Dear fellow Sailor,
The questions below help us evaluate the safety risks, which are inherent to any sea trip.
Sailing in Greece does not require serious navigational skills since you travel from destination to destination, mostly by eye contact. It does not require tidal calculations either. However, the wind force can very frequently exceed the levels experienced by the average sailor, depending on the sailing area selected and it can present a challenge for the unprepared.
There are very few organized marinas and mooring by buoys and mooring lines is not common. Mooring outside organized marinas, either in harbors or in the open space is mostly by what is called “Med mooring”. In 95% of the cases, you will have to MED moor (“stern to”) by dropping your anchor and taking two lines from your yacht to the land. “Side to” mooring is very rarely available due to lack of space (sometimes it can even be considered as selfish anti-social behavior).
Avoiding trouble from the maneuvers of novice and unskilled (but officially qualified) sailors poses yet another threat and takes special skills and experience to avoid it. It is worth noting that 95% of damage happens in harbors. It is very frequent that another yacht's anchor upon her attempt to leave the marina, may pull the anchor of your yacht up, because of anchor line entanglement. In this way, the yacht can be easily involved into an accident. If your yacht is going to be unattended for long, things can go much worse, by banging on the pier unattended, creating damage, which damage cannot be claimed, because it will be almost impossible to track the cause and it will unfortunately become the full responsibility of the Charterer.
The Saronic Gulf, the Argolic Gulf and the Cyclades area in the Aegean (areas served by our two bases in Alimos and Lavrion), present different sailing conditions. The wind force and wave height is generally lower in the two gulfs, but there are factors (harbors, distances, available facilities, etc) that characterize differently each area.
Every year, we see an increase in the number of accidents and the amount of damage. Therefore it has become imperative to lay the foundation of a mutual understanding, which will help make your target for a trouble free and unforgettable holiday, a reality.
We would like to make clear that there is no comparison between renting a car and chartering a sailing boat. You cannot stop, disembark and call for sea(road)-assistance in the middle of the open sea. Effective assistance is very rarely available outside the bases of each Charter company. The skipper’s ability to handle any unforeseeable circumstance (nautical, technical, medical, etc) can be critical.
We ask information from you, not because we necessarily want to control to whom we shall charter a yacht to, but rather to establish this better understanding required, that will allow us to provide you with useful information which you can use for your own safety and enjoyment.
For your safety and enjoyment, we equip our yachts as if they were private (and not charter) yachts, we prepare and service them meticulously and finally we insure most of them with Pantaenius, one of the best Insurance companies. Our business plan excludes profit making from repairs, but we do get paid to repair damages. We provide services that can support you throughout your trip. We are happier, if we deliver a yacht in a perfect condition and receive it back in the same condition.
Our ultimate goal is to safeguard the crew aboard each one of our yachts. We measure our success, by the number of satisfied clients that we have served. Our job finishes when each crew returns to base smiling.
Please answer the questions below and make the first step towards an unforgettable sailing holiday, in the light blue (sometimes light green) Greek waters, under the clear sky and the shining sun ! Your SeaStar Sailing team
Skipper Profile (Please choose the right answer)
Trip character (Please choose the right answer)
Track record (Please choose the right answer)
Partial list of People on Board (names for a minimum of 3 people - more names are welcome)
