A lot is being discussed in the press about marinas and berth places in Greece. It is no secret that there is a chronic lack of the same and with the order books, for new yachts, full at the time of writing, no easy answer is obvious.
Recent discussions have shown that owners in Athens are hoping to escape the facts of life yet again and create their own marina in the hope of finding a less expensive haven for their yachts. They should try to do so and will perhaps then appreciate why they are currently faced with the costs that they complain of.
Infrastructure costs money, lots of money and the bare fact is that marinas are not simple places to make money to have a return on that enormous outlay required for construction. Most marinas have found that the income from yachts, even when the marina is pretty well full, is often not sufficient for the running costs of a full-service marina. Of course if all that is required is a seawall and a bollard then perhaps that would suffice, as in the old days when that was just about all that was on offer. People were perhaps not happy, but willing to queue for sometimes hours, for the two water hoses on the quay or take it in turns for power! Not so these days. Everyone expects everything to be provided and some seem to think these provisions are made either as a matter of charity or at no cost to anyone. As with everything else, a marina costs money to provide and that has to be paid for. To expect the marina owner to absorb costs must stop or we will have no further marinas anywhere.
And the complaints often heard are that there are not sufficient marinas in Athens but further afield. As most of Greek yachting is concentrated in the Athens area it is absolutely understandable that the vast majority of marinas are similarly concentrated. However, during the summer, yachts move. They go to lots of islands and again come up against similar problems. There are very few marina places and those that do exist tend to be in the smaller size range – up to 40m at most. One hears bitter complaints about this from crew, clients and owners but until a few issues have been addressed, this will not change.
No one goes into an undertaking which involves time, energy and substantial investment, if the probability of success is slight. That means that there have to be certain elements in place. Of course there needs to be demand and clients ready and willing to pay for the new facilities. There needs to be a safe place, sheltered from the worst of the elements that the sea can produce to ensure that the projected marina will be a safe one. Surrounding infrastructural demands.