How much does a one-week Greek bareboat charter actually cost?
The entire trip for three people—boat rental, fuel, provisions, water taxi rides, and moorage fees—totaled under $5,000. The video provides a detailed cost breakdown at the end, showing that choosing an older boat, shopping at local markets, and anchoring at free or low-cost bays keeps expenses down.
At a glance
Length
27 min
Channel
Sailor Eric's Next Adventure
Video from
Jun 2026
Rating
⭐⭐ Great video · 2/2
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Intermediate sailors considering a budget Greek sailing vacation and cost breakdown.
What this video answers
How much does a one-week Greek bareboat charter actually cost?
Do I need sailing experience to charter a bareboat in Greece?
What happens during the check-in and orientation?
Is it safe to anchor overnight in these Greek bays?
What should I bring for a week of sailing in Greece?
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Overview of a Budget Greek Bareboat Sailing Charter
Sailor Eric and Kirsten share their experience chartering a 2014 Bavaria 46 sailboat for one week through Istion Charters in Greece's Saronic Gulf. The video documents their first bareboat charter adventure, including the practical realities of sailing independently in a new region, the islands and towns they visited, and a complete breakdown of costs—revealing the entire trip came in under $5,000 for three people. This is a first-hand account of what to expect when renting and sailing your own boat in Greece, complete with honest observations about both the delights and the learning curve.
The charter is based out of Alimos Marina in Athens, a conveniently located hub with easy access to supermarkets, trams, and city amenities. This experience suits sailors with intermediate experience who want to explore Greek islands at their own pace, anchor in quiet bays, and visit charming port towns without the expense of a captain or crew. It's equally valuable for anyone considering a Greek sailing vacation and wanting to understand real costs, logistics, and what day-to-day life aboard feels like.
Key Moments
Highlights of the Saronic Gulf Sailing Route
Mandraki Bay near Hydra—a deep, scenic anchorage surrounded by ancient stone walls, pine-covered peninsulas, and a luxury hotel, reached after a challenging first day sail in 20–25 knot winds.
The island of Hydra with its old fortress overlooking the town, shopping, and hilltop walking trails, though noted for heavy cruise ship and ferry traffic.
Ermioni, a quiet port town nestled behind a green peninsula with minimal crowding, accessed by dinghy and offering a peaceful anchoring experience.
Med mooring technique at Alimos Marina—backing the stern into tight spaces between boats, supported by a bow thruster and a five-person docking team.
Early-morning departures to avoid afternoon anchorage congestion (3–8 p.m.), a strategy that made sailing more relaxed and gave the crew time to become comfortable with the boat.
Water taxi service at €30 per round trip to explore Hydra without anchoring directly in the crowded harbor.
What to Know Before Booking a Greek Bareboat Charter
Duration and timing: The video covers a seven-day charter; check-in occurs at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday with an orientation and checklist walk-through, and check-out is 9:00 a.m. the following Friday. Early arrival to the marina allows paperwork completion a few hours ahead of schedule.
Boat choice and cost impact: Selecting an older boat (2014 model) rather than the newest fleet significantly lowers daily rental rates. The Bavaria 46 monohull requires a bow thruster for navigation in narrow marina channels.
Wind and sea conditions: Expect predominant northerly winds of 20–25 knots in the Saronic Gulf; forecast appearances of 10–15 knots often underestimate true conditions by about 10 knots.
First-day learning curve: Familiarizing yourself with systems, alarms (such as VHF radio alerts), and boat handling takes time; a long sail on day one helps you learn the vessel before relaxing into later days.
Anchorage crowding: Between 3:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., sailboats rapidly fill popular bays. Early arrivals or early morning departures help you secure better positions and avoid anchoring conflicts.
Dinghy operations: The swim platform on this yacht makes launching the dinghy straightforward; factor in €30–50 daily costs for water taxis if you prefer not to use the dinghy for every shore trip.
