Is he mad??

[phantomlady]

I have an elderly friend with a 45 foot Beneteau that he keeps in Turkey. He has come up with this crazy idea that he is going to 'skippered charter' it this coming season. He reckons he will take up to six people and thus make a fortune...
He has no qualifications, hardly any sailing experience and thinks that he can just breeze up to hotels and take out their guests for a few days sailing.
How can I explain that what he is doing is illegal and could see him end up in a lot of trouble???

 

[Tam Lin]

Email him?

 

[duncan99210]

Relax. The Turkish coastguard will explain the situation to him after his arrest.

 

[Talulah]

I have an elderly friend with a 45 foot Beneteau that he keeps in Turkey. He has come up with this crazy idea that he is going to 'skippered charter' it this coming season. He reckons he will take up to six people and thus make a fortune...
He has no qualifications, hardly any sailing experience and thinks that he can just breeze up to hotels and take out their guests for a few days sailing.
How can I explain that what he is doing is illegal and could see him end up in a lot of trouble???

I know someone who did this in Antiga. Had Day Skipper quals. He would walk along the beach touting for business. Reasonably successfully. He later went legit and now runs a sailing school with his partner.

 

[Tintin]

Relax. The Turkish coastguard will explain the situation to him after his arrest.

But people could be hurt (or worse) by that stage.

I gues two approaches>

First collate as much web info as you can about coding and qualifications and sit him down and take him though it. In the process find out where his boat is and who his insurer is.

If that doesn't work pick up the phone to his insurer - they will probably be unimpressed and will remind him he will not be covered in the event of an accident. That should help focus the mind.

 

[macd]

"Is he mad?"
If he is it'll probably be cheaper to have him sectioned than the boat coded.

Alternatively, leave this thread to ripen for a few days, then send him the link.

 

[vyv_cox]

A guy who tried to do something similar on Zakinthos a few years ago, although in a more organised and official way, soon ran foul of local trip boat operators. His boat finished up wrecked ashore and was a total write-off, after his anchor warp mysteriously failed one night.

 

[lindsay]

I used to know a guy in Tenerife who took out hotel tourists "clandestinamente" to see the whales cavorting around. He had a free ride for a couple of months, but then started to become too successful and had all sorts of hassle from local tourist groups and the authorities. He eventually just left the port and sailied across to Guadeloupe.

 

[srm]

Some 12 years or more back a British yachtsman in Turkey had the same idea. Advertised and a family booked a week charter. While anchored for their first lunch stop they were hit by a gullet leaving the bay. Hull damage took most of the week to repair. Coincidence ??

 

[Downsman]

" I have an elderly friend with a 45 foot Beneteau that he keeps in Turkey"

If that's the case, perhaps he knows which palms to cross with silver?

 

[JamesFrance]

We did this in Malta in 1969. Coding? qualifications? isn't life complicated now. Some friends with a small hotel and 2 Chris Craft had a deal with the Sheraton and passed the surplus over to us for days out to the blue lagoon. After the local trip boats started taking an interest we decided to stop doing it, but we did miss the £20 per day we were getting.

5 years later we had a deal with the port captain in Grimaud who used to send us day charterers in exchange for a few beers. We were moored just in front of the police post by the church (photo is my avatar) and never had any problems with authority.

Another time we had one of the French customs officers on board for a drink in Antibes who said we were quite legal doing that as long as we only took foreigners, but he was wrong as a friend found out later when raided by the specialists who really knew. They were lucky to be given 24hrs to leave the country.

 

[Ravi]

I have an elderly friend

The older I grow the more I distrust the familiar doctrine that age brings wisdom.
(H. L. Mencken)

 

[Bertramdriver]

The older I grow the more I appreciate the subtleties of Murphy's law.

 

[Jack Storm]

Bernard Moitessier is a good read. He used to take people on his boat Joshua to supplement his income. He didn't have any qualifications, except he sailed around the WORLD one and a half times. Am I wrong in thinking this is not such a great crime. I meet a lot of sailors who allegedly have some of the highest possible ratings offered by the RYA, and I wouldn't leave a PARK POND with them ?????

 

[maxy]

Skippered charter in Turkey

Well it's not impossible, but there is a lot more to it, both getting the work and being legally compliant. Worse it's getting more difficult each year, especially from a Turkish perspective, as they become more organised, avaricious and nationalistic.

We have a friend with a 45 who has been acting as skipper on some of our rare skippered charters, and he also does his own charters. He is finding it a struggle and he does it really well. Many (mostly) single men come here and expect they can do this and its is going to be easy. It isn't, to say nothing of your correct assertion re coding and commercially endorsed skippers. This is one of those occasions where being English is a distinct disadvantage.

You are also right that those who do a professional job are likely to be less than delighted by those who cut corners, and may well give their profession a bad reputation.

If you're friend is serious and his boat is recent and in excellent condition, put him in touch and we will help point him in the right and a safe direction.

Kevin

 

[phantomlady]

Alas he seems to be deadly serious....but sadly not worth helping. He will be doing everything illegally
It makes me shudder to think what could happen.

 

[maxy]

That's sad, but quite common among 'foreigners' as they often seem to think the rules don't apply to them, and yet wouldn't even consider behaving that way in their own country. I'd bet your friend has a driving licence and taxes and insures his car (assuming he's not that old).

The reason I asked about age and condition is, ironically a decent yacht will rent for much more than a 'solo skipper', and without the effort, in charter, and be professionally maintained. Your friend will not have access to the huge marketing machine run by the charter industry. He would also find that he would receive revenue from many more weeks than skippered charter, typically it represents less than 4% of our business. The RYA have been very effective in building the 'self drive'business.

 

[akyaka]

Being Turkey he will more than likely need a work permit which are not easy to get , you have to show that it is a job that a Turk cannot do. Without one he could find himself deported and banned from returning for a considerable period of time.

 

[phantomlady]

His yacht is about 8 or 9 years old and although well maintained is sadly lacking in the safety requirements for taking paying passengers. What worries me most is that he is a very inexperienced sailor who has had lots of 'accidents' already! He thinks he is going to be doing this for 'fun' and 'something to do' whilst living on the boat for the summer

 

[akyaka]

You are clearly worried phantomlady and he is deaf to any advice so i would have a quiet word with the marina, some do not allow chartering, and in extremis a word with the local officials, zabata, jandarma, port police will soon ensure that he is put right before he trangresses and finds himself out of the country with no way of returning for his boat