Current state of the boat rental market

[aye-aye-captain]

Originally Posted by Lihuedooley77

I do have some major thoughts as to how this program will actualy work procedure and seamanship wise. Both for the charter person, and the boat owners.

Been a boat owner, and a partner, and worked for sailing clubs, and been members of sailing clubs, and bare boat chartered through out the planet, with several of the large and not so large bare boat charter outfits.

We found many problems with those vessels, depending on age, and lack of preventitive maintenance, and inspections, and who sailed the boats before us.

Bareboat charters, and partnerships have proven excellent to unacceptable.

Samboat apparently is not going to be on site, will not be personally inspecting anything on a constant basis, and will not be giving the proposed renters ( bareboater) any check outs, on board, and written or oral exams.

If I owned a boat, I would not be renting it out without a thorough check out of the renter, including on the water, and a thorough boat system check out.

As to those who would be bare boating, many that I have seen , even though they have been through getting some sort of an accredation, that really does not prove their actual experience and seamanship ability. As to samsboat, all you go by is a resume, and a civilian sailing association, or yacht club certificate. Not enough for me as a boat owner.

I can generally tell the seamanship ability of a person if I see how they actually handle all aspects of bare boating my vessel. 90 % of them cannot even secure a dock line or dink with cleat hitch....we called it a proper cleat . Most now, cannot read a nautical chart and are un familiar with coastal navigation.

There is a lot to renting out boats, the business is extremely demanding. Actually in many ways, including financially, and human effort wise. Boasts are hard to keep up and expensive.

We find, that owners will not fix problems, they just shine it. Or do not know there is a problem. Also, the vessel needs to cleaned and inspected by these owners, since samboat is not going to be doing it, after every charter, and in between charters.

That includes, running rigging, standing rigging, sails, hull, topsides, compass and other nav systems, all boat systems, electrical , stove, head, engine, trans, etc., etc. and vessel cleaned and ready to go.

The experience that I have gleaned over close to 36 years, professionally and for personal fun, has allowed me to see the best and the worst in sailing clubs, and bareboat chartering. And that includes world wide conglomerates that have huge staffs that are supposed to check out the renters, and take care of the boats.

Sometimes everything is outstanding, other times, the boats are not up to any proper standard. I would be happy to post a list of some of these actual experiences. One a recent as last week.

As to samboat saying that you required proper licensing, well the only really recognized maritime license in the U.S.A. is thru the U.S.C.G . Usually those sailors or motor vessel skippers are sailing for hire. That takes verifiable sea time, of 360 days at sea, or 720 days of documented time and taking a day to a day and half written exam at the U.S.C.G testing facility.

Other certifications , are like ASA, and that means that the renters have completed a structured sailing course, but that is not good enough. Why ? Because some people take training very seriously, others , it is one ear and out the other. Also, there are a lot of sailing clubs out there, some are excellent, and some are not. Some boaters here in the U.S have had zero training and have learned by experience.

Then, you get the boat owners, who rent their boats out , and state that their vessels are in great condition, when they are not. That is a problem that Erica and I are facing these days. Also, we when an owner would tout his boat over the phone, to the sailing club management to put it in charter. We had them bring the vessel to our docks for us to inspect. Sometimes there was no way that they would be suitable for bare boat or skippered charters. Other times, the boats were as promulgated, and we would put them into charter.. We had a full time dock staff, maitenance crew, manager, office staff, owner, and instructors. On site.

With 20,000 boats in the samboat program, you cannot possibly be aware of the up to date condition or seaworthiness, of those boats you represent. You do not see them. You have no idea about what may have occurred on the last charter.

And neither does the new charter bare boat person that is going to take the vessel out for two weeks of sailing the particular cruising grounds. They and their guests may have traveled several thousand miles and across a few oceans to sail in paradise and that boat has a problem or many problems. Their dream is dust.

Samboat has a great idea, but there is a whole lot more to renting out sailing, or power vessels and chartering with skipper, than shuffling paper work. I would be very happy, if the idea is successful.

Boats are constant problems, as is finding really qualified people to rent them, regardless of their going thru accredited sailing associations. And, add in the skippers for charters.

With over 25 years with working for sailing clubs, and training people, thru a very demanding and excellent sailing school, some members are absolutely excellent, They listen to all of the different instructors, and become dedicated seaman, and sea ladies, but you have others, that do not take sailing seriously, and do not understand that ocean does not love them. They just do not have the motivation.

The latter, if I was an owner, would not rent out my boat . Not a chance.