Provisioning: Shop for fresh fruits and vegetables at local supermarkets near the marina rather than pre-provisioning through the charter company; this adds to your experience and costs less.
Frequently Asked Questions About This Greek Sailing Charter
How much does a one-week Greek bareboat charter actually cost?
The entire trip for three people—boat rental, fuel, provisions, water taxi rides, and moorage fees—totaled under $5,000. The video provides a detailed cost breakdown at the end, showing that choosing an older boat, shopping at local markets, and anchoring at free or low-cost bays keeps expenses down. Individual costs vary by boat model, season, and crew size.
Do I need sailing experience to charter a bareboat in Greece?
The video suggests intermediate sailing skills are essential. Sailors must be comfortable handling a monohull, understanding anchoring, and managing rigging and systems independently. Istion Charters provides a pre-charter orientation, but they assume renters have prior cruising experience. First-time bareboat sailors may want to consider a captain or a shorter introductory charter.
What happens during the check-in and orientation?
A captain assigned by Istion walks you through the boat's systems, demonstrates equipment, and completes a detailed checklist documenting the boat's condition. You sign the checklist, confirming you understand your liability for the boat's state during your charter. The video shows this process takes one to two hours and can sometimes be completed a few hours earlier if you arrive ahead of the official 5:00 p.m. start time.
Is it safe to anchor overnight in these Greek bays?
Yes, but the video reveals that evening hours (3–8 p.m.) bring heavy boat traffic and inexperienced anchors. The crew experienced one night when another boat accidentally pulled their anchor chain; resetting your anchor is sometimes necessary. Choosing quieter bays like Ermioni or Mandraki and arriving early reduces this risk significantly.
What should I bring for a week of sailing in Greece?
The video does not detail a full packing list, but emphasizes that weather can be windier than forecasts suggest (add 10 knots to predictions), making sturdy sailing gear necessary. The crew took a water taxi to explore towns, so casual clothes for shore visits are useful. The boat has a swim platform, suggesting swimwear and sun protection are worthwhile.
Renting a sailboat without a captain or crew, where the charterer takes full responsibility for operation and navigation.
Med mooring
A Mediterranean mooring technique in which boats back their stern toward the dock and set anchor lines forward, allowing multiple boats to fit closely together.
Bow thruster
A small propeller system mounted at the bow that allows a boat to pivot sideways, essential for tight marina maneuvers.
Saronic Gulf
A body of water in Greece near Athens, home to popular sailing destinations including the islands of Hydra, Aegina, and Poros.
This video is invaluable for anyone considering a Greek bareboat charter, especially first-timers wondering whether they can handle it and what the real costs look like. Sailor Eric and Kirsten are refreshingly honest about both the thrills and the friction points—a pulled anchor chain, an alarm you can't identify, the challenge of Med mooring—without glossing over them. Their breakdown of actual expenses makes the fantasy feel genuinely attainable, and their route through the Saronic Gulf shows how to see major islands like Hydra without overcommitting to a two-week voyage. If you've dreamed of sailing Greece but worried the cost or complexity was out of reach, this is the video that will either convince you to book now or confirm what questions you still need answered.
Years on the front lines of helicopter tour coordination — not as a travel blogger, but as the person responsible for making every guest experience go right. Managed 2,000+ cruise guests weekly as Shore Excursions staff aboard the Pride of America in Hawaii
Personally coordinated with helicopter tour operators to confirm age, weight, and safety requirements.
S03-E01 Join us as we review our recent Bareboat Charter Sailing experience in Greece! Three of us embarked on a 2014 Bavaria 46 cruiser for one week sailing around the Saronic Gulf of Greece through istion Charters. The experience was delightful and we will recount for you the highlights, pitfalls and costs! Special attention is paid to the island of Hydra, the city of Poros, the island of Aegina, and the town of Ermioni. Stay until the end of the video where we will reveal what our entire trip cost, breaking down the expenses for you to easily follow.
