An Engine Problem Destroyed My Sailing Holiday. What Shall I Do?
Nobody likes to run into problems whilst on holiday, but the very nature of a yacht charter holiday does demand that you have to cope with the sea - which is always unpredictable (hence "sea" being of the feminine gender) - and a vessel, which consists of thousands of parts and bits of equipment, (electrics, electronics, mechanical items, sails, etc) all of which should work together, and in unison. You can ignore all the promises that nothing will go wrong -it might just do that.
(PRWEB) February 7, 2005 -- Add to that the fact that you have chosen an
idyllic setting for your holiday - "away from it all" - for example the Ionian
Islands in Greece (the Caribbean, Turkey, or any other exotic location would be
similar), where you can not expect the natives to be as trained and proficient
as those in the Hamble. A recent TV commercial for a Jamaican rum shows the very
situation.
Let us look at an example - how you should react - how you
should carry out the necessary damage limitation steps - and tips as to how you
can smooth out the resulting aggravation.
Let's say you have chartered a
yacht in the Ionian Sea, in Greece, for a week. Everything starts off well -
until the morning of Day 3, when you are in Ithaca and the engine will not
start. After a few vain attempts at sourcing the cause of the malfunction you
call the contact number given to you for such eventualities, and a polite
individual listens to your problem and says; "Don't worry, Mr Jones, somebody
will come very soon and look at your engine". What they will, or should, do is
to contact their man on the spot. Soon Vangelis arrives, spends a couple of
hours with his head buried in the engine compartment, covers all your saloon
cushions with oil and grease, and emerges triumphantly holding the fuel pump
which he says is the cause of the problem. He states that he will take the pump
back to his workshop and repair it.
"How long this repair will take,
Vangelis?" You ask.
"Hmm, about a couple of hours" is his reply.
Away
he goes, with your pump, and as it is already noon on Day 3 of your holiday, you
decide to go and have lunch and then wait for the return of Vangelis. But, there
is no sign of Vangelis, or your pump, and much later, as the sun is going down
Vangelis's assistant arrives with the wonderful news that your pump can not be
repaired on Ithaca and that it has to go, by ferry, to Patras, where there is a
pump specialist, and that it will be returned the next day on the ferry. Whilst
this part of the saga is unfolding your blood pressure has gone sky-high. You
have also made three more phone calls to the local contact and two back to the
UK to your yacht charter agency, with whom you booked the charter in the first
place. what you did not know was that Vangelis failed to tell you that - since
it was noon, he would first have to go for his lunch, then his siesta, then his
cup of coffee then he would have a look at the pump. For him, this is normal
behaviour as working in siesta time is "out of the question" in a place like
Ithaca. After all, you asked him how long it would take to repair the pump - not
when he would come back. He didn't lie - it took him the forecast two hours to
find out that he couldn't fix your pump.
So, here you are, on the morning
of Day4 of your holiday, with a vessel broken down, waiting for Vangelis to
arrive. Imagine the state of your blood pressure when noon arrives and no sign
of Vangelis. It is not until late that afternoon that a smiling local arrives
and invites you to come and join the local Saint's Day celebrations. To work
during siesta time is against local customs but to work on the local Saint's Day
is a crime against humanity. Not only does Vangelis not work on a Saint's Day
but he does not think it appropriate to inform "infidels" of the simple facts of
life. For him it is a day to celebrate and anyone who doesn't realise that
should be dead.
You have, by now, made another ten phone calls to your
yacht charter agent and to the local contact, as has the charter agency BUT
Vangelis doesn't answer the phone on a Saint's Day. The only thing you can do is
to grin and bear it and join in the festivities. Taking more blood pressure
pills or blowing up the village square will not enamour you to the locals, or
get your boat fixed - it won't help you a lot, either.
Now it is the
morning of Day 5. Still the yacht is not functioning and nobody has turned up.
Now is the time to start believing in "God's Will". At around 11 o'clock a
smiling Vangelis arrives with your pump - fully functional. He sets to work
probably realising that the look in your eye is not indicative of your good
temper and feelings towards him. Thus, after an unusually reasonable period of
time, with the saloon cushions sporting another layer of grease and oil, with
engine testing and cleaning carried out, your boat is ready. However, it is now
5 p.m and too late to set sail for your next port of call, so your departure has
to be put off until tomorrow morning.
The morning of Day 6 dawns - and
you are ready to sail, but a minor detail now crosses your mind - the only
destination open to you is back to your original departure Port or Marina as you
only had a week's holiday, your flight home departs tomorrow morning early, and
you need to be back in that port that evening!
What an we learn from this
story? However reputable the yacht owner/agency, however new the yacht and its
equipment, however well maintained, however careful you may be - this sort of
thing can happen to anyone, anywhere. Just change the names and places and a
similar problem can arise. Don't forget also that you can be gale-bound in
harbour for days on end.
Can you protect yourself against such a
happening, and what should you do when it arises?
The answer to the first
question is no, and the suggested reaction to the second is: - relax (difficult
though this may at first seem); be patient; try to understand the elements of
human nature which will be displayed by all around you - your crew and the
"outsiders".
You could react like the skipper in our story and make endless
irate phone calls to everyone you can think of or, as we suggest, you can accept
the facts as they are - the problem has arisen.
- Try and make the best
of a bad job. Explore the locale where you are "marooned". Make short trips by
water-taxi, taxi, hire-car, on foot or by local ferries and keep your crew
amused and remaining in holiday mood, i.e. shopping, sightseeing, swimming,
enjoying special lunches and dinners, etc.
- Remember, you will certainly be
compensated by your charter agent/owner for the lost sailing days, provided you
take a few simple steps to ensure that your claim will be met.
- Contact your
charter company immediately, preferably in writing, if it is at all possible,
e.g. by fax or e-mail, and inform them of what has happened and that you will
contact them again. Give them a telephone or fax number where you can be
contacted.
- Never leave the vessel unattended or out of sight - Vangelis
would love you to give him an excuse or "cover story" for not having come back
to the boat when promised.
- Be understanding of Vangelis's problems - he
will do his best if you are polite and patient. Tip his assistant - that will
work wonders.
- When all is well again and the boat is repaired - contact
your agent again, by fax or e-mail preferably, tell him that all is well and
tell him that a formal claim for compensation for loss of holiday will be
forthcoming.
- When you finally return home make the formal claim, in
writing, detailing the minutes details of the saga as it unfolded - what
happened, the actions you took, the reactions of the local agent and his
employed contacts.
Make sure you have all the paperwork involved,
especially the contract documents- do not leave them on the boat! A sensible
thing to have done would have been to look back in the Ship's Log Book (if there
is any), to see if previous charterers had run into similar problems.
If
an accident was part of the cause of the problem make sure that other people who
may have been involved are brought into the act, and statements are taken for
witnesses.
We can not really advise you as to whether, or not, you will
accept any offered compensation - whether it be cash or substitute holidays -
that choice is yours. Only you know how you and your crew felt about the
happenings, whether you made the best of a bad job at the time, whether everyone
did their best to mitigate your losses and disappointments, and whether the
offered compensation is adequate.
Whether you accept cash or a
replacement holiday will probably depend on how much holiday time you and your
crew have left.
Alexander M. Vournas
The foregoing are our
feelings and suggestions but we would like to hear from you if you agree or
disagree. We have opened a blog on our website (http://www.almiyachts.com/support/blogs.html)
so please let
us have your views. Your opinions matter.
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/2/prweb205997.htm