Making it 'Plain Sailing'

We're just about to hit the busiest weeks of our Mediterranean summer sailing season, and our team have done a fantastic job so far! (High fives all round!)

Whilst you can book many of the same boats through the usual venture-capital-backed boating platforms that more or less collect your money and pass it on to the charter company (and, in some cases, don't even manage that... eeek!), we're proud to offer something a little different from our family business based in Manchester.  Every booking comes with your own Personal Sailing Expert — someone who knows your trip, your boat and your plans, and is there to help from the moment you book until the moment you step back onto dry land.

From the very start, we'll do everything we can to find you the right boat at the right price (and yes, we have a Best Price Guarantee too). But if we're honest, that's the easy bit — it's as your sailing holiday gets closer that our personal service really comes into its own.

About two months before you set sail, you'll be assigned your very own Personal Sailing Expert, who'll look after your booking from there on. They'll help organise insurance, transfers and any extras you need, and you'll get their personal WhatsApp number too. (It wouldn't be much use if they only existed between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday!)

You can pepper your Sailing Expert with questions about your itinerary, your skipper, marina fees, the best places to stop, or even ask them to track down some fishing gear for you. They'll also be the ones gently chasing you for your sailing licence, crew list and any outstanding paperwork, making sure everything is in place before you arrive.

In the final week before departure, they'll send you everything you need for check-in, including payment information, maps showing exactly where to go, and all the charter company's base information. They'll email it over and send it to your phone too, so it's right where you need it when you arrive. :)

But it doesn't stop there!?

Throughout your holiday, your Personal Sailing Expert will be checking in to make sure everything is going smoothly. They'll want to know that the boat is in good condition, the skipper is doing a great job (if you've booked one), and that you're aware of any important weather updates.  

If anything goes wrong — and occasionally it does — they're only a text message away.  You'd be amazed how effective we can be at politely hassling charter companies from 2,000 miles away. If we're busy chasing things behind the scenes, it means you don't have to spend your holiday doing it yourself.

Need to arrange a transfer? Just send us a message.  
Can't find the Wi-Fi password? We'll track it down.  
Accidentally nudged another boat in a busy marina? We'll help make sure everything is sorted properly.  
Running a little late for check-out? We'll do our best to smooth things over with the Base Manager. :)

One of the very best parts of our job is seeing the photos you send us along the way (like the top pic from the BVI in April). Whether it's a stunning turquoise bay, the crew paddleboarding, incredible drone footage, or the sun setting behind your catamaran, for a few moments we get to enjoy the holiday with you too... before it's back to reality in rainy Manchester!

Once you're safely moored up for the final time, your Personal Sailing Expert will check that everything has gone well and ask for your feedback on the boat, the check-in process and anything else we should know. It helps us keep improving, and it helps future customers too.

We only work with charter companies we'd happily recommend to our own friends and family, so disputes over damage deposits are thankfully very rare. But if they do happen, we've got your back. Because we work with our charter partners week-in, week-out, and have built strong relationships over more than 10 years, we're often able to achieve much better outcomes than if you were dealing with them on your own.  Our job is simple: to make sure every customer has an amazing sailing holiday.

Then it's on to the next booking (with a returning customer discount, of course)... and the next... and the next.  We're incredibly lucky to have so many customers who come back to sail with us year after year. We genuinely take every booking personally, and really do want every holiday to be... Plain Sailing.