Boat Survey and Paperwork Delays

Hauled out for repairs.

I had started to write about the survey process prior to moving aboard and then time just got away from me. Read a few previous posts and you can see what was occupying my time.

This first part is about our experience buying RoundAbout (Laura Ann)  in the BVI.

The survey: A boat survey usually takes 1 day, maybe 2 days, tops. The entire process involves the marine surveyor inspecting every inch of the boat, both in and out of the water. It includes the in-water portion of the survey, the sea trial, and haul-out for the dry dock inspection. The haul-out involves a power washing of the bottom and drying time. It is really important, as the surveyor can take moisture readings in the hull (something you don’t want to find at all) and it allows for a more thorough inspection of boat’s bottom systems and all other areas that are below the water line.

Geoff hard at work. Jared and Clive in the background.

We arrived for the survey mid-morning and our surveyor, Geoff, was already hard at work. We let him be, so he could concentrate. Upon this first part of the survey, it was discovered that the port engine had an oil leak and ended up needing to be removed from the boat for a complete overhaul due to finding further issues. This meant that after the first part of the survey was completed, they would haul the boat out, remove the engine, and then get to work on the remainder of the phase-out process. This was beneficial to us, as we would not incur the haul-out fees the buyer is normally responsible for.  It also meant that our survey would be stretched out over a week’s time, rather than 2 days.

The engine took awhile to repair and the sea trial ended up taking place about a month after the initial survey date. Not as neat and tidy as most surveys usually are. We were traveling across the US at this time, so Clive and Geoff went along with a few other company employees for the trial. We received a good report and we set a date to take ownership in a few weeks when the phase-out had been completed (there was a list of items that needed attention based off the survey report).

After we arrived on August 30th, we walked through the boat and took acceptance. The charter company was great in that if we were to find anything in the next few days that needed attention, to just let them know and they would take care of it. We didn’t find much beyond a couple of wobbly shelves, a corroded power cord, and some missing inventory items. They took care of these things the following day. We went on our merry way out of their marina and in to our slip at Nanny Cay. We mostly worked on hurricane prep though, and didn’t have time to enjoy our new home. A few days later, we were evacuating off the island as Irma (and later Maria) was heading our way.

Buying RoundAbout2.0 in Europe

Finding a surveyor: This time around was a bit more challenging. In the Caribbean, Clive knew our surveyor, Geoff, and he also came highly recommended by a lot of sailors we talked to.
In this case, we had to find one on our own. We did not know anyone who knew of a surveyor in Turkey. By this time, you probably know that Stef has mad skills when it comes to research. She can find out about anything and everything online, and so, she set about to the task of finding a surveyor. The one we chose had a lot of positive reviews on the forums and facebook groups we belong to, had a website, and was also on the list our broker came up with. After a few conversations via email, we hired him to conduct an initial survey on October 18th, so we could see what we were getting into with this new boat. We received a nice lengthy report with lots of photos. We appreciated his attention to detail and professionalism. After reviewing this report a few days later, we decided to move forward with the in-depth survey.

The survey:  The actual survey took place a couple of weeks later on November 3rd, (due to logistics of the busy yard schedule) and lasted an entire day. It began with the haul-out occurring the previous evening, so the hull would have time to dry out a little before the survey began the next morning. Starting at 5am, our surveyor worked all day and conducted the sea trial on the way back to the marina. The inspection lasted until 11pm. We received an email from our surveyor around midnight, his time, stating that no major issues had been found, and that the report would come along in a few days.

Negotiations: After we reviewed the report, we sent it off to our broker with the list of things our surveyor said needed repaired and servicing. While in the BVI everything on our list was repaired, this is NOT the case in the Med. We were told that boats in the Med are less used and are in really good condition. Um, nope! In fact, the boat was far from the condition we were told it was in. There are stress cracks in the gelcoat, fractures in the supports holding up the hard-top bimini, ripped rub-rails on the transom from hitting the dock, torn section on the genoa sail, chips in the gelcoat, saildrives and engines needed servicing, bleach stains on the galley table, among a few other items...and they won't include the inventory that was included in the BVI. Our surveyor said that for a charter vessel of 5 years, it was in good condition compared to other charter boats. Wow, if this is considered good condition, I'd hate to see what the other boats look like. We were very disappointed because we had such a great experience with the same company in the BVI and had set our purchase price for the boat in Turkey based upon this experience. Once we realized they do not do phase outs, we negotiated a lower price due to the amount of work we are faced with completing. The base has also closed down permanently, so the staff are not happy and obviously do not care about the quality of their work (as reported by our surveyor since we spoke with him).

