Tessaly is one motor yacht out of Porto Sella in the Vela Islands, chartered by the day or the week. Twelve guests by day, eight overnight, and the same crew every time.
Tessaly spent her first ten summers with the family she was built for, in these same islands. We bought her in 2019, refitted the interior in oak and washed linen in 2023, and changed nothing about the way she is laid out: four cabins below, a salon that opens to the deck at both ends, a sun deck over the bridge, and a swim platform a hand’s width above the water.
She is the only boat we run. There is no fleet, and nobody else’s charter on the calendar the day after yours.
This is how Elias plans a day with guests over coffee on the aft deck, only a few days earlier. Pick where you swim, where you eat and where you want to be at four, and the chart works out when you get there. Send the day with your enquiry and he will tell you if the wind has other ideas.
About 23 nautical miles and 2 h 15 min underway. The rest of the day you are at anchor.
A day charter runs from 09:30 until about half past seven, depending on the route and how long lunch takes. Most of it is spent at anchor.
Elias at the upper helm, somewhere between Kyra and Aspri.
“I will change the plan if the wind turns north. I won’t change it because another boat got to the cove first. There is always a second cove.”
Born in Porto Sella, the son of a ferry engineer. Nineteen seasons in these islands, the last seven at Tessaly’s wheel. Master 200 GT, Lic. #000000 (sample).
Eight years in restaurant kitchens before boats. She asks about allergies the week before you board, not at lunch, and bakes the bread aboard every morning.
Runs the interior, the wine list and the provisioning ledger. Knows which cove still has shade at three o’clock in August.
Drives the tender into the Lantern caves, teaches paddleboarding to anyone over six, and dives the anchor when the bottom is weed.
The season runs from May to October. Prices are for the whole boat, not per guest, and they do not change with the size of your group.
from $9,800
09:30 to about 19:30, up to 12 guests
Not included: lunch ashore if you choose the taverna at Limani Nou, and crew gratuity, which is always your choice and never on the invoice.
from $62,000
Seven nights, up to 8 guests in four cabins, plus a 30% provisioning allowance
Food, drinks, fuel and harbour dues are paid from the provisioning allowance, explained below.
On a week charter the rate pays for the boat and the crew. Everything you use up during the week is paid from the Advance Provisioning Allowance, or APA: a running account you pay into before you board, set at 30% of the charter fee.
Lucía pays for your food, wine, fuel and harbour dues from it and keeps every receipt in a ledger on the salon table, which you can read any evening. On the last morning you see the final figure. Whatever is left comes back to you. If the week cost more, you settle the difference before you step off.
| Charter fee | $62,000 |
|---|---|
| APA, 30% of the fee | $18,600 |
| Paid before you board | $80,600 |
| Unspent APA | Back to you on the last day |
Half the charter fee holds your dates. The rest, and the APA, are due six weeks before you board. If Elias calls off a day for weather, you choose another day or a full refund for it.
Sample reviews, written for this concept.
“We planned the day on the chart the night before. Elias moved one stop because the wind had turned, and lunch on the sand at Makris was the best meal of the whole trip.”
“The provisioning ledger was on the salon table every evening, receipts clipped in. On the last morning we got $2,140 back, and the figures were already added up.”
“Tomas had both our kids standing on paddleboards at Glyfa inside twenty minutes. By Thursday they were asking to go back before breakfast.”
He replies himself, usually the same evening and usually from the boat, with the dates we can hold and anything the season might change about your route.