Setting up a Yacht Charter

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fluffc

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Hi All,

Has anyone any experience of offering their own yacht for bareboat charter. I understand that it will need to be blue-code compliant, and have the right insurance, but what pitfuls might there be.

The boat is a Ferro-cement Gaffer.

Or is it not worth the hastle?

Any advice or thoughts welcome /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
We charter our boat out. Where we are at Hamble Point Yacht Charters all the boats are nearly new, in top condition and fitted out with heating ,radar etc and all mod cons.

I am not sure whether there would be much demand for a fero concrete gaffer to charter. Where would you advertise it?

Before you spend any money advertise it and see if you get any replies first.
 
The great thing about it being ferro is that you get all the niceities of a Gaffer, but without the maintenance worries of a wooden hull. Maybe I'd have to tone down the ferro part of the advertising.

The boat is about 30 years old, but is in reasonable condition.

From what I gather, there are no gaffers available for bareboat charter in the UK of this size.
 
As I run a boat thats out on bareboat charter, I think you should bear in mind the mindset of the charter.
I have always been told 'keep it simple'...your sail setup may seem obvious to you, but some charterers seem lacking in intelligence sometimes.

Also bear in mind the handover, handling the money and deposit.
You may end arguing the toss about breakages, you may also end up with breakages that a charterer would not declare when he returns the yacht for fear of losing his or her deposit.

However, if you only offered Skippered charter - totally different matter, you will always have the control...
You will need to have a commercial endorsement on your YM practical certificate...
Could be a flyer or goer...whatever
 
Most charter boats are modern production fin-keel AWBs- as that is what is most popular, and easy to handle in marinas. If you are in Scotland marina handling is a bit less of a problem.

Also most charter boats have all 'mod cons', and everything needs to be as near foolproof as you can make it.

Having coded my own boat for charter it cost nearly £5,000, of which maybe £3,000 was on top of what I would have done if just kitting out the boat for my own use.

With a non-production boat you could have even more expense, as it will have to have a stability assessment done, whereas this data is readily available for most production boats you will have to pay for this to be done specially on yours.

There are probably at least some customers for unusual bare-boat charter, though the usual pattern seems to be either a family holiday or a 'boys week off' thrash across channel, which latter charter type I try and avoid letting my boat out to.

I suspect that the cost/return may not work for you, though you will probably have less worry about damage than most charter boat owners. Ferro boats are pretty hard to damage.
 
I would echo MArkG's advice.

The thought of allowing inexperienced charterers loose with big heavy gaffs wafting around at the top of the masts makes my hair stand on end (what little I have left)

It is unlikely that you will find many potential charterers with experience of handling a gaffer and in all seriousness there is the potential for them to hurt themselves or worse still to damage your boat.

You do have the great advantage of being in the best sailing area in the UK so my thought would be to concentrate on skippered charter. You can use the "character" of your boat to your advantage.

Of course after a few trips with a skipper to gain experience you can let them charter themselves with some confidence.
 
Yes, that's one of the areas I would like to investigate further - how do you go about 'veting' potential charterers to make sure they have enough experience of gaff rig to be safe. The RYA courses all seem to use Bermudan plastic-fantastics (although I believe a couple of traditional boats do run RYA courses). [I do secretly enjoy sailing plastic-fantastics though]

Thougts are, as you suggest, to do skippered charter until confident to let them out on their own.

Alternatives are all difficult to sort out - there inherently being no 'paperwork' to back up gaff rig sailors. Maybe if something can be found - a common qualification or standard of atainment - then the world of being able to bareboat charter a gaffer may open up.

Personally I have in the back of my mind the nagging feeling that there is a danger of losing the skills of gaff rig within a generation. Currently the only way to keep up skippering experience is to buy a gaffer.
 
Codeing the boat can be a lot cheaper than you think, many items in the code are open to interpretation, just discuss them with the surveyor, like opening windows and hatch closure options.