00:00 Intro
00:35 Before leaving the dock
05:32 What our days were like
18:53 Food
19:59 istion Charter Company
23:25 Costs
26:49 Conclusion
Attributions:
https://alimos-marina.gr/en/ - drone photo
Video transcript for “Idyllic Greek Vacation for under $5,000!!! My Big Fat Greek Bareboat Yacht Charter!” Accessibility
A full written transcript of this video, provided for accessibility. Select any timestamp to jump the video to that moment.
This is Sailor Eric and Kirsten, and we [music] are in Istanbul, Turkey. Having a fabulous time. We had just got back from a Greek [music] bareboat charter. We spent 1 week on that sailboat in Greece, and had a wonderful experience, and we want to share that with you because we did learn a lot. It
was our first time doing a Greek bareboat charter, and we want to absolutely share those lessons learned so that you might benefit from them as The harbor in Athens that the bareboat charter was in was in Alimos Marina, which was very conveniently located in
Athens. It was easy to get to. It was right next to a thoroughfare. Trams were available. Supermarkets, everything was super easy to get to there, I thought. Yeah, no, it it was wonderful. In fact, they asked us to if we wanted to provision early on, and I think Eric was like, "Oh, maybe we should take
advantage of this." I was like, "No, no, no, no, I want to go shopping for my own stuff." Um, and Sailor was right, right? >> You're right. >> See, I know. And we had fun. It's just really nice to go and get your own fruits and vegetables, um, and just experience the culture. The company we chose was Istion.
They had a pretty big footprint in the marina. They were one of the prominent charter companies there. They had pretty decent ratings. Uh, I found them on Google, and we picked a sailboat that was a monohull, and it was an older boat. It was a 2014 boat, and because of that choice, it was a lower price,
right? Which we'll talk about. We'll talk at the end about the costs related to this charter. So, again, you might learn from our experience. And it would be comfortable for us. It was a 46-ft Bavaria 2014, built in 2014 cruiser. And it That That a modern boat. I Well, for me, it
modern. Everybody [laughter] kept saying it was old, but for me I'm like, "Oh, this is modern." cuz I'm used to sailing on these older classic boats. >> Mind you, I own a 1978 Pearson 424 ketch. So, compared to that it was really really modern and and full of all the conveniences.
We checked in on Saturday. We were allowed to check in. The official check-in time was 5:00 p.m. I think. It was 5:00 p.m. was you show up at 5:00 p.m. You get an orientation brief by the a captain is assigned to you to give you that orientation. You get the lay of the land. You go through a checklist
together. And so, the checklist is filled out with you and this captain who goes through the orientation and then you sign and say, "Yep. You are liable now for for the um state and the working order of the sailboat as it was when it was provided to you. Well, now we popped over a day early
though just to introduce ourselves, right? >> We did. We did. Just to get oriented to the the marina and that was useful. Yeah, and then they said that we could come in and do the paperwork early. Ha. Uh-huh. So, we did do it about 3 hours early and we did get on the boat around 2:30, 3:00.
