FAQs

If you are thinking about joining a sailing trip, you should read this FAQ, to not have false expectations and to know what you`re getting yourself in to 😉 – and also to be a bit prepared.

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Frequently Asked Questions – read it in pop-up form

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Frequently Asked Questions – as continuous text

If you prefer to read the FAQs in a simple full text version here you have it again, just in a different format.

• Do I need to know sailing? No – depending on your interest in sailing you will learn as much about sailing as you like or as you need to. Most of the time, the crew will have one or two crew members with (some more) sailing experience or even sailing licences besides the skipper.
  
• What is the crew kitty/Bordkasse? The crew kitty/Bordkasse is collected by a designated crew member at the beginning/first day of the trip to pay the running expenses of the trip like doing laundry at the end of the trip. The biggest expense is the food shopping for the whole food of the trip at the first day. The kitty also covers diesel for the boat and harbor costs during the trip. Some sailing countries/sailing areas are more expensive, some less which is why the kitty amount varies at bit. But generally, it is between 150 and 300 Euros per week, most of the time around 200. This also depends how „luxurious“ the crew wants to live, if they buy rather expensive drinks and good cheese or if pasta and pesto or rice and beans is their food choice ;-). If the crew damages some parts of the boat due to careless behavior the crew kitty will pay the damage up to a maximum of 200 Euros per crew or 30 Euros per person – but if it happens it is usually less. It never happened in the 2025 season. It is meant to incentivize to use the boat carefully and not mistreat it. Any damages resulting from normal wear and tear will be paid by Magical Ocean.
  
• Why does the skipper not pay into the kitty? This is nautical tradition and a gesture of appreciation and respect to the skipper – who in lots of other contexts gets paid for this work which has also been the case for me as I have been a professional skipper for 10+ years. Aside from docking the boat and driving maneuvres, the skipper is doing a lot of work that is sometimes „invisible“ to the crew like trip planning, constantly observing the boat and the crew to care for safety, getting weather information, doing little repairs etc. pp. This is why the crew „feeds the skipper“, this includes restaurant visits.
  
• Why do I have to pay a trip price to join the boat? Maintaining an offshore-seaworthy sailing yacht is a lot of work (for me) and even more importantly, it costs a lot of money. Because unlike a car that stands still 20-22 hours a day, on a non-moving surface, a sailboat always moves a bit – it is subject to more „wear and tear“, even in most-calm weather. It is also subject to more corrosion with the salty sea environment. All of this means more things break and need to be repaired – even with careful handling of an experienced skipper. The paperwork for the boat also costs money – for instance the insurance of the boat and the insurance for the crew against injuries while on board, which is something I am very happy to offer. And this does not even mention past upgrades you profit from and the cost for buying the boat in the first place and the work involved in this. So, you come to a really nice place which the boat has become and is maintained to be – its only fair to contribute too. My prices are low-cost compared to „the industry“, in fact about 30-40 percent cheaper than the bigger companies I used to sail for as a skipper. Sailing is called „the sport of kings“ for a reason and I am a low-profit operation, but I also have high costs to cover and – probably just like you – I am not wealthy but had to save money strictly for years for this. The trip price – unlike the crew kitty/Bordkasse – needs to pe paid before the trip to reserve your spot.
  
• Can I bring a (big) suitcase? No – you should bring hand-luggage-size baggage to the trip. If you don’t, you will have packed too much (newbie mistake – travel light!) which you will not be able to use all and it will not necessary but more importantly: It will not fit into the rather small cabins and their cabinets and your fellow crew members will not like it when you block valuable space.
  
• How much do I need to pack? Generally, you should aim for hand luggage only. In the western world, we have way too many things that we don’t use frequently anyway, so „travel light“ should be a general rule of life, but it is especially important on sailing yachts as space is limited. For one or two weeks of sailing in warm weather hand luggage is totally fine. You mostly need t-shirts and tops and enough underwear, 1-2 pullovers as it can get cool in the wind/evening and one wind-/rain-/sailing jacket – and 2 swim shorts/bikinis of course 🙂
  
• How big are the cabins? The luxury of sailing is about going to places other people cant go, so space about a 43 feet sailing yacht is somewhat restricted. The beds have size of 60-65 centimeters x 200 centimeters per person.
  
