Flotilla Recommendation Wanted

mjcoon said:
We've been to Croatia many times without worrying about VHF certificates, and Yugoslavia before that. I believe it is a new requirement. I don't have an official reference to hand.

But for instance Seafarer says:


We went with Sailing Holidays a few years ago and had numerous problems. Other yachts did too. But we did get an acknowledgement from them and a substantial refund. It was a delivery trip but we had not expected to be finding shakedown faults.

Hence we have been flotilla sailing with Seafarer (https://seafarersailing.co.uk/) or Sunscape (http://www.sunscapeyachting.co.uk/) - who work together - for decades. See http://www.mjcoon.plus.com/page38.htm

Mike.
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I have done a few delivery trips for them and yes there is always the chance of the boats having a fault after the Winter lay up and work package. The issues I have experienced have been minor and fixed pretty promptly but others have had surprising ones - I remember one case of a boat that very nearly lost its prop shaft coupling came adrift - guess the rest. We had another where ( cannot remember the port) where we had a bit of roughers and the back of the boat was lifted up and crashed down onto the quay making a bit of a mess of the hull. In both cases the SH response was fantastic and in the latter case the boat was taken back to Corfu and repaired in 48 hours with the family put up in a very nice hotel (+ compensation).
They do a lot of work in the winter on their fleet, on my last delivery 8 of the 13 boats had been fitted with new engines (yes the almost lost prop shaft was one of them).

By their very nature delivery trips outward from Corfu will always run with more chances of issues with the boat - if you are nervous of that book a return delivery trip back to Corfu then there is just the ‘normal risk’ of issues as with any boat. And of course any ‘normal’ flotillas in between.
 
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Just over a year ago I posted a similar question.
I have my own yacht in NZ which i race and cruise so not lacking in experience, but had never been to Greece or the Med.

My wife is not a sailor and only comes out on picnic days sometimes, but she was game to try the experience.

TBH, the prospect of bareboat chartering was a bit daunting, especially as I would have been essentially a solo sailor with a passenger. So I asked about Flotillas.
Sailing Holidays was the leading recommendation and so we did a Flotilla with them in the North Ionian last year.
It was great! A very low stress introduction to sailing in that part of the world. We did more motoring than i would have liked, but I figured i was there for the whole experience, not just the hard out sailing that i can do at home, and my wife was happy, so i was happy.
It was so good, it was my wife that suggested doing the south Ionian this year, so we have booked again, and will be there in a few weeks.
As I write, the summer in NZ seems to have finally come to a close, so the prospect of coming to the Northern hemisphere soon is very welcome.

Go for it, I am sure you wont regret it.
 
RichardS said:
But that's not a Croatian Government document so might well be just a misunderstanding relating to privately owned boats where a VHF licence is required if you have a VHF.

Sunsail and The Moorings have required RYA/ICC for the last 10 years or so (Greece as well as Croatia now) but have never required a VHF licence for charter.

Has anyone a personal experience of chartering a boat in Croatia and being required to have a VHF licence? I was never asked to show mine.

Richard
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My goodness Richard, you're a hard man to convince :)

The following is included in the official government list of accepted and necessary qualifications for a UK subject to charter a Croatian-licenced boat (as all charter vessels are). The regulation is Article 4 Paragraph 3 of The Ordinance on Boats and Yachts (Official Gazette No. 27/05, 57/06, 80/07, 3/08 and 18/09) .

"under the condition of holding an appropriate national or foreign certificate for operating radio station if there is a radio-telephone VHF station or a GMDSS-VHF station on the boat or yacht."​
 
Another vote for Sailing Holidays - I suggest that you look at the "whole Ionian" flotilla. We have done N to S twice, and it is very good, Starts in Plataria, and goes down the coast to Sivota in Levkas. The next flotilla goes S to N. If you are lucky, they sometimes include the Gulf of Amvrakia, which is a gem. Also includes going through the Levkas canal.

We did Croatia a few years ago, but they are not as welcoming as you find in the Greek Tavernas. They seem to see sailing boats as a easy source of £££, so marinas are similar to the cost we find on the UK the South Coast!
 
RichardS said:
Has anyone a personal experience of chartering a boat in Croatia and being required to have a VHF licence? I was never asked to show mine.
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Further to my other post, I have just remembered the case, not personal but of an Austrian friend in my marina who, some years ago but later than the regulations implementation in 2005, was stopped from clearing into Croatia in Umag for not having a VHF SRC. He had to pay €200 and lose a day, for a Croatian course and licence.
 
Barnac1e said:
My goodness Richard, you're a hard man to convince :)

The following is included in the official government list of accepted and necessary qualifications for a UK subject to charter a Croatian-licenced boat (as all charter vessels are). The regulation is Article 4 Paragraph 3 of The Ordinance on Boats and Yachts (Official Gazette No. 27/05, 57/06, 80/07, 3/08 and 18/09) .

