Questions about chartering a boat

[eegan88]

A few of my friends and I have this fantasy about sailing to South America from the San Francisco bay area. I suggested we charter a boat. My assumptions on chartering is that it's free as you are one of the crew members. Is this true? If so how much knowledge or experience do you have to have?

If anyone could shed some light on this for us we would greatly appreciate it!

sorry if this thread is out of place...

[Ishmael]

Sorry...chartering is anything but free! Prices generally range from maybe $1,500/wk up to the sky's-the-limit range. "Chartering" means you've hired the boat, and you either sail it yourselves (bareboat) or you've also hired a captain and possible some crew (a "crewed" charter). In either case, the boat goes where you choose (unless the hired captain decides otherwise for various reasons)

I think you may be confusing chartering with signing-on as crew. Sometimes (rarely), a captain may be in need of crew to help make a delivery, but they'll generally pick crew that have the most experience. In this scenario, you have no choice in destination...the captain has a job to do, and you're simply along to help. The less boating experience you have, the more expenses you'll likely be asked to share (e.g. - food, airfare home etc.)

[Pblais]

My assumptions on chartering is that it's free as you are one of the crew members. Is this true? If so how much knowledge or experience do you have to have?

If you got lucky you might find a captain in need of one warm body with not much experience but a group of you is not reasonable to expect even with exceptional luck. The less you pay the harder the work. The less expeience you have the fewer choices youll find. You and your friends might do better with a shorter trip to get used to the idea first. A crewed charter for money you pay really might be what you are expecting.