 The next step was to send in the list of recommendations our survey had written up. The seller responded to fixing some of the gelcoat issues (which we aren't really confident about, but we will see how they look at delivery), two chafed lines, and a couple of other small items. After negotiating some more, we reached an agreement and set a date for delivery. This was supposed to happen the week of Thanksgiving. We booked our tickets and hotel and set off for New York (the only direct flight to Athens). The day before we were set to fly, we received a call that not all of the paperwork from the seller had arrived, and so we would have more delays. WTF?! We were beyond frustrated by this point, but what else could we do, but turn around and go back to Virginia to wait it out. We'd also have a home to stay in for Thanksgiving instead of a hotel.  We were told over and over that the documents were in the mail.

More emails and phone calls. I think everyone involved wanted this to be over already, no one more than us! Delivery was then set to take place after Thanksgiving--more delays!!! The hold-up was that we were STILL waiting for the seller's documents to arrive from France. Here we are in the middle of December and it took THREE tries for the seller to get the paperwork correct. Seriously.  Our broker got the head honcho of the company involved at this point, because, really? Three tries? At this point, I am amazed J and I did not take to drinking heavily due to all the stress!

We finally had everything in order as of Tuesday, December 12th. We received copies of all documents and the final piece was getting the boat's registry deleted from Guernsey and registered with Delaware (we will transfer registration over to the US Coast Guard). The stars had finally aligned and we were moving forward! But, we would not truly celebrate until we had inked those papers.
We were out to dinner Thursday evening (12/14) when we received a phone call that our documents were ready. Mind you, this was at 4:55pm and the banks closed in 5 minutes. They weren't supposed to be ready until the following day, but we weren't going to complain.

We HAD to get them notarized the SAME DAY, per instructions. A quick google search and Stef found a notary at a local UPS store. We boxed up dinner and promised the kids dessert after the paperwork was sent off.
Fortunately, it was a few minutes drive from the restaurant. 45 minutes later, it was all completed, scanned (so we'd have a digital copy) and on a UPS truck for delivery! Whew! We then drove back to the restaurant for dessert to celebrate!

We booked our flights and hotels on the drive home and then loaded up the u-haul to prepare for the drive to the airport the following morning. It was a 6-7 hour drive to Newark, so we wanted plenty of time to unload the boxes (we have 27 pieces of luggage--boxes plus we have 12 large backpacks) and return the uhaul and rental car.

From start to finish, it has taken over three months to get this deal done and a hell of amount of stress!

Delivery and moving aboard: 

Our SPOT gps tracking device.

We mailed a GPS tracking device to our surveyor who placed it aboard the boat on the morning of 12/15. While there, he took another look to ensure everything was done in according to our repairs agreement and we learned that NOTHING had been done as agreed.  Really, this was beyond frustrating! WTH people?!?!  The silver lining to this (because I always try to look for one and stay positive) is that at least we will know the work will have been done correctly, as we will be doing it or overseeing those who are. After more phone calls and emails, we will NOT be signing the release of liability until we are physically ON the boat! We did ask that the delivery take place under the seller's insurance though. There will also be the GPS tracker, so we can track RoundAbout's journey. After what we just went through, we are taking no chances and want to limit as much risk as possible. Once we see the boat in person, we will sign the remainder of the paperwork and set about moving in! We seriously cannot wait for this to finally happen!

Surprise, the registration documents needed to allow the boat to leave Turkey had not yet arrived to the captain. In our experience, our surveyor had to go pick up the package himself from the Fed Ex delivery agent. We have relayed this info to the company, so that the captain is aware he may need to go pick it up. /We kept checking every day, as we asked for and received the Fed Ex tracking number. It had arrived in Istanbul on the 19th, but just sat there.

We waited another week for the boat to be delivered to Greece and it was finally here two days after Christmas. We tracked the journey on our SPOT app and determined they were making 9-10 knots! The passage lasted about a day and a half in total and we arrived Wednesday morning to greet the delivery crew, meet our new home, and start moving aboard. But, that's another entire post itself!