>> was nice and we had the whole day. Yeah. That's right. A few more Certainly we had a few more hours to go and shop and get the get the food and bring our stuff from the hotel and all that good stuff. It gave us a few extra hours for the logistics. Yeah. We um then embarked on the charter and we
returned the sailboat uh the on Friday, the following Friday. They expected us to return it by 6:00 p.m. We felt like we wanted to beat the rush a little bit. We didn't want to be the last sailboat that had to fit into a nice little pocket between two sailboats, right? Cuz this is med
mooring. We're not used to med mooring. We're used to either bow in pretty much bow in with a finger dock on the side of the the the boat. And uh that's not what this was. You just backed in, you put your after your stern lines on. But we returned the boat uh well early, around 1:00 p.m. or so. Well, and even that was
tight to get in. I mean, they had a team there. I think they had like five people. So, like normally we're used to doing this on our own, right? And then there's a little bit of drama. Uh but no drama. Like the team, like five people were there, you know, like waiting for the lines, jumping on the boat, picking
everything. So, it was it was easy. Captain, you must turn the wheel. >> [laughter] >> No, but it was really good. It was it was we definitely had a lot of support waiting for us. And uh we had a bow thruster on the boat, which was instrumental for this narrow of a marina, right? The the the particular
area that we left from and came back in was in a a pretty narrow channel that you just could not do without a bow thruster or with a catamaran. The catamarans, you have two engines, so you can just basically forward one, reverse the other, and pivot. Uh with the monohulls, you definitely needed that
that bow thruster to get out of there. Yeah, that was a game-changer. Yep. Once you were checked out though on the Friday, you were allowed to stay on the boat Yeah. that night, and your check out time was 9:00 a.m. the following morning. And uh they just said, "You know what? When you're ready, just just
depart the boat." There were definitely cleaning crews that were showing up around 8:00 a.m. Mhm. And they were like kind of eager to get on the sailboat. They wanted to provide the the next set of guests the same opportunity that we had to to get on early if they could. Uh typically in this charter, right? Once
you depart the marina and you're off, Mhm. what did our days look like? Well, uh well, the first day we each saw the wind come, right? We saw wind, and so didn't I say it was like, you know, we have to have one long We we had planned the islands that we wanted to see. Like we had maybe like seven in our
minds, like seven ports. Um we knew we weren't going to see all seven, right? So, we were just like, "Okay, let's just see what the wind looks like, what the weather looks like." Um but that first day we got really >> a lot of wind. Yeah. Coming from the north. The predominant wind came from the north in in this
particular area. And we had a solid You know, and also on windy or everything like that, it would feel like 10 to 15 knots. >> Oh, add 10. >> Add 10. It was really like 25, 20 to 25 knots. And that's what we saw out there. Yeah. Um it just accelerated over the water coming out of the the land.
>> So, would you say if somebody saw a 10 to 15 knots on that for their first day out that they should do that long stretch like we did? You know? Um I thought it was good. I mean, I'm glad we did it. >> Yeah. We got We got out. Essentially, what we did was we went to our farthest
point and then worked our way back. >> Yeah. I will say this is that the first day you're still learning the boat. You don't know the boat. And so, you know, we had an alarm that was going off. We couldn't figure out a turn it off for a couple hours, right? Turn off It turned out to be the VHF radio. I thought it
was the control panel. So, I'm trying to fix the wrong thing and ultimately it was, you know, oh, that was the VHF. So, we had this beeping going in the background. But you know, once we heard the alarm, we did go down, we looked at everything. We made sure we weren't taking on water. That was the main thing
is that there's no water in the bilge. You know, and and because the wind was up, it was a little more wavy conditions. And you know, when you got go down below and you're looking at a particular thing, you feel a little queasy. So, it was it was definitely um an perhaps a little bit out of sorts kind
of a sail. Didn't get that wasn't completely seamless. It wasn't seamless, but I think what was nice was we had six to seven hours on that first sail. So, like figuring it all out, right? So, like by the you know, by the time the rest of the week was going, we knew the boat. Yeah.
The crew was a little more relaxed. The captain might have been a little more tense. >> [laughter] >> I would agree. Our first destination Yeah, Mandraki Well, well, we wanted to go to Hydra, Idra. Do we say Idra? We call it Hydra, Idra. But, we stayed what I loved that Mandraki Bay. That was
beautiful. >> It was a deep bay. We knew going in there that the water would be a little more deep. Mhm. Um and it was a hop, skip, and a jump away. I mean, it was only like about a mile away from Idra proper. It was less than a mile. Less than a mile even, right? >> Cuz we could have Some people took their
dinghies. Um but, we just called a water taxi. I think that was actually a much nicer way to do it. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Uh 30 euro for a water taxi ride straight to your sailboat and back. Yeah. Yeah, that bay was nice. Uh there was a luxury hotel there. There was a beach there. There might have been one
or two little taverns in that area. It was a nice scenery. There were some ancient walls that were surrounding us within the bay. What we learned is in these anchorages in Greece between 3:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. Uh that's when you start seeing an inflow of sailboats. And the later ones are vying for a space.
