Exploring Ionian Greece and Salento - Hostess on board - Embarkation and disembarkation in LEUCA

I have just returned from a week sailing to the Aeolian Islands with Gianni. I thank him infinitely because he made us discover all the islands in a week, making us know the most beautiful corners and making us live the contact with the sea and sailing. I have traveled sailing several times, so I can safely say that he is a prepared skipper. With our group we immediately created a harmony that really allowed us to spend a holiday with friends while getting to know each other recently. Extremely positive experience.

THANKS to Giovanna who pampered us and gianni who led us with professionalism to walk around the Aeolian Islands to experience unique emotions

It is assumed that when a person goes on vacation, (given the considerable cost) he must be treated well and must feel well accepted. Gianni, an impetuous person, not very sensitive, unsociable and even rude (adjectives that I consider fundamental to carry out this work). Unwelcoming and very dirty boat. --- SKIPPER ANSWER --- I was surprised by Mrs. Elena's so heavy statements. During the cruise nor at the end, none was advanced by the same critical remark or complaint. I find the statements totally false, offensive and bordering on the personal defamation of the myself and the crew. In particular with regard to the cleanliness of the boat, a passenger who notices the dirty boat, reports it immediately in order to demand from the beginning the restoration of hygiene conditions, instead nothing has been reported about it neither during the cruise nor at the end. From us every day we took care of the cleaning of the common areas.

I leave this review with a lot of bitterness and to render a service to potential customers of Sailsquare and Gianni.I am not a neophyte of boat holiday, and I relied on Sailsquare, but I had to see that it operates only as an intermediary guarantor of the collection, not being responsible for inefficiencies or lack of customer satisfaction. The skypper in addition to having an unsuitable boat is poorly oriented to the relationship with people, unable to create group and harmony. On several occasions he has created tensions and in the face of polite attempts at dialogue he has always replied with superficiality and inadequacy. The boat had water leaks in the cabin, disorderly and unlivable dinette, towels not provided, sheets only as mattress covers, ladder in poor safety conditions, limited cockpit and in poor hygienic conditions, galley of 300 euros not reported in the absence of stops at ports or buoys, engine in precarious conditions, 2 islands not visited, and other inconveniences. I categorically advise against it. --- SKIPPER ANSWER --- given that the lady like all the other passengers of this cruise, has not advanced any criticism on the state of the boat, much less on my behavior and the crew / hostess during the cruise nor at the end. Before boarding there was a strong tension on the part of the lady, who verbally attacked us for the failure to deliver to the marina a supply of special wines and spirits, by the courier that they themselves had commissioned but which was not part of our duties. The failure to supply special wines and spirits that the Lady unjustly attributed to us but which then clarified itself through the fault of the courier, conditioned the climate and perhaps determined the instrumental retaliation with bad reviews and bad faith. We have respected the commitments made with sailsquare, the contract read and signed by all and above all we have done our best to make the cruise pleasant. Except for the initial tension described above and an episode of bad taste on the part of a passenger, which we want to believe was caused by a misunderstanding, at the time of greetings to the hostess, the cruise took place in the utmost tranquility. As for the infiltration of fresh water into a cabin, we are sorry and we have offered an alternative cabin. These are things that can happen . We found later that the cause was determined by a leak of the plumbing system not visible at the time. The passarella is up to standard, unfortunately the boarding in the Aeolian Islands is often difficult to get on board, due to the wave motion of the ferries that make the pier and the boat swing considerably. The ladder for bathing had problems for incorrect use, this has never led to danger the same. As soon as we found a welder (which is very difficult in the Aeolian Islands) we proceeded to reinforce it. Honestly we know that we have done everything possible to make the holiday pleasant and sincerely except for the initial tension, for the lack of extra supply, of the special wines and spirits of which we have not responsabilità.il climate was good. We were surprised by such unjustified reviews. I believe that the criticism, except for infiltration, is unfounded. Criticisms are very useful to improve ourselves but, they should be made in good faith and should not be made offending and / or in retaliation for disappointed expectations that go beyond our contractual commitments assumed. Without prejudice to their right to make reviews on the platform The contract has been signed with us and we think that criticisms, requests or such negative observations should be advanced at the time of boarding and / or during the cruise to allow us to possibly provide.

