‘No Shoes’, yet again, or better still, almost looks and feels like new. Sure there are small signs of wear and tear because someone left the front saloon windows open during rain, the fridge drawers got loaded too heavy or the sailbag zipper got ruined by an overzealous little hand.
The cabins show no scratches or dents, all heads are in perfect functioning order, no corrosion anywhere (other than on the external fridge door). All sliding door operate flawlessly, doors close and lockers lock.
Engines start and run clean without vibrations, the bottom is clear of growth, all winches including the windless do their stuff and the sails, well, they probably could do with a refresh soon – people must have realized it’s a sailboat after all.
The rest of the rigging seems in top shape. Carts roll freely on the mast, not so on the traveler …. Davor, I forgot to mention it. But there is probably a can of silicon spray in the well stocked toolbox. I didn’t look for it. I was too busy enjoying this….
The headline of this article sounds like clickbait,
I get it. But this is my story, involving people I deal with, the way I deal with people in situations when things don’t go according to plan. It’s how I react and interact. This is one example out of hundreds of boats and many bases DYC operates, but it is what I have experienced.
So take it for what it is and judge for yourself. As always, I am open to discuss my experience with anyone who wants to have a chat. Just email me.
Now lets have a look more closely at what I found this trip.
Minor issues...
Bigger issues ...
There are two things I was disappointed to see, potentially caused by careless customers:
The countertop in the galley cracked, almost as if someone tried to smash up a bag of ice on it (my analysis)
Cleaning the acrylic side window in the galley (the one next to the cooktop) with the scratchy side of the sponge sure gets the grease off but leave nasty, permanent marks.
Both items will need replacement.
The big picture ...
Lets do some figures: 8 people per hire during a season that lasts approx 32 weeks. That’s around 250 people using this boat 24/7, in and out of the cabin, dry or wet, at least over 1000 openings of cupboard doors and fridges, about 750 toilet flushes and an average of over 12000ltrs of freshwater through the pumps every season. The sail might have been hoisted over 300 times and the engines clock up around 700hrs per annum.
So you got to give credit where credit is due. ‘No Shoes’ is still in top shape, showing only minor signs of fatigue given it’s heavy usage. I know for a fact that Davor has been busy keeping her in this shape in-between seasons. (DYC Boat Maintenance … what you dont see!)
Changing rollers on the saloon door, fixing pumps and little leaks as they appear, vanishing the cockpit table, fixing sailbags etc. And it shows.
But stuff happens that you can’t prepare for.
Smart Cruise ... too smart for it's own good on a bare boat!
As far as original boat equipment is concerned, Fountaine Pajot built a solid charter platform with the Helia.
If it wasn’t for the Garmin integrated smart cruising system. What a disaster. Yes, the auto helm still steers, the GPS displays the map and the wind instruments show correct values but the integration between all is a long shot from what it did when we started.
No fuel, water or solar charge indications what so ever (low voltage alarm still functional). Davor installed analog backup gauges for diesel and water, a bulletproof fix I admit, but ….
I couldn’t tell you how much of this is caused by people trying to fiddle with the setup and changing settings that they know nothing about or if it is hardware / software related.
Either way, the system should have been more robust and will need some serious attention when the time comes.
The outside navigation display has been replaced as the old one delaminated, but it was replaced with a smaller unit. It works, but real-estate on a screen matters and once parts become available, I hope the original size display will make its way back onto ‘No Shoes’ (especially once we install the radar).
I recently got a call from one of my readers wanting to know how I feel about DYC, the contract I am in and how smart my move was to enter this deal.
Well, as the saying goes: ‘ It ain’t over until the fat lady sings”. There are still 1.5 seasons to go and a phase out at the end of it. I am following my friends experiences who currently have yachts in the phase out period closely.
Then there was the ‘Plandamic’ which saw my owners usage taking a huge hit due to no fault of DYC. It shook the very existence of many businesses, no doubt including this one. At some point I was wondering how secure my investment actually was. If I would have paid outright for the yacht, it would have been mine, albeit without an income. But I would have held the title all through the crisis. As it turned out, the sun still shines and everyone is busy again.
