# K. P. Winter boat charter, Mallorca – very bad experience



## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

Hi,
we chartered a Baniteau 50 feet sailing boat (Alina) from K. P. Winter in Mallorca.
We experienced sevral issues that i hope no one would ever recommend during their holidays.
First of all we realised that, despite having signed a contract with Mr Winter sub-agent in Italy that set that we could leave the boat in Ibiza on saturday, Mr Winter said that the contract was invalid and that we should bring the boat to Palma.
Of course our flights were booked from Ibiza so we had to leave the boat in Ibiza one day earlier than expected (and paid for) sleeping at our own expenses in hotel in Ibiza... 
Mr. Winter demonstrated no flexibility at all and no comprehension. 
unfortunately we did not have any alternative but to accept his request.

Moreover the boat itself had several issues:

- Auto pilot broke down (the piston got stuck and we could not maneuver). We had to waste 1 day (half day stuck and half day in harbour) waiting for a technician to fix the issue. He confirmed that this issue was due to bad maintenance from the owner (Mr Winter). Once again Mr. Winter showed no comprehension and give us minimal support and of course no compensation for the time loss..
- Battery charger: old and not functioning properly
- Electronic main sail roller: we had several issues to arm and disarm the main sail as the sail would get stuck. on average it took us 30 mins to open and close the sail.. everyone that sails knows that electronic rollers are more pain than gain..
- The picture of the boat on the website showed that the entrance to the 5th cabin (bow) had access form one of the other cabins. in reality one could only access it from the bow deck. the toilet in this cabin is right beside the bed (someone sleeping in there should be extremely careful about not hitting with his head while sleeping.
- Dinghy: well, not an important issue here.. funny that the dingy has a completely different name from the "mother" boat!
- Cockpit table: extremely small table, not suitable to a boat with 5 cabins accommodating 12 ppl.
- Depth sounder: electronic deep sounder not working
- Fridge 12 V: pump to "clean" the fridge not working, so after a week we had to take everything out and clean "by hand"
- Sink sea water pump in the kitchen not working
- 1 water tank not working
- 1 of the two deck compasses (the one on the left steering wheels) has a 15 degree mistake / difference from the one on the right steering wheel


Well.. i leave it up to you to decide if it is worth chartering such a boat (and with such a company!)... we pesonally would never do that again...


----------