• Do I need to share a cabin? Most of the time, yes. There cabins are four double cabins, so we sail with up to 8 crew including skipper. If you bring a friend or if you come with your partner, you will get a double cabin. If you come alone, we will usually put men with men and women with women unlike otherwise desired, we are after all all adults. This is decided at the beginning of the trip at the first crew meeting. If you like to avoid the accidental ellbow-rubbing with your cabin-mate on the double bed-cabins take a berth in the bunk-bed-cabin. If you dont like how you were placed by the skipper or by crew-decision at the beginning of the trip you can and should inform the skipper or Magical Ocean. Usually a solution can be found – but only if we know it.
  
• Can I charge my phone? There are two USB charger ports next to the beds in all cabins. There is also a 12-Volt-Cigarette-Lighter-Car-Charger plug that can be used to charge other devices or be transformed to offer two more USB charging ports with an adapter. There is also a USB-port at the chart table where we can charge several phones or USB-devices at the same time. Charging laptops or other devices with 220 Volt we can do when the inverter is on or the generator is running about one hour a day or every two days or when we are on shore power in a port.
  
• Do I need to bring my own towel(s)? Only if you want to have more than one big towel and hand towels in the bathroom, which is what I can provide. And it is really all you need for one or two weeks. To have a second „changing“ towel is only a „nice to have“, so bring one, if you like to have one.
  
• Do I need to bring bed sheets and covers? No, I can provide bed sheets, blankets, pillows and covers. The crew brings it to laundry at the end of the trip to hand it over clean again to the next crew.
  
• How is the toilet situation? The boat has two rather pretty toilets for yachtie standards, equipped with cabinets to store toiletries, sinks and pumping toilets – which you need to pump well to not block the system with your *******. As toilet paper would block the thin toilet hoses, we do not throw it into the toilet but into a small bin (which is how many people do it outside the western world). Both toilets also have pull-out-showers which means you pull out the water-hose from the normal sink and shower standing in the room and then pump out the water pressing a button. I provide hand soap and shampoo, so you should try to keep your toiletries bag to an absolute minimum (hand luggage). The boat has limited space compared to land facilities.
  
• Does the boat has a deck shower? Yes, at the aft of the boat where you get out of the water, you can rinse off. In warm weather, lots of sailors prefer to shower there – with a view of the anchorage and nature around them – its really cool!
  
• Does the boat have warm water? Yes, when the engine is running or about 30 minutes after it and when the generator is running and providing 220 volt energy – so about 2-3 hours a day. Or all the time when we are on shore power. But since we sail in a warm climate the crew almost never uses it.
  
• Can I shower 15 minutes every day? No – The boat only has 430 Liter water tank capacity. If we sail with 6-8 people and everybody showers 15 minutes a day, the water tank will be empty every 1-2 days, so we will need to go to a port very often thereby interrupting the trip and at the expense of being in beautiful isolated nature and anchorages. So: Sailors shower quick and try to save water 😉 Generally, conserving water is important on sailing yachts, so while cleaning dishes, we also pre-wash them with salt water from a foot-pump.
  
• How is the food situation? At the first day we discuss the „standard“ food shopping list and adjust it to the taste of the crew (maybe there are vegetarians or vegans among the crew for instance, maybe we only have wine-drinkers and want no beer). During the trip, we mostly cook on the boat, as it has a fully equipped kitchen, as its fun and also cheaper. Sometimes we even get competitive to produce gourmet-like food ourselves 😉 Everybody has to help with doing dishes too, but with a bit of music the dish washing is quickly done and can even become a small party 😉 We also might go to a restaurant one night or so, as the crew desires and if it is possible in the area/island we are at.
  
• Where do we stay overnight? Usually, we anchor out in a bay, because it is really nice to in nature, be isolated from land life – and its also nice to jump into the water before breakfast in the morning or any time we feel like it. One or two nights a week, we will also go to a port. This is because its really nice to have one harbor day to explore more ashore, but also for practical reasons like re-filling the water tanks and getting rid of trash.
  