My codeing which included the stability assesmnet only involved one thing that was additional to work that was already being sorted , and something I wouldn't have done had I just been using the boat myself. That was turning the forehatch round, a 20 minute job.

The codeing work took less than a week to complete, and the only real additional cost was a few 100 for the survey, part one registry, tonnage and stability measurements.

All the safety issues are pretty standard on a well prepared boat.

Read the code and see what you will need, the only thing I needed was to turn the hatch and put an inflatable radar reflector in the grab bag, that was on a 15 year old boat.
You can read it here. http://bluemoment.com/codeofpractice/
 
I ran some boats on charter through an agent a few years ago. He was adamant that only well-known popular makes would get any custom. The only way to get charters with your type of boat would be to offer skippered charter and go for a niche market like whale watching, folk music or some such.
 
It is a problem

Even with a Bermudan rig you really only have the charterers word for their experience.

It is so unlikely that new charterers will have gaff experience that you have to assume non of them have.

I think this means you have to include a significantly more exhaustive hand-over procedure than would be the case with an AWB.

Can you pass on sufficient know how in say 2 hours to let them out alone with your boat. I don't know?

What are your circumstances - can you perhaps ship for the first day or 2 as deck hand just to show them the ropes?

Don't know all the answers but I do wish you the best of luck.

In terms of coding - I would think carefully about this. People all seem to go for the highest level they can, but it may well be that for you a lower level may be quite adaquate. Perhaps the 20 mile from safe haven level may suit the sort of sailing your customers are likely to do. It will save you a lot of money in fit out.
 
I would be interested - in chartering. Having sailed much as OOW on traditional, gaff rigged schooners and ketches, I like chartering an AWB , but lack some more sails and the spirit of a gaffer.
I am quite sure there is a niche market, and pherhaps a combination of chartering to people with experience with gaffers (can be proofed by certificates of former skippers, mates etc), skippered charters and pherhaps some "introduction to the gaffers world"-weekends could be the trick.
And anyway, I doubt that inexperienced skippers will have the guts to charter a gaffer, they are normally happy if they can make the distinction between mainsail and foresail.

Holger
 
Before you spend any money, be clear why you want to put your yacht up for charter - are you looking to run it as a business, making profit, or just offset some of the costs of ownership?

If you are looking to make a profit, be sure to draw up some forecasts with expected costs/income etc. Don't underestimate the cost of advertising, and ask about insurance - skippered charter insurance will add to the cost, bareboat charter insurance could go through the roof, especially with a big, heavy unusual (in the charter market) rig. You may find that you can't get insurance at all. If you use a charter agent, they'll expect around 15% commission on your charters.

If you are just looking to offset some ownership costs, think carefully about whether the income is worth the upheaval of setting your yacht up for charter. It's not just a case of getting it coded - you'll need to remove most of your personal effects, maybe simplify the navigation equipment and ensure that the yacht operates 100%. A niggle in the rigging or electrics is fine for a private yacht, but a charter yacht should be 100% (I know many aren't, but it's a lot less work for you if the yacht doesn't break down while on charter). Break downs aren't just mechanical and rig failures - many call outs are due to a lack of understanding how the yacht works - as already mentioned, you may struggle to explain sufficiently how this yacht works during the handover.

I think there may well be a market for your yacht - and there is certainly a market for gaff riggers (I sailed on board Provident out of Salcombe many moons ago). However, I'd try to find a charter agent who specialises in these type of yachts. They could advise you whether there's demand for you type of yacht, and what kind of income you could expect.

I hope this helps. Good luck!

Nick Roberts
 
There is no difference as far as I can see in terms of costs of equipment between cat 2 (60 miles) and cat 3 (20 miles) cat 4 (daylight) only means you save the cost of lights on life jackets.

There really shouldn't be any need for additional equipment to code a boat, but you do have to turn the hatch round! and maybe have a better gas alarm than the lidl variety.
 
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