Cheap Sailing Holidays

[Shakey]

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The original question was with regard to the competency of Lead Skippers, ours had no people skills and lacked motivation. He and the hostess were having domestics and this spilled over into an obvious apathy.

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With regard to competency, the most important qualities for lead crew are tact, diplomacy and keeping customers happy. The job has very little to do with sailing! When I did the job, I only used my sailing skills infrequently, mainly when there was bad weather to keep the boats safe in harbour.

Skippers often end up sleeping with the hostess for some reason and when it all goes wrong you end up with the situation you described!

Does sound like the boat was knackered though.

 

[fireball]

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Skippers often end up sleeping with the hostess for some reason

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Cos the engineer smells when (s)he has to do all the mucky jobs ....

I was under the impression that the companies tried to get partnered teams for Skipper and Hostess

 

[FigaroII]

I did a whole Ionian cruise with Sailing Holidays and had a very similar experience in a tired boat.

It seems to be a trait with this company. Half of our flotilla had problems but dealing with the London office was a nightmare, they were rude particularly the MD. When something goes wrong they just dont want to know. I am still angry about it three years after the event.

Sailing Holidays offer cheap holidays in ancient boats thats why they are cheap and you definately get what you pay for. Based on my experience there is probably a 40% chance you will end up on one of the boats that is poorly maintained or just too knackered to meet a minium standard, then your holiday doesn't look so cheap infact it looks horrendously expensive for what you get.

If you cant afford anything else go with them in peak season, when it should hopefully be dry, if you go early or late there boats just aren't up to the job and you will probably end up in a leaky mouldy boat, no pleasure I can assure you.

Remember, there is no compensation for days lost through breakdown, the reply I got from their MD was "what do you expect with a 20 year old boat". Sums it up really, you get what you pay for, and its definately buyer beware !

 

[Slinky Spring]

Went on a great holiday last year with Ionian sailing adventure out of Gouvia. Family run company. Older but well maintained boats. Small fleet so only experienced lead crew. Peter the owner is also the chief engineer, has to pay if his engines go wrong so he goes to great lengths to make sure they don't. They also do specfic flotillas for families led with the help of the families 2 daughters. They do not book your flights but we managed to book a two week holiday fr only an extra £20 than the cost of flight only. We left the room empty for a week and then had a week on the beach after the flotilla.
We were told that a lot of flotillas will organise a race on the last day. Be warned, this is a thinly veiled attempt to get you back to home base and off the boat ASAP.
http://www.ionian-sailing.com/

 

[TonyTitch]

Defining the word cheap is a matter of personal opinion, but I would certainly advise caution to anyone contemplating what is advertised as a 'passage sail' by a very large charter company based at Port Solent. For your money, which is less than the cost of a week on a charter boat in summer you get a flight to point A, one of four legs of a delivery trip which starts in the Canaries and ends in the eastern mediterranean or vice versa, full board etc and a flight home, in a small flotilla. Sounds great, with plenty of sea miles, lots of night sailing, etc. and two weeks or more on board. The company gets its boats moved and you get what should be an enjoyable sailing trip. Trouble was that after a winter doing courses around the Canaries, the boat had a long list of jobs to be done, and was arguably not fit to tackle the Atlantic between the Canaries and Gibraltar in March. Questionable navigation decisions reached between the fleet leader and his head office resulted in us only getting half way up Morocco, and a complaint letter afterwards got the brush off. The skipper, which is what the original question was about, was experienced and excellent in getting us through the various difficulties. He had worked for this company before, and said that when they were good, they were very good, but when they were bad they could be awful. Has anyone else done one of these?