"under the condition of holding an appropriate national or foreign certificate for operating radio station if there is a radio-telephone VHF station or a GMDSS-VHF station on the boat or yacht."​
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Certainly not hard to convince .... but after 40 years in the justice system I have learned that evidence is everything. ;)

The Croatian Government document specifically refers to "bareboat" charter and not "flotilla" charter so that is presumably how Sunsail and The Moorings and, as far as I know, all the other charter companies get around the rule.

Even flotilla charters often have a few days where you can go off on your own if you wish so one can see that with a little bit of "interpretation" the charter companies get around the ruling. :)

Richard
 
Barnac1e said:
Further to my other post, I have just remembered the case, not personal but of an Austrian friend in my marina who, some years ago but later than the regulations implementation in 2005, was stopped from clearing into Croatia in Umag for not having a VHF SRC. He had to pay €200 and lose a day, for a Croatian course and licence.
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There's no argument there. The rules concerning private boats are crystal clear as in my post #20. :)

Richard
 
Back to the OPs question after our VHF lesson in that I would have thought ones choice of provider might be influenced by preferred location and distance between stops plus what you find on arrival. We have done a flot or 2 in past and have found Turkey cheaper and discovered local entertainment ( male belly dancers) not to all the parties tastes however the distances are very short and the local owners most welcoming so little hassle plus experience of carpet sales and such like add to memories. My recollection is Croatia was it was quite pricey but lovely views e.g. On way up to waterfalls or culture trips into Trogir. In summary you might find price differentials for different areas impact choice but you might want to try an area where fewer companies operate as otherwise it might become that ports become a bit like the West Indies cruising circuit and so I would be looking to investigate which companies serve areas with quieter stops where the stress of evening stops are less as a starter and then be looking on trip Adviser as to what local attractions exist if you wanted to hire a minibus to visit old ruins or such like while in locality.
 
The exam question was recommendations for a flotilla and while the words of erudition might be of interest to some I am not certain of relevance as if he doesn't have one and if is indeed a requirement then he has plenty of time to factor in the day course to obtain the correct piece of paper surely but any flotilla operator would make this clear in requirements should this indeed be a valid requirement. I am sure a quick word with any booking agent would put the OPs mind at rest. He's looking for considerations for destinations surely ?
 
ashtead said:
The exam question was recommendations for a flotilla and while the words of erudition might be of interest to some I am not certain of relevance as if he doesn't have one and if is indeed a requirement then he has plenty of time to factor in the day course to obtain the correct piece of paper surely but any flotilla operator would make this clear in requirements should this indeed be a valid requirement. I am sure a quick word with any booking agent would put the OPs mind at rest. He's looking for considerations for destinations surely ?
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Really? if a discussion about which documents are legally required for chartering in specific Med locations doesn't fall into the category of "comments, recommendations and advice" then I'm a fiddler's bitch. ;)

Richard
 
+1 for Sailing Holidays - very relaxed and providing they are confident in your ability will let you go off on your own - highly recommended.
 
Thanks very much everyone for the informed and helpful replies. I am minded to look at Sunsail in the Ionian as a number have suggested. I am most grateful to everyone taking time to help out this novice!
Regards
 
Plainsman said:
Thanks very much everyone for the informed and helpful replies. I am minded to look at Sunsail in the Ionian as a number have suggested. I am most grateful to everyone taking time to help out this novice!
Regards
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Sunsail? Everyone recommends Sailing Holiday who are by far the best flotila company in the area.
 
rtboss1 said:
Am i to understand i will need to provide a vhf certificate? as i am unable to provide one, with no time in the Uk this year to another attend a course
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Theoretically, yes. The five documents you officially need to clear into Croatia from Italy (you are in Trieste, I believe) are:
  • Italian clearance crew list
  • Ship registration
  • Certificate of competence
  • Certificate of insurance
  • VHF SRC
The last will be dependent on you having a VHF transmitter. Perhaps by disabling or removing it, you can answer that you have none.
The first will be dependent on you departing from Italy. If you stop over in one of the Slovenian ports, albeit a very short stage, there will be no requirement to prove you are not people-smuggling from Italy.

On the other hand, you may not be asked ...
 
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rtboss1 said:
Am i to understand i will need to provide a vhf certificate? as i am unable to provide one, with no time in the Uk this year to another attend a course
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As Barnacle says, both an RYA/ICC cert and a VHF cert are required in Croatia but neither in Italy (I don't think?) and only the ICC in Greece.

Unfortunately, I can't help with how thorough the Police are in checking for the certificates on entry because I have the annual Vignette as my boat is berthed in Croatia so every time I re-enter the PP see the vignette and presumably assume that I must have produced the correct certificates to the HM to obtain my first vignette in 2014.

Richard
 
Helpful thread - we have been considering a charter in the Med this year and it has prompted us to start making plans.

Looking at the Sailing Holidays website the Ionian or the Sporades are the primary options (we have done the Saronic a few years ago).

Two week Ionian flotilla (north and south) is appealing but perhaps a bit touristy and wind not so good. Two week Sporades flotilla sounds like it is less touristy and more real Greece with the benefit of stronger winds for some good sailing.

Think we may have an inclination for the Sporades but not sure. Anyone got any thoughts on these two options?
 
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