The problem is how do you know their actual ability and knowledge . And how does a prospective renter tell the seaworthiness of the vessel that the owner advertises as in bristol condition.

You don't , and that is from either side of that coin.

It really does come down to the individual. The charter person, and also the boat owner.

In the USA, you do not need any kind of a license or even training to buy and sail or motor a vessel. Except for registration, state, or federal.

The above has been learned having been deeply involved in sailing and power boating professional and for our own pleasure.

The OP wanted points of view. The above are our concerns for both the renter and the boat owners. The real world .

Thanks you so much for your point of view Lihuedooley77. I really loved your insights and details you provided thanks to your experience in sailing. I can't agree more on what you are saying ! In the end, it really does come to the individual, whether it's the boat owners or the charter person. And this is maybe one of our main challenge we try to answer the best we can. Over the past years we've been trying to setup processes to verify both vessels and people efficiently. Hence, as I previously stated, we are verifying manually, calling people, asking for licences pictures, creating nautical CV, and so on.

We put our trust in people to rent their boats ethically on the platform, who, in turn, put their trust in charter person to leave their boat as they found it. Meanwhile, charter person have to trust that the boat they're renting will live up to expectation.

Indeed, you were right saying that Samboat won't be on site checking everything, we can't be physically on site, espacially when the boats are listed in hundreds of destination. That is why we created and still developing a network of trusted ambassadors working on marinas and ports to handle booking and inspecting boats. Called "Local Samboat Representative", those ambassadors are recruited at first on their knowledge with the nautical world and of course, how they can handle people (as good customer service is one of our core value). They have also have yearly training at Samboat's headquarter. They provide reviews on each boat of their respective area. These reviews are visible on the website. I attached a picture to show you.



We are aware that each person and vessels have to be treated separately but with more than 20,000 boats, some of them slip through the net. But once again, this is something we are working on, finding the best way to verify and handle seaworthiness.

Ultimately, it is the reviews – for both the boat owner and charter person – that hold it all together.

Many thanks for you feedback though, I would love to know more about your experience and how you see things for the charter/rental industry. Maybe you can even help us to find amazing ideas to overcome the "verifying" challenge !

EDIT : picture doesn't show, added a link instead here : https://www.samboat.com/boat-rental/...otorboat/10226

[Fore and Aft]

Our marina has had problems with Airbnb renting out boats for accommodation. One particular house boat was just a none stop party boat with drunken guests untying other vessels and getting up to mischief. So now they have changed the rules and no more Airbnb on boats docked in the marina.
I am not keen on a perfect stranger docking my neighbours boat. What happens if he hits us and tells no one? Imagine going to your boat and the top sides are damaged. A bit hard to try and get any repairs paid for if no one owns up to the damage. At least at the moment I know my neighbour Mick is the only one who skippers his boat and if he did any damage he would ring me straight away.
Another issue is what happens if the boat gets abandoned some where? I had a customer who lent his trailer sailer to some friends of friends. They sailed to a Bay and for some reason could not be bothered sailing back to the boat ramp. So they left the boat on anchor and just disappeared! Imagine that happening and the boat owner is not even around to rescue his vessel?
All I can see is problems with a unregulated hire boat scheme.
Cheers

[Sailmonkey]

Originally Posted by denverd0n

Now? That has always been the case.

Poor wording on my part

[btexpres85]

Originally Posted by aye-aye-captain

Actually you are right, we don't have many boats listed right now in the US.

We are a french company and for the first years we were focusing exclusively on the main tourists destinations in Europe. Which we did with quite a success ! However, expanding in the US is part of our vision for the year 2018

Suprisingly, we do have a large portion of our customers that are americans visiting Europe or islands where we have boats listed (such as the Seychelles).

Speaking of which, which destinations in the US do you recommend us to focus on first ?

For the East Coast I'd focus on Annapolis, MD; DC Waterfront; Charleston, SC and Key West, FL. I'm not familiar with the West Coast but others will likely say San Francisco and San Diego, CA and maybe San Juan Islands, WA (though a short season).

[IslandHopper]

In Australia the vast majority of the boats listed with Airbnb don't go anywhere, and if they do it's the owner doing the driving, your not chartering bareboat or otherwise, for the most part your renting a room with a view, same as a motel/hotel just floating

Have a read of some......

https://www.google.com.au/search?q=a...hrome&ie=UTF-8

[contrail]

Originally Posted by wcapital

Re: Licensing

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but my understanding is that requirements for licensing to captain a boat with paying guests are different (and sometimes non-existent) depending upon jurisdiction. USA or France may be a lot different than smaller island-nations in the Caribbean....where there may be no requirement at all.

