Introduction All of us will remember our early days at sea... discovering new places... heading out on that first ocean passage as Captain - with full responsibility for the vessel, her systems and her crew. Making a 'landfall' in any new port, one would always have the same two things to consider... a job list, and a time schedule. Dependent upon the time available and one's own personal knowledge / contacts within the port, one would then ask around any other yachts in the anchorage / marina, for their insight as to who to use, for which service... prior to calling them up, allocating the relevant time parameters and getting them started on the work. Beyond that, it would be a question of making a few follow up calls to monitor progress, and keeping one's fingers crossed that they would perform the all too easily spoken phrase and actually... 'do what they said they would'! - Yet how many times have we all contracted a 'new' service, only to find out - as the time slowly whittled away - that they weren't actually going to be able to make it... for whatever imaginative reason they had chosen to come up with! The one factor that changes this scenario however, as time evolves, is our own 'business card file' / databank, of reliable service contacts... that we have built up through different ports visited, worldwide. For each business card kept, we've probably thrown out two or three other 'contenders' in the same business... making the ones we do keep, extremely useful personal service contacts that we know we can count on the next time we come by. These quality contacts then, represent a proportion of our ability to perform our own role as Captain of the yacht; for we all know where the 'buck stops' as Captain on a charter or owner's cruise, when the outboard motor on the tender fails... when the generator goes down... or when the guests specially requested provisions don't arrive in time for the start of the cruise. ! This need for a 'bank' of reliable service contacts, is something that stays with us throughout our career afloat; for as boats / owners change, there are 'pastures new' for all of us regardless of our depth of experience... new destinations... new cruising grounds... and new ports... each bringing their own, new challenge. This then, was the very 'raison d'être' for the book... to collate an 'Inside Guide' of Captains own 'recommended services' throughout the Mediterranean, for each Captain to be able to access, in order to share the benefits of each other's collective experience. Every year, we consequently interview as many Captains / crew as possible, in each main yachting region, in order to determine just who these 'recommended services' are, and after being convinced as to their suitability by receiving enough positive feedback for them... we then research / visit every service, personally, to confirm the full extent of the 'paint a picture' for any Captains / crewmembers considering using them. As a 'Captains Recommended Service' they then receive a free 'editorial feature' in the guide and are offered the opportunity to advertise / promote their own service, should they so desire. It is important for Captains to understand the concept behind the advertising; for without it, there simply would be no book, as the relatively small number of professionally crewed yachts cruising the Mediterranean (and buying the book), could never support the cost of researching and publishing such a Guide. The advertising itself however, is ONLY made available to services recommended by the Captains / crew we interview (and those who contact us directly); for we are frequently approached by companies who have heard about the Guide and want to advertise their service - but have not been recommended - so are consequently, politely, turned down. This book, then, is simply an 'inside' trade Guide... put together by 'time served' professional yacht crew... for the use of professional yacht crew. It is your book, made up with your feedback and your 'recommended services'. We, as publishers of the guide, are only too aware that this can never be the 'definitive version' of its kind, for there are always going to be a number of good quality services still unknown to us. This then, is the very reason why the Guide is updated every season, and over the past seven years our Caribbean, Mediterranean and USA Guides have really proved themselves as incredibly useful volumes of reference for many yacht crews in each region. Prior to the publication of our original (2003) Guide, we created a two-way interactive website that has consequently seen us receiving masses of services feedback (usually good, though negative on occasions also) from Captains and crew, right through each season. The best news here, is that these comments really do get listened to and 'actioned' accordingly by us at Superyacht Publications... for in just the same way that we have consequently followed up / researched all your new recommendations in 2009 (with the books forever growing in size each year!) - we have also dropped services (including full page advertisers) from last year, after receiving consistently poor feedback for them. So, in just the same way this coming season, do please continue to update us with your 'services feedback' on an ongoing basis... for if there are businesses already written up that give you a particularly good service, or equally, one that badly lets you down, please do let us know. Also, any new services you are aware of, that you feel deserve a 'write up'... or any present service whose contact details have changed - do please email me directly (see my email address at the base of this text piece), or go onto the website www.superyachtservicesguide.com - to advise us. This will enable us to keep the guide accurately updated on an annual basis, for ultimately it is your book... and it is only as good as the information you can give us. The book itself, is laid out geographically chapter by chapter, for each main yachting area, from Gibraltar heading east… and also includes an excellent ‘Worldwide’ chapter of ‘key’ services, that came specifically well recommended for serving yachts – wherever they happen to be – anywhere worldwide. In order to maximize all your opportunities for the season ahead, I positively recommend taking a look at our custom 'Superyacht Events Calendar' for the season (see page 12); and also, reading through the single introductory page to each chapter, which will then help provide an overview as to the 'bigger picture' of each region’s highlights. This will greatly assist planning an owner's cruise / charter; by knowing the time, place and availability of all the most attractive guest facilities and events; and help the running of the yacht, by assisting the Captain to plan ongoing maintenance (and the availability of any emergency works) in different ports throughout the region. Whilst the main Superyacht 'base' ports have more extensive listings of each individual service available; most of the lesser frequented ports also generally have at least one 'Yacht Services' contact, who are there to provide a 'handle' into anything and everything one might need. But for all there is, there will still be the odd 'gap' - so if you do come across something interesting, do please access the website (or contact us direct, see below) and email us your suggestions... for this input helps us improve our publications, year upon year. Finally, in response to the same ‘market requests’ we now have each Guide running live on our website, open for free and immediate access by any interested readers. Authors Contacts: Michael Brocklehurst Jane Yorke Joe Naysmith & Clare Sudlow |