Chris called us a few days ago to announce yet another delay (2 weeks), due this time to a computer hack at Beneteau (which also hit Renault and other companies). Of course, he was not informed; clearly Beneteau's phone system must have gone down as well!
He was also not informed that our "determination date" had been and gone and that Beneteau had already cut the timbers for the joinery. We had explored with Chris that we might defer the boat for a year, but Beneteau said they couldn't now delay the build, nor store the boat for us, as there would be no room at the yard. So Beneteau have metaphorically cast us off from the dock and bid us "bon voyage"! Still, that is the negative take; the positive spin is that it's "all systems go!" And we are now getting quite excited.
Although Beneteau's systems have not been updated, Chris thinks the delivery date from the factory is week 25 (i.e. end of June), so handover to us from Sunbird/SAS may be mid-July on the south coast of France. After Missy Bear is fitted-out at Canet-en-Roussillon, she will then immediately be sailed to Spain to clear French waters (so VAT not payable). We are now looking into marinas in Turkey for overwintering (Gocek, Marmaris or Kas), to avoid Schengen rule (90 in 180 day) issues for us now as 'third country' citizens.
Much else is in the melting pot, e.g. will we be allowed to travel to the yacht in France, or even Spain? I'm hoping that all will be calm by July; all this scaremongering about possible Covid spikes in the middle of a European summer makes me a tad frustrated at least. Our complete fallback plan is to get her professionally delivered to Turkey, e.g. by PYDW, who would be able to travel for 'business purposes'. I could probably crew on that delivery, but I'd rather avoid using a delivery crew if I can, not least because that would cost another £5k plus.
We have put our itinerary onto our Cruising Association site, and we have a few possible crew interested. But we have offered Tony and Rachelle first refusal for any leg. As we only have 90 'Schengen' days (in 180), I suspect we might go a more direct route, say, North Spain, Menorca, Sardinia, Sicily, Ionian, Corinth, Aegean, Gocek (by October/November). We have also applied for French long-term visitor visas, so that any days we spend in France will not count towards the 90 days.
Alix is now looking at marinas, fees, and insurances for the yacht, personal and health etc. Exciting times!