I throw this out as a sailor with > 50 years experience, including a fair amount of teaching in my younger years - but never licensed or certified other than when working part-time at a sailing school during as a graduate student (ASA instructor) back in the 80's.

But after thousands of miles and many boats, I'm quite sure I'd be more than competent, and probably legal, to take Airbnb guests for a week or two cruising the BVI, Grenadines or wherever.....though I recognize not so (legal) in the US. Adding licences / certifications may be easy and even enjoyable enough, but I'm curious as to how this might be viewed by SamBoat, if in a jurisdiction without such requirements.

I'm also curious about how much the 800 lb. gorillas, Airbnb & HomeAway/VRBO may be paying attention to the yachting market. I have met boat owners doing quite well offering accommodations at the dock, with an option to go cruising with them as captain.

Well, let's see! The BVI takes a VERY dim view of airB&B operations as it is perceived to compete with local hotels. But, if you did attempt it, you would need a Trade License. If you are the Captain, you will need a Work Permit, and a BVI Boatmaster's license, which can be gotten as a reciprocal for a USCG Master's License (six pac is worthless, internationally) or RYA license, plus an STCW certificate. And, don't forget, most insurance forbids illegal activities of any kind, which renders the policy null and void.

I think you would find most of the Caribbean Islands to be similar.

[Lihuedooley77]

aye aye captain :

Good ideas in your reply.....

You requested some real world experience

I will pick situations from bare boat companies, sailing clubs, and private owner that was a type of partner ship, with a few individuals that paid dues every month for boat use. More like what your program is like. No staff .

this is just a few of the situations that we have encountered. Too many to post here.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sailing a 36 ft sailing vessel out of the BVI....in addition to submitting my resume, U.SC.G Lic Captain for vessels up to 500 tons, and a very healthy resume of sailing with this company, and actually acting as a broker and lead flotilas in the BVi, Tahiti, etc, with them, we still , always do our own 1.5 hour additional personal inspection of any vessel that we sail, bare boat , or sailing club, or partnership.

On this particular vessel with company M, we go thru our inspection, there is a sound rip in the mainsail just below the fist luff reefing cringle. We tell the vessel check out staff about it. He says he will let the sail loft of the company know about it, They will fix us up with a new sail.

We are eager to start our two week sailing vacation. No one shows up. So I go up to the sail loft, and they just go into suspended animation. Well, I told the office to forget about rigging a new sail. I will tuck in a first reef, the rip was below the luff cringle area. We will sail the two weeks reefed down. No problem since in may the winds are generally 15 to 20.

We are not done with this boat or company. During the two weeks we discover more squawks. One, as we leave Road Harbor in rain and low visibility. We stow the fenders, and dock lines, haul up the reefed main, and set the auto pilot to sail over to Norman Island. Not in sight since the vis is about 1 mile and varying to lower with the rian. Passage is 7 miles.

The auto pilot indicates the proper heading, but I can see as we leave the entrance that something is not correct. I check the auto pilot heading with the ship binnacle compass. I match up the ships compass with my hand bearing compass. The ships compass is correct. The auto pilot is not. We turn off the auto pilot and get back on our correct heading. NO GPS, we know how to navigate with coastal piloting.

For all of the electronic wonder sailors out there, if they would have used that auto pilot without checking the ships compass, or would they even have a hand bearing compass, they would have totally missed the island and headed out to whatever, the empty sea presented to them.

Trusting people is a nice concept, but reality is another.

After our two weeks, I noted 16 separate discrepancies on that boat. When we returned to the marina . They sent down a staff member to check us in and write up any problems. She sat in the cockpit, and I hauled out my list and slowly read them off to her. Her pen would go to the paper, stop and not write anything down. She did not have a clue as to what I was saying. Not one of the 16 squawks were recorded. I left my copy on the top of the chart table.

The next bare boat charter people would probably get the same thing that we experienced.

Last time that we sailed with them. And that was after about 34 years of using their vessels and company S' vessels as well.

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* We just recently moved back to the mainland from kauai island....to a beach town here in southern california. We wanted to get back into sailing our local waters to Catalina Island and along our coast line.

* We joined a sailing club, and of course go thru our personal pre sail check lists.

When I mentioned other club members or bare boat charter people and who knows what they might do to cause problems for the next charter person, or deferred or non repaired maintenance problems , I was very serious.

Other problems were lack of maintenance and the boat owners refusing to pay to have problems fixed or equipment replaced.

