Windsong Sailing Charters

Living in Florida there are many places to rent a boat from. We usually go out of Tarpon Springs, but thought that we would try something new because its a little closer to home. HUGE mistake on our part. We arrived on a Sunday for a half day boat rental 1:30 — 5:30 with friends in town from Michigan. With 4 adults and 4 children the dock hands escorted us to our boat. As we sat on the boat and were listening to the OWNER give us all the details and safety regulations about the boat, channel and anchoring at the sandbar; a dock hand came out of nowhere and yelled «hey don’t sit so far back in that chair it will break» Really are you saying I’m fat? RUDE!!! We finally pulled away from the dock around 2:00 pm because they had to get us a different GPS system, because the one on the boat was not working. We wasted a half hour of paid time, waiting for this to get resolved. The ride out to the Anclote Sand bar is 45 minutes each way with a no wake in the channel. We got half way into the channel and our boat just quit. Tried turning it over, but it wouldn’t start. We called back to shop and they said they would send someone out. We were shocked, because they told us when we went out it was a BRAND NEW boat, by the looks of it maybe it was a «new boat» to their fleet, but it was definitely USED. Five minutes into the wait they called and said «are you sure they lanyard is attached?» Not our first time renting a boat. We waited a half hour for them to come out and help us. When the dock hand got there with 2 containers of gas we were astonished needless to say. He checked the gas and YES people we were out of GAS! He put gas into the boat, but the boat still would not stay running because supposedly in needed to be flushed out. We had to be towed back into the marina. WHAT A JOKE!!! Upon arriving back at the marina the owner was very apologetic and said someone must have siphoned the gas in the middle of the night. Excuse me? C’mon when you run a business like that don’t you think it would be the common practice to check the gas tanks before you send people out into the Gulf of Mexico? It was our friends from Michigans last day here and they RUINED it by not checking gas. The boat rental was $ 200.00 and we asked for a FULL refund because of the time wasted and for them to let us go back out on the boat until 7pm (provided they could get it running again) and we were told «NO». They said we could go back out, but no REFUND. I was appalled by the lack of customer service by the owner Wendy. She refunded our money to us and then proceeded to give us a card for «future rental» for half off. Seriously, a discount for next time, but not willing to let us go back out now for the difference of a $ 100.00. Such a disgrace as a business owner! NEVER RENT FROM THIS COMPANY!

Our whole family was excited about our first time sailing and we booked a trip with Windsong because of the good reviews we’d read. Booked the trip over the phone and the man who made our reservation was very helpful in answering all our questions. We arrived about 15 minutes late because of traffic on the way in and our captain (Ed) was waiting and got us checked in. The boat wouldn’t start and we had to wait about 15 minutes to get a fuse changed out but then we were on our way. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to do much sailing because the engine broke down again once we were out on the water. They sent another boat — a pontoon — to pick us up and took us to an island to swim and look for shells. The island is a gold mine for shells and sand dollars and we did see a couple dolphins while we were there. Captain Ed was great with our kids and pulled the pontoon up close so we could get some good pics of the dolphins and he made a bad situation somewhat better, but the end result was that we wanted to sail, we paid to sail, and didn’t get to sail. Ed did keep us out on the water 2 extra hours, but at least one of those hours was spent trying to repair the engine and then towing the sailboat back to the dock. No one was there to apologize for the breakdown once we got back to the dock, and we weren’t offered any kind of refund or any other compensation for a sailing trip that never happened. Technical problems happen and Ed really did make it an enjoyable time, but we were disappointed that we didn’t get to sail. Will still probably try it again sometime, but it’s no fun to pay $ 330 and not get what you paid for.

Rented a canoe at the last minute here last weekend. The prices were good, but they tried to sell water for a very high price (I don’t remember exactly but I think it was something like 4 $ a bottle) when there is a grocery store almost next door. Also, if you’re paddling make sure you know that the paddle out of the inlet is a 2 mile jaunt. It takes a bit of time to do. Other than that, their location off the mangroves is perfect.

This was just the adventure we were looking for! We rented a Pontoon boat to go spend the night on Anclote Sandbar. Our group was 3 adults and 2 kids. The staff was very friendly and informative of the rules to follow for safety. We paid to have a porta-​potty available on the boat since we were staying the night. If you’re just going for the day I doubt you’ll need it.
Their website is REALLY informative. And you can read about other people’s experiences too. What I found useful were the stories about people who didn’t follow directions and had stuff happen. Understand their mistakes and you won’t fall into that problem. You WILL pay for emergency services. You WILL pay for broken equipment. You would charge someone accordingly if it was your business.
We had a great time camping on the Sandbar and would do it again without question. They offer more than just pontoon boats so check out their website and start making some memories! See my pictures, because truly, words don’t do this beautiful little excursion we had justice!

Three fishing novices booked a 4 hour excursion with Captain Dave who supplied the boat, the rods, the bait, a chest full of ice, great music, and everything else to make this a delightful, happy experience for us all. Capt. Dave was attentive and resourceful and insured that we had enough bites from the fishies to take some fun pics of flapping critters and plenty of smiles. I would highly recommend this outfit. We drove from Tampa and the locations is easy to get to and has great parking.