• What is expected of me when I become part of the crew? You participate in all aspects of crewing on a yacht. Which means „going watch“, observing the autopilot or steering the boat by hand, help with sailing maneuvers, help with cooking and dish-washing, do the „10-minutes of cleaning“ a day like brushing the cockpit, sometimes help the skipper a bit with boat maintenance if you are interested. All this leaves a lot of time to chill in your cabin or lay on deck in the sun or sit in the shade of the bimini in the cockpit, read, play games, explore anchorages and new places with the crew once we arrive. At the end of the trip the crew cleans the boat 30-60 minutes to hand the next crew the boat in a state as nice as they got it or maybe even slightly better 😉
  
• Why is there no pre-planned schedule for a weekly trip? With sailing, we have to live „with nature“, most importantly we have to plan our route according to wind- and weather-conditions. This means we have to have some flexibility with regard to the route, for instance some anchorages cannot be used with a certain wind direction, so we have to go to another one. Having no schedule is also good because we can adjust our route according to crew wishes or ability. Of course as a skipper, I have a certain „rough“ schedule in my head and the geography of a place sometimes limits the options – for instance an island might have only two anchorages.
  
• What is „land day“? At the beginning of a trip usually everybody is hot to do sailing. But after sailing for two to three days most of the day and staying on the boat most times in the morning and evening too, many people will want to stay „a bit longer“ in one place to explore it a bit more beyond a „30-minute hike up the hill at the anchorage“. Thats why we usually do one „land day“ per week to allow to explore one island/anchorage/place more in-depth. Be it an island-scooter tour or a lazy day at a nice beach, it can take several forms. The skipper will advise you what to do but your can of course also propose things, develop cool ideas. The skipper may or may not join you as skippers need a break too. Maybe he will just do anchor-watch and chill on the boat.
  
• What about safety equipment and procedures? The boat is equipped with all the safety gear and equipment that is prescribed for charter yachts and vessels by Greek maritime law like a liferaft, bilge pumps, life-slings, fire extinguishers – and of course life-vests for every crew member. It also has an EPIRB beacon, a SART transponder, a liferaft, Navtex, and safety harnesses. At the beginning of the trip, you will be given a safety introduction.
  
• When do I have to be at the start port and when do I leave the yacht at the end? Usually, we begin the trip at about 10:00 o clock in the morning of the first trip day with a meeting to discuss and prepare food shopping/provisioning the boat for the week/weeks. So by 10:00 o clock you SHOULD be at the marina or the previously in the crew chat group agreed meeting point. If you can only catch a flight that arrives later that day, that’s ok – if only 2-3 crew members do that. If everybody from the crew does it, we will be delayed with food shopping or have to do the food shopping on the next day – which delays the trip and our time on the water. It is BEST to arrive at the start port the day or evening before the start date of the trip. We usually end the trip at 10:00 o clock on the end date of the trip. It is possible in most cases to leave the evening before in most cases – to catch an earlier flight – but more stressful. It is BEST to stay a day longer at the port of destination (or two :-)).
  
• Is this legitimate, or just some guy with a boat? Free Spirit is operated by Magical Ocean M.C.P.Y, my greek charter company that operates the boat and has a professional licence. That means the yacht adheres to the pretty high safety standards of the Greek shipping industry. The VAT tax number of Magical Ocean is EL996653509 address of Magical Ocean is: 41 Agiou Dimitriou, 18547 Piraeus, Attica, Greece. You can check the tax number of Magical Ocean at the European Union tax portal VIES (Select EL – Greece at the member state drop-down menu and then put in the tax number at the other field for the VAT number).
  
• Why do you ask for my ID or passport number in the booking form?
  As Magical Ocean is a Greek charter company, we have to hand in crew lists with the harbor authority and coast guard at the beginning of each trip before we can sail off. The crew list contains your name, your nationality, your gender – and your passport or ID. This is so the authorities know who is onboard in the unlikely case that we get into an emergency situation – and can help us better. Because it is a legal requirement to sail and because I would otherwise later have to ask everybody individually, which is more work and more organizationally messy, I chose to ask for it already in the booking form. Please use the ID or document you are traveling with, not anything else, not your drivers licence for instance. For European Union nationals, your ID is enough, you dont need your passport to travel in the European Union.
  
