Newbies: “lessons” we learned on our recent flotilla with Seafarer

[bornplaydie]

During our flotilla with Seafarer in 2016, we lost our bow anchor.

This is what happened…

The Seafarer flotilla crew was very busy getting boats ready on day one of the flotilla. After the very brief inventory and barely complete boat inspection conducted by the crew, I conducted my own inspection. There was oil and water consistently in the bilge, a leak from the galley refrigerator, a broken window, and some other minor findings that I brought up to the crew. I was told they would fix them before we set sail, but they never did.


On Sept. 18, 2016, a free day of sailing, we came stern-to at Vathi on Ithica, a stunningly beautiful location – Go there now! The boat’s bow anchor chain was unmarked past 30 meters, another “discovery” I made while anchoring that week. There was a storm expected that night which was not typical of the season. We planned to let out a bit extra scope on the anchor. I was at the helm and my wife at the bow operating the windlass. We completed the maneuver, and backed to the quay. The chain was not taught, the boat was at the quay an in neutral at this point. Another “discovery”... The bitter end of the chain was not secured to the boat and simply “came off” the windlass. The weight of the chain pulled the bitter end off the windlass into the harbor at approximately 4 meters of depth. My wife was watching carefully as she deployed the chain and saw the end, “Simply come off the winch”, nothing broke, “It just fell off”. I called George, the lead boat captain for guidance.


George did not pick up the phone initially, so I had left a message. While waiting for George to return the call, I was considering other options. I considered dropping the kedge to secure the boat. There were no shackle on the kedge to secure it to a line. There were no shackles in the toolbox, spare parts box. The kedge had an old worn piece of rope looped three times around the last link of the approximately 1 meter kedge chain. It was very worn and did not appear safe to use. There was no spare small diameter line anywhere on the boat to replace this with. So there was no way to safely attach the long shore line to the kedge. I gave up on the kedge plan.


At this point the boat was secured to its neighboring boats thanks to the friendly and helpful neighboring captains. George and I finally got in touch and I was told he would arrange for a SCUBA diver; that I should do nothing and wait. While I was waiting for the diver, I had plenty of time to inspect the anchor locker. There was a rope secured to the anchor locker, but it had been severed previously at some point. I say previously, because the bitter end was dirty, cold, melted, and dry. It was very obvious to me the anchor chain rope did not just break during our use.

A diver came in about 2 hours and recovered the anchor chain. Our placement was great and so all we had to do was to attach the chain and pull in the slack. The diver was not the most pleasant guy I have met in Greece. Actually he was one of the only jerks with an attitude that I met in Greece after three visits in six years. I assumed he would have been happier to get my 150 Euros cash for the simple recovery that took less than 30 minutes.


I followed up with Christopher Lorenzo from Seafarer. His position was this: “Loosing the entire anchor and chain overboard must be considered user error.” In lieu of reimbursing for the anchor recovery he offered a discount for a future flotilla.


What we learned...


The bow anchor chain should be secured to the boat with a line in the anchor locker. This is standard practice. It is the responsibility of the flotilla or charter company to provide safe equipment. Regardless, make your own inventory list and check it before you set sail. Have the crew fix it or sign you inventory list when you find something that is not right.


You should be able to attach the kedge anchor to a line to make “it useful”. If there is no shackle or other way to do this, the kedge is dead weight. Check this before you set sail. Make sure you have all the spare parts you need. If not consider buying what you need. Better safe than sorry. Keep you receipts, although realize that you will not likely be reimbursed, even after numerous emails.


Anchor chain is more useful when it has markings each 10 meters. I have seen some rigs where the last 5 meters of chain is painted red. Brilliant! Bring some small colored zip ties or some other way of marking unmarked chain. If the flotilla or charter company objects, then remove your “improvements” once the sail is over. Better safe than sorry.

Make sure the boat you are chartering is stocked and rigged safely. Do not assume this is the case. Turn around is fast and some flotilla companies like Seafarer do not give enough time to do a thorough inventory and safety check. It is the responsibility of the flotilla company to provide safe equipment. Regardless, once you are on your own or on those free days, it is your responsibility to sail with the boat you have. Make your own inventory list and check it before you set sail.


Have a local phone sim card in your phone, or a local phone. It comes in handy.


Check your flotilla or charter company carefully like I did. But unlike me, do not ignore bad reviews about the company being unresponsive to complaints. The bottom line is that stuff happens. That, you can count on. But when it does, you need to be dealing with an honest, reliable company with integrity, that will step up and make things right. I never got my 150 Euros back because Christopher Lorenzo, who was not there during the incident, determined it was “user error”. I feel that my “user error” was booking with Seafarer after ignoring the bad reviews about their customer service.


Do no accept a discount for a poor product. You get what you pay for. Spend your hard-earned money elsewhere.

