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• S/Y Sophia

Letter of the year

• 2002
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More letters

• 2003
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Logbook entries...

Clients' photo album..

Comments from clients who sailed with us in 2007

"Francesca,

I don't know what to say. This was a trip of lifetime. At first, I was a bit disappointed in the fact that the boat was not the same one as advertised. I have never "cruised" before and being with a 10 year old , I was not sure what to expect. I was totally delighted with the boat - my son certainly loved it and the people that were on the cruise with us were delightful. We all made the best of it and I would do a cruise, using the same type of vessel, again in a heartbeat. No, we did not get to Santorini - but were on the island of Kea and I fell in love. Such a beautiful island. So, Francesca - in a heartbeat I would join another one of your cruises. I was very, very pleased with everything and we even had a tear upon departure. Thank you very much. I have attached a picture of my son. He was sad when we departed.

Mary"
Mrs Mary W. from USA

Casual Cruise 'Cyclades Pearls' on board H&BI from Piraeus, 6 - 13 April 2007

Hello Francesca

Hope this finds you well and that 2007 is a great year for you.

We had such a wonderful time chartering from you and Mr Vangelis in Lefkada in September 2006, that we want to come back. This time, we would like to sail either up to Corfu, or to go South and through the Corinth Canal. We are looking at the last two weeks of June 2007, as we seem to be tied up for the rest of the year. Can you please give us a quote on a 40 foot yacht for this period? Many thanks.
Kind regards,

Tony W

"Just a short note to say that we had a very enjoyable week sailing around
the Saronic Gulf, we moored at Aigina, Vathi, Poros, Hydra and Methano.
Thanks for your professional service."

'Yacht's facilities and computer / internet were excellent.'

Mr Michael O'F. from Ireland, bareboat yacht charter on Bavaria 39 cruiser (2007) from Athens, 07 - 14 April 2007

Reception by staff - excellent (very friendly and informative), yacht's condition - excellent, yacht's inventory - excellent, yacht's engine - excellent, yacht's sails - excellent, sailing base - excellent, sailing area - excellent.

Excellent yacht - Great holiday.

Dr Benjamin Scott E., (UK), bareboat charter on Elan 340 (Dusseldorf Boat of the Year 2007) from Lavrion - Lavrion, 14 - 21 April 2007.

Hello,
the boat was *awesome* concirning sailing behaviour. We were sailing at more that 7knts for a lot of time......
Also on in light winds it performs well so you dont have to run on engine all time.
We had also some nice fish, good weather still the water was a bit chilly....
Anyway a nice charter!
see you soon,
vas

Vasilis A. from Greece, bareboat yacht charter on s/y Olympia, Elan 37 (2007) from Athens, April 2007

Shirley and Phil C, (UK) sailed on a crewed charter with Captain Chandler on s/y Koralia, 19 May - 02 June 2007. Read his Letter of the Year 2007 here.

'Excellent service'

Robert H, (UK), bareboat charter on s/y Soka, Harmony 47 (2006), 19 - 26 May, Lavrion - Lavrion.

"A trip of a lifetime. 1st ever to Greece. Celebration of 65 + 60 birthdays - Thank you for the memories."

Criteria all marked excellent on all four feedback forms:
Yacht>cabin function, cabin cleaning; Meals>breakfast/lunch/dinner/Captain's dinner; (Comments: "Excellent food quality and variety") Services> bar, dining room, cabins; Crew> Captain, cruise leader, steward, cook (Comments: "cheerful, efficient, helpful, pleasant")
General estimation of cruise > "Experience of a lifetime", "More than we expected".
----------------

"Hello Francesca - Calemara

I'm so sorry I haven't gotten around to contacting you sooner. I'm sure you know what it's like when you return from vacation. The desk is high!!
Anyway, yes, you are right - it was a most memorable holiday! We hated to leave.
I must admit, that as an agent, not having used your services before, I was very nervous, but when we pulled up in the taxi and saw the boat I was delighted and then I could relax.
She was a wonderful "salty" ship and we really enjoyed the entire thing. The crew were the icing on the cake.
Thanks again so very much for all your help - I'm sure I was a royal ____ in the you know where.