Traveling to Greece!

We left Williamsburg, Virginia around noon on the 15th of December. We had loaded everything into the suv and uhaul, cleaned the entire house, left thank-you gifts for the hosts, and were on our way! We drove straight through and arrived at the airport hotel around 10:45 pm. It should have only taken about 6 hours, but we hit terrible traffic.
After I went to check in at the hotel, we found a porter who was the most helpful and amazing guy on the planet. Well, this is how I felt after being so darned tired and just wanting to get into bed already. Together, we helped him load all of our stuff and placed it into a locked storage room (no way was all that fitting in our hotel room). We had about 10 cart loads by the time we were done. After that, the kids and I went into the room, hauling one cart piled with our backpacks (stuff we needed just for the night), while Jared went to return the uhaul and rental car. The porter guy told Jared NOT to go by himself, as it was a very bad neighborhood. He was off work in 20 minutes and would escort Jared there himself. Seriously, we tipped that guy well!

Unloading everytihng into the hotel.

We all slept well that night, relieved that this journey was finally underway. How we would manage getting all our stuff to the airport and checked in? Well, we would just see how it all worked out.

The next morning, we had a nice breakfast at the hotel and took the kids and Sunny out to a grassy area to play in the snow. They loved making snowballs, rolling them down the hill, and watching it grow larger as it gathered more snow. Pretty fun to watch.

Later that afternoon, I reserved a shuttle to take us to the airport will all our stuff. The clerk asked why we had so much stuff and I gave her a brief rundown of our story. She excitedly asked for our blog info, as her dad has a boat and she loves being out on the water.

After a quick dinner, we checked out of the hotel and started loading all our stuff into the shuttle. The driver was another amazing guy, who loaded everything in cheerfully. We all climbed aboard, over and around the boxes and settled in for the short ride to the terminal.

Yes, this was a huge amount of work, but we did it! 

Upon arriving, we were now faced with the task of finding carts to haul all this stuff. I spotted three, and we began loading them up. An airport porter, began lecturing me that we were not allowed to use the carts unless we paid him $60. Our shuttle driver began shouting at him that it was illegal to charge and that he was going to call the port authority. The porter started to take the carts away but thought better of it. I guess a tip was better than no tip. We thanked and tipped our friendly driver and headed off to the check-in counter.
We must have been such a sight! After paying the porter and his friends (we ended up paying $60 still, because of the extra guys, but whatever, we just wanted it done), we began the check-in process.

There is this pile and another behind me as I took this photo. 

We were about 4 hours before our flight and lucky for us, not many other people were in line. The lady at the counter gave us a strange look. I guess she doesn't see a family with a dog and about 40 pieces of luggage to check in everyday. She was very scared of Sunny though. If you know Sunny, she is a sweet dog who just loves attention. Who would be afraid of her? She wasn't even paying attention to the lady, but still, the clerk kept her distance.

With Swiss air, we were only allowed a MAX of 4 bags per person. Thankfully, this was all sorted before we got to the airport. After reading the fine print on the booking page that we would have to call and get permission to bring that many, I went ahead and made that call. So, while on the phone back in Virginia, I went ahead and paid for 20 bags ahead of time (you get a 10% discount if you do), which meant we had 7 left over.  I was initially told to call the cargo department regarding this problem, but after speaking with them, they said to just send an email and would send it on the manager to see if we could just go ahead and check in the remaining bags without using cargo.

Marc, the manager of "space control", was great. "No problem" and "I'll email the team to let them know ahead of time, so you will be all set". THANK YOU MARC!!!!! I printed out this email in case we needed it at the counter. Once our ticket info was brought up, the clerk had the notes and email along with it, so we were allowed to check-in everything. We also had Sunny's crate and had crammed that full of her stuff (bowls, food, etc), as well as Matt's backpack, jackets, and anything else we could shove in there. Why? Because we didn't have to pay for her crate (as she is a service dog) and that meant we didn't have to pay for anything inside the crate! Saved us a few hundred dollars by doing that! After printing and sticking on all the labels (and restacking the boxes as they were labeled), we then had to move them all to the "excess sized baggage area). They would not let them on the conveyor belt for whatever reason. Again, we needed to find another cart to do this. The kids and I found another cart, but of course, another porter said it was his and that we would have to pay. After figuring out the cost of renting one of those smaller carts, I just decided to go ahead and pay the $20. We got it all done in about an hour.
Next, we still had to pay for the 7 extra bags, but this would have to be done at a different counter. We got in line, settled the kids down to play on their ipads and waited another hour to get this done.

