Bareboat? … Skippered? … or fully crewed yacht charter?

GENERAL INFORMATION AND CATEGORIES OF THE YACHT CHARTER INDUSTRY IN GREECE
Yachting industry in Greece & worldwide offers different categories of yachts / boats / services

CABIN CHARTERS IN BIGGER VESSELS are all about separate –double- cabin rentals with full board nutrition onboard bigger crewed motor-sailers with 12-20 or more double cabins. This is a “category” that mostly refers to couples, individuals or big groups that have NO or VERY LITTLE sailing experience. It is usually an all-inclusive price package – Alcoholic drinks excluded.
EASY SAILING does not offer this kind of sailing holidays, but you may check other companies on the internet.

PRIVATE FULLY CREWED YACHT CHARTERS are realized on motor yachts, motor sailers or sailing yachts all along with a captain, engineer, cook, and steward(s) including half or full board nutrition – if required. Fuel consumption is a considerable EXTRA cost.

FULLY CREWED (Motor yachts, motor sailers and sailing yachts) charter PRICES do NOT include:
– VAT (% depends on the destination country)
– Fuel consumption for running the engine(s) and the generator
Gasoline and lubricants for the use of the tender and water toys
Food, drinks, and spirits, as per consumption (APA Advanced Provisioning Allowance is pre-calculated to include the bigger part of the aboie said costs  and is pre-paid together with charter fee)
Marinas’ fees, if any Gratuities / tips to the crew (always to the good discretion of the client).

EASY SAILING OFFERS A FEW PRIVATE FULLY CREWED LUXURY YACHTS FOR CHARTER IN GREECE strictly after a thorough inspection of the boats and crews.

SKIPPERED CHARTERS refer to sailing or motor yachts under 20m/60ft that can accommodate 4-10 guests. The crew consists of the captain only. Α deck-hand can nbe hired too so to help yacht’ s handling if the guests are not to assist at all, and/or a cook / steward  can take care of breakfasts and light meals as an add-on, upon request.  EASY SAILING offers a wide range of skippered sailing holidays in Grecce and the Greek islands the Mediterranean and Caribbean, and exotic destinations such as Seychelles, Tahiti, Phuket etc. 

BAREBOAT CHARTERS are happening on sailing and motor yachts under 18m/55ft that can accommodate 4-12 guests. At least (1) sailing or motor yacht license / certificate of competence is required by the port authorities to let the yacht leave port. The yacht is handed to the client in accordance with a detailed list mentioning every single item of the yacht. The yacht is solely handled by the client (charterer) himself who undertakes captain’s “duty & responsibilities”, therefore, a refundable damage deposit is also left on a credit card before departure, as every client is supposed to bring back the yacht & her equipment in the same condition he received them. No food or other services are previewed and the fuel consumption is all at clients due.

Bareboat and skippered charters in Greece is the core activity of our company. Fill in the availability request form and be one of the happy people who sailed with EASY SAILING

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Apart from the type of charter, it is also the type of yacht that exactly determines the nature of each charter in reference to the style, the “level of standards” and the price of the sailing holidays.
Here you may find a general description of the different yacht types.
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WHAT IS A MOTOR YACHT?
Motor yachts are the vessels that can run only under their motor power. Smaller motor yachts i.e. up to 14m can go on bareboat charters, bigger ones go only for fully crewed charters. In general, the bigger the motor yachts are the more luxury one can find onboard.  In the motor yachts, there is more space in the cabins, the saloon and on deck and they offer various facilities (Ski water sports equipment, DVDs, Hi-Fi, sunbathing areas, etc)
They have a cruising speed of 13-25 knots (let’s say miles per hour), and with this speed, they are in a position to visit quite many of places during a short period of charter time.
The fuel (diesel) consumption is an EXTRA considerable cost for the guests and varies a lot from one yacht to another. Smaller ones consume 60-140 liters per hour and bigger ones 360 to 650 liters / hour. 
Let’s see an example for a long-weekend charter on a fully crewed motor yacht of 22m for 8 guests: 
The distance from Athens (Alimos marina) to Aegina Island is 18 miles and the cost of a bigger motor yacht for this single route will be from 450 to 700 Euros. The charterer-client should calculate for his long weekend about 8 times the above distance of 18 miles – arriving at a fuel cost ca. EURO 4800, so that he will visit Poros Isl., Hydra Isl. and some swim or light-meal stops on the way.

Needless to say that the smaller the motor yachts are the less fuel they consume (in most of the cases).
It is really important we mention that when strong winds (5 + Beaufort scale) are blowing at the cruising area (it often happens in the Cyclades area) all motor yachts are to stay in port, as they can hardly sail in rough weather conditions or they are not permitted so by the marine authorities.

The Saronic Gulf and the Peloponnese coast near Athens is always a calm area and a nice place to sail with bigger or smaller motor yachts.

WHAT IS A MOTOR SAILER?  
Since the motor sailers are mostly traditional wooden yachts, their sails can provide reduced cruising speeds making the simultaneous use of their engines necessary on the way. Yacht charters on motor sailers & on bigger motor yachts are both on a “fully crewed” basis and consequently, the level of service, the living space, the comfort and the charter conditions offered onboard the motor sailers are all similar to the fully crewed motor yachts.
Τheιr big and obvious difference of a motor sailer is that everything one can see & do onboard such a yacht is characterized by unique style – a true, traditional, old-fashioned classic style where technology -although present- is not “showed-off”. They accommodate 6-12 guests, have a crew of 3 to 7 or more persons and gain a cruising speed of 9-16 knots. The fuel consumption is also much less compared to the bigger crewed motor yachts. In case the weather is rough, then sailing restrictions –as said for the motor yachts- equally apply to the motor sailers.

WHAT IS A SAILING YACHT?
Sailing yachts for charter can sail using their sails only (and/or their auxiliary motor) & achieve a cruising speed of 6-14 knots (almost equal to miles per hour). Smaller sailing yachts that are offered for bareboat charters in Greece as well, are up to 18 meters (60 feet) long, can accommodate 4-12 guests and into their the cabins only the necessary space for sleeping is found. Bigger sailing yachts perform charters on a fully crewed basis and they accommodate 6 to 10 guests, since luxury & room demands are increased compared to the smaller ones. Sailing yachts offer a sense of freedom and a feeling of direct touch to the sea and nature especially in Greece where beauty and seclusion is abundant. The sailing yachts can sail away no matter if the winds blow with force of 6 Beaufort or more (from November 2005 permission to sail can be given with 9 Beaufort of wind at the sole -given in written- responsibility of the captain of the yacht), and thus the sailing yachts are considered to be safer than the motor yachts. People who rent sailing yachts like to cruise under sails (usually without the noise of the motors) and their standards about luxury and service onboard are different compared to the motor yachts. Sailing yachts are not as fast as the motor yachts are, but they offer other advantages. The real value and most important on sailing charters is that someone, can really relax, swim, snorkel, sunbath, etc. no matter the duration of the charter or how many islands you will visit.