I would go again in a heart beat and eagerly send other passengers.

When I get a few minutes I will send some photos.

Thanks again,
Sincerely
Midge B.
PS - our only disappointment was not meeting you."

Bruce and Dorene R, Denis and Jane S, Sharon and Klar D, Peter and MIdge B, from Canada all sailed on the Fine Cruises - Aegean Cocktail cruise from Piraeus, aboard H&B I, from June 01 - June 08 2007.

"Francesca,
It is already a month since we started our adventure. All that can be said is that is was a great deal of fun and the whole trip was a highlight. Yanni and Laurella were excellent hosts and after a few days we became a true group of eight rather than a group of six. Shirl and I had the great fortune to celebrate our 40th Wedding Anniversary on June 3rd at Sifnos. Yanni reserved a table for eight at a very nice Italian Restuarant called Claudio's there. We had just a great evening teasing Yanni, each other and laughing, laughing, laughing.

Thanks very much for assigining us to Yanni and Luarella as they made our trip. Laurella was just a gem with the girls. By the end of the trip you would have thought the four of them had know each other for a long time.

I will definately recommend Odyssey to anyone who might be interesetd in a similar trip. In fact one of the fellows from my golf couse has already asked for information. In closing you might hear from me again in another couple of years for another adventure in another part of the Greek Islands.

Frank"

Frank W, from Canada, chartered s/y Gemini, Skipper 63, with crew Yianni and Laurella, from Athens, from 25 May - 08 June 2007.

"Francesca,

Thanks for your email .We really enjoyed ouselves & the region of the Sporades is beautiful ,i hope it stays that way.I can see a large increase in tourism for that region,i just hope your government has tight controls on buildings etc so the original feel of the islands & its peoples well being are maintained .One downside was the attitude of the two taxi drivers on taking us back to the airport ,they argued with each other in front of us & the one driver who taxied the girls was rude to them & treated their baggage roughly,i know time is money for them, but that is not one of the last memories of a greek person you would want to take home with you.This is not Oddyssey's problem but maybe someone should have a word with these Taxi companies in general about their behaviour & professionalism.Above all of this everything was spot on & Vasilis was great to deal with & the greek people were really friendly & helpful in a genuine way.The 4 people that sailed with us will be taking up sailing after this ,they enjoyed it that much! so potentially more customers for Odyssey.We plan to come back in the not to distant future so please keep us informed of any special offers that you may have.Can i take this opportunity in wishing you good health & the very best for the future.

Mike & Val"

Mr and Mrs M from UK, chartered s/y Cleo, Beneteau Oceanis (1997) from Skiathos, from 8 - 22 June 2007.
Click here to see the pictures they sent in.

Dear Francesca,

I apologise for the late reply, we have been away training without access to email. Thank you for all your help organising the sailing trip to Greece, we all enjoyed ourselves very much. The yachts, although there were large numbers of us, were comfortable and good to sail.

We hope to come back to Greece again some day too!

All the best,

Phoebe

Phoebe and friends (17 in all) (UK)chartered s/y Scorpio, Oceanis 321 and s/y Shamrock, Oceanis 440, from Athens between 17 - 23 June.

"Takis was great as well as Francesca in organising it all. Had another great time with Odyssey, I'll always recommend the name."

Ryan S (USA/UK) - repeat client from 2005 - chartered s/y Leda II, Bavaria 50, 2000 - with skipper Takis from Syros - Syros, 23 - 30 June 2007.

All tickboxes on feedback form: 'excellent', except for condition of yacht (good) with comment: 'Excellent apart from broken windlass, but fixed next day'.

