Little Swan

This complaint is to alert other would be sailing crew and adventure seekers of my experience on Little Swan, a sailing ketch, owned and captained by Anton(Toni) Strub, self proclaimed vagabond. His website is http://www.adventure-yachting.com/index.html. Email addresses are Email User and Email User This information is to help others weigh their decision before joining Little Swan.

Since my departure from Little Swan on 12/23/06, Toni has updated his website to include “You will be pleasantly surprised to learn how affordable it is. The "share-cost-arrangement" starts from 600 Euros per month per person.” A contradictory comment on his website states “Crew position is a Yachtie terminology for participating persons (crew) on board Little Swan and to satisfy the authorities. It is not a paid position and cost sharing is welcome. Please contact me on my email address Email User for bookings.” I bring this to bare because my agreement with Toni before joining Little Swan in Puerta La Cruz, Venezuela is that the common shared daily cost would be 15 euros per day. This did not include any personal costs to include my airline, ground transportation to and from Little Swan, visa fees, and Galapagos(I did not go) $100 fee.

When Toni accepted my application to join Little Swan, he asked me if there was a West Marine store in my area. He advised that he would reimburse me for $315 VHF radio that I would bring to Little Swan. I did not receive reimbursement of $315. In addition, he stated that the 15 euros a day was for the forward berth and the shared costs were additional. To make a long story…short. I figure he duped / pinched me for about $1300 for the month I was on board. This is over and above the 15 euros a day that I paid for my forward berth. I also endured his moodiness, yelling, and his impatience in everyday activities during my stay.

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