They're looking for a space. And if the anchorage gets crowded as the time goes on, Yeah. then you might have some amateurs trying to trying to anchor in your bay. And that's what happened to us the first night. It was probably the most uh exciting night that we had to pay attention to
those boats that were anchoring around us. One of those boats did pull our chain up when they after their fifth or sixth attempt at trying to to anchor, they they pulled their chain up and they pulled our chain up with it. We saw it. And then they just plopped our chain in. Next thing you know, we're drifting
about. So, we had to reset our anchor and do that. I don't know. What I remember about that part of the trip though was like how peaceful that bay was and we stayed for two nights. That was actually a great call. Cuz we had that long sail in and then we said let's just enjoy enjoy the night, enjoy the day and then
we'll leave really early the next morning. Yeah. But it was that beautiful quiet in nature port and then just scooting over to Hydra and then coming back and then leaving that next morning was amazing. >> Hydra was really nice, right? I mean it was a big There was There was this overlook like
an old fortress overlooking Hydra and then there was beautiful shopping There was It was just like a nice town to meander around. We walked up to the top of the town behind it, right? >> Yeah. Saw some nice overlooks. My only complaint That's my only critique was like the amount of tourists, right? It
seemed like this is the one port that everybody goes to. I think we had a totally different experience because we sailed in, we took the water taxi over and that was beautiful, but it was crowded. >> The big cruise ship came in and dropped off all its There were constant cruise ships and ferries and stuff coming
through there. >> Well, they're probably for a reason, right? So >> Yeah, cuz it was beautiful. So after Hydra or Hydra, after the island, we decided on taking a short hop. We felt like we were probably as far away from Athens as we wanted to be. To go further west might make it challenging to come back and
enjoy ports as we're coming back. >> So if we had like two weeks, we could have gone further west. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Yeah, but we decided to kind of like stay right in that area around Hydra and we chose the the little port town of Ermioni. Exactly. Which was just a little bit to our north and maybe a
tiny bit west. >> So like a quick quick skip across. So just a couple hours and then Yeah, I think it was a 10-mi run roughly, right? By 11:00 we were in. We were in Ermioni. And uh that was a very pleasant anchoring experience, I got to say. There was this uh peninsula with pine trees. It was
like a an It was a green space. Um and once we pulled in, we pulled right in behind that um peninsula. And we felt nice and nestled in, right? It wasn't overly crowded. There were a couple sailboats there. And on the charts did show that there was like an underwater hazard that you didn't want
to go too far forward. And then we took the dinghy in. Yeah. Oh, yeah. And that was our first dinghy experience. >> Yeah. That was And it went flawlessly going in. >> [laughter] >> Right? We had a swim platform, which made it very easy to um get to the dinghy, bring the outboard on. It was a little heavier
outboard. It was a 4.5 horse. And you know, it's it's heavy when you're when you're doing something awkward, when you're bending over awkwardly, right? >> Right. But we got that on. We We motored in. Everything went well. We had a nice meander um town. Was that where that um monastery
>> is. Yeah, really cool. If you can um wander through that town all the way up to the top of the hill. It looks like it's um It looks like the streets are not places that you would want to go, but just keep moving. But we made it all the way up to this monastery and just the views, you know, you get like um So,
Ermioni is is actually on Greece mainland, isn't it? >> uh Yeah. Is it the Peloponnesian peninsula? >> Right. So, it's really cool. Once you get up to that monastery, you get to see multiple harbors. And then you can look back at like the um the olive groves and the um Yeah, and the vineyard, too. It