Several different times when we showed up at the sailing club office to take our reserved boat for a week to catalina, the following situations occurred. SURPRISE !

Oh, sorry, but we do not have a boat for you. ( Different situations and dates ).

1. The boat was coming back from the island, and the engine blew up.

2. The boat cannot go anywhere , the transmission does not work

3. Cannot have such and such, the mast broke. Say What !!!!

4. Another vessel, the leach reefing line block, that was on a long rail at the aft end of the boom, was useless. That block was well forward and could not be moved aft along that rail to make the new foot of the main tight. It was frozen from non use. No one ever reefed down.

We spotted this on our check out with one of their instructors. We were going to take this vessel to the island. You could not break loose the screw that was secured in that rail.....the staff instructor weighed about 210 pounds, We brought up our channel locks from our sail bag, he hung feet in the air, and stood pulling from the cockpit deck and could not break it free. My 130 bounds of twisted steel and sex appeal, tried and finally turned the job over to the staff. Did not work.

Most every vessel that we rented or had reserved with this sailing club was nothing but problems. Sad but true, since we really liked all of the staff, office, instructors, dock staff , etc. We cancelled out membership to the sailing club after all of the above and more.
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Latest example...... Private owner, we were going to take the boat to Catalina for a week., This was just a few days ago.

The owner invites us out sailing, well before our planned trip. Before we left for Kauai, we were part of this partnership on the 34 foot sailing vessel, We know the boat, but it had been several years since we had sailed her. We could get re-acquainted.

A few days before hand, the owner calls that we would not be sailing just doing a harbor cruise around newport bay. OK, that is cool, We would get there early and pre check the vessel. The head stay and foil of the roller snarling jib was defective.

Trash on board , not removed by the previous people. I hauled that to the bin. I look in the engine compartment, and oil is covering the engine, and sides of the compartment, and the area under the engine looks like an oil lake.

Then I hear voices, it is the friends of the owner who are also coming along. I show him the engine. He says, he and his wife are sleeping on board for a couple of days.
I said lets check the water tank">fresh water tank. He did not know how to do that...we pull of the starboard setee cushion, and open the hatch......and the fresh water tank cap. Totally dry.

So, I look for a hose, find a short piece of hose in the dock box that is under junk and garbage. I took some of that to the shore side bin. The hose was too short, but I used another boats hose and connected the two and ran the hose thru the starboard port light window and to the tank.

Now , all done, the owner shows up, and had been made aware of the engine problem. Remember , we have scheduled ahead to take this boat to catalina.

We also filled the engine oil to the full line.

The owner gets on board, and I explain what the problem is. He is sitting behind the wheel and does not even look at the oil filled engine compartment. He tells my lady to toss him the keys. Starts the engine and is ready to head off.

While this is all going on, I am back at the wheel area talking to him about the oil leak. I look at the ships compass. The clear plastic half dome is opaque, and I cannot even read the headings on the compass card. To expensive to replace it, since they are no longer in stock. Needs a whole new compass. He does have a GPS....well , this ol sailing capt needs a real ships compass as well.

We declined to go. Plus , with all of the delays our evening plans for our saturday date night were not going to work out.

These are just a few instances of the sailing and boating world. And I mean a few.

Just how would your organization handle these types of situations. You must have a lot of those representatives working for you, with your 20,000 boats. There are many boats, marinas, and docks and mooring fields and anchorages all over the world.

Oh, we also cancelled our plans for that vessel and going to Catalina .

I think at this time, we are going to hold off sailing in socal, and concentrate on trip # 17, in the BVI.....with a small family owned charter company that has been around for 30 years. Already have sailed with " C: twice, and every thing, people , staff, boats, were excellent.

Wondering how your company would have handled those situations, when would you even be aware of the problems. If the money goes to the owner, how do the charter people get their money back. What about their airline fare, and hotels , and lost vacation time.

Business planning is one thing, the actual real world of boats is another.

[aye-aye-captain]

Originally Posted by btexpres85

For the East Coast I'd focus on Annapolis, MD; DC Waterfront; Charleston, SC and Key West, FL. I'm not familiar with the West Coast but others will likely say San Francisco and San Diego, CA and maybe San Juan Islands, WA (though a short season).

Thanks for your ideas ! Definitely gonna take that into account.

[aye-aye-captain]

Originally Posted by Lihuedooley77

aye aye captain :

Good ideas in your reply.....

