Lending Boat in Greece to Friends

[Petronella]

We need to return to the UK from Greece during high summer for family weddings and (hopefully) graduations. How practical is it with a bit of forward planning to let friends use our boat whilst we are back in the UK? The friends are well qualified and experienced and we have no problems from that point of view. We would be lending them the boat - i.e. no money changing hands.

Am I correct in thinking we will need to sort out insurance, DEKPA and even boat ownership, none of which include their names at present? Or is it just likely to lead to hassles and best forgotten about? Or maybe (surely not) we can just hand them the keys and let them get on with it?

We will be sailing with them in Greece before we return to the UK if that helps the paperwork at all. They will probably return to the UK before we get back out to Greece so they might need to put the boat in a marina for us to pick up on our return.

Cheers.

 

[Tranona]

You are right - strictly speasking the skippers name on the DEKPA should be the same as that on all the other papers. However, I have lent my boat to a friend, notifying the insurance company and providing a letter of authority for the skipper and crew to use the boat. They had no problems - however, they were never questioned by the Port Police - perhaps because my boat was originally a charter boat and well known in all the Ionian ports!

I understand it is possible to get the DEKPA changed by the Port Police to have the other skippers name on it as well as yours, but it has to be done with you there, which is not always convenient.

Not sure this helps, but hopefully Jim will be along soon as he knows more about it than me.

 

[jimbaerselman]

Lending a Boat

The Cruising Association are happy for me to hand on this piece of advice from their member's web site. It appears in the 'Web Cruising Guide' section, where they describe the regulations which are applied in each country:

"Owners and Skippers

If someone other than a listed owner will skipper your boat, ensure they are listed as skipper on your DEKRA, otherwise there may be an assumption that you’re chartering illegally. To do this, an owner should visit the local port police office with his own and the skipper’s passport, and ask for the skipper’s name to be added to the DEKRA. It’s possible to do this with a letter of appointment, but that process can be a nightmare of affidavits and translations. "

There is a trap within this - you have to have a DEKRA, and vessels under 10m are no longer normally issued with one. So, to skipper a smaller vessel, either obtain a DEKRA and use the process above, or add the additional person to your SSR register of owners.

JimB

 

[Petronella]

Lending a Boat

Thanks for that Jim - very useful.

We do already have a DEKRA and will be in Greece with our friends before we intend to leave Petronella with them. So we will visit some friendly Port Police with them and their passports to get their names added to the DEKRA.