Greece/Greek Chartering Beware: HELLENIC CHARTERS & NIREUS

[segah]

In short, we lost 90euro from the deposit for minor damages that we (and other passing yachtsmen) believe the owner is responsible for. We proposed that our broker from HELLENIC CHARTERS call up someone from port authorities/police to act as an objective judge, however the owner, who came to inspect the boat, in the end said that port authorities refused to come.

The damage was a torn (but not lost) stern cleat on the port side, which ripped away during a parking job. Nothing out of ordinary was done to it and no abnormal weather conditions were experienced. Upon a closer examination we've noticed something that we didn't upon the check-out: a sealant was applied to it once before.

The whole ordeal was highly uncomfortable. The guy/broker from HELLENIC CHARTERS kept saying that everything is out of his hands and that we have to deal with the owner--who came both at the beginning and at the end of the trip. However, the owner didn't speak a word of English and refused any attempt on our behalf to translate our words through someone else. So we were stuck. The only two options were to get a taxi and go to port authorities ourselves (which is quite far at Lavrio port) or get an expert for the same amount of money. So we left the money and went on with our business.

But beware. NIREUS might be cheap, but you get what you pay for. For every little scratch the owner will ask money. And the broker is useless - we had to do all the paperwork with the owner regardless, so I don't see why bother with the broker in the first place.

Yacht Name: NIREUS (a Bavaria 39c)
Charter Company: HELLENIC CHARTERS (Dimitris)

[Ram]

You should pay for every little scratch & any damage while the yacht is in your hands!

[segah]

Yes, unless someone else is responsible for the damage - as in this case. It was simply a bad repair job. For me as a skipper, it is impossible to check everything. How many of you, for example, dived into the water to check the hull?

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by segah

But beware. NIREUS might be cheap, but you get what you pay for.

There be your answer.

For all the owner (and me) really knows, the cleat was properly repaired and you simply ripped it out of the deck by piss poor boat handling. The odds on it wasn't of course - probably a "good enough" repair. A classic "he said" "she said" situation.....suck it up and move on.

But if the only cost is EUR90 then I don't think that so bad, especially if it was a cheap enough charter.....besides, I don't see that ripping out a deck cleat (when mooring - aka Parking) counts as being charged for "every little scratch".

If it was me I would have stung you for more , and would have had a deposit already in my control (sounds like the broker / owner didn't) - sue me if you don't like it .

Not sure what the Port Authorities (Police!) would have to do with the situation - clearly a civil matter / commercial dispute.

Nonetheless, it is annoying - but, as you said, you do get what you pay for. Next time maybe go with someone like Moorings. That way you know you will be paying extra .

[Pete7]

You managed to rip a cleat out of a 39ft yacht, how?

Pete

[Reo Baird]

Hate to say it but if someone rented my boat, and managed to rip out a cleat, I'd charge them much more than 90 euro.

[K_V_B]

Originally Posted by Reo Baird

Hate to say it but if someone rented my boat, and managed to rip out a cleat, I'd charge them much more than 90 euro.

I'd have a good talk with the builder though. Those cleats are supposed to be able to carry quite big loads.

I expect normal wear and tear to be covered by the rent.

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by K_V_B

I'd have a good talk with the builder though. Those cleats are supposed to be able to carry quite big loads.

I expect normal wear and tear to be covered by the rent.

I agree, whilst Bavarias are not in the Swan, Oyster or HR market they do produce a satisfactory product, Europe is full of them so they are doing something right. I would also expect normal wear and tear to come from the charter fee, but tearing out a cleat isn't, that is a serious shock load. Would love to know how that happened. Tied the anchor to it in a gale, forgot to untie it when leaving a berth? Towed another boat in a storm perhaps, E90 was cheap.

Pete

[Reo Baird]

Originally Posted by K_V_B

I'd have a good talk with the builder though. Those cleats are supposed to be able to carry quite big loads.

I expect normal wear and tear to be covered by the rent.

Exactly, so as owner of the vessel, I would assume that the incident that caused a cleat to tear out was far from normal wear and tear or usage. A reasonable assumption given that the owner was not there, in my opinion. Especially if I, personally, had docked the same boat successfully many times without incident.

Mind you, I would never charter out my boat, I would loose too much sleep.

[David_Old_Jersey]

I think OP was saying that the cleat looked like it had been repaired (bodged?!) previously. But that only revealed after the event. Nonetheless must have been a bit of a load on the cleat.

EUR90? plus a cheap charter - not a bad result overall.