Long term yacht charter in Caribbean

bbg

bbg

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Does anyone know of any companies that charter for a longer term - say 2 to 6 months? I would like to take a sabbatical in a couple of years, and chartering would be more efficient than buying / selling. I don't really want to take 2 months out of a 4-month break to buy a boat and get it in shape.
 
Have you tried the regular biggies?
Sunsail/Moorings have bases all over the place over their... so a boat from them might make sense.... easy service if there is a problem....

another option might be Horizon who have bases in the Grenadines, Antigua, St Marteen, and the BVI's.....

As a alternative you might want to contact someone like Tenrag who have good connections out there and might know of a private yacht that could be chartered...


I will be interested in what you find.... its a good idea.
 
It’s hard to improve on Photdogs advice.

Email the smaller companies as well as the big players some charter yachts from St Vincent for example run well set up yachts and right now i guess that they are not exactly rushed off their feet responding to enquires (google will identify them). I’m anchored in front of the Moorings base on Canouan and if it will help I could ask when I go ashore. One problem will be that the prospect of a possible charter in a couple of years is rather a long way off for the Caribbean mindset and perhaps too vague. Firm dates (is it 2 or 6 months that you want to charter) and the offer of a deposit at some stage might help.

best wishes
 
Suspect the lack of responses is because long term charters are not common. Charter boats are expected to earn their keep over a certain number of weeks and there are limited savings in say a single charter for 12 weeks compared with 6*2 weeks charters. Assume rate is £2k a week, you might get a 10% discount for a longer term charter. so a 3 month charter might be £20k+ and a 6 month double that. Not sure an operator would want to tie one boat up for such a long period, but of course there may be some who have surplus capacity, but you are only going to find that out by asking!

As you probably know, many charter boats are owned by individuals and some by the operators. It may be that when they come up for retirement the market is sluggish and a single charter might be an attractive alternative to trying to sell. Again you will only find out if you ask.
 
Tranona said:
Suspect the lack of responses is because long term charters are not common. Charter boats are expected to earn their keep over a certain number of weeks and there are limited savings in say a single charter for 12 weeks compared with 6*2 weeks charters. Assume rate is £2k a week, you might get a 10% discount for a longer term charter. so a 3 month charter might be £20k+ and a 6 month double that. Not sure an operator would want to tie one boat up for such a long period, but of course there may be some who have surplus capacity, but you are only going to find that out by asking!

As you probably know, many charter boats are owned by individuals and some by the operators. It may be that when they come up for retirement the market is sluggish and a single charter might be an attractive alternative to trying to sell. Again you will only find out if you ask.
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Proposal:

So you wish a six month charter. As Tranona says (3 month charter might be £20k+ and a 6 month double that ie £40,000.00.)

So why don't you give me the £40,000.00 and I will extend the charter to 9 months (6 months now and 3 next year).

How about chartering a 44'0" Gulfstar Motor Sailer?

I will buy this:
1909138_1.jpg
1909138_5_thumb.jpg


and you can have it for charter.

http://www.yachtworld.com/boats/197...!!-1909138/simpson-bay/St.-Maarten-St.-Martin
 
Not as difficult!

My wife and I work in the charter business in the Caribbean and what you want to do is more common than you would think!.
Do you want to go bare boat or fully crewed or Skipper only?, as these are options available to you.
If the charter market is still on its ear when you are ready to come over major discounts will be easily had, and many charter companies would love to have a boat out for 4 months at a time.
What would be your choice of destinations as in 4 months you could easily cover the Leeward and Windward islands but that is a lot of sailing and if you only want to travel one way only then either a Skipper or one of the multi base companies would be a better bet. But if you choose to limit the distances and spend longer at each destination to enjoy and truly experience some of the inner beauty of the islands then bare boating or Skipper only might be more to your liking.
If you are planning on having a holiday and no stress then some professional help on board would be a good thing, for you and your family.
As has been reported recently on another thread if you go from country to country there are Customs and Immigration and Agriculture and Medical clearance procedures that can be quite perplexing if you have never had dealings with the Caribbean way of doing things.

Mark
 
How about approaching the vendor of a boat for sale, and offering a decent sum for the long-term charter? Then he can postpone his selling job for a few months, the boat will basically be worth exactly what it is today to sell (more, if you believe countries will be emerging from recession by then) and he'll have made a significant proportion of the boat's value (as your charter fee) straight to his bottom line in the meantime?

Should work with a good discount on the commercial chartering fee.
 