was It was phenomenal. Just a nice respite up at the top. >> Yeah. It It was really cool. And then we came back down. We had a nice little meal. Oh, yeah. But before that, we came back down and we ended up on THE WRONG SIDE. OH. >> YEAH. YEAH, WE CAME BACK down [laughter] and realized that Ermioni
that on both sides of that peninsula. The town kind of straddled the peninsula. Yeah. Um that had that pine forest thing and we we actually zipped to the wrong side and found >> the flowers. another full, you know, like another area that a lot of sailboats were were Mediterranean moored
to and um hanging out. That seemed like a little more of the party Yeah, it it was. So, I'm glad we stayed where we did, but it was nice to see that other side. So, yeah, it was definitely like I would say a little fancier. Um maybe some Yeah, nicer shops and and partying, like you said. Yeah. And it
had a much wider bay. Yes. >> Right? That bay was much larger, probably not as protected. >> Mhm. But um it it all There were many anchorages in that bay as well as, you know, the the ability to go along the seawall and Mediterranean moor along there. Well, and really it was like two
blocks walking over. It was like nothing and I think on the maps it makes it look like it's a lot bigger, but it's not. >> No, it was very very easy to get to. Yeah. Yeah. So, of course, uh we could not start the outboard going back for and you know, this was operator error, I'm sure.
Where, you know, the vents >> Yeah. The the Yeah, we had a little wine and >> [laughter] >> for whatever reason, we couldn't start that outboard. We felt like we flooded it. We could wait a 30 minute We were just Ah, let's just paddle. So, we're paddling away and we're all laughing
pretty good. Paddling three people in a rubber dinghy is uh a little strenuous, I'll say. We didn't want to do that again unless we're very close to shore. Mhm. The next The next port was Poros. Yeah. So, >> That was actually one of my favorites. >> And we The sail was great, right? We had
wind that day. It started at 15 Yeah. and uh we realized >> sailing. When I was at the helm, it went up. That was perfect at 15, but then it started getting a little uncomfortable. We had to reef a little bit. Um but then we had a a very fun sail, right? >> Yeah. Until we didn't. So, we we had
we [laughter] we headed to ease for about 15 mi and then we had to turn into the wind and go up another 10, right? And so, turning into the wind, we brought down sails. Coming into Poros from the west. We came in and it was a very well-marked channel that we came through and it was
it was it was relatively narrow, but it wasn't overly, you know, this was May. Right. >> So, we were on the shoulders of the start of the season, right? Before the season truly started. >> It's the best time to go. >> And it was not overly crowded. We were able to navigate through there nice and
slow, take our time, look at the the whole city Right. from the sea right next to it, nestled right next to it. We went walked went right by it. We went over to the east side uh where Navy Bay was, Navy Bay. Yeah. And that's where we anchored. And we knew that that was going to be another
deep anchorage. Where the previous anchorage was like 5 m, it was 15 ft of uh depth, this one was 15 16 m of depth. Mhm. But we did read a lot of reviews on Navy Bay and uh we understood that anchorage to be solid, where the bottom had good mud, good holding. Mhm. And uh we you know,
obviously it was a popular. Yeah. Yeah. A lot of people were using it. And uh we took a sea taxi in and had a wonderful little meander on Poros. >> Yeah. And I think that one is up to the clock tower. That was really beautiful. You can just wander back behind those streets and you're going to find your
way. There's all these signs that point to the clock tower, but it's just a really nice way to see like all the little doors and alleys and cats walking all over. And then you get up and see again the beautiful views of the harbor. As time went on, too, I think our sleep improved, right?