I strongly advise against everyone to choose Gianni as Skypper. I relied on Sailsquare because it proposes itself as No. 1 for sailing holidays, but the sad discovery was to get a completely poor service on several aspects. The Skypper in addition to having a boat not suitable for charter, has objectives other than customer satisfaction and unsuitable for the management of a group. It created from the beginning inconveniences and bad moods that poured over the whole group. Great disorder on the boat, overrated galley and do not make counted, zero freedom to visit the islands with appropriate methods and times, and much more to say, but little space to do it. I hope that Sailsquare will adopt a stricter protocol for the selection of its Skyppers and boats, in order to be able to keep the promise it makes to its customers. I'm sorry but after this experience I find myself forced to choose other platforms. I make myself available and hope to be contacted by Sailsquare. --- SKIPPER RESPONSE --- Also from the Lady was not advanced during the cruise any criticism, observation or complaint nor at the end. With regard to the lack of reporting, we have respected to the letter the contract read and signed and also reported on the sailsquare site but which declared that they had not read well, at the time of booking but, specified in the signed contract. We took charge of a fair amount of extra contracted beers, ordered by passengers but not paid The lady was in constant tension, probably because she was invited to moderate the smoke, which caused disturbance.

I thank Sailsquare for the opportunity to review my experience, allowing future cruise passengers to carefully select Skipper and boat: fundamental ingredients for a pleasant holiday. I hope it will be published and that the staff of Sailsquare has the seriousness to contact me to receive further information on the subject, given the small space reserved for the review. I am not a newbie to the sailing holiday so I write being able to compare myself with other experiences. A platform like yours has the moral and professional duty to select reliable partners to whom to propose its customers. The boat and skipper proposed for this holiday are an offense to anyone who approaches this world: Inadequate!! All this brings not only damage to your platform, but also to all the people who love the sea, sailing and the desire to live these elements in serenity. I strongly advise against everyone a holiday with this boat and this skipper. --- ANSWER SKIPPER --- Mr. Massimo has always had a positive attitude during the cruise and has not expressed any criticism, observation or complaint nor at the end of the cruise. Probally he was disappointed by expectations and tastes unrelated to our tasks.

Gianni is a very capable skipper with whom we sailed in peace and safety, assisted by the talented Giovanna, who pampered and spoiled us for the duration of the cruise, I lived a wonderful holiday that will remain forever in my memories, also thanks to the fantastic crew and the beautiful places we visited! I recommend it to everyone

Week 17-23 August: very intense experience ! We returned with the satisfaction of having experienced strong emotions in a very beautiful context led by a capable, alternative, intelligent skipper. I suggest the same experience only to those who are aware that it is a sports holiday not suitable for everyone due to multiple factors: racing boat, severe and demanding skipper, double crossing of the otranto channel of which the first at night. The keystone: the excellent group formed on the boat.

I want to say that, beyond the rights and duties, harmony and discipline in the boat depend, on subtle balances attitudes and sympathies between different individuals which happened successfully between us passengers, alas with the skipper there were several episodes that created several tensions, more than one evening there were rather heated quarrels, cursing and threatening in two cases to leave the boys at the port, I must confirm as already wrote one of the travelers that discussions also arose on what to eat and that we traveled by motor and to be honest at the request of an occupant, on the last day we sailed. I would like to make it clear that I am not a navigation expert so I do not know if there were any reasons we did not specify to do so. In my opinion I believe that a skipper must be a natural leader of the group, he must be patient and sociable, despite not having disagreements in the first person to attend 4 days out of 7 to discussions has created bad mood and tension. ---SAUTHOR'S ANSWER--- I recognize that I am not very affable or funny at first glance... But for sure I am passionate about sailing and so if I can I always sail. I hate motor surfing. This cruise as can be seen from the route taken is already challenging because it involves making two sailing crossings of more than 80 miles each in the Otranto channel. Inside Corfu (east) the wind was not there or was insufficient for the tonnage of the boat or was in the direction that would have involved going upwind, with relative lengthening of the navigation. So that I didn't sail is not true, we did at least 180 miles sailing. About the tension... I apologise for that and take responsibility for that. Given the repeated episodes of questioning my role as Commander, I should have interrupted the cruise or disembarked those who challenged me continuously on SAFETY issues. Some behaviors were very serious and could put everyone's safety at risk. I believe that I have acted in the protection of all participants. By contract, the skipper's food is the responsibility of the crew. I am very flexible and do not ask for anything more than a proper and healthy galley. I also often cooked myself. As for the maneuvers I know how to perfectly carry the boat alone, in fact I have been sailing alone for years. Some participants have asked THEM to help with the maneuvers, but I have been sailing for 30 years and have more than 40,000 miles of sailing in cruises and offshore regattas. Never an accident for my responsibility that has endangered the health of the crew, the most important thing when you are on board. It is true that I am very demanding in terms of safety, and I believe that this is an added value to spend a carefree holiday without unpleasant surprises.

