Jul 29 2010
Sooner or Later You Will Get Stung
In part one of my trip report of the Aeolian Islands sailing adventure I outlined where we went and what we saw. I left out the lurid details of a sailing charter horror story because I know somebody like me will be searching for info about visiting the Aeolian Islands by sailboat. So, in that post I gave just the sailing tourist facts.
Ironically, in a few posts leading up to our bareboat charter trip to the islands off of Sicily, I outlined my tips on how to plan for a sailing vacation. After this trip, I need to add this addendum. Even though I’ve chartered over a dozen times all around the world, all those trips went off without much of a glitch more than the usual things that happen. Well, our luck changed on this sojourn and I can clearly say I learned more than my share of lessons. Even more bizarre… the days leading up to our departure I just had this feeling…
To frame it, imagine a midnight departure from the Naples train station bound for Sicily. I had a travel agent book us what I thought were the best possible sleeper accommodations on the train. And I suppose she did. But I gotta tell you, this was several yards below the level I saw on a Rick Steve’s show once… Suffice to say there was very little sleeping. As we got settled in some rather shabby condos near a run down marina called Portorosa I received a call from our charter company. Il Miglio Blue. It was the cheerful American voice I had corresponded with for so many months while planning the trip. She informed me the boats were actually not at the marina they were supposed to be (where we were at) but 25 miles away in the city of Milazzo. She would send a van to pick us up and deliver us the next day.
…And so it began…
Upon arrival at the docks we found that Il Miglio Blue had no actual facilities. Furthermore, the two boats we were to charter had returned with some damage. Our boats would not be ready to board that afternoon. Our buddy boat would supposedly be ready the following day and our catamaran needed to be hauled out of the water to determine what was needed to be fixed. Of course, “the next day” was Sunday and so nothing got done. Come Monday it was determined that our boat needed parts. The company put us up at a hotel near the docks. Another day slid by until our 4th lost day produced a plan. Our buddy boat was “fully ready” and an identical boat was coming for us but had to have a Captain based on the owners terms. At this point we really would have taken anything. But in high drama our boat arrived in the darkness of that night, well past the “promised” time. It was a magnificent yacht and the Captain turned out to be very beneficial in the islands where nobody spoke english and for that matter, Italian. But rather their own dialect! He was also much fun to have along and a real pro.
The list of deficiencies found on our buddy boat would boggle the mind for a two year old luxury 52 foot sailboat that had been portrayed as “perfect”. Life lines were broken, things were loose everywhere, equipment was missing or non-functional. None the less we were at a crossroads of either walking away or accepting the situation as it was finally delivered. We have chartered a lot and “seen it all” but this boat appeared to be totally lacking in any sort of maintenance or professional cleaning. What was incredulous was that this boat had sat for four days while they tried to figure out what to do with our boat and they did virtually nothing to repair or prepare the boat. Midway through the trip, this boat lost its steering. The reason was a complete lack of maintenance. Some bolts that hold the steering box in place came loose and the box fractured. A simple periodic inspection would have caught it a charter or two before our use. We limped the boat back to a safe harbor where a repair was made but there were just so many things wrong it really put a damper on the trip for them.
As it was, after a particular harrowing day, we called an end to the trip one day early instead of push the dilapidated million dollar boat any further. All told we got 8 of the 14 days we had planned to charter.
Through all our trials and tribulations we were caught up in this bizarre bureaucracy of this broker agency and what became two owners of the boats. One would point at the other and neither would take any responsibility. It would have been comical if it wasn’t happening to us.
When it all came to an end we had a meeting with the owner of the busted boat who promised to take care of everything upon filing reports and claims at his office. We have never heard from them ever again despite several attempts at contact. It is this last point that I urge you to find another company other than Il Miglio Blue to charter a sailboat on Sicily or around the Aeolian Islands. Why take a chance on such a trip? I’m in the service business and have been my whole life. Sometimes things dont go well. You do the best you can to make it right. Do not do business with a company that completely disregards the delivery of, might I add, an expensive luxury product. Steer clear of Il Miglio Blue. There are plenty of other companies to choose from. For us, we are going to stick with chartering from companies that are in complete control of the boats they represent either through direct ownership or programs such as The Moorings operates. We understand boats break. An agency like Il Miglio Blue actually writes themselves out of all responsibility which is very dangerous for the vacationing sailor if and when things go wrong. I dont know what other charter broker companies would or could do in the situation we had but this one flunked horribly.
We learned some lessons that we will take with us on our next trips because there is no way we are going to stop this fun way of seeing the world and hope this helps anybody who gets to read it before getting in the same situation with Il Miglio Blue in particular.
Excellent article!