Yacht chartering in Corfu- Greece

Today being in the mood of writing I wrote an article about yacht chartering in Corfu that I submitted to an article site and thought I could also post it here too.

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Corfu also known as Kerkyra is the second biggest island after Crete and is considered one of the most beautiful and this due to the greenery that surrounds it.

Luckily for Corfu when the Venetians occupied it hundreds of years ago they somehow forced the inhabitants by giving them some incentives to plant olive trees which are still alive and still giving fruit after so many years.

Olives and olive oil was the main income of Corfu for many years until the influx of tourism which turned the Corfiots into providing hotels and apartments and thus neglecting their olive trees. Nowadays they still produce olive oil mainly for their own use as the trees are very big and not commercially viable for production.

Together with the tourism influx the yacht charter business started booming and now Corfu is a major place in the charter map with most of the international charter companies having permanent bases here.

You can now charter a yacht in Corfu with most of the charter companies and agencies in the world as it has all the facilities for Yacht charters including international airport, Modern Marina which accommodates about 1400 yachts of all sizes.

Due to the mild weather and few storms during the summer and winter season has also attracted a lot of foreign boats which are permanently moored in Corfu as their owners leave the boat here and fly back when they want to use it.

By searching on the net for yacht charters you will find hundreds of companies advertising their boats for charter so the choice is vast. The Greek charter companies are very well organized and of course by being governed by the Greek Tourist Organization they have to offer the service and also there is a guarantee deposit lodged with the Organization in case of a dispute or not fulfilling their obligation.

When you charter a boat either from an agency or direct from the owner you must insist of receiving a copy of the official charter party. This charter party contract between the agency or boat owner and the charterer will be presented to the Port Authority on the day of the charter for verification and official approval. This particular moment the boat’s papers will be examined by the Port Authority to make sure that all safety requirements have been met and been inspected.

The charterers must have at least one (1) official skipper sailing certificate of competence other wise the Port Police will not allow the boat to leave harbor.

This for some people might seem a little too much but on the other hand it provides a security to the person hiring the boat that it is safe to sail and also for the boat owner that the person hiring it is competent to handle a boat and thus eliminating accidents.

In the last 20 years we had accidents such as mast braking, hitting a rock or other boats but not loss of life which is a very good and makes sailing in Greece very safe.

According to Greek law all boats intended for charter have to be registered as commercial and no private boats are allowed to do charters and be aware when you are not given a charter party agreement signed by the local Port Authority as the boat might not be fit for charter and possibly unsafe too.

Also foreign boats are not allowed to do charters in Greece except of EEC registered boats but they have to go through all the inspections as for a Greek commercial boat and also register a company here in Greece. In another article I will go through the regulations about foreign boats and chartering. I can also answer any questions regarding yachting and yacht charters in Corfu by just contacting me.

Author: Vasilis Vrakotas who has been involved in Yacht charters and Yacht management since 1993. See profile at http://www.varkotasyachting.com

Season 2009

The new 2009 Season is due to start very soon as time flies. Soon it will be April with Greek Easter set for the 19th of April and immediately after that the official sailing season will start.

The predictions this year is not so good due to the economic world recession that has affected the whole world.

Greece and especially Corfu attracts a lot of sailors from the UK. The exchange rate of the Pound has dropped considerably in comparison to the Euro and this will make their holiday a lot more expensive which means less charters and of course less income for the boat owners and charter companies.

Demand so far from the second most visited country, Germany is still at the level of last year or a little less.

The other countries such as France, Italy, Holland and Scandinavians is a little less than last year.

The boat maintenance is still going on as there has been a little delay especially here in Corfu and this because of the heavy rains we had this winter and still having at this moment of writing. This winter has been mild cold wise but heavy with rain and according to predictions the rain will go until April too.

Let's hope the rain will stop soon in order to get the boats ready for the coming season.

See you sailing in Corfu soon

Vasilis