Elan Impression 45 with 4 Cabins - Sailing Yacht (2019) - Betelgeuse (Electric Heads, Inverter)

Poor The handover of the yacht Betelgeuse was not due to take place until 5 pm on Saturday. After a friendly WhatsApp contact, it was already possible to take over the boat at 3 pm. The handover went quickly. The interior and exterior technology were handed over by 2 employees. It was pointed out at the handover that the life jackets should only be removed from the bags in an emergency. It was immediately noticeable that the labelling for the line clamps was missing. All the labelling for sheets, lines and halyards was missing. What would happen if someone were to loosen the dirk and the boom fell on a passenger's head? Never before have I seen padlocks attached to the sea valves for the toilet outlet so that the valves could never be closed. This was highly questionable for safety reasons when sailing. When anchoring in bays or in the harbour, however, it was really disgusting. The faeces tank was completely bypassed and everything was discharged directly into the sea. We were explicitly told not to change this. Before we sailed out, each sailor was given a self-inflating lifejacket that was customised for them. However, when checking the life jackets, we noticed that 2 out of 10 of them had already been deflated. This was immediately addressed when the ship was handed over at the end of the trip - when asked if everything was OK. After that, the atmosphere at the handover was very frosty. The reaction to the demonstration of the 2 triggered CO2 cartridges was that we should only unpack the life jackets in an emergency. "Don't touch!" There was no sorry to be heard. I replied that every sailor must have a personalised lifejacket before the trip, which is immediately available in their cabin in case of an emergency. This caused a lack of understanding. When I asked what would have happened if a person fell into the water without a functioning lifejacket, the answer was: "You can inflate it with your mouth." When I said that an unconscious person can't do that, the communication and the handover were over. The diver then inspected the boat at 5 pm. He found a piece of damage to the hull about 2 euros in size on the bow below the waterline. I had the diver show me the photo and spoke to him. He said that it was almost 100% caused by the anchor. DK Yachting immediately ordered the repair without consultation. The diver had 2 cans of two-component glue with him. A thimbleful of glue was taken from each can and used to seal the defect below the waterline. The repair took less than 10 minutes. After the diver had left, I was told that the repair would cost €250, which I would now have to pay. A 2.5 hour long discussion then ensued with the DK Yachting staff. I concede that it is possible that the anchor has damaged the yacht under water and agree to pay for the damage. However, I ask for a written invoice, a photo and the diver's report for my deposit insurance. At first this is not possible as the diver's office hours are already over. At around 7.30 pm, I receive the diver's invoice in Greek and pay the €250 to DK Yachting by credit card. Evi from DK Yachting didn't want to deduct this from my deposit of 2500 euros. Why not? In the meantime, I have a phone call with the boss of DK Yachting, who happens to be Evi's brother. He berates me as to why I don't want to pay and why I'm behaving so badly. On the evening of the handover day, the photo, the diver's report and the invoice arrived. While we were waiting, we spoke to another diver on the neighbouring pier who would have repaired the damage described for €50. In my opinion, this would have been a fair price, as the service fee of €220 already included taking the yacht down. Here the charter guests are being ripped off by the DK Yachting diver with the consent of DK Yachting. In the end, I had the feeling that the price for the repair was set so high because I had complained about the life jackets. Overall, we had a lovely sailing trip with a boat in a condition commensurate with its age. There are many small things that could be repaired or replaced. The handover really detracted from the turn and holiday experience. I cannot recommend DK Yachting and strongly advise against chartering here. Essential safety rules and environmental regulations are irresponsibly ignored. There is no knowledge of the principles of good seamanship and zero understanding of safe ship management.