Questions and feedback
First, answers to what people ask most. If your answer isn't here, or it doesn't satisfy you, the form is at the bottom — and an objection is worth more to us than praise.
What this actually is
How is this different from reviews of charter companies?
Reviews are about a company; we collect the history of one boat. The company may be good and the boat still have a jamming windlass. Entries are tied to the hull number and stay with her even after she is sold.
Why would I bother if I'm chartering once?
Before the charter — to know what has already broken on this boat, and not sign the form blind. On return — to have a dated record with photographs that answers «that wasn't there». The second pays for itself the first time.
Is it free?
Reading a boat's history, keeping a journal and issuing receipts are free and will stay free. Tools for charter companies will be paid in time. Charging to read would defeat the point: knowledge works when the next crew sees it.
Records and trust
How do you check that entries are genuine?
Fully — we don't, and we don't pretend to: we weren't on the boat. We show what to lean on: did the company sign the journal, did different crews repeat the finding, are there photographs. The reader weighs it — which is why we have no ratings.
A company demands an entry be removed. Will you?
Not on demand. A company can complain: name the statement that is wrong and explain why. A person decides, both sides get the reasoning, and an appeal goes to a different member of staff. An entry is removed if the statement is false, not if it is unwelcome.
Zero reports about a company — does that mean it's good?
No. It means nobody has written about it. The base is young, and an absence of information is not a certificate of good conduct. We say so on the company page, so a zero isn't read as a score.
Can I take my entry down later?
You can withdraw your own entry — it stops being public. If the journal was kept without an account, confirm your email first: otherwise anyone could withdraw someone else's. Receipts already sent stay in people's hands.
Privacy
Will people see my name?
By default, no: entries carry a pseudonym like «Charterer, June 2026». You can go under your own name deliberately, when publishing a report — and there we warn you plainly what it means.
What happens to photo metadata?
It is stripped before saving. A phone photo usually carries coordinates, and a shot taken at home would give away your address. We remove that data before the file reaches storage.
Do you track me?
We count how many people opened a page and which sections are needed — with no marker that outlives the tab. So we don't know whether you came back: finding that out would mean setting a cookie for our own analytics.
How do I take my data out, or delete it?
«My data» has an export of everything held about you and a deletion request. Deletion anonymises you but doesn't erase entries about boats: they belong to the boat, not to you. Your name and address disappear from them.
For charter companies
Can we reply to reports?
Yes, and the reply sits beside the report, not in a separate section. You need to confirm you represent the company — otherwise anyone could speak in its name.
Why would we help guests write down our breakdowns?
You are having the deposit argument anyway, just blind. A shared record at handover and return settles it in advance, and a declared inventory removes the commonest disagreement. Each hull also builds a technical history.
Can we run the journal on our checklist rather than yours?
Yes. Your list is set up in the company account, and guests walk the boat through it. On the receipt your items and ours are kept apart: the representative signs their list, not ours.
Write to us
A suggestion or an objection can be left without an address — if you simply want us to know. A question needs one: otherwise there is nowhere to reply.
20 more characters
You can leave it out. We'll read it, but we won't be able to reply.
This isn't the place to write about a particular boat or company: tell us about a boat or a report about a company. This is about SternWise itself.