What time do I join and leave the boat?
Can I arrive early/or leave late because of flights?
Can you send me a sailing holiday brochure?
Is my money for my sailing holiday held in a client account?
I
am a complete beginner - can I book on any of your sailing holidays?
Do I need to learn anything
before I arrive onboard.
Why do I have to be able to climb a 5m vertical ladder?
Can
I book a sailing holiday for someone else as a surprise?
I am coming on my
own - will it be mostly couples onboard?
I am a woman - will there
be other women onboard?
Is there any upper age limit for your sailing holidays?
Can someone not interested
in sailing
come with me ?
Can couples have a double cabin?
Can we arrange a private charter for a sailing holiday?
Will
I have to do any cooking?
I will be arriving late - does this matter?
Can
I charge my mobile onboard with a
240v charger?
Can
I bring my fishing gear on a sailing holiday?
Do I
really need to bring wellies?
Travel insurance is included with my bank account etc. It covers for sailing holidays in coastal
waters up to 12 miles offshore. Will that do
for voyages?
Can you help me find suitable travel insurance for my holiday.
What time do I join and leave?
For everything other than our 'learn to sail weekends' arrival time is 6pm on the first day of the voyage and we provide an evening meal. Leaving time is 10 am on the last day of the voyage. However we know flight time can be tricky and vary hugely in price. Early morning flights on the day of arrival can usually be accommodated and for leaving it is often possible to catch a late flight on the evening before you are due to leave or an early morning flight on the official day of departure.
Please do check things with us before booking flights though.
do bear in mind that time
between voyages is used for cleaning the boat
and restocking and we do go out sometimes too!
For weekends joining time is at 6pm on the first day and leaving at 4pm - this is fairly inflexible.
Can I join the boat early/or leave late because of flights etc?
See above.
Can you send me a sailing holiday brochure?
Sorry, we don't send out printed material any more but hopefully all the info you need is here on the web site. If not just get in touch.
Is my money for my sailing holiday held in a client account?
Yes, we hold all advance voyage fee payments in the Schoonersail Client Account until the day before the start date of your voyage.
I
am a complete beginner - can I book on a voyage?
Yes, plenty of people do and the basic skills are picked up quite quickly. We are always happy to talk through with you exactly what to expect on any particular voyage if you give us a ring on the boat phone.
Do I need to learn
anything before I arrive onboard.
We think its a lot easier to learn by
doing but it can help to learn the names of the sails before you
come if you are really keen. However we run through everything you need to know onboard as a matter of course so there is no need to get stressed out about it.
Why is it a requirement of booking that I am able to climb a five meter vertical ladder?
This is not because you will be working aloft but because we are often berthed in commercial harbours. You will have to climb vertical dock side ladders on to get on and off. You can view a typical ladder in the photos on this page .This doesn't apply to taster weekends where we sail to and from a marina.
Can
I book for someone else as a present and or surprise?
Lots of people do this, it's not a problem. Just
let us know when you book and we can arrange the
details.
Usually we recommend that you run the idea past the person you are booking for.
I
am planning to come on my own - will it be mostly
couples onboard?
We do get some bookings from couples but most
people come on their own.
I
am a woman - will there be other women onboard?
Yes - the first mate is female. We can't
guarantee how many other women there might be,
but lots of women sail with us .
Is there any upper age limit on voyages?
No. We just ask that you are realistic about your physical capabilities. Offshore voyages in particular can be both physically and mentally very challenging and you need to be able to cope in rough weather. As a general rule agility is more important than brute physical strength. Also see above regarding dock side ladders.
Can someone not interested
in sailing
come with me ?
No - this just doesn't work with small groups. Everyone else would probably find someone who wasn't participating really annoying.
Can couples have a double cabin?
Yes so long as the cabins are not already booked. Let
us know you are a couple when you book.
Will
I have to do any cooking?
Only if you want to, but you will be expected to lend a hand sometimes and have a good go at the washing
up.
Can we
arrange a private charter for a sailing holiday or day sail?
It might be possible but we need plenty of notice.
My flight times mean I
arrive late - does this matter?
Just let us know if you are going to be
late,
we do know it can be very difficult to make flight
times work out when we are abroad.
Can
I charge my mobile phone onboard with a normal
240v charger?
Yes. We have a 1kilowatt inverter onboard and there are frequently whole banks of mobiles on charge.
Can
I bring my fishing gear?
Yes - we will do our best to find somewhere to
put it, so long as it's not the size of a small
car.
Do
I really need to bring wellies as it says on the what to bring list?
Yes. You might get away without if it
doesn't rain. if it does having wet feet for
a week is no fun. If you are worried about weight
in your pack short yachtie wellies are a lot lighter
than old style black wellies but either will do. Please do not count on being able to but wellies when you arrive.
I
get travel insurance included with my bank account/
credit card etc. It covers for sailing in coastal
waters (up to 12 miles offshore). Will that do
for voyages?
Yes it might be OK. We reccommend that you email the insurer with a link to our web site, say what voyage you are booking and ask them specifically if this is covered.Print the reply and keep it with your documents. This avoids any ambiguity.
For our 2012 sailing holidays offshore cover is only needed for Ipswich to Alesund, Oslo to copenhagen and Amsterdam to UK
I don't know where
to find suitable travel insurance - can you help?
We don't recommend any specific insurer but if you email us we can provide some links to insurers other crew have used.You need to check yourself that the insurance you finally decide on is suitable for you and provides the cover you want. We recommend that you email the insurer with a link to our web site, say what voyage you are booking and ask them specifically if this is covered. Print the reply and keep it with your documents. This avoids any ambiguity. |
