Venice Is So Annoyed By Roman Abramovich's Superyacht.....

She's more than welcome in our waters..........

So this is what they call "shadow yachts"...

lololol Lars

What with all the financial issues many EU countries are facing, including Italy, they should more than welcome his contribution to their economy with open arms, instead of moaning about it. A boat this size will bring in more bucks than what the average tourist does ...

Is this ''Boat jokes'' thread?

He should just buy the nation of Greece ... Then he would have a place to park the boat and something to bargain with when he wants to visit other nations.

I think the issue, as always, is money. If someone comes in all self contained and does not spend the appropriate amount of money vs the inconvience they cause, there are hard feelings.
I remember in Mexico many years ago we would hire local fishing guides, eat out , but supplies and we were treated like kings vs the motorcoach crowd that were fully stocked and purchased nothing locally. They were almost run out of any of the local hot fishing spots.
Just my thoughts,
Ray

+1

That would be a great relief to many EU nations.
Greece to auction off some of it's smaller islands to the super rich.

We have the same problem in the Caribbean islands. Big hotel chains buy prime beach properties and build an all-inclusive resort. The guests only seem to leave the compound once during their stay to do a quick tour of the island and buy a t-shirt made in China.

Most of the food and staff at these resorts are imported and nothing is passed on to local businesses, as everything is purchased by the chain head office in Miami or somewhere. Its the same with Cruise ship passangers too.

The islands would be a much poorer place without the big yachts.

Thats my 2 cents.

Fishtigua, on a note unrelated to this topic, we just returned from a week in Turks and Caicos. To say that we enhanced the local economy a bit would be a gross understatement.

No problems with Luna getting to our neck of the woods...it's too big to come up through the locks on the Columbia River.

Hi,

You mean they haven't done that already?

Hmm, probably.
They better auction off the bigger ones as well then.

Hi,

I think that a lot of the current problems are due to the fact that the cupboard is bare in many departments and even if what is left can be sold, the money will not necessarily find it's way to the public coffers.

There is no painless solution to theirs or several other countries problems which now involve all EU Citizens who are helping them out willingly or not.

It must me a Latin thing. Here in Spain they want all the yachts to come and spend big money. Charter yachts are just not interested due to the high taxes. Here is an extract from our local yachting magazine in Mallorca.

At the Palma International Boat Show the planned protest by all sectors of the Spanish and Balearic yachting and water sports industry reached a momentous level of volume at exactly 12.00 noon, on each day over the duration of the show.
Dozens of volunteers from the various yachting associations had spent the previous week handing out flyers and talking with yacht owners, professional captains and exhibitors at the boat show who were all really keen to join the 'Hoot to Boot' (The Mat Tax) protest. And, as it turned out, there was no lack of enthusiasm for the action with hundreds of yachts taking part, and visitors to the boat show adding to the cacophony of sound with air horns, which were funded and distributed by various nautical association members.
Filling the huge bay from east to west with a noonday wall of sound, which politicians and the public simply cannot ignore, and doing it consistently for nine continuous days was an unprecedented challenge, which the local yachting industry seems to have risen to with gusto.
The whole exercise has already demonstrated the huge level of frustration mingled with a degree of genuine bewilderment, at the inability of successive national and regional governments in Spain to grasp some basic economic and commercial facts. IE: The unquestionable contribution that a fairly treated yachting industry can make to business growth, employment and generation of greater tax revenues. And just as importantly, being able to do it from its own internal free enterprise generated cash, totally without government handouts or subsidies!
As one observer from the industry commented to journalists at the boat show; "Its all very well to apply a luxury tax of 12%, but when you apply it to a boat which is by definition mobile at the turn of a key, or the hoisting of a sail...then it has a tendency to sail away from the tax liability to somewhere with a kindlier fiscal welcome!" "After all," he said; "12% of nothing actually works out at nothing, and any politician who cannot grasp that calculation, should definitely not be entrusted to represent the electorate."
Those very politicians have more reason than ever right now to heed the sound of the yacht horns and the message behind them, as the people of the Balearic Islands go to the polls on 22nd May to elect a new regional government for a new 4 year term. The protesters insist that the incumbent coalition of socialists, greens and nationalists headed up by president Sr. Francesc Antich leader of the left wing PSOE party, have ignored all the facts and figures, choosing to conduct a 'head in the sand' approach to promoting tourism in general, and nautical tourism in particular. They say that this is even more frustrating given that the Balearic Islands are so uniquely and beautifully graced with perfect climatic and sailing conditions.

I didn't know that Octopus was renamed to Luna

Paul Allen probably doesn't know either

That response isn't limited to Italians and yachts:

A few weeks ago Will Smith was filming the latest installment of "Men in Black" in NYC and had his "trailer"...

The "trailer" was such an egregious over-indulgence considering he lived a few blocks away that the outcry forced him to move the thing - even the mayor chimed in and said it was in poor taste.

As the gap b/t the very wealthy and everyone else continues to widen (anyone been reading the articles and the rise in food prices and the unrest it's causing around the world?), you can count on more reactions just like these...

Obviously, we make our living by piggy-backing on the wealthy, but not everyone shares that view.

Luna is now the problem for the french
she left Venice and is now at the cote d'azur.

Actually "Luna" is at anchor outside the port here in Monaco... its the Monegasque's problem now!