Mr David B, UK, chartered s/y Virgin Mary, Bavaria 39 Cruiser, 2006, from Lefkas, 01 - 08 July 2007.

Hi Francesca

I had a wonderful holiday! I don't want to be back in the desert, working like crazy. Much prefer to be back on the yacht!

I loved living on the yacht for 2 weeks and forgetting about the real world. The sailing was unreal and for me it was the best way to tour the cyclades. It was stress-free and I was as relaxed as a jellyfish on valium. I also think that it was good value for money.

I enjoyed all the holiday, but my first week was the best as there was only Eric, Yanis and me on the yacht. It was incredibly relaxed, with lots of room and the itinerary was quite loose. Introducing 4 more people on the second week was a bit of a shock but they were lovely people and we got on well.

I thought Eric was a great skipper, excellent sailor and very good and patient about explaining about the workings of the yacht and sailing. He's also an excellent cook - such a wiz in the galley. He shopped well and I never ran out of beer!!! And we ate sooo well!

There was a language barrier, but it didn't bother me. I had my books and my thoughts and just wanted to relax. Communicating with people with a language difference can take up a lot of energy. I deal with it on a daily basis here, so I just couldn't be bothered and wanted to relax. I really enjoy my own company so thats a bonus.

I'd recommend the charter to anyone who enjoys sailing.

I'll have a look at the photos and see what would be suitable for your photo site.

Cheers Pip

Philippa C (Australia) travelled from Mykonos - Santorini - Mykonos, on a 2 week Economy Cabin Cruise of the Cyclades islands, with skipper Eric Copolla, from 26 June - 10 July 2007.

Francesca,

I had a fantastic time in Greece.

Thanks for helping me organize it!

Maurits

Maurits O, from the Netherlands, enrolled on a 3 week RYA sailing course in Poros, Competent Crew, Day Skipper theory and Day skipper practical, July 21 - August 11.

Francesca/Panos,

Just a note to say thank you very much for a great Charter. I think we enjoyed it this time even more and were very comfortable with Sophia and got to some previously unexplored territory.

I attach some photos for you which look good. On another good front I think I may have got you a charter from French couple we met at the airport who will contact you.

.... rest assured only good memories and we'll be back.

All the best and good sailing.

John, Helen, Conor and Sarah

John DL and family, (Ireland/UK) chartered 'Sophia' Sun Odyssey 33 from Skiathos, 21 July - 04 August (for the second time). Please click here to see their holiday photos...

My comments about the boat, skipper, itinerary etc. are that everything was great. Mike was more than accommodating with all our wishes. He went out of his way to please us and to make our stay on the boat as comfortable as possible.

His knowledge of the local waters and islands was superb.

Lunch on board, when we stayed on board to have lunch, was nice and the ingredients were fresh.

However there is one area of concern which I feel must be addressed. Hygiene of cutlery and crockery was not up to standard. I would imagine that if the hostess was with us then that would not have been a problem. One has to deal with the situation at hand and make the most of it.

I would recommend Mike without any hesitation. It is wonderful to have the freedom of choice about the itinerary and to be allowed to experience and see different places on a daily basis.

Please forward my thanks and compliments to him.

I have included photos of life on board the Brendon.

Kind regards

Terry L

Terry chartered s/y Brendon, with skipper Mike Humphries, in the Ionian islands from Preveza in August 2007.

“Reception by staff, yacht’s inventory, equipment, engine and sails good.”
Thomas W, chartered s/y Sophia, Sun Odyssey 33 from Skiathos in August’07

“Excellent holiday- looking forward to coming back and doing it again! Reception by staff, yacht’s inventory, equipment, engine and sails excellent. ”
Chris Harrison chartered s/y Sophia, Sun Odyssey 33 from Skiathos in August- Sept’07

Dear Francesca,

Just to tell you that we had two very good sailing weeks in Greece, and both the RYA skipper (Neal) and the Seafarer lead crew (Ian, Roger & Victoria) were excellent.

