Yacht charter in Nydri · Bavaria — 44 Cruiser With Air Condition (2004)

The boat has a good maintenance but you have to be carefull with the sails. It's ideal for 8 people, plenty of room inside and outside. It's worth to contract the early checking, the deliver of the boat was very fast and on time. Very satisfied with the overall performance of the boat and the company.

This is not an easy review to write. We had a good 2 week holiday, but there were significant problems as well: 1. The single biggest problem was the dinghy. It was unusable due to a large leak where the seam of the floor had detached from the inflatable hull by the rear of the dinghy. My wife and I were alone for the first week and we didn't use the dinghy at all due to her being partly disabled. At the end of the first week, we picked up 2 friends (husband & wife) from Argostoli Airport and when my friend and I lowered the dinghy into the water for the first time, we discovered water pouring in through the floor. I then contacted an employee (Elias) of the owner Dakis and explained the situation but he then wrote that it was "impossible that the dinghy could not have been used for a week" (basically calling me a liar) and that the leak in the dinghy must have been caused by us hitting a rock. Another employee (Spiros) then contacted me and we took a detour to another port where someone looked at the dinghy, realised that the problem was due to detachment of the seam but was unable to fix it. I asked Spiros if the dingy could be exchanged for our remaining time but he couldn't help us and we never had the use of it. When we returned the boat, the owner Dakis apologised for our inconvenience and immediately acknowledged that the leak in the dinghy was not our fault. He did not offer us any compensation though. 2. The boat (Stelios) is old and has not been very well maintained. There are areas where the wooden toerail has broken at the back of the boat, loose stanchion on the starboard side, partly deflated and dirty fenders, engine oil is black and probably hasn't been changed in a while, worn ropes - when we returned the boat, an employee checked the sails and accidentally opened the jammer that holds the main halyard in place causing the mainsail to drop a little; when he tried to winch it back up, the frayed (rope) halyard broke near where it came out of the mast. This could easily have happened while we were sailing but luckily didn't. The halyard needs replacing. 3. The electric anchor windlass is old and slips a little; the opening for the chain into the anchor locker is small and on numerous occasions when we pulled the anchor up, the chain would start piling up on deck. To solve this, you have to use a metal pole (which is in the anchor locker, probably for this reason) to physically push the chain back into the anchor locker. Other things to be aware of: 1. The location of the boat on Click & Boat is shown as Lefkas Marina. However, when I contacted the owner for the exact location, I was informed that the boat was in Vlycho, which is quite a distance from Lefkas Marina. This added to our travel expenses as Vlycho is further from Preveza Airport than Lefkas Marina. 2. Be aware that the owner actually takes the boat deposit of €1,500 out of your bank account and does not just take your credit card details. We got our full deposit back but it took 2-3 days to arrive in my account. When I queried this, Dakis wrote that he does this when the rental period is 14 days or more. 3. The boat does not have a bow thruster, so manoevering in a confined harbour when there is wind is not straight forward. We did manage although mooring sometimes required more than one attempt. 4. The dinghy is hoisted up at the stern of the boat. Unless you put the dinghy in the water (which we couldn't due to it leaking), it makes getting on and off the boat a little tricky as you have to bend over while using the paraselle, otherwise you hit your head on the dinghy, which we did several times. Positives: 1. Although the boat is old, it sails well, handling the sails is easy and all lines lead back to the cockpit. 2. We paid less for the boat than we would have for a newer, more modern yacht. 3. The lady (Christiana) who met us when we arrived, was very friendly and welcoming. She has a lovely son (George) who helped us a lot on the day we started sailing by spotting that the engine wasn't spewing water out and alerted us; this turned out to be due to seaweed in the pipes and the issue was fixed. I gave the owner 3 stars for our experience, which I think is generous considering the issues above. Hopefully my review will be of use to him as well. We love Greece and it's people and will always return there.

Boat: very well maintained. Everything in working order. Enough batteries to ensure power 24/7. Extras (A/C, wifi, tv, electric toilets, power generator) made our stay more comfortable. Skipper: Christos is experience, easy going, very good with kids. Very good knowledge of the area to ensure we visited the greatest beaches and a place at the marina for overnight stay. Always with a smile and ready to meet our every request. Overall: great value for money, whole experience exceeded our expectations. I recommend it without any hesitation. Dakis and Christos thank you once again!

We were nine people on board and had a great week. Boat is sailing very nice and has everything you need. Got charged 100€ for a damaged outboard engine which was appropriate. I would charter this anytime again.