Charter a Boat in French Riviera (New boater)

D

dentistcpl

New Member
Joined
20 Mar 2012
Messages
8
Visit site
hi,

I am new to this! I am considering taking the RYA day skipper course (MOTOR BOAT) during Aug, in order to charter a boat next year during spring in French Riviera. Is that a practical solution for me to experience?

I can only afford to stay on board for 2 nights ONLY! But most companies only offer "day charter" or weekly charters! Does this mean, I can charter one for 2 days and stay on board for 2 nights? or does 2 days mean ONE NIGHT only???

Any advice on boat rental companies etc are appreciated!!!!!

Thanks!

Bon voyage
 
dentistcpl said:
hi,

I am new to this! I am considering taking the RYA day skipper course (MOTOR BOAT) during Aug, in order to charter a boat next year during spring in French Riviera. Is that a practical solution for me to experience?

I can only afford to stay on board for 2 nights ONLY! But most companies only offer "day charter" or weekly charters! Does this mean, I can charter one for 2 days and stay on board for 2 nights? or does 2 days mean ONE NIGHT only???

Any advice on boat rental companies etc are appreciated!!!!!

Thanks!

Bon voyage
Click to expand...

After you have day skip (which is a very good course) you need to get an ICC from RYA. This is issued without any further testing, if you have day skip

The French riviera boat choice is mostly crewed boats plus day charters of day boats like 20foot RIBs and console boats. There are a few, but only a few, self drive 30-ish footers available for charter, and anything above say 40foot is generally crewed

In contrast, in Mallorca there are loads of 30-40-50 footers availalbe bareboat

Day charter means just that usually. You hand the boat back at 6pm. If you rent 2 days, you still normally hand it back for the middle night. But everything is negotiable, so you could rent for a full 48hours ie 2 nights on board. Lots of ordering "off menu" is done so do not think that what is listed on a website is all that is available. Loads of people rent boats for an odd number of days. The per day and per week prices are just to give you a guide and for c harter of anything bigger than a dayboat you can haggle eg if it comes to say €3,435 on the menu pricing just offer them 3 grand

There are 6 boats on this forum just in Antibes ranging from 80 to 40 feet, and perhaps 10 in the riviera as a whole. If you post 500 top quality posts on here with really good boating stories and nice pictures (and fix our loose fillings) we'll happily give you a free trip out for the day :-)
 
Thanx sooooooooooooooo much!! much appreciation.

How can I take a glance at the "off" menu boats though?
Can you please suggest sources I can use for my charter hunt?

If I use a bayliner sport cruiser for the 2 nights stay is it practical??

THank you again! :)
 
dentistcpl said:
hi,

I am new to this! I am considering taking the RYA day skipper course (MOTOR BOAT) during Aug, in order to charter a boat next year during spring in French Riviera. Is that a practical solution for me to experience?
Click to expand...

You would be best advised to do the shore based theory course first. You can do this in a classroom environment or on-line. If you don't have the theory knowledge prior to doing the practical you will really struggle. Unless you already have the theory of course.
 
check out these 2 sites
www.winnerboat.com
permis.bateau.mer.free.
Winner will meet your rental requirements , (based @ La Napoule) but you need ,and i suggest a "permis . bateau.mer" ,This is the french version of the RYA MoBo course, more use down there .There are alternatives to "our RYA" courses

Sugggest it can be crashed in 3 days ,but that,s tough, .You are better off doing it over a short week .for those that are not familiar its combines practical and classroom stuff .,with an MCQ test, a kind of "driving test"
as the exam on a Friday , i think there is a test centre in Cannes/ Nice ,
There is a bateaux ecole 4 doors down from Winner also @ La Nap .They provide everthing in France its compulsory, like driving test .
BUT the paper work takes about a month to come through assuming that you pass?I recall they give you a tempory liecence on the day if you pass.

Cautionary note please bear in mind what happened to those 2 who recently bought a boat on E-bay and crashed it in the Channel Islands .
I say this because the Cote d Azur inshore has its fair share of hazards and mooring ina breeze is "chalanging" to say the least .

JFM,s advice re find a friend and have a taste (ex the pun) needs considering .
 
Last edited:
Thank you for the info!
What if I could only make time for the RYA course instead? Also, it doesnot seem like the Franch offers English version of the course?

Any advice?
 
Portofino said:
check out these 2 sites
www.winnerboat.com
permis.bateau.mer.free.
Winner will meet your rental requirements , (based @ La Napoule) but you need ,and i suggest a "permis . bateau.mer" ,This is the french version of the RYA MoBo course, more use down there .There are alternatives to "our RYA" courses

Sugggest it can be crashed in 3 days ,but that,s tough, .You are better off doing it over a short week .for those that are not familiar its combines practical and classroom stuff .,with an MCQ test, a kind of "driving test"
as the exam on a Friday , i think there is a test centre in Cannes/ Nice ,
There is a bateaux ecole 4 doors down from Winner also @ La Nap .They provide everthing in France its compulsory, like driving test .
BUT the paper work takes about a month to come through assuming that you pass?I recall they give you a tempory liecence on the day if you pass.

Cautionary note please bear in mind what happened to those 2 who recently bought a boat on E-bay and crashed it in the Channel Islands .
I say this because the Cote d Azur inshore has its fair share of hazards and mooring ina breeze is "chalanging" to say the least .

JFM,s advice re find a friend and have a taste (ex the pun) needs considering .
Click to expand...

If you have an ICC (available from RYA if you have completed their PBL2 course) you can hire using that with Winner. I know because I have chartered several times with them using my ICC.
 
Agree with JFM re finding a friend

It's all a bit incestuous here.

Off menu means that they can source almost anything you want within reason from any of the chartering/Renting companies, and even their friends, on which they will take a cut or a lead fee. You will often see the same boat being advertised on several different sites.

