There are two types of luxury yacht charter vacations: Fully-Crewed and Bareboat (no crew).
WHAT IS A FULLY-CREWED YACHT CHARTER?
Fully-crewed charters are for travelers who prefer to leave all aspects of the yacht’s operation in the hands of a skipper and a host of able-bodied seamen (and or women).
Crewed catamaran charters, for example, are currently the most popular form of yachting in the Caribbean. Charter guests board 50 to 80 foot sailing catamarans in locations such as St. Thomas (USVI) and Tortola (BVI). They sail with a captain, first mate, and cook. The crew operates the yacht and prepares all of the meals.
WHAT IS A BAREBOAT CHARTER?
Conversely, a bareboat charter means the yacht is rented to the charterer without a skipper or accompanying crew. The charterer and his travel companions navigate the yacht and perform all duties on board.
Bareboat yacht charter
The closest analogy is the rental car market, and the fleet of vehicles operated by companies like Hertz, Enterprise, and Avis.
In some regions of the world, the lead charterer will be required to hold some type of license in order to reserve a bareboat.
Whether a license is required or not, before they can rent a bareboat charter vessel, ALL prospective charterers must submit a boating resume detailing their qualifications and boating experience.
A typical sailing resume, for example, will require the following details:
EXPERIENCE
Please let us know which of the following you have experience of:
Picking up a mooring
QUALIFICATIONS
Which Qualifications do you hold?
Basic Keelboat
Basic Coastal Cruising
Bareboat Chartering
Coastal Navigation
Advanced Coastal Cruising
Celestial Navigation
Offshore Passagemaking
Basic Small Boat Sailing
Cruising Catamaran
Trailerable Multihull Standard
The bottom line to enjoying a self-drive boat vacation: If you have sailed before, even if you have not spent much time as the skipper, you will most likely qualify to charter a bareboat yacht.
While some of the more technical destinations, like a Greek yacht charter will require more experience, an understanding of basic seamanship, boat handling and navigation is all that is required for a Caribbean yacht charter or a bare boat rental in many of our locations.
YOU NEED A YACHT CHARTER BROKER
Regardless of your decision, you need a yacht charter broker. Your broker can arrange your vacation for you and choose the proper yacht and crew (if you choose a crewed yacht) for your group. We (1-800 Yacht Charters and 1-800 BAREBOAT) know which yachts have proper licenses and insurance, and we inspect the yachts and meet the crews.
Ms. Jana Sheeder is President of 1-800 Yacht Charters. Providing The Superyacht Experience(tm) since 1976. Private luxury yacht charter vacations in the Mediterranean, Caribbean, Bahamas, South Pacific, South Florida, Miami and The Florida Keys, Italian Rivera, Belize. Megayacht charter company focused on generosity, Pay It Forward, Random Acts of Kindness, Giftivism, giving back to the ocean, to the needy, and the environment with every superyachting charter. Providing eco-friendly alternatives while on yacht charters and known for 6-star customer service, experience, and generosity. View all posts by →
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