Finally, it was time to go through security. As we approached, we saw a gigantic line and were worried about missing our flight. We still had two hours to go, but still, it was a really long line! The security saw us approaching with our dog and waived us into the priority line--NO WAITING! Thankfully, we got right through, found our gate and some snacks, and settled in to wait to board the plane. There was a pet relief area nearby, so Sunny was able to go potty before the 7 hour flight. We had taken her before leaving the hotel, but it was nice she could use that before the plane, as well.

We were allowed to board FIRST again, as we had children and a dog. The plane was nice and we found a blanket, headphones, and a pillow at our seats. We settled in for the long ride. After sitting about 30 minutes beyond our departure time, the captain made an announcement.

Finally on the plane! 

"Attention passengers, we will have another 45 minute delay due to excess luggage. We have another 140 pieces to load. Apologies for this and we know you will miss your connecting flights. We will arrange for rebooking". Jared and I looked at each other, "uh oh, guess we contributed to that". Oh well, at least it would all be on the plane.  Believe me, I had tried to find a direct flight, and did, but we couldn't book it until we had signed the documents. This meant, we had to take whatever was available after we had signed.

I immediately began making arrangements for our later arrival. I let the Airbnb know that we'd be arriving later than planned (no problem, they said) and also our reserved taxi service. They informed me that if we missed it, we would forfeit the cost and have to rebook another one. At this time, we were hoping it would be a short layover, so I told them I would call once we got to Zurich.

We took off about 2 hours after our initial departure time. We were surprised when the flight attendants began serving dinner. Seriously, it was a lovely hot meal of chicken, stuffing, and vegetables with a little piece of apple cake and a hot bread roll (there were other options such as chicken with pasta and vegetables or a vegetarian pasta dish). They came around later with pieces of chocolate. And the food? It was GOOD! It was also part of the ticket cost, so that was lovely and something we had never experienced before on other airlines. A few hours later, they served breakfast (time zone change). Again, it was lovely.

Shortly before landing, we had a message pop up on the tv screen that everyone had been re-booked and to go to the counter to get the new passes and vouchers for food and drinks. We landed and got in line and about 20 minutes later, were on our way to the next terminal. They said it would be either A or B, but we would not know until an hour before the flight. We would not be flying until around 8pm, so I called the taxi service to let them know. While we had to forfeit the money (Swiss airline is supposed to reimburse us that cost), we had to rebook another one so we could still get to the hotel. We were so happy they would have another driver for us when we landed around 1am. Whew! Crisis avoided.

After riding the air train to the next terminal (the kids loved that), we walked around trying to figure out where we were going to hang out for the next 7 hours. I saw a sign that said Family Services, so we went to see what that was about. It was amazing! It was two huge rooms set up like a classroom with kitchen, and separate room with couches and a table. The woman was so sweet and kind. We stowed our luggage in the cubby area and the kids went to play. She asked if we needed to take Sunny outside for a break. YES! Jared stayed with the kids, so they could play and he could rest a bit. I grabbed Sunny's paperwork and found my way to the exit. I had to go through customs first, but they just waived me through after learning I was just taking her outside for a potty break. It wasn't too cold outside, or maybe I was just really warm after walking so long. It felt wonderful! Sunny did her business and we returned to the Family Services area. Sunny got used to escalators (she wasn't sure the first few times we had to use them, but became a pro after that).

We brought dinner back to the Family area and had a nice chat with the woman in charge. She is a total dog person and Sunny got quite spoiled with belly rubs. =)

Around 8pm, we packed everyting up and headed to our gate (Jared had checked a few times and finally got the information). We walked the short distance to our gate in terminal B and after about 10 minutes, we were again, first to board the plane. It was much smaller, but at least we were on board and finally heading to Athens.

They served another lovely meal, greek salad, bread roll, and I honestly forgot what else was with it--we were going on so little sleep at that point.  We landed in Athens around 1am and made our way to baggage claim. I have to say, we are so proud of our kids and Sunny, as they are AWESOME travelers. They just go with the flow, no matter how tired they are. No complaining at all!

