# First time chartering



## newbysailor (Aug 12, 2016)

Hi forum, 
I've passed my ASA104 certification a couple of months ago and want to go on my first bareboat charter cruise. I live in Boston and have a total of 3 years of sailing experience. When I looked/asked around about chartering a sailboat, I've found that boat owners aren't quite satisfied with the amount of my experience. My ASA104 certification doesn't impress them either. 
Granted, I don't have decades of sailing experience, but I know my way around the boat, and I have taken my training quite seriously.

So the question is: what is the best way to get into bareboat charter cruising for a newby? My ultimate goal is to be able to go on 1-2 weeks long coastal cruising vacations somewhere warm 

Cheers.


----------



## Minnesail (Feb 19, 2013)

The first time I chartered after taking ASA 103/104 the charter company also was not satisfied with just the ASA certification, they wanted me to do a half day checkout sail with one of their captains before I took the boat out on my own.

I gave them the email address of my instructor. They know her personally (they are out of the same marina) so when she vouched for me they took her word for it and let me take a boat without a checkout sail.


I'm sure you can find a charter company that will let you take a boat as long as you have one of their licensed captains on board with you for the first half day or day of the trip.


----------



## SHNOOL (Jun 7, 2007)

Take a SKIPPER for the first day... honestly they'll figure out quickly if you know what you are doing (and sign off on you to go solo). Hell I'd give my right arm to have the wealth and experience of some of these skippers on this board with me (because you understand some of those skippers are here right?). 

I was lucky with my first bareboat charter, and like you was worried about being "saddled with a skipper," but only because our local ASA instructor (and coast guard reserve) went with us in our fleet. At any time he would have hopped on our boat and sailed with us... so they checked me out, and let me go... But in retrospect, I was SO impressed with the fleet skippers, I'd have loved to have had them with me for the first day to show me "tricks" on the boat. Without having that experience in our fleet, I'd have jumped on it.

Think of it this way... you have access to someone who has spent countless thousands of hours in the boat you are about to sail... wouldn't you like to pick their brain? Its like having the most skilled crew volunteer (for a small price) to sail with you. When you look at it that way, it should be a no brainer.

Watch any of the charter fleet skippers dock the boat for a minute or two, and you'll see them in a whole different light. Learn even 1/8 of that skill from them as they do it, and it'll be worth the $$.


----------



## Minnewaska (Feb 21, 2010)

What boat did you do your 104 aboard? Not likely you be able to charter anything bigger. 

The Moorings is fairly well known to be willing to rent to anyone with a pulse. Well, sort of. They are huge and have boats all over the globe. 

Even a half day with a skipper can be sufficient, as has been mentioned. The good news is, compared to the cost of the boat, the skipper is nothing. They are also not like the IRS. They aren't trying to find anything wrong with you. They're typically pretty laid back and know their job is to help. Base on the bumbling bareboat captains out there that don't require a companion skipper, you'll have to be pretty clueless to fail.


----------



## capta (Jun 27, 2011)

Many of the Caribbean bareboat companies couldn't care less about your qualifications as long as your credit card is OK.
Almost daily we see folks without even the most basic of boating skills, on bareboats down here. We even see the bareboat companies take the boats away from the dock to make things easy for the charters' departure and dock the boats for them at the end of the charter. 
As others have mentioned above, a company supplied skipper can check you out if you wish to go with a company that cares. However, no matter how good your sailing skills, it isn't a terrible idea to have a local skipper aboard for your first charter in an area you are not familiar with. That skipper will know all the really 'cool' off the beaten path spots, that it might take you years to find. There is some value in that, especially in areas overflowing with charter boats in the high season, like the BVI's.


----------



## Leeroy Jenkins (Aug 15, 2016)

I took some US Sailing classes at a Marina on a Southern California Military base and got my Basic Keelboat, Offshore, Advanced Nav, etc... from them. One of the instructors there goes down to the BVI (and other destinations) about four times a year to charter a 50'+ Cat. He had tons of useful info on chartering and would even hold a indoc class for people interested. 

My wife and I sailed Catalina 16.5' Capris, 22 and 25 footers all from that Marina and did some overnight trips with them to reciprocal Marinas. We have only been sailing for about 3-4 years. We were told that we had all of the skills necessary to do a Bareboat Charter in BVI, except that we needed to become more familiar with picking up a mooring ball before we went. Well, we didn't get a chance to do that, but read about it a lot and watched a bunch of educational videos on YouTube. 

We researched the big companies in the BVI and decided to go with Horizon Charters over Moorings and Sunsail. That was mostly due to cost. We couldn't find an available 30'-32' (for just my wife and I), so we took a very nice 36' Bavaria. It worked out great for us in terms of size and ease to sail. Paid about $2100 ish for 5 days kn the boat. We filled out the required Sailing resume and sent it back to Horizon with our US Sailing certs and some points of contact (our instructors). It was no issue renting from them. Apparently, there tons of people who charter with little to no experience from what I've heard. When we got back to the Marina, we heard horror stories about people tearing sails and running aground because they clearly did not have adequate training. 

The cost and business of the islands will greatly depend on the time of year that you choose to go. We went in January due to cost and other external time constraints. That was a great time to go for our first charter because the mooring fields were not too busy. However, the winds are quite blustery thhat time of year too. This may lead to more motoring than sailing, but that is not such a bad thing on your first charter as you learn the naviagtion (which is easy), mooring fields, and which islands you want to go to. 

We had a great time, managed to pick up the mooring balls easily after a steep learning curve with the misses (realizing she should drive the boat while I picked up the ball), and never got into a situation that we couldn't handle. 

Bottom Line Not Up Front: go to BVI, practice picking up a mooring ball, have a loose plan that is flexible for adjustment once you get there, and donmt stress. The Horizon crew was great and answered any and all questions. If you run into any issues at all, they (like all companies in the BVI) will come out quickly in a motor boat and help you out. 

Hope that helps.


----------