Normal day boat rental is from 9 - 6pm and the boat must be refilled with fuel and on the pontoon at or near to that time. Using a day boat instead of a hotel room or apartment is not cost effective because of the costs of changeover, laundry, cleaning, insurance, berthing, etc for a two day period.

That's why "weekly charter" is what it is, it is just long enough to allow the turnover costs to be recovered in the weekly fee.

Portofino and JFM have it right, the weather can change here very quickly, especially in the channel between the Islands and Cannes/Antibes.

I did PB I/II here in Beaulieu sur Mer, and Dayskipper (Power) tidal on the Hamble and converted all to ICC. These are accepted widely on the Riviera for day and weekly charter.

I don't know the French Certification process but I would expect that it would also have an ICC equivalent.

After power boating and yachting for over 40 years up to 70 ft, and a stint of military service on the water, and with my dayskipper/PB I/II ticket, I was still very, very careful on my first trip solo here. Small steps first are better. Hook up with a friend is a good idea (and they might even share costs).

Take care.

Imagegear
 
I can't think why you should be considering anything other than RYA training as its ICC is recognised as the benchmark requirement throughout much of the world.
There are really two levels for you to consider at the outset,the ICC itself which is normally a 3 day practical & theory course or day skipper which is a little more comprehensive,includes ICC and is normally over 4 days. As there is quite a bit to take in,it's not a bad idea to do some homework first or,better still,take a day skipper theory course first which can be done by correspondence,online or even occasionally at night classes in some areas.
There are numerous training centres in the UK,which will obviously work out cheaper than travelling abroad but,if you fancy splashing out a bit (no pun intended) there are also quite a few in the Med. where you can combine your training with a bareboat holiday. One maybe worth considering would be www.quaysportmenorca.com which has the benefit of the huge sheltered harbour of Mahon as well as many beautiful coves in which to hone your skills. I have no connection with them but they did get me through my ICC a few years ago,so they must have been good.
Anyway,best of luck.
 
wakeup said:
If you have an ICC (available from RYA if you have completed their PBL2 course) you can hire using that with Winner. I know because I have chartered several times with them using my ICC.
Click to expand...

By the way , there are some boats on their books and many others that are available for charter that won't bare boat. In other words they provide the skipper in for the price and it isn't negotiable whatever papers of competence you supply. So depends upon what type of boating you want to do. If it is day boating where you skipper yourself, then every marina has a fleet of 5m to 10m boats for rent and longer if you take their skippers. Each mariner in SoF has variable quality boats for hire. Winner is one of the known names in Cannes and Mandelieu. Plenty of others I'm sure in Antibes and even Villefranche now.
 
stillwaters said:
One maybe worth considering would be www.quaysportmenorca.com which has the benefit of the huge sheltered harbour of Mahon as well as many beautiful coves in which to hone your skills. I have no connection with them but they did get me through my ICC a few years ago,so they must have been good.
Anyway,best of luck.
Click to expand...
I've chartered from Quaysport Menorca before and Mahon would be a great place to learn. I am guessing though the £6000 charter fee for a S38 for a week in August is going to be out of the OPs budget, if he is talking about hiring a Bayliner for 2 days.
 
Charter in med with a Cataraman power

What do you guys think of chartering a cataraman power? Is the boat difficult to "drive"?
The price tag is so tempting!
 
What do you guys think of chartering a cataraman power? Is the boat difficult to "drive"?
The price tag is so tempting!
Click to expand...

I would suggest that you wait until you have completed your PB I/II/Dayskipper to have a better feeling of how boats perform in different conditions.

In my limited experience, cats are generally less manouverable than monohulls especially in a congested marina. (This is where your boat handling skills will be really tested, and where the potential for an insurance claim is highest.)

Personally I would not go anywhere near a cat for a first rental.

Cheers,

K
 
imagegear said:
I would suggest that you wait until you have completed your PB I/II/Dayskipper to have a better feeling of how boats perform in different conditions.

In my limited experience, cats are generally less manouverable than monohulls especially in a congested marina. (This is where your boat handling skills will be really tested, and where the potential for an insurance claim is highest.)

Personally I would not go anywhere near a cat for a first rental.

Cheers,

K
Click to expand...

Unless there's some fundamental difference between power cats and a sailing cat with twin engines I'd absolutely dis-agree. The cat is infinitely more manouvreable. Bow and sternternthrusters on a monohull may more than make up for this but some power cats have bow thrusters fitted too.

All the above is irrelevant if you're not used to manouvreing either of them though. I've been sailing on and off for well over 40 years now and can manoeuvre a long-leeled sailing yacht far better than a single sterndrive motor cruiser. If you've not more than a week or so's experience on any of them you could well struggle. Dentistcpl, don't be put off by this - you'll soon learn but trying to moor stern to in a stiff breeze in a crowded med marina may not be the best place to learn.....
 
dentistcpl said:
Thank you for the info!
What if I could only make time for the RYA course instead? Also, it doesnot seem like the Franch offers English version of the course?

Any advice?
Click to expand...

Do the Dayskipper Power as the Permit Bateau is in French and Limits you to six miles offshore the exam will be in French .
Dayskipper theory is a must followed by practical then apply for your ICC and the French will accept that as fine for charter.
Tim
 
6miles offshore ? DOes that means I cannot skipper the boat along the coast?
I was planing to do alittle bit of Boat cruising along the Cote d azur
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Other threads that may be of interest

cyberkryten
We finally bought a boat - Merry Fisher 895s2
2 3
Replies
41
Views
1K
Cathy*
C
R
My boat trip hopefully in May Around Scotland
2 3 4
Replies
65
Views
2K
RobBradley
R

Share this page

Top