• How can I pay you? Via bank transfer, the details are provided during booking and in the booking confirmation e-mail. You have to pay directly after making the booking and the money has to arrive with me within 3 business days. If you do not, your booking becomes void and pending. This means after 3 days of not paying after making the booking, I will give your spot to someone else if someone else happens to make another booking. The reason: Unfortunately, several times, a situation arose where a person booked the last spot and I told another interested person a few days later that the boat is full. But the first person booking with me decided in the meantime or a bit later not to come join the trip and not to transfer the money, one time even without telling me. Which means I had told the other interested person the boat was full, when in fact it was not. When I told the other person the spot was available again, she had made other plans in the meantime. But generally, if you online-shop or buy something at the store, you have to pay directly too, right? So, its not that unsual to insist on direct payment 😉 Which means: Before you hit that „send in booking“-button, make sure that your boss really gave you time off 😉 If you booked and forgot to pay directly, just write me to see if your spot has not been taken by someone else yet – if I dont remind me you about it first 😉
  
• Is there a refund if the boat has defects? In some cases yes. As per booking conditions, if the boat does not arrive at the start port in time due to defects, a respective share of the trip price corresponding to each lost day will be paid. If a defect develops during at the start or during a trip, a delay of two days is deemed acceptable for repairs to be carried out, beyond that or if the damage halts the boat longer, the contribution will be refunded either partly or in full depending on if sailing is possible. No further compensation will be paid in both events. The reason behind this: Things break all the time on boats, on well-cared-for boats less often, but it still happens, its part of sailing life and you get an honest look into sailinglife on a trip. If a repair needs to be carried out in almost all cases you can still use the boat and you just stay a day longer in a nice touristy environment and port, where the crew can just adjust plans to do an island tour for instance. From August 2022 to November 2025 during 73 trips only 2 trips where delayed by repairs that took two days or longer. If something happens, it is usually a thing that can be solved in half a day or so by a mechanic visit – during which you can learn by observing and helping or relax elsewhere on the boat or on land nearby.
  
• What is the cancellation policy? Do I get a refund? Only in some cases. As written in the booking form you can cancel anytime, but you will not get a refund in most cases, as I „reserve the right to accept a replacement crew member“. „In most cases“ means that if you cancel for instance only 2-3 weeks before a trip you will likely not be able to find a replacement crew member if you ask around in your friends circle or post on social media – because most people dont book trip THAT spontaneous (but a few do). And neither will I (likely) be able to find a replacement person. Most of the few people who canceled trips with me did so just 2-3 weeks before the trip as something in their life came up. As this is not in my control this is a loss you have to bear. However, in general, if it is possible, I will try to help find a replacement crew member and I am good-willed there, but sometimes I might not be able, simply because my to do list is full with other things. The „reserves the right“-formulation means you have no entitlement to me do it, its a gesture of good-will of mine if I can do it. So again: Make sure you can really join before booking.
  
• Ok, after reading all this, I have decided I want to participate in a trip: What is the process to join? Please book via the trip plan. The booking form contains a crew contract – which is basically both a bill as it describes what you are sending me money for and contains the „business conditions“/sailing conditions (like that you should follow safety-related orders of the skipper while onboard). You agree to the conditions and that you have read the FAQs and then hit that „send“ button. After you got the confirmation (e-mail) you pay. Then I add you to the crew whatsapp- or telegram chat group a week or a few weeks before the trip to coordinate all kinds of things with(in) the crew like when to arrive, food shopping etc. pp.
  
• Can I have a video call before the trip or before paying you? I get asked this sometimes. And I understand it. You don’t know me, it might seem strange to send a stranger with just an Instagram account, a Facebook page and a blog money for a trip, weeks in advance. I also understand that most people „want to see me“ in person, to develop trust. However, my situation is that I am almost all the time sailing, so I am busy with my current crew, or busy with boat maintenance, or trip planning, or some private matters I have to deal with. So reserving 20-30 minutes of time to video-chat with someone who MIGHT join a sailing trip is not something I want to do and it is not something I can do. If you send your data through the join-in-form, I will send you a whatsapp text message and we can text-chat on whatsapp – which is something I CAN do rather easily „in-between“ my many tasks on board. In SOME cases or if text-chatting could not answer all the questions, we can have a phone- or videocall. Also: You can read some reviews of past crew members here and more on the Magical Ocean Sailing Facebook page – just to get some independent opinions and learn from other peoples experiences.
  
• How can I reach the boat from the airport? You can take a taxi or public transport, ask me directly about it on Instagram or via Whatsapp.