# Bareboat Charter Pricing and your charter experiences



## NVCATS (Oct 20, 2012)

I was hoping we could discuss various charter companies and the brokers that all of us sailors book with and how did the charters go now we are home? How was the service, quality of the boat and pricing. What about the destinations you have chartered will you go back or explore new places next time. I'll be first


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## NVCATS (Oct 20, 2012)

I lived in the BVI for 25 years sailing around on a big catamarans and always kinda looked at bareboaters as weekend Warrior's. There were very few catamarans around so being young at the time and having a real fast 60 ft cat we would find fun sailing up and down the Sir Francis Drake channel hunting bareboaters and their monohulls to just go flying by them, always waving of course. Well things change and one day you wake up and make a huge mistake... you sell your boat. 
I miss my Shadowfax but there is hope new life means new turns, My girlfriend decided she wanted to try sailing after hearing some stories and we began the search. I found my way to Latesail and the pricing was right there in your face. I found it a great way to find a good deal and so not being worried so much about the boat other than being a roomy cat. We ended up with VPM in St Martin, which turned out to be a great company and the base team was very nice. We took Lavezzi 42 for 2 weeks, there was no way I was going to spend all that money and time getting there to spend only a week, price wasn't that much more for 2 weeks than one so was not hard to see the light. We sailed from St Martin to Tintamar then on to La Fortune, St Barts and spend a few days around St Barts. Having Night sailing permission we then headed to St Kitts for a over night sail and continued direct on to Nevis where we spent the night and day. Sailing behind St kitts was nice as the wind calmed and the newbies could sleep as we drifted along. There was a tall ship anchored out, she was all light up as we sailed south into the channel between the islands. Nevis was as I remember and I actually made the custom guy laugh...took a while but he did finally laugh. Got pictures taken with the police at the station as we did the final clear in and headed out for a cab ride around Nevis... very cool. Next morning we headed to Barbuda... The only Island I had never been to. We fished on the way across caught a Mackerel and anchored before sunset. Wow Barbuda is amazing 17 miles of Pristine and undeveloped beach. We got cleared , which was not a easy task they were all nice but it was a journey in itself. The swell was up a little so we headed to the north reef and found our way all the way in, thanks to a very accurate Chris Doyle Guide book. We spent a few days there snorkeling... just amazing. Early in the morning we headed into another over night sail to Anguilla. Then back to St Martin where we spent a few days in Grand Case. Clearing in on the French side is a pain if you arrive midday when there on vacation for lunch, I mean really. 

Cost of charter 2 weeks $4200
Insurance $450
Lavezzi 42 rating is a 8 out of 10 
Nice boat clean, cozy, sailed like 2 monohulls tied together mind you but I'm spoiled with a Spronk Cat
VPM Great company, nice people, Quick Vessel check out and in
Latesail good broker and website.
provisioning $2000
Fuel $80
water $6
Booze $500 go figure
customs $100
Taxi airport $150 6 pax
Airfare $1000 each to SXM



We booked direct next year with VPM and got the same boat in Martinique for 21 days and had a great time sailing north. I share that in another post


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## chrondi (Mar 24, 2004)

I remember VPM being a very efficient and cost-effective company, present in the Caribbean and elsewhere ten years back. I'm particularly glad to see that their performance is equally good today ...


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## NVCATS (Oct 20, 2012)

chrondi said:


> I remember VPM being a very efficient and cost-effective company, present in the Caribbean and elsewhere ten years back. I'm particularly glad to see that their performance is equally good today ...


Yes they got bought out by Barone Yachting... boats are in good shape and they list there deals on their site, easy to find and book. Late Sail charges them 30% commission to send a client their way.


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## sachingautham911 (Dec 6, 2012)

Dubai and Abu Dhabi are some of the great locations for yachting, sailing and boating vacations. We can find so many affordable companies that are providing high quality professional yacht charters.


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## Minnewaska (Feb 21, 2010)

This is the first time we are using Ed Hamilton & Co to find us a boat. They are very good at helping compare the relative value and reputation of every charter operator in the BVI. You don't pay more, they get a cut from the operator.

Caribbean Charters, charter boats caribbean, caribbean vacations sailing by Ed Hamilton Yacht Charters

As a general rule, I believe you get what you pay for. Big operators like Mooring do have a premium for the "brand" but its not as high as some complain. You know what your getting and know they will be there. They have newer boats and plenty of replacements, if something went wrong. The providers that charge half are offering a much lower grade product, usually in terms of the boats age, visible wear and tear and resultant reduced reliability. Or, they have a very limited fleet and you risk being stuck, if your boat has a problem. That doesn't necessarily make it a bad idea, you just have to know what you're getting and accept the risk. You can come up craps on any boat. Our last bareboat was less than 6 months old and didn't even have a name yet and stuff was broken.

We've only chartered from the Moorings, but have many friends that have used others with widely varying experiences. I'm going to throw out a gross generalization and say you could save about 10% to get the same quality, fleet redundancy, etc with a comparable competitor. Once you find cheaper, you are getting cheaper. Again, that may be okay.

So far, Ed Hamilton & Co has been extremely helpful in sorting them all out.


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## Tim R. (Mar 23, 2003)

If you are looking for a deal, get some more people involved. We saved 10% by booking 2 boats. We may add another one or two which will give everyone a 15% discount. Ed Hamilton is arranging all the details for our st. Patty's day charter in the BVIs.


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## denverd0n (Jun 20, 2008)

Minnewaska said:


> Big operators like Mooring do have a premium for the "brand" but its not as high as some complain.


I agree. We just finished a bareboat charter with Sunsail in the BVI and while I'm sure I could have found a boat available for less money, I don't think I could have gotten a significantly better overall deal.

Not only was the boat clean and in excellent shape, but there is also something to be said for the shore-side facilities, and Sunsail's in Tortola are about the best I've seen. Free storage for your luggage before and after your charter (or during, if you brought stuff you don't need on the charter), exceptionally clean and nice shower and bathroom facilities, a couple of very nice restaurants, and very personable and helpful staff.

I will not hesitate to use them again, and will gladly pay the very modest premium to do so.


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## hillenme (Oct 11, 2012)

Agree with the points above that additional boats can help out on the price. I've been with groups where we've had as many 4 boats out at once. Time of year affects price as well. Definitely you get what you pay for. I'd like Moorings next time I'm down there. We used Horizon out of True Blue Grenada last year and the boat was a disaster. 41' Lagoon. Two heads broke (4 is overkill anyway, perfect example of just one more thing to break), needed new starter motor on starboard engine 2 days into the trip, almost lost the bimini (the weld where the steel tubing attaches to a deck plate actually gave) and the charter company had closed the seacock on the starboard bilge for some reason, which we did not discover until it had filled almost entirely with water and a jib sheet snapped. The weather was uncommonly heavy, so this contributed to some of the problems. As they had no spare boats we had to fix all this ourselves (including spending an extra day in Tobago Cays waiting for the starter to be delivered).


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