Med sailing

[sawallach]

This is my first post on the forum so I apologize in advance if I'm not PC. My wife and I are seasoned sailors (we have a Beneteau 310) on the San Francisco bay. Most of our cruising experience has been in the Caribbean but 2 years ago we decided to branch out to the Med. We did the Cyclades in 2019 and we just got back from the Aeolian's a week and a half ago. In both instances, we chartered from what we thought were reputable companies, and in both instances the boats we got were less than what we thought; in one case seriously below what was advertised as 'premier'.



In our most recent experience, when we showed up at the dock, the boat lacked equipment that was advertised and then during the sail had a mechanical issue that dogged us the entire 2 weeks.


While we're used to minor inconveniences, I was wondering if anyone could provide some tips when dealing with charterers on how to avoid these sorts of major disappointments with equipment prior to showing up at the dock. We're already planning our next sail for 2023 to Turkey and I want to make sure the boat we charter is the boat we get.


Thanks in advance!

[Chrisb1309]

We’ve heard good reports from Sailing Holidays and Nisos, but Nisos are in,y in the Ionian. Sailing Holidays go to Turkey.

[Palarran]

I would contact Yeloya, a member of this forum. He owns a charter company in Marmaris called Offshore Sailing and while his boats are not all brand new, they are in excellent condition and mechanically A+. Many members of the CF can attest to this. His actual name is Atila Alada.

Homepage - OSSYC

[edsml]

Saw: I've had the same issues over more than 30 charters, despite trying to go with less than three-year-old models. Even brand new can be a problem-- once the base hadn't yet installed cabin fans! In September in Sardinia, they forgot to connect one of the head switches. And watermakers often have problems. I try to choose charter companies carefully, but even then, Dream Yacht can be great in one place (Raiatea), terrible in another (BVI).

I also find a lot of errors in their spec sheets. My best tip? Try contacting the base directly, even if you have to call. Not all are open to this, but base managers know the boats, booking agents do not (I once had an agent confirm four heads on a yacht that only had two!), and their sites use stock photos.

[goboatingnow]

Sunsail tend to have a lot of boats. So at least they might have alternatives.