>> Oh, yeah, absolutely. And I slept I think Poros, I went upstairs like in the middle of the night and slept outside from like maybe like 11:00 to 2:00 or something. Yeah, yeah, for a little while. >> Yeah, and it was beautiful. >> gorgeous out there. We went out on the opposite side on the
navy base side. Yeah, so go the opposite way. If you come in one way, go out the other way. Yeah, and basically there was this point where a marker was. We went around that marker and shortly thereafter we started heading direction of Aegina, the island of Aegina, which we really wanted to go
to because we knew it would have runes on there like a really superbly maintained or it it still it still was intact. Right, the runes were intact there. And it was absolutely beautiful. Coming to this island and seeing the ruins, it's a it's definitely a trek up. You have to be bring your sneakers, be
ready for it. 25-minute walk, right? 25, but it I mean it was like your ability to get so close and see so much. Um, I 10 euro, right? For very inexpensive entry fee. There was no crowds, right? So, I think when we were up there there was maybe like 10 people. Yeah, it wasn't yeah. Nobody was there.
It's just and yeah, it was just beautiful. I really loved it. Yeah, it was great. And that is the Temple of Aphaea. That's right. Aphaea. Yeah. So, we we went back to Athens and the check-in I'll tell you what, so we came in as we mentioned at the beginning of the video, there were people waiting
for us. The check-in was really straightforward. You had to wait a little bit for for the people with the the checklist to come to your boat, but you know, once they got on there it was about a 15-minute process. What do you think about the food in Greece? I love the food in Greece.
>> Yeah? Yeah. What was your favorite? >> My favorite, well, all the fish. Like Oh, but I didn't like those little fish. >> You didn't like fried sardines? >> is a Yeah, they but they don't call them sardines, they call them little fish. Um, I think that's important for people to know.
>> fish? Yeah, but >> [laughter] >> No, what what else? Ooh, then I forgot how much I loved the stuffed grape leaves and the stuffed peppers. All those. I feel like it was nourishing, you know, to have the those stuffed peppers and stuffed grape leaves. >> The peppers really were flavorful, right? And you
had all kinds of peppers available at these grocery stores. Oh, but I mean, even at home, I mean, I eat yogurt every morning. Every morning. >> I made >> [laughter] >> sliced fruit, yogurt, granola, honey. >> Yeah. So, this was like heaven when I got here. I mean, obviously Greek
yogurt, the yogurt in Greece was absolutely amazing. So, that was just Oh, and it was stone fruit season. You know I love the stone And blueberries were in, but it was stone fruit, so >> We had strawberries, too. >> Apricots. Oh, yeah, we did. We had strawberries, apricots, peaches. The
beer boat charter company that we chose, as we mentioned at the beginning of the the video, was Istion. And I think there were definitely strengths that Istion provided, but we also have a couple of criticisms that we'll probably share. Some of the strengths were they were very well
organized. I mean, the whole process was extremely organized, and they had checklists, right? The staff was knowledgeable, so they would knew what they were doing. At no point were we talking to somebody inexperienced or or didn't really understand a piece of the gear. So, very strong as far as the
support, expertise, and the processes, I thought. No, they were absolutely wonderful. But you never got to hook onto somebody as your person, right? Nobody really owned you. >> Yeah, but I I would You didn't feel like you were handed off from department to department. Yeah, yeah. Yeah.
And the And the boat was beautiful. Like, everything was clean, towels, linens, everything was Yeah, everything in the kitchen you would need except for that grill you mentioned earlier. >> We didn't have a grill on the back of the boat, so you couldn't grill. You had You were limited to the propane stove,
two-burner stove, and the oven. Yeah, and the oven was just really for heating. You couldn't really like bake anything. >> Yeah, they warned us ahead of time that you probably don't want to hang your hat on that oven to actually cook something thoroughly. Right. In the galley you had
pretty much everything you could possibly imagine. You had um storage containers, right? Like Tupperware you had in there. You had plenty of bowls, some wine glasses, drinking glasses, um utensils, Yeah. spatulas, tongs, you know, everything you could think of you pretty much had.