Again, thank you very much for your support.

Best regards,

Antonello & Dagmar

Antonello and Dagmar (Belgium) went flotilla sailing in Poros / Saronic Gulf flotilla for 2 weeks from 18 August - 01 September.

I had a great time and the trip exceeded my expectations. Thanks to Skipper and crew.

Joel C. (USA) cabin cruise Santorini - Mykonos - Santorini. 2 weeks. 14 August - 28 August, Skippers Denis and Alex.

This was our first sailing trip and not our last. Alex is a great skipper and made the trip a lot of fun. Thank you!

Hi Francesca,

We just got back from Greece, having spent almost 3 weeks there. My only wish was that we were sailing that whole time. We had such a great time! It was our first time on a sail boat, and the winds weren't cooperating (not much wind at all). But it was just a fantastic time. To specifically answer some of your questions.....

Boat - For a boat being 20 years old, it was in great shape. Everything was clean and we were all comfortable.
Skipper - What can I say, Alexis is the best! He was so much fun. The skipper is key to a great sailing experience and we couldn't have had a better one. I just can't express how happy we were with him.
Itinerary - We really enjoyed the different port cities. They were all very different and we always had something different to do in each. Our sister boat changed their itinerary towards the end of the trip and spent 2 nights in Santorini. Alexis took us to Ios and it turned out to be everyone's favorite island. He did a great job understanding his crew and knew where we'd have the most fun. I think the itinerary will be even better once the ports in Tourlos and Vilhada are complete.
Those are pretty bleak areas, but you can tell they will be great in the
future.
Daily routine - The days were planned great......breakfast, sail, swim, lunch, sail, dock, dinner and night out in the villages. It's a great balance and very relaxing. At times we wished we didn't have to have dinner with the crew from the other boat, but it really wasn't a big deal. It was fun to be able to "work" the boat, and Alexis was so great being patient with us and letting us try new things. We also enjoyed
the diversity of things to do. One night we went to live music, one night we fished for sea urchins, the bbq on the beach, etc. Something new every day.

I think the only complaint we had was one that couldn't have been avoided. We had one person on the boat who snored very loudly. And he choose to sleep in the galley instead of his cabin, so he kept everyone up all night. We finally resorted to sleeping outside with ear plugs. Luckily you can be lazy all day and rest, because the lack of sleep on land would have been unbearable. This same person was constantly asking about the kitty. So we had one unpleasant person on our boat, but overall we liked how people were paired on the boats. Our sister boat had all French speaking people on it. Our friend Joel sailed the week before we got there and said communication can be uncomfortable. Our boat only had one person on it that couldn't speak English. So it was great to be able to communicate with everyone.

And a quick note on the kitty, since I know is was a complaint topic from previous people who booked the trip. We were 100% satisfied with how the kitty works. We were asked for 200euro each when we arrived. Alexis documented all expenses throughout (although only one person ever looked at them). There was a little money left over, which we told him to keep. Being on land for two weeks after sailing, you really learn to appreciate the value of being on the boat. We spent a fortune on food and drinks on land. On the boat we ate and drank plenty every day. We loved that Alexis ordered dinner for everyone each night. Coming from the US, Greek food is very different. We wouldn't have known what to order. So we ate and drank a lot all on minimal funds.

Hope our feedback helped. Again, it was such a fantastic time. Thank
you.

Kate

Kate and Rick M, (USA) cabin cruise, Mykonos - Santorini, 1 week, 21 August - 28 August. Skipper: Alex

Hi Francesca,

I wanted to thank you for organizing our beautiful trip. We had the best time and Yannis and his wife were wonderful.

We would not hesitate to book a trip next year with them to explore different islands!

I wanted to ask you a few questions about the sailing schedule.

