There are two ways to charter a sailing boat or a catamaran. Bare boat charter is when you sail the boat yourself. The principal charterer needs to be in a possession of a valid sailing certificate for a boat close to the size you are chartering including the licence of authorization to operate the radio-telephone station on the boat. Equipment standards can vary considerably from one company to another. For this reason, we only recommend and feature the boats we personally sailed so we can advise you on all pros and cons of each boat.
Alternatively, you can take a qualified skipper with you. We have always felt that the crew is more important than the boat and this holds true for a skipper-only charter. The majority of bareboat companies allocate a skipper just before the charter and there is no 'matching' of captains to guests. We tend to use our skipper database which allows us to match skippers to guests.
Both options do not include any food or drinks and it is your responsibility to purchase them (including food and drinks for skipper if you are having one). However, most of the skippers will help you buy provisions at the local stores or even buy them ahead from your shopping list. In some cases, a cook or a hostess can be arranged at extra cost providing that a cabin is available.
The charters operate from Saturday to Saturday and we highly recommend delivering the boat to the base on the Friday evening in order to avoid any penalties for delays. The boats must be delivered with full tanks of petrol and water and in a clean condition.
