I used a
charter co that I had been using for 5 + years. I arrived in Primosten marina in
Croatia to what I was told was a brand new yacht, Juneau sun odyssey 32.2, when we arrived back a week later and my many comments on "no way is this brand new" I continued to ask for my final
inspection and deposit card slip back but was told not to worry. I I have been sailing many years and had a slight suspicion which was confirmed when I got a
phone call from my man! "you damaged the boat" he claimed the
keel had bad impact damage and did I know. "Rubbish" was my reply and I made my concerns felt that the yacht was not new and had 160 NM on it when I got on board. She looked new but looked like she had had a hard week of
work with scratched areas and
food in the cupboards etc I knew it had been used. I questioned why they would not inspect the yacht before I left they brushed it aside. The harbour masters report came back and my log proved I was innocent of any shallow
water incident and showed I had been in minimum 5m. The final out come was they admitted that the persons using it the week before me had hit something and they thought they would pass the blame to the next idiot who came along, unknown to them I had also been under the
boat the first day and wrote in my notes a white damaged area to the front of the
keel and I took a pic of it, the
camera showed the pic was taken one hour after me leaving the marina when I did what I always do, fully inspect the
boat from top to bottom and make notes and take pictures. I was cleared of any involvement in the damage and offered a week free on a 38 footer by the same
charter company but I declined the offer. I have not used the same charter company since. A note to new skippers to beware, most charter companies are fine and honest but not all so do as I have always done. Check it as soon as you can and take notes times and dates as well as
photo evidence.
El Capitan
Linear Mode
Recent Discussions