Regarding owners usage, as a pilot with no fixed working schedule more that 45 days in advance it is really hard to plan any type of holiday, let alone book a boat months in the future. But DYC has always been helpful in accommodating changes or even last minute bookings.
This month sails was pure coincide; ‘No Shoes’ was free (the only week left) and I had 10 days off. So I rang literally a week or so before departure and DYC booked it as a last minute booking and cancelled my late August booking because there was no way I would have gotten leave. Thank you team.
Question now is, how do I fit 4 weeks of sailing into the 4 remaining months of this booking year to get my monies worth whilst flat out at work… I am feeling some Thailand sails coming up again, it’s only 2.5hrs from Hong Kong!
Nils, thaks so much about your detailed update!
Hello sir, will like to take a moment and thank you for such a great article and let you know that I already made note about the about the traveler, is on the workorder for this Saturday.
For the rest I agree with all !!! Good good good article…
Hi Davor,
I am glad you are onto the repairs quicker than me replying to my readers comments!
I’m glad to see the post in my email this morning! Wear and tear happens, but it looks like you’re happy and No Shoes is being watched over carefully. It’s a big investment. Keep sailing! Finding time to take ours out is hard too. We have kids and they have schedules, but we did enjoy Aquanimity with friends from St Thomas to Grenada for the haul out. What a ride!!
Nils,
I know you haven’t been through the phase out yet but I’m curious if you know how DYC will handle more substantial repairs, like the broken counter? We’ve chartered twice now through DYC and both boats were pretty beat up cosmetically. Fiberglass damage can be repaired and winches can be replaced, but will they replace a whole countertop? The shower doors were missing on one of our boats – I assume they’d been broken – and I don’t know how DYC could replace a shower door on a 5 or 6 year old boat. What about all the cabinet delamination that is to be expected, or the abrasion damage on your side windows. Is this type of damage repairable by DYC? So much of the analysis of these charter programs depends on the condition of the boat after phase out and I really haven’t heard anyone’s personal experience with a boat that has some heavy wear.
Thanks for sharing your experience.
Hi Jim,
Sorry for the late reply. My answer has to be somewhat vague at the moment as I haven’t been through the phase-out process as you know. However, my base manager has promised my that the items you have mentioned, like the windows and countertop, will be replaced during the phase out. The big question is of course “what is usual wear and tear”? Very subjective in my opinion. You could argue that on a charter boat, the level of “usual” is much higher than on an equivalent owners boat I guess. Time will tell.
The value of these contracts really depends on the type of contract you have and what you expect to get in return. For me, it was free sailing to keep the dream alive without having to look after a boat and having a nice boat at the end of it at an affordable price. I didn’t do too well on the free sailing side of things due to COVID and work commitments, but on the flipside – imagine I would have owned a boat full time and still didn’t use it. Anyway, I am making up for it this year.
As for having a nice boat at the end – so far so good. As you can seen on my blog, very good actually. Lets hope it will stay that way for another 10 months!
I have talked to a few people who just went to the phase-out and whilst not necessary all smooth sailing, the overall experiences have been okay and the owners have been satisfied in general how the boats turned out. The thing is, unhappy people usually cry loudest and that’s all you hear. Happy clients just go about their way and you only find out if you ask them directly.
I will provide a detailed report on the phase-out experience when it happens. In the meantime, standby for a few monohull adventures throughout this year from DYC bases all across the globe.
Thanks for the reply. I’m very interested to hear about your experience at other bases since mine is so far limited to Tahiti.
I trust your phase out will go smoothly next year and I look forward to you writing about it.
You are right that it’s tough to find positive experiences online since mostly only those with negative experiences take the time to share. The mode must work or these companies would go out of business.
My biggest question is related to repairs that aren’t easily made with fiberglass work or replacing a window or winch. I’m interested to learn how DYC handles more significant repairs.
Take care and safe sailing.