Charter- Bad Weather

[vjmehra]

A situation that hasn't yet arisen for me (luckily I guess)! But as I'm considering doing a few days chartering over the winter, I wondered what would happen if the weather was not suitable for going out?

Is there any standard protocol?

Does it differ if its skippered charter as opposed to bareboat (for example a YM, who is skippering (assuming skippered charter) may feel far more comfortable taking a boat out than I would in an F6)?

What happens if the charter company state the weather is suitable and I disagree as skipper (assuming bareboat charter here), do I have anything to fall back on, or would I simply lose my money/deposit?

 

[Uricanejack]

A situation that hasn't yet arisen for me (luckily I guess)! But as I'm considering doing a few days chartering over the winter, I wondered what would happen if the weather was not suitable for going out?

Is there any standard protocol?

Does it differ if its skippered charter as opposed to bareboat (for example a YM, who is skippering (assuming skippered charter) may feel far more comfortable taking a boat out than I would in an F6)?

What happens if the charter company state the weather is suitable and I disagree as skipper (assuming bareboat charter here), do I have anything to fall back on, or would I simply lose my money/deposit?

It would depend on the fine print of the charter party. Or contract.
Most I have seen you are just plain out of luck.
Other consideration if you sail somewhere and can't sail back due to weather it is usualy in fine print.
Of course charter company may choose to be leinent on these in off season out of good will

 

[Talulah]

Another situation sometimes arises. SKipper charters boat. Crew pull out couple of days beforehand.
Ordinarily you would expect to loose your money but a friend of mine had this happen to him and contrary to the small print the charter company refunded his money and deposit. They took a longer term view that he would be back as a repeat customer instead of a one off gain. The moral is, even if the contract is against you you're dealing with people who understand.
Our boat is coded and insured for bare boat charter. On very rare occasions the weather has turned for the worse and the skipper has been reluctant to make the journey back. Twice we have had the boat left at Cherbourg, once at St Peter Port, and once at St Malo. We make no additional charges when this happens as we would much rather the boat was safe and undamaged. To make a charge might encourage the skipper to take risks beyond their ability. The opposite occasional happens where the skipper goes out in conditions we rather they didn't.
Equally, we refund monies where the whole charter is cancelled due to bad weather. Again taking the view that the boat would probably sustain damage if it went ahead.

I don't think on balance the charter companies loose out. The occasional cancelation is made up by additional bookings by people who would otherwise remain indecisive.

 

[Uricanejack]

Force Majeure.

I was wrong in my earlier post about you being out of luck.
The term abouve Force Majeure. apears in lots of contracts particularly charter party's.
It was originaly a french term( So was Chart a parte)
It means great force or act of god. something witch was unforeseen and out of the controle of the parties to the contract.
The weather could qualify. Fog is sometimes specificaly mentioned. both parties are not obligated by or liable for Force Majuere.

wether force 6 in winter is Force Majuere?

 

[dt4134]

There's one company, Hamble Point Yacht Charter, that used to explicitly advertise an option to postpone the trip to another weekend if the weather was bad. They probably still do.

 

[mjcoon]

There's one company, Hamble Point Yacht Charter, that used to explicitly advertise an option to postpone the trip to another weekend if the weather was bad. They probably still do.

Not a sailing weather problem, but we had booked a charter in Mallorca in May 2010 but the Icelandic volcano intervened. Fortunately the boat was available for a couple of days following our original charter week so we were able to go with only a two-day slippage. All we lost was the cost of a wasted day at Gatwick (and one crew member who could not re-schedule). But that's not the sort of thing covered in small print!

Mike.

 

[ChattingLil]

back in the day - me and my mates could only afford to charter during the winter months and we used to go come hell or high water - don't recall there ever being an option to cancel without penalty. Things might have changed by now of course.

Good things to come out of it:

• Learned a few heavy weather skills
• Learned a lot of fortitude
• Learned how to make cocktails on the days when it really was too bad to do any sailing!
• Learned how to cope with cabin fever

Looking back, they were some of the best sailing weekends of my life!

 

[Ceejay]

My understanding is that when you charter, the yacht is yours for the duration whether you choose to leave the base or not. The decision on whether to sail or not rests with the skipper.
Always wise to be a bit flexible where possible, especially if the party involved is a regular, or likely to be a repeat, client,
My pals and I, in our more adventurous youth always chose to charter in September when we thought there might be more chance of strong winds adding to the mix. The plan mostly seemed to work back then and if it was so bad we couldn't sail, there was usually a pub nearby
CJ

 

[Sailfree]

There's one company, Hamble Point Yacht Charter, that used to explicitly advertise an option to postpone the trip to another weekend if the weather was bad. They probably still do.

They still do and as a boat owner it benefits all parties. The charterer does not feel obliged to go out in marginal conditions, The charter company is still assure of the income albeit at a later date. The boat owner knows hios boat/sails are not being strained too much.

 

[vjmehra]

Ok cool, it sounds like at least there are a decent number of charterers that are fairly understanding, that is good to know!

 

[Mark-1]

back in the day - me and my mates could only afford to charter during the winter months and we used to go come hell or high water - don't recall there ever being an option to cancel without penalty. Things might have changed by now of course.

Good things to come out of it:

• Learned a few heavy weather skills
• Learned a lot of fortitude
• Learned how to make cocktails on the days when it really was too bad to do any sailing!
• Learned how to cope with cabin fever

Looking back, they were some of the best sailing weekends of my life!

+1 to every word.