>> The fridge was big, nice. >> Yep. Plenty of room. There were three of us on the boat and I don't think we ever struggled with anything in. >> that's a key point. This was a sailboat with four birds, three heads, and there were three people on the boat. >> had our own bathroom. So,
>> [laughter] >> we really we really had a lot of space and um everything imaginable available to us. Like every berth had two towels assigned to it, two pillows, two blankets. >> Yeah. >> So, we had a plethora of comfort, Yeah. right? For three people. There's one more thing I'll I'll share about Istion
is that the contract. Mhm. So, um they have a base price that they uh you know, market and provide. And in that marketing literature that they provide an offer, there's some key details in there as well that you really have to pay attention to even if you don't see it in follow-on paperwork.
And that is in addition to the base price for Istion, um they also had wording around a deposit and a charter fee. And those the deposit in particular, the wording is such that you will not get that back. Yeah. They'll give you like a credit of 200 euro uh to a future trip,
but really what it is is more or less an insurance deposit, a non-refundable insurance deposit. That's how you want to look at that fee. And when you bring the charter back, you also have to refill the boat at that time. So, there's going to be an extra expense of filling the diesel tank when you return the boat.
As I think on the Bavaria was a 60-gallon tank and I think they had 110 gallons of water on that thing. So, we it worked out okay. Let's talk about costs. I kind of broke down all the costs. Our charter uh the base price was 2,320 euro, which I thought was a fabulous price. Again, this was kind of like on
the shoulders before the heavy season for Greek bareboat charters. So, this was kind of like a spring special and it was a 2014. So, as far as their fleet goes, it was a smaller, older vessel. Right, a monohull is less in demand than a catamaran. And uh you know, the older the boat if it's older than 5 years,
it's an old boat. So, the deposit, the insurance deposit that was non-refundable was 400 euro. The charter package fee was an extra 220 euro. Add to that uh the diesel refill. And you know, potential if you're wiring from whatever country you're coming from, you're you've got wire fees and
stuff like that. The the whole thing was approximately 3,650 dollars for three people. And remember, that's not you know, that we were under subscribed. You could have more people. So, for us, for three people, we divided that by three. That is an expensive 1,215 per person. Yeah. In US dollars.
>> That's an amazing deal. That's great price. >> But that was seven nights on a boat, you know, seven nights that we weren't in a hotel or in an Airbnb or something like that. So, that's and and it was it was our mode of transportation. Yep. So, no, I and it was a beautiful boat. I totally
worth it. Yep. Yep. Yep. So, when I spent about 1,000 euro in expenses across that week on food and provisions and, you know, my share of stuff. Yeah, same I mean, I think pretty much the same. Yep. Yeah, and you know, just all the um souvenirs. Like everything wrapped in, like wine, food, provisions,
souvenirs, everything you can think of, right? >> Yep. Was under a thousand. So, that that and that as again I said that was euro, so that's about 1,300 For me it was around $1,300. >> Yep. And then uh the airfare we paid We came through Turkish Airlines. And as I said, we're here in Istanbul. The whole idea
for us was to spend an extra couple days in Istanbul, so we built in an extra stop. Yeah. And the two-way ticket um through Istanbul and spending a few extra days, the total cost was 750 roughly per person. >> a little less. It was somewhere like 735 to 750. So, and that's US dollars, 750
US dollars. The hotel that we stayed at was uh 200 Well, all together was around $410. Yeah. Right? Or 420? 210 per person. Yep. So, all together for our budget and again, this is uh three people on a four-berth boat, so obviously your your cost can come down there. And your cost
can come down as far as what you want to spend your money on all along the way, right? So, for us again, sea taxis was an extravagance that we did probably could have saved some money on. Um so, here and there we definitely could have brought our cost down, but for us, our total budget for the trip
was roughly 3,500 to 4,000 US dollars. Yeah. And with that budget um you are very happy. Yes, luxury. So, for us it was a it was a thumbs up Greek Greek bareboat charter experience. We highly recommend it. Where should we go next? Mhm. What's our next travel adventure? Well, we'll have to stay tuned to find out.
If you have happened to use a Greek bareboat charter company or outfit, we'd love to hear in the comments how your experience was. So, please leave a comment below.
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