I was under the impression that it was possible to anchor the boat in small bays overnight on occasions. When I spoke to Yannis he said it was not usually done as his hours of work did not cover it. This was also in the contract if I am right. I was interested to know the reasons and also whether it was possible to organise a trip in the future where that could be done 50 % of the time at least?

Also, in terms of the hours spent offshore, swimming, relaxing and anchoring the boat for lunch… considering that sailing time form one island to another was around 3 hours, how long can you actually make the swim/ lunch stops and avoid having to arrive to the next port in early afternoons, 2 or 3 pm and avoid having lunches in the ports in the middle day heat?

I understand that some people also like exploring the islands and that they may even prefer getting to the port early in the day. However, if you were inclined to spend longer days on the boat actually making two stopovers for swim or a long one during the lunch so you end your sailing for the day around 5, 6 pm how do you go about that?

I also understand that weather and circumstances make it difficult to pre plan anything and that the skipper has the final say. My question is whether it could be organized so that you actually don’t have to rush to the next port and cut the actual daily sailing trip to 3, 4 hours on the boat with a short one swim stop? Or can you arrange otherwise?

I would just like to repeat that we have nothing but the nicest words to say about Yannis and his wife. They were nice and helpful and made it an unforgettable holiday for us. Yannis tried to accommodate all our wishes and it was close to perfect. The only thing was that, next time, we would potentially prefer to stay in bays overnight and have more time for swimming and relaxing offshore not sailing. My questions therefore are not a complaint and I would not want you to take it as that. It is just of interest so I can plan he trip a bit differently next year. Please pass our nicest regards to them.

Also as an additional point…you should have had some flippers and snorkels on board.

Again, thank you very much. It was one of our favourite holidays ever.

Regards,

Snjeza

Snjeza B and her husband sailed for a week on s/y Keefeekat, Lagoon 410 catamaran, 01 - 08 September 2007, with skipper Yiannis L and his wife as hostess.

Captain's local knowledge was excellent -> seas, ports, beaches and restaurants.

Patrick F, chartered s/y Alba-WaveDancer, with captain Marcos, from Syros, 8 - 15 September 2007.

Kate: "This was a honeymoon and learning trip so we wanted the course extended over 5 days. George accommodated perfectly, as did the weather. We were able to cover all beginning material plus we were able to do very unique things like put the spinnaker up. The week was very relaxing, with the right amount of work (we are both sore ) and we ate very well. Our initial form was read thoroughly and all requests for trip and food taken into account. Rian was very pleasant to be with and fun to talk to. We honestly would not do anything different.
Thank you for all of your help and advice for the rest of our trip as well!"

Todd: " It was a real pleasure sailing with George. He made the trip (our honeymoon) not only informative from an instructional perspective but also very fun. Sailing with such an experienced and respected Captain was a pleasure. We would certainly consider George and his sailing school for additional study."

Kate and Todd chartered s/y Valentine with Captain George Burton for a sailing cruise/course from Aegina in October 2007

Dear Francesca

Our sailing trip in Saronic was excellent. There was little problems in the beginning. There was no boat in Lavrio. Dealers (Manolo? etc.) mentioned something about coming bad weather and so on. I'm not sure was the reason weather, dealers assumption of our low sailing skills or some missunderstand. That kind of problems could stir up experienced and older finnish people.

Anyhow Aigina, Poros and Hydra were fantastic places to spend our holiday and we had good oppurtunity to spend last evening in Athens. This was our first sailing trip in Greece, so everybody forget the Cyclades after one night :)

I can and have been recommend your serviced to my gollegues here Finland.

Thank you Francesca

Markku

Markku chartered a Bavaria 39 cruiser (2007) from Lavrion (20 - 27 October 2007), but eventually took her sister ship from Athens because strong winds (8-10 Beaufort) had been forecast for that weekend, and they would not have been able to leave Lavrion for several days. As it was, they chartered from Athens where the winds were below 7 and enjoyed a week's sailing in the Saronic Gulf.