As the baggage began coming out, we were again, quite the show for those around us. We began taking everything off the conveyor belt and stacking it all up.  I had our baggage claim stickers ready, and as we stacked them, I placed the coordinating sticker on the box/backpack. This allowed us to learn which pieces were missing later on. After we rented the carts (I think we had 8 total), the kids and I loaded everything up, while Jared went to the claim window to report our missing baggage. We were missing our parasailor ($12k downwind sail) and our family medical bag. These were probably our most expensive pieces of baggage and of course, they go missing! After making the claim, we started rolling the carts to the customs area. No one in sight. Our taxi drivers (there were two of them because we had so much luggage) helped us roll everything to the waiting vans. It was around 2:30 am at this point. We got everything in, squeezed us in around the stuff and made our way to the Airbnb (I had been updating them the entire trip of our arrival time and they were so gracious and understanding).

We arrived an hour later and set about unloading everything from the van into the lobby of the Airbnb building. After tipping the drivers and thanking them, we went up to the 3rd floor, talked with our Airbnb host a little, and then crashed.

I think it was around 5am at this point.

We didn't wake up until around 1pm, and were still so tired. Jet lag is serious business! Our host arrived and said he would take us to a taverna nearby for a meal, since we hadn't eaten anything yet. Matt, Cadence, and I hopped into his car for the ride, while Jared and Zach took Sunny out to the nearby school/park for a potty break. They met us about 20 minutes later.

The taverna, Zorbas, was right on the water and lovely. We enjoyed watching the boats, seagulls, and fish swim around. The fish seemed to swim with their mouths out of the water? Low oxygen, perhaps? After a lovely meal, seriously, it was so delicious! Matt had calamari and squeezed lemon on it as the watier had suggested--he said it tasted really nice. I had a chicken, veggie, pasta dish with a butter/cream sauce. Zach had a burger, Cadence had fish and veggies, and I forget what Jared had.

Zorbas in the Kastella district of Athens/Piraeus.

We walked back to the apartment and got ready to pack up and leave to go to our next apartment that was closer to the marina. Why did we just not book one? Well, the one we wanted was not available the day we flew in, so we had to book two places.

We had a meeting with George, our boat repair contractor, and learned that our repairs were easy and not a big deal. He would also get us his contractor's discount.

The owners of the second apartment said they would help get us to their place and had a huge moving truck ready. They had used it for something else and it was lucky that they still had it! They arrived around 8pm, we loaded it up and were ready to go. Cadence and I sat up front while Jared and the boys rode in back with the luggage. The boys thought it was really exciting to do that (and totally against the law in the US)!

We arrived about 15 minutes later and started unloading everything. The moving truck blocked traffic and people were NOT happy about it. We unloaded everything onto the sidewalk and then began transferring it into the lobby of the apartment building, going as fast as we could among the honking horns and shouting.

We finally got everything into the apartment about an hour later and went to bed exhausted, but so glad we were finally done!

The next day was spent exploring, eating wonderful new foods, and learning some of the Greek language. Everyone is so friendly here and LOVES to pet Sunny. She is like a celebrity on the street!
We have learned that our boat is still in Turkey--waiting on the registration to get there so the captain can legally check out of the country and into Greece. We are hoping for the day after Christmas (fingers crossed and praying this is the case). Today, our friend Demetra (who has been a true blessing to us, brought us our missing baggage--our parasailor and medical bag which had been delivered to her home). THANK YOU!!!

We have been invited to our apartment hosts' home for Christmas dinner and a birthday party! We are feeling so welcome here and can't wait to explore more of this lovely country!

Next up: Our first few days in Greece! Lots of photos to come in that post!

I have posts about the survey and purchase process--will post those once we are actually ON the boat. 

On the Move!

There she is! s/v RoundAbout in her slip at the marina.

After delays upon delays, we are FINALLY on the move to Greece! As in, we are heading to the airport right now! RoundAbout will be delivered there a few days after we arrive. We can't wait!

I have quite a few blog posts already completed on this entire experience and will post once we are moved aboard and I find wifi. 

In the meantime, please send positive thoughts for safe travels and smooth transitions. After all, we are lugging around 27 pieces of luggage (boxes for the most part), three kids, and a dog! 

Stay tuned! =) 

The RoundAbout crew