customs which Phil dealt with like a superstar.
The wind had been very light during the crossing from Turkey, but for the last few hours it picked up and we had arrived earlier than expected, reaching our destination at 0230. Since we did not wish to enter an unknown marina in the dark, we chose to anchor at a place mentioned in our pilot book, in the same bay, about two miles from the entrance. We got a few hours sleep and made contact at around 0800. The marina staff were very friendly and helped us tie up to the customs dock inside the marina, which is where the problems began.
As we tied up, one of the officials said that we had made a mistake anchoring rather than coming directly into the marina, even though their offices are closed at night. After a cursory inspection of the boat, Phil went with the officials to complete the paperwork and was accused of trying to enter the country illegally. While the Port Police/Immigration accepted our explanation and took no further action, Customs was a different matter. They said that we had arrived at 2330, and that we should have asked permission to anchor and have anchored much closer to the marina. After several hours of sitting in the reception, Phil was asked to give a statement under formal caution. When he eventually returned to the boat, he told me he had been made to sign a document stating that he knew he had committed a criminal act, and that the boat was impounded in the marina until we had paid a fine. The amount of the fine would be decided by central office before the end of the week.
We were really shell-shocked. Anchoring until morning when you arrive in the middle of the night is common practice for sailors. The long distances involved in moving countries and the unpredictability of the wind, mean that it can be difficult to ensure you arrive during daylight hours. We had anchored in sight of the marina, were flying our quarantine flag, and clearly made no attempt to leave the boat. I had been in email contact with the marina about checking in and had notified them of our departure from Turkey, giving them an estimated time of arrival. To say we were trying to enter the country illegally, when we had a marina contract and had told them when to expect us, was clearly unreasonable. We always have our AIS (Automatic Identification System) on and so we could also show the track of the boat and the time we anchored, so Phil was at least able to get the times corrected in his statement.
The marina staff were really supportive. They showed the email chain to the officials in support of our case and stayed with Phil through the whole process. The staff who helped us moor up were also sympathetic, asking us about it and listening carefully to our tale of woe. Their view was that we had experienced these problems because we had arrived from Turkey and if we had come over from Greece it would all have been fine. Anyway we did not have to wait long for the outcome, within two hours they called us back to say that the fine would be 100 euros. We went straight back and paid it and were told that we and our boat were now free to move around Cyprus as we wished and that the fine was for trying to enter Cyprus through a non-port of entry.
Phil told me that the officials were all very polite and that it seemed to be, for them, a bureaucratic exercise. One official had said to him at one point, not to worry as he was not going to lose his boat over this. I said this was anything but reassuring! Anyway we were in, it was all sorted and ironically the fine was less than the cost of checking into Turkey.
The next morning we were asked to attend a meeting with the Marina Director. It felt a lot like being summoned to the Headteacher's office, as we had no idea what he wanted to discuss. Phil was busy, and quite frankly not in the mood, so I went along. It turned out to be a very nice meeting as the director wished to apologise for the way we had been treated. He reassured us that we had done absolutely nothing wrong and ask our permission to take our case up with the central authorities. He had a print out of our track in front of him and said that the idea we had tried to enter through a non-port of entry was clearly ridiculous and that where the officials had said we should have anchored is a restricted zone where anchoring is prohibited. He generously offered us a week's free mooring, which turned into two weeks by the time we received the confirmation email. Ayia Napa is a premium marina, and we estimate this welcome freebie is worth 500 euros, so we are in pocket by 400 euros. The director is a very nice man who restored our good humour and allowed us to begin our time in Cyprus on a much more positive note.
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