We were very lucky to discover this situation at Vathi where we could quickly get help and enjoy the beauty of the harbor and of Greece while we waited for a grumpy recover diver. Had we anchored in a remote bay and lost the bow anchor, and with NO safe/functional stern anchor, and an approaching storm this could have been a VERY DANGEROUS situation for both the boat and crew. All in all, I love sailing in Greece. Heck I love sailing, period!

[JPA Cate]

Ah, well, today's misfortune is tomorrow's adventure. Don't be hard on yourself, here, you didn't know how to look at a charter boat. I don't think very many folks do.

Yours was not the first charter company that was lax, nor will it be the last.

If you are a sailor with a boat at home, I think it's a good idea to bring your small toolbox with most often used tools, and a few spares. It can save a lot of hassle in the long run. Never expect a chartered boat to have the level of preparation or quality you would choose for yourself. Be pleased if it's clean.

Ann

[yeloya]

As you said, you get what you pay for, cheap charters can be very costly.
Do not take any boat if you are not given a phone number who can answer 24/24 when you run into trouble, any boat that is not properly cleaned and maintained, from a company who can not assist you timely when you have electrical/electronic or mechanical problems. And all that cost money, there is no cheap and good charter..
If you are lucky you can get away, if not you may spend half of yr charter week by fixing the issues on the boat you paid for


Cheers


Yeloya

[Quebramar]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

Ah, well, today's misfortune is tomorrow's adventure. Don't be hard on yourself, here, you didn't know how to look at a charter boat. I don't think very many folks do.

Yours was not the first charter company that was lax, nor will it be the last.

If you are a sailor with a boat at home, I think it's a good idea to bring your small toolbox with most often used tools, and a few spares. It can save a lot of hassle in the long run. Never expect a chartered boat to have the level of preparation or quality you would choose for yourself. Be pleased if it's clean.

Ann

I'm fully with Ann. As an illustration and to show that there are ways out of difficult situations, I'll share my experience of bareboat rental in Croatia with Sunsail.

The technician was good in explaining all details as we surveyed the boat (being boat owner at home, I knew what to look for), equipped with some tools (I had a small set on my own as well as some spare shackles and ropes)... until I opened the bilge floor and saw a long crack on the bottom of the bilge.

The guy denied any hit from the prior user(s) (?!) and pretended the (semi-salted) water was from fridge condensation, which could be right since there is always salt in there. He said they regularly dive to see whether the keel got damaged and noted nothing. I said I would not take such boat and he called his supervisor who in turn called the base leader Keith.

Keith was quick in understanding the situation, offering an alternative boat (42ft vs. 33ft) at no additional cost. Since this was too big for just my wife and me, I asked for a smaller one -- he could only offer a 36ft which was not ready, having been used for spares... Keith turned the team upside down and got it ready for the morning after, offering a nice breakfast at the club while the boat was being fixed. He also accepted that we brought the boat back 1/2 day later to compensate the one we lost.

Whilst the boat was not as clean, all ended well, I commended Keith's attitude whilst noting that such control should be systematic... cultural differences?

So my lesson is to be super cautious (prior users may not have been) and not let them deliver under what one can expect. Sunsail has a reputation to defend and indeed here they failed but worked it out.

[ArmyDaveNY]

Thanks for sharing your story/adventure. It is always good to hear of these things since it helps to reinforce good practices and things to think about. I'm glad it turned out well for you and that there were no serious consequences. Thanks again.

[Kenomac]

Only 4 meters deep? That's hold your breath and go down and tie a line to it depth, or clip on a fast shackle and pull it up yourself.

You really do need to be ready and able to do this kinda stuff yourself.

To me, the entire story is like listening to someone complain about the locksmith's attitude who comes and unlocks a car after they (the complainer) locked their keys in the car.

[Deltasailor]

Kenomac is quite right. If you say you are competent to take out a yacht, competence means you must be able to sort yourself out if you have a problem.
I had a similar anchor "away" incident when some dope untied the bitter end, probably the previous charterer. With no swimmies I dived down about 3 metres and grabbed the chain. My undies around my feet, passed it (the line) to my new girlfriend.
I like to think she was impressed, she's now my wife!
If you go to sea there is no "Road side assistance". Fix it yourself or don't go if you can't.
On the other hand do check the boat and insist they fix the problem before you go. If not make a list that you are not happy with and get the shore crew to sign it.

[masonc]

If I was renting a boat and the bitter end was not tied off, I'd be very pissed and would demand they fix the problem. You can't be expected to check basic stuff has been done. I'd want full compensation.

[masonc]

If I rented a car, and it got a flat, and I went change the tyre, and the jack was broken, you could argue I ought to know how to use a rock and a pipe to raise the car. However, I'd be pissed.