Reply from Elmár SailingJul 14, 2026
Thank you for writing this in full. We'll answer all of it.
"Luxury." We have never sold these trips as luxury — not on the website, not in the ads, not on the captain's call. We deliberately avoid the word. What we offer is a simple, active week on a yacht with a small group of people, and that's exactly what we describe before anyone books.
The yacht and the departure port. The charter company changed both shortly before departure. That wasn't our decision, and we couldn't overturn it. It was in line with the trip Rules and Principles document that you have accepted. The scramble it caused you was real, and we're sorry for it.
The route. Our trips have never had a fixed itinerary, and we say so on the website and again on the call with the captain before anyone pays. Weather, safety, and logistics decide, and so does what the group actually wants once we're out there. Missing one island, while we managed to include two other new islands, isn't plan-breaking — it usually is the plan.
The safety briefing. Usually we do it at a marina before departure, but sometimes we do it immediately upon departure when the weather is perfect and before opening the sails. Or give it in parts to save time and keep the group´s focus on safety. In your case, the time saved avoided sailing at night or skipping one of the islands. That was an exception.
"You should suffer." What would be the point of saying that? It is simply not in our language. Written down like that, it sounds awful. A week at sea is not always 100% comfortable — like a hike in the mountains or a night in a tent — and pushing past that a little is one of the reasons people come and part of what they take home in an adventurous way. That's how it was meant.
The phone. A captain on his phone or laptop at sea is usually a captain running navigation apps, checking weather updates, and communicating with the next port. Modern apps do this better than the yacht's instruments alone, and using them is now part of skippering.
The table. A yacht has one galley, one table and one shared food budget, and we say before anyone boards that life on board is communal. But sharing has to be something everyone actually wants, not something a guest puts up with. When the group said they'd prefer cups, cups is what we used from day one — no argument, no debate. That's how we handle any preference at that table, and if it didn't feel that way to you, we're sorry. All guests who expressed their preferences verbally were always satisfied.
The destinations. This is the part we'll push back on properly. Sergy had sailed those waters several times before your trip, and our social media from previous years shows those voyages. Calling that a lie is a serious thing to put in writing, and it isn't true.
Receipts. We were updating our system, and we clearly communicated to you via WhatsApp that the detailed invoice (including the status of the prepayments) was available upon request. We didn't hear back on it, so we assumed you were fine with it as is. We still have the message history saved. It's yours whenever you want it, and it always was.