BelleSerene said:
How about approaching the vendor of a boat for sale, and offering a decent sum for the long-term charter? Then he can postpone his selling job for a few months, the boat will basically be worth exactly what it is today to sell (more, if you believe countries will be emerging from recession by then) and he'll have made a significant proportion of the boat's value (as your charter fee) straight to his bottom line in the meantime?

Should work with a good discount on the commercial chartering fee.
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This is similar to what I was offering but I would get the boat later rather than sooner.

I am sure that shorter repeat charters could be agreed at drastically reduced costs. :D
 
Thanks to all for the good info. Plan is to begin in November 2011, so I am really in the very early stages of looking.
 
syndicate

bbg said:
Does anyone know of any companies that charter for a longer term - say 2 to 6 months? I would like to take a sabbatical in a couple of years, and chartering would be more efficient than buying / selling. I don't really want to take 2 months out of a 4-month break to buy a boat and get it in shape.
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i'm in exactly the same position, and am sure there are others too.

4-6 months is a full season in many destinations, so for that long a period, you'd have to offer the owner a sum to cover annual costs, inc repairs, pro rata renewals and depreciation - at that point, the weekly charter rates dont seem so bad.

2 months could work with a private owner, getting their running costs and some useful cash back whilst their boat wasnt in use. it could also be attractive uf tgied into their cruising plans - they cruise slowly from A to B, you return it slowly from B to A. it would take a lot of trust, or a hefty deposit, contract & 1-2 surveys to cover the risk of damage.

Another option is working a deal as a delivery skipper - agree to move boat from A to B slowly, in return for expenses but no fee.

A last idea would be the sysndicate owners - i'm sure there are some sharers who are trying to sell their shares who would let you charter therir X weeks entitlements.

The problem with all of these is finding those owners - YBW forum is the best we have in the UK, yet I doubt reaches 1% of big boat owners.

remenber there is one advantage you have over most who've bought a boat - you could choose 3 weeks in the aegean, 4 weeks in new zealand, 2 weeks in corsica, 4 weeks in carribean etc! you could also reduce outgoins by going as paid guest on others' liveaboard boats some weeks, esp in more exotic locations where there are no charters, and offer services as crew to shorthaded sailors on longer passages occasionally.
 
What you are asking is not unusual or difficult to arrange. There are plenty of owners who have taken their boats out there, been cruising, and left their boats somewhere unsure of what to do next.

One common option is to agree to return the boat to Europe after using her for the season in the WI.

I know of one person whose 40ft cruising boat has been in T & T for two years doing nothing - i'm sure he would be keen to have her used for charter if certain conditions were met.
 
dk said:
What you are asking is not unusual or difficult to arrange. There are plenty of owners who have taken their boats out there, been cruising, and left their boats somewhere unsure of what to do next.

One common option is to agree to return the boat to Europe after using her for the season in the WI.

I know of one person whose 40ft cruising boat has been in T & T for two years doing nothing - i'm sure he would be keen to have her used for charter if certain conditions were met.
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The last bit of your post is the problem. Of course there are lots of unused or underused boats aaround. The difficulty is turning them into a charter activity. Potentially issues of licencing, coding, servicing, insurance have to be considered. How do you as an individual owner deal with the risk that your boat might disappear? Do you ask for deposit equal to the market value?

I can see potential in brokering such deals if there was a model operating contract available to deal with these issues. However, I think the potential demand is likely to be very small and any deals ad hoc between the two parties or within the framework of an existing charter operation.
 
Live aboard get away

Im in the same frame of mind as BBG, having sold my flat in London (after a 13 year relationship collapsed) instead of charter I will buy a yacht in Florida and cruise the islands for a year or two before heading home(to Scotland).

I wonder how difficult it is to get like minded people to share the adventure with as I will be starting the journey unaccompanied.

In my opinion chartering for up to 6 months will be hideously expensive, like renting a flat, at the end of it you have no return.
 
I am fairly new to post in general so excuse me if I make a mistake.

Just wanted to say we started a company in 2005 to make it more affordable to go cruising part time. It is called Seabbatical. We offer nice boats for much less than the charter rates for 4 week segments. The price must be about right since it seems to work for the owner, and the charterer. It wasn't set up to make a lot of money and it is succeeding in that regard. I do think it fills a small need though, for those that want to take their family cruising for a month or four without selling their house or business to buy a boat. We have been from Novascotia to Grenada but mostly in the Virgin Islands. It started as a flotilla but is now mostly bareboat.
 
Year's Lease?

mandlmaunder said:
My wife and I work in the charter business in the Caribbean and what you want to do is more common than you would think!.

Do you know of any sailboats (35' - 50', monohull) that could be leased for a year? Also, do you know whom I should contact about the same on the U.S. gulf coast or intracoastal?

Thanks!
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