I'm sorry to write it but unfortunately I had an unpleasant experience with Gianni; according to my point of view he is not brought to make this type of experience because he is a person who has to be alone does not know how to stay in the group and has created many inconveniences. first of all he uses very little sailing and do not tell me that there was no wind because other nearby boats were with sailing; very selfish thinks about him and about what he has to eat (his fixed thought); always docks at the ports always charging for the mooring; he treats his passengers like slaves by getting help in the maneuvers of the boat not even using the names of the people but rather: YOU (you do this, you do that .. and if you did not do it in time because you are not practical he was angry as well) made us skip a couple of stages because not leaving early in the morning he could not find places either in the navy or in the harbor (antipaxos we saw her with binoculars). --- ANSWER OF THE SKIPPER--- I recognize that I am not very affable or funny at first glance ... But for sure I am passionate about sailing and so if I can I always sail. I hate motor surfing. This cruise as can be seen from the route taken is already challenging because it involves making two sailing crossings of more than 80 miles each in the Otranto channel. Inside Corfu (east) the wind was not there or was insufficient for the tonnage of the boat or was in the direction that would have involved going upwind, with relative lengthening of the navigation. So that I didn't sail is not true, we did at least 180 miles sailing. About the tension... I apologise for that and take responsibility for that. Given the repeated episodes of questioning my role as Commander, I should have interrupted the cruise or disembarked those who challenged me continuously on SAFETY issues. Some behaviors were very serious and could put everyone's safety at risk. I believe that I have acted in the protection of all participants. By contract, the skipper's food is the responsibility of the crew. I am very flexible and do not ask for anything more than a proper and healthy galley. I also often cooked myself. As for the maneuvers I know how to perfectly carry the boat alone, in fact I have been sailing alone for years. Some participants have asked THEM to help with the maneuvers, but I have been sailing for 30 years and have more than 40,000 miles of sailing in cruises and offshore regattas. Never an accident for my responsibility that has endangered the health of the crew, the most important thing when you are on board. It is true that I am very demanding in terms of safety, and I believe that this is an added value to spend a carefree holiday without unpleasant surprises.

We are a group of friends left from Leuca on 25/08 towards Corfu, a stage that not all skippers propose as it is challenging (cc 16 h of navigation) the weather conditions both on the way and on the return were ideal and Gianni very experienced and up to the situation. During the week we sailed around the islets around Corfu really beautiful and far from mass tourism, small pearls. Gianni is very professional and nice, with his great passion for the sea and experience he has not only taught us maritime notions making us take part in the various navigation activities, but he has given us much more .. real "lessons" of life! This sailing holiday was a dream and we will never forget it, we advise everyone to try it especially with the right company and we also recommend the crossing because being in the open sea is wonderful and seeing the stars from there has no comparison!..!!!

Departure scheduled by the skipper at 1 pm from BR. We arrived around noon but the boat was not ready for organizational reasons. The forecast was not favorable, but the skipper assured us that with the wind in the stern it would be fine. So we left around 5 pm but already around 9 pm we had run into a storm with wind up to 60 70 knots and waves 2.5 m high. Fortunately, it lasted an hour but it was enough to alarm and frighten people not used to these things. Luckily it was passed without any more serious problems for the crew. So we arrived in Corfu where we stayed 2 days, also to recover energy. We took the opportunity to visit a beautiful island. Then to Sivota, nice but too touristy, finally Erikussa really beautiful with its still wild nature and few tourists. The long crossing is more suitable for those looking for strong emotions than a simple cruise but overall positive experience that we will always bring with us