Make sure to check what you are being charged for! When arriving the people were very nice. We rented 2 boats. They made sure we were not gonna get caught in the storm. When returning a boat got stuck and 1 boat went ahead they claimed we damaged the boat, they wanted to charge us for «being late» for the boat that picked us up and $ 250 because the boat that was stuck and they had to wait for a high tide. As we were trying to understand these charges all the lady did was get frustrated and be rude seems like they made up rules as they go.

We rented a pontoon yesterday 6÷1÷14. Went out to the sand bar. Headed back in early bc of the storms!!! Called as we entered the channel. All was fine until my husband slowed the boat and we were dead in the water. NOTHING. Called they would send someone out. When the guy from Wind Song arrived we were out of gas!!! How is this possible!!! When we finally arrived at the dock, we were charged for 72 dollars for gas bc it was empty!!! How is that possible? Their response was ready for this… Because we had 7 adults and 2 children on the boat it uses more gas!!! I’m sorry seriously!!! I can honestly say I will NEVER use them again. Let alone recommend them to anyone else. BTW the depth finder did not work properly. The boat needs a complete scrubbing.

We had decided as a group of friends today to charter a pontoon to go on the Gulf of Mexico. Upon arriving we were treated very nicely by staff and staff gave adequate instructions on how to operate the pontoon. Our trip from that point was fantastic. That is till we went to check the rental back in. We had gotten back with the rental with ten minutes to spare and out of no where we were being accused of bending the prop. At no time did we hit anything or Ben remotely did anything to damage the prop. The rude check in person called someone and that gentleman said the prop was like that before we left. In the end the rude employee said «well I guess you got off the hook». Not «hey I am sorry for making a bad insinuation». We will next time more then likely use a more customer friendly service!

Nice people. Make sure you have a good charged working GPS to get you back from the sandbar island. Myself & other renters have gotten lost trying to get back to dock. See if they have a GPS for the boat and have them show you how to use it. They have a chart map but you still may get lost.
They allow dogs and it’s a fun adventure, but fun’s over if you get lost. Especially if they have to come get you. Without a GPS you can’t even give them your coordinates.
You can hire a Capt for $ 20 per hour also. Don’t wind up on the hall of shame! Bring extra batteries for your GPS too. And set the dock location before you pull away from dock. Getting lost costs money and time and is not fun.

Our friends called us up and asked if we wanted to join them boating because they were going to rent a boat for the day.
Since it was their first time with the company, they allowed us to rent a pontoon and head out to the sandbar.
Service was friendly and they allow you to bring your own food and drinks. You have to be 25+ to operate the pontoon and take responsibility when you are signing the paperwork.
We had it for half a day and had a blast. The only thing was when we opened to grab some life jackets there were a bunch of large cockroaches that were in there with them. It’s Florida so we’re used to bugs but nonetheless, it was a icky surprise.
Staff was super friendly and professional.

We rented a pontoon here for a full day rental. The staff was very informative, personable and provided great customer service. They answered all my questions when I called to reserve and again when I called questioning the weather policies. When we arrived, we were given a 10% discount for having our boater’s safety certification. Nice touch. They provided us with a very thorough explanation of the boat, the channel and all policies. The boat was in good mechanical condition, the seats a little worn but still perfect size for our group. We did have gps, depth finder and audio on our boat. When we got back they helped us unload everything from our boat and gave everyone popsicles for hydration… again a nice touch and definitely needed! They do provide ice for your coolers, however it is not consumable so we did not use it. Def want to do this again as it was a great value for the price and our group had an excellent day.

A group of friends and I recently rented a pontoon boat for the day and were very impressed with the service received here. The woman doing the bookings was super helpful and worked with my friend discussing the weather and the policies in case it should rain, since there had been storms occurring out in the gulf all week. Upon arrival, our boat was ready, the wheelbarrows were ready to get our stuff from the car to the boat, and the guys were there showing our captain for the day how to run everything and where safety devices and anchors were located, as well as giving him a route to take via map. They were extremely thorough. No problems with our boat, we had a lovely day out on Anclote Key, and then called them as we were coming back into the channel to let them know we were arriving. Turns out they had tried to call us while we were out there to let us know storms were coming and we might want to head back, but luckily we didn’t get a drop of rain on us. Upon pulling into the marina, they guided us into safety and had popsicles ready for us to consume, as well as water and grapes. (Maybe our intoxication was showing, lol.) Very friendly and we’ll definitely rent from them again. Once you rent from them once, they have a party limo boat you can rent which seats more and comes with a captain. Can’t wait to try that out!

We took a kayak down the channel which I thought might be kind of lame but it was AWESOME! We went down to the yaht club and the water became shallow so we got out and walked around. We saw 3 sting rays, sponges, and several schools of fish.
The people that work there are SO nice. We will definetly be doing this again.

I took the 3 day/​2night trip with Capt. Dave in July. I deliberately did not want a cruise ship experience of being herded around and being trapped in a metal can with strangers. This is a semi-​rustic, but utterly wonderful refreshing spiritually recharging experience. On our trip we did a 3 island/​sandbar tour. Dine on fresh grilled veggies/​fish/​steak nightly. Drank rum with wild abandon as the Captain takes care of all, but will offer up the wheel when possible and responsible. (in our case, in the morning before the breakfast rum…)… The sea was wonderful, Captain gracious, the places we stopped — all good for the soul. The list of ideas and rules on the site cover everything thoroughly. Take 5x the cocktail fixings you think you need. We saw many sea creatures… I was able to write, draw, swim and consume a lot of tasty rum. Good Times.
Planning on a return trip soon.