contagion, authorities in northeastern Catalonia, which borders France, announced they would reimpose a ban on residents travelling outside their home county.

That restriction, effective from Friday, had been lifted in recent weeks to allow members of a household to move freely within Catalonia, which on Tuesday had an incidence of 203 cases per 100,000 people.

Officials said the Covid infection data likely did not yet reflect the anticipated adverse impact of the Easter break and warned that intensive care hospitalisations were on the rise.

Authorities in the Basque Country shut down all non-essential travel in and out of regional capital Vitoria-Gasteiz and the province of Alava after the 14-day infection rate ticked above 400 cases per 100,000 people.

Similar measures were imposed on the small town of Tarazona in the Aragon region.

[Montanan]

Doug you indicated you intend to head to Croatia.

As of April 1, anyone can travel to Croatia if they present a COVID-19 vaccination certificate (the final dose must be administered at least 14 days before arrival); can present a negative COVID-19 PCR or antigen test taken no more than 48 hours prior to arrival in Croatia (if it’s a rapid test, a second test must be taken 10 days after the initial test if your stay in Croatia is longer than 10 days); or were diagnosed with and recovered from COVID-19 no more than 180 days prior to arrival. Children under seven years of age are exempt.

As to the Schengen

As COVID-19 vaccine rollouts continue to progress in the U.S. and abroad, a handful of European countries, including Iceland and Croatia, have started opening up to vaccinated travelers. Will others follow suit?

One year after Europe closed its external borders, there is still no concrete plan for when and how Europe will reopen those borders.
On March 17, 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic gripped Europe and the world, European Union leaders agreed to impose travel restrictions on most foreigners entering Europe to limit the spread of COVID-19. Those restrictions were ultimately extended until July 1, 2020, when the European Union began welcoming back travelers from a short list of countries that had been approved by its leaders.

The list was created based on countries’ epidemiological situation, and countries could be added or removed as their COVID-19 situation improved or worsened. From the original 14 approved countries, the list has shrunken to just 6, according to the latest version on the European Union’s Re-Open EU site.

The United States was never on the list. And conversely, the United States still has a ban in place on travelers from the European Schengen Area, the United Kingdom, and Ireland, with the exception of U.S. citizens and permanent residents.

The six countries currently on the European Commission list are Australia, New Zealand, Rwanda, Singapore, South Korea, and Thailand.

Algeria, Canada, Georgia, Montenegro, Morocco, Serbia, Tunisia, and Uruguay had been on previous incarnations of the list but have since been removed, and Singapore was added more recently. China could also be included at some point if it agrees to allow EU travelers to visit. There being the need for reciprocity between countries which is lacking, e.g. similarly with the USA. Residents of Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, and the Vatican are considered EU residents as part of the lifting of travel restrictions.

There are also numerous exceptions to the ban on travel to Europe, including for European citizens and residents and their family members, passengers in transit, and students.

It’s not a legally binding list, but EU leaders have agreed that member countries should not independently lift travel restrictions for unlisted countries before it’s been decided upon in a coordinated manner. Presently some European countries were not even permitting travelers from the above six countries to enter amid newer, stricter measures.

Upon turning the corner into 2021, despite the fact that COVID-19 vaccines have been developed and are being deployed in Europe and globally, the situation for travel to and from Europe has been (at least for the near-term) even more precarious due largely to the emergence of new coronavirus variants that have been found to be more transmissible. These variants have generated concern among governments racing to get their populations vaccinated. So on February 2, 2021, EU countries agreed on updated recommendations for travel restrictions into Europe, which state that if the epidemiological situation in a given country worsens quickly and if a country is found to have a high incidence of a worrisome variant, travel restrictions could be “rapidly and unilaterally reintroduced.”

[Joh.Ghurt]

A few new experiences:

• Travel from / into mainland Spain via plane wasn't a problem yesterday if you had a sufficiently new Covid test. The airports aren't full, but not totally empty either. Checking in takes about twice as long as usually. The planes seems to be about 1/3 to 1/2 as full as usual.
• A friend of mine flew yesterday to Split in Croatia. Just having a negative Covid-test was sufficient for her and her sister. However it seems Croatia goes from 19th of April on the list of the high infection rate countries. So leaving Croatia they might go into quarantine. All this doesn't affect entering Croatia.

[Montanan]

FYI, today Portugal's Interior Ministry said the border closure by land and by sea with Spain, which has a higher infection rate than Portugal, would continue now until at least the end of the April based on a bilateral agreement. The border was closed in January and had most recently been extended to April 15. The measures do not prevent Portuguese citizens or residents from entering the country.

Additionally, "The complete suspension of flights to and from Portugal to either Brazil and the United Kingdom is lifted, for essential journeys only - as was already the case for flights from third countries," Essential travel applies to those who enter or leave Portugal for professional, study, family reunification, health or humanitarian reasons.

[Montanan]

FYI: Update. Vaccine Passports, never leave home without them.

Today the Spanish Government has decided to permit European Union citizens to enter the country – without being subject to COVID-19 test and self-isolation requirements – provided that they hold a Digital Green Certificate beginning in June.

The EU authorities announced that the Digital Green Certificate, also known as a vaccine passport, will be ready by June, allowing EU resident tourists to travel freely without being subject to COVID-19 travel restrictions throughout the EU Member States, including Spain.

The EU Commission explained that each country’s authorities will be responsible for issuing the certificates. It has not been decided yet through which institution Spain will issue them.

The EU Commission was the first to propose creating a Digital Green certificate in March to make it possible for those vaccinated EU citizens to travel without any restrictions throughout the bloc.

The Member states will still be able to require arrivals from EU countries to test or self-isolate. They must inform the Commission and all Member States of their decision, while providing valid reasons.

According to the EU Commission, the Vaccine Certificate will include the holder’s following information:

Name and surname

Date of birth

Issuing Member State

A unique identifying QR code

Vaccine product, manufacturer, number of doses, and date of vaccination for those who took the vaccine

Type of test, time and date of the test, test centre, and test results for tested travellers

Date of the positive test result, the issuer of the certificate, date of issuance, and validity date for recovered travellers

All questions regarding the EU’s COVID-19 vaccine certificate would be issued in two languages, in English and the official language of the issuing country.

The validity of the certificates will depend on the evidence which is to be gathered when they are fully functional and will be adjusted, based on that.

No mention or indication when the EU will avail people from the USA to enter. Seemingly, could be more challenging for the USA given the lack of a nationwide vaccine database or digital certificates for deriving a vaccine passport.

[Montanan]

Greece opens to Americans, joining Croatia.

Greece has lifted quarantine requirements for vaccinated travelers and those testing negative for Covid-19 from key tourism markets, including Europe, the UK and the United States, in what officials called "baby steps" on the road back to normality.
But while qualifying visitors will be able to check into hotels to enjoy Greek sunshine and beaches, they'll be subject to the same restrictions as locals, meaning restaurants and bars will remain off limits, except for takeaways.
The move marks the first time the country has been open to American visitors since March 2020 when Greece entered its first lockdown at the onset of the pandemic.

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/g...sts/index.html