Lagoon 40 | Zagvozd

As pleasant as my interaction with Petra was, my experience with the technical manager, Bariša Žarko, who handled the check-in and check-out of the catamaran, was equally unpleasant. The first thing Bariša mentioned when he stepped on board was that he had been the hired skipper on this catamaran the previous week and assured me it was in perfect condition. He also recommended I quickly sign the documents and set sail the same day to be among the first to reach other marinas. This recommendation struck me as odd, considering that a strong Bura wind was blowing, with gusts up to 32 knots, making it difficult to leave the marina. Most boats, including ours, chose to stay in the home marina that day due to the weather. During the catamaran check-in, I noticed a strong unpleasant smell when I boarded. It turned out that one of the toilets was full of waste. I immediately reported this to Bariša, but he brushed it off as unimportant. When we tested the engines, one of them wouldn’t start. At first, Bariša thought the issue was due to water in the start button, but it turned out someone had pressed the engine’s emergency stop button. Although this issue was resolved, it was still concerning. When testing the anchor winch, Bariša said not to use the remote control at the helm because it wasn’t working, as the chain sensor wasn’t calibrated. Instead, he pressed the buttons near the anchor winch and was satisfied that he heard the relay click. We quickly checked the other electronics, and Bariša asked me to sign the check-in documents, even though I hadn’t finished inspecting everything. After signing, he left the catamaran. I decided to test the anchor winch myself and found it completely blocked—the anchor chain wouldn’t move in either direction. I called Bariša back. He returned, visibly annoyed, and had to disassemble the winch completely to unblock it. When I asked how the winch could be blocked if he had been the skipper just the previous week and claimed the catamaran was in "perfect condition", he said he hadn’t used the anchor all week and that the previous guest had blocked it. Can you believe that in a whole week, he didn’t use the anchor even once, not even for a lunch or swimming break? And how did he miss this during the previous guest’s check-out? I certainly can’t believe it. A few hours later, the same toilet I had previously reported filled up again, even though no one had used it. We had been monitoring it to ensure it was working properly. I had to call Bariša again, and this time he was very angry that we called him in the evening. He blamed us for clogging the toilet, claiming that we had already been on the catamaran for several hours. When I told him we hadn’t used it specifically to observe its behavior, he simply said, "I don’t believe you." Nevertheless, he took some action, opening and closing the drain valve several times, flushing the water, and so on. So much for "perfect condition". The next morning, while still in the home marina preparing breakfast, we found that the main burner valve on the stove wouldn’t close. What did I do? I called Bariša again. He came and said, "Yes, it’s broken, what do you expect at the end of the season?" I didn’t argue for the "perfect condition" he had promised. I just asked him to fix the burner so we could use the stove without fear of a gas leak. In summary, Bariša’s version of "perfect condition" means one of the two engines won’t start, the anchor winch is completely blocked, one of the four toilets is clogged, and one of the three gas burners won’t turn off. Unfortunately, my troubles with Bariša didn’t end there, as the check-out process awaited us. Throughout the week, we didn’t have any further issues because we had fixed everything while still in the home marina, which I informed Bariša about. But he still found something to nitpick. The catamaran was supposed to have seven fenders: six sausage-shaped ones (three on each side) and one large round one at the stern. We had five sausages and two round fenders, a total of seven, as per the checklist, so I didn’t think much of it. However, Bariša accused us of losing a fender. When I protested, saying we had the same number of fenders during check-out as we did at check-in, Bariša said, "I don’t believe you" again and left. But I have a video from the check-in of the catamaran, which clearly shows that this supposedly missing fender was not there in the first place. Bariša later filed the supposedly missing fender as lost in the documents. Fortunately, our deposit was insured, so we didn’t lose any money, but this completely soured my experience with Orvas Yachting. I’m shocked at the stark contrast between the polite and courteous Petra and the extremely unfriendly Bariša, who behaved unprofessionally, baselessly accused clients of things they didn’t do, and shifted blame for problems that weren’t their fault. I don’t know if Bariša treats all customers this way or if there was something about me he didn’t like. At least during check-out, another technical manager, Ignacio, was present, and he acted professionally and reasonably. I’ve also sent this feedback directly to Orvas Yachting because employees like Bariša shouldn’t be allowed to work with clients. They ruin the reputation of the entire company, even if the fleet is in good condition and the booking process is seamless."