# Owners time charter



## LuckyCanuk (Mar 22, 2019)

Hi, new poster here.

Am looking for owners who would appreciate someone using their time allotment in one of the charter fleets (Moorings, Sunsail, Dream etc...) - my group of 6 are interested bareboating in Antigua in January 2020 - all 6 professional career/business owner guys over 55, 3 regular sailors/bareboat charterers, with ASA certificates, other 3 have some experience)… looking for 1 week, may be interested in a 2nd consecutive week (depending on wives' interest).

I can be reached at gardnerchance at yahoo dot ca

Many thanks


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## chef2sail (Nov 27, 2007)

LuckyCanuk said:


> Hi, new poster here.
> 
> Am looking for owners who would appreciate someone using their time allotment in one of the charter fleets (Moorings, Sunsail, Dream etc...) - my group of 6 are interested bareboating in Antigua in January 2020 - all 6 professional career/business owner guys over 55, 3 regular sailors/bareboat charterers, with ASA certificates, other 3 have some experience)&#8230; looking for 1 week, may be interested in a 2nd consecutive week (depending on wives' interest).
> 
> ...


Probably not too many takers for this as you offer no protection to an owner if you damage or wreck their boat. There's a reason owners protect themselves by putting their boats in the care of professional charter companies.

I have friends who have oats in the charter fleet and they would never take customers this way

There are plenty of on line search engines and companies like Ed Hamilton which could meet you needs which protects you as well as the owners.


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## LuckyCanuk (Mar 22, 2019)

Many thanks for your reply.

I've seen other posts with similar topic headings and not sure why my query would seem out of line. Perhaps I'm looking at this incorrectly?

As I understand the process, we would contract with the owner for some of their time (a week or 2 of their 6, 10, or 12 week allotment).
This is typically legal and allowed under the owners time clause for putting their boat into charter fleets.

This the helps the owner both use up their allotment per year, and gain some revenue for that week that would go unused and non revenue generating by the owner... 

The rate lower than full charter rate, and coordinate through the charter management company including fees for insurance and turnaround charges. The insurance would provide owners protection for their boat.


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## Minnewaska (Feb 21, 2010)

This is done, but I think it's a very risky venture, for both parties. As the client, in my case, I would never wire off thousands of dollars to a stranger, as opposed to an established business. An owner won't be able to accept a credit card. I doubt travel insurance could even be purchased on a private deal like this. 

The fact is, when you arrive for a bareboat charter, you may find problems with the boat that delay, or even cancel, your trip. Then what? I literally had a charter company offer me a replacement vessel, when I determined the depth sounder was inop and they couldn't repair it. The owner doesn't have those options. 

Some charter ops will offer owner weeks, if the boat has been fully booked. I had one contact the owner to see if they would give up their week. They were willing, but the exact days just didn't line up. I would have paid the charter company, but would not have saved money.


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## SanderO (Jul 12, 2007)

Do I understand the OP... they want to charter a boat that is not scheduled for charter and available to the owner? I suppose it's possible but it presents several issues. The charter company maintains the boats and I believe qualifies the charterer and gives them a HOW TO session before the charter begins to familiarize the charterers with the features/performance of the boat and its systems... and I presume can and will service or replace equipment that requires it. But none of this would be available to the charterers who deal directly with the boat's owner.

Why not schedule time on THAT boat or same.. with the charter company? it sounds like one reason may be the ability to extend the charter which may not be work with the charter companies schedule. Charter companies don't do flex time charters apparently. Or is it that OP can get a better price as it becomes income to the owner that they did not expect or count on?


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## LuckyCanuk (Mar 22, 2019)

Many thanks for the comments and points for thought. We've not done this before, but have investigated opportunities to buy a boat, with guarantee of charter revenues for a period of years whilst the boat in is the charter fleet. In return, we get use of 6, 10, or 12 weeks of sailing time - so many weeks in busy season and so many in off season. 

Owners have the choice of using their own boat or taking the time on a boat within the fleet either at the specific location of their boat or somewhere else where the fleet has a presence and has available boats. 

This 6, 10, 12 weeks becomes wasted time if not used - so there is value for owners to contract some/all of their weeks - typically this is done through networks of friends, acquaintances, etc... effectively "here, if you're qualified, use our boat for this period, and pay us $XXX dollars for use, plus insurance, plus turnaround fee".

The charter companies' contracts with the boat owners typically allow for this transfer/exchange/contracting of their weeks to happen. 

In my situation, I am looking to charter/contract with a boat owner for use of some of his time. However, because I am taking a boat out of fleet rotation, the charter company manages their risk by 1) ensuring that I am certified, 2) insured, 3) allowed by the boat owner to take this time, and 4) will be paying fees to ensure the charter company recoups their expenditures (turnaround). Maintenance and availability of boat are solely organized and conducted by the charter company (they need to make sure that their fleet meets their customer expectations).

I will definitely ensure that the risks identified within this discussion thread are appropriately addressed - thanks for these observations and statements.

It is important to note that the boat owner and time charterer (me) are protected to the same degree that we would be if coordinating and contracting directly with the charter company. But I am chartering time within a fleet of boats now... different locations, different times as allowed by the boat owners' contract with the charter fleet company.

I can't post links (too few posts) to a webpage to give more detail to this transaction and discussion of the various protections - for those interested in learning more - 
Google: How to charter a sailboat cheaper through owner's time - BVI Bound

So I am posting here, hoping that a boat owner in fleet contract, with Moorings, Sunsail, Horizon, Dream or any other possible charter fleet manager operating in Antigua, sees my post and would like to make some $ for one of his weeks, that would otherwise be a lost/wasted benefit for that boat owner. 

I don't know if there is a PM system here --- I can be reached at gardnerchance at yahoo dot com .

Many thanks to all!


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## Minnewaska (Feb 21, 2010)

How much do you expect to save doing it this way?


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## jephotog (Feb 25, 2002)

I am not sure how it work in the Caribbean but in the PNW when I was talking to a charter company they had an insurance policy for the owner and the week that it was chartered it paid a separate fee for that week to insure for liability for a rental situation. If the boat was rented to a 3rd party during the owner's time, it would likely not have this needed coverage.


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## LuckyCanuk (Mar 22, 2019)

Ideally, am hoping for 20-40% reduction - really depends on negotiation for the value of the opportunity cost incurred by the boat owner and the amount I'm willing to pay. Factors that affect rate from my perspective would include berths, heads, age of boat, and availability.

jephotog - thanks for this - I think we'd expect to pay the separate fee to insure liability, much like the charter company requires for any charter made directly to them. TBH - Until I get some sort of response to explore, all of this is really conjecture, up for debate.


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