You requested some real world experience

I will pick situations from bare boat companies, sailing clubs, and private owner that was a type of partner ship, with a few individuals that paid dues every month for boat use. More like what your program is like. No staff .

this is just a few of the situations that we have encountered. Too many to post here.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Sailing a 36 ft sailing vessel out of the BVI....in addition to submitting my resume, U.SC.G Lic Captain for vessels up to 500 tons, and a very healthy resume of sailing with this company, and actually acting as a broker and lead flotilas in the BVi, Tahiti, etc, with them, we still , always do our own 1.5 hour additional personal inspection of any vessel that we sail, bare boat , or sailing club, or partnership.

On this particular vessel with company M, we go thru our inspection, there is a sound rip in the mainsail just below the fist luff reefing cringle. We tell the vessel check out staff about it. He says he will let the sail loft of the company know about it, They will fix us up with a new sail.

We are eager to start our two week sailing vacation. No one shows up. So I go up to the sail loft, and they just go into suspended animation. Well, I told the office to forget about rigging a new sail. I will tuck in a first reef, the rip was below the luff cringle area. We will sail the two weeks reefed down. No problem since in may the winds are generally 15 to 20.

We are not done with this boat or company. During the two weeks we discover more squawks. One, as we leave Road Harbor in rain and low visibility. We stow the fenders, and dock lines, haul up the reefed main, and set the auto pilot to sail over to Norman Island. Not in sight since the vis is about 1 mile and varying to lower with the rian. Passage is 7 miles.

The auto pilot indicates the proper heading, but I can see as we leave the entrance that something is not correct. I check the auto pilot heading with the ship binnacle compass. I match up the ships compass with my hand bearing compass. The ships compass is correct. The auto pilot is not. We turn off the auto pilot and get back on our correct heading. NO GPS, we know how to navigate with coastal piloting.

For all of the electronic wonder sailors out there, if they would have used that auto pilot without checking the ships compass, or would they even have a hand bearing compass, they would have totally missed the island and headed out to whatever, the empty sea presented to them.

Trusting people is a nice concept, but reality is another.

After our two weeks, I noted 16 separate discrepancies on that boat. When we returned to the marina . They sent down a staff member to check us in and write up any problems. She sat in the cockpit, and I hauled out my list and slowly read them off to her. Her pen would go to the paper, stop and not write anything down. She did not have a clue as to what I was saying. Not one of the 16 squawks were recorded. I left my copy on the top of the chart table.

The next bare boat charter people would probably get the same thing that we experienced.

Last time that we sailed with them. And that was after about 34 years of using their vessels and company S' vessels as well.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* We just recently moved back to the mainland from kauai island....to a beach town here in southern california. We wanted to get back into sailing our local waters to Catalina Island and along our coast line.

* We joined a sailing club, and of course go thru our personal pre sail check lists.

When I mentioned other club members or bare boat charter people and who knows what they might do to cause problems for the next charter person, or deferred or non repaired maintenance problems , I was very serious.

Other problems were lack of maintenance and the boat owners refusing to pay to have problems fixed or equipment replaced.

Several different times when we showed up at the sailing club office to take our reserved boat for a week to catalina, the following situations occurred. SURPRISE !

Oh, sorry, but we do not have a boat for you. ( Different situations and dates ).

1. The boat was coming back from the island, and the engine blew up.

2. The boat cannot go anywhere , the transmission does not work

3. Cannot have such and such, the mast broke. Say What !!!!

4. Another vessel, the leach reefing line block, that was on a long rail at the aft end of the boom, was useless. That block was well forward and could not be moved aft along that rail to make the new foot of the main tight. It was frozen from non use. No one ever reefed down.

We spotted this on our check out with one of their instructors. We were going to take this vessel to the island. You could not break loose the screw that was secured in that rail.....the staff instructor weighed about 210 pounds, We brought up our channel locks from our sail bag, he hung feet in the air, and stood pulling from the cockpit deck and could not break it free. My 130 bounds of twisted steel and sex appeal, tried and finally turned the job over to the staff. Did not work.

Most every vessel that we rented or had reserved with this sailing club was nothing but problems. Sad but true, since we really liked all of the staff, office, instructors, dock staff , etc. We cancelled out membership to the sailing club after all of the above and more.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Latest example...... Private owner, we were going to take the boat to Catalina for a week., This was just a few days ago.

The owner invites us out sailing, well before our planned trip. Before we left for Kauai, we were part of this partnership on the 34 foot sailing vessel, We know the boat, but it had been several years since we had sailed her. We could get re-acquainted.

A few days before hand, the owner calls that we would not be sailing just doing a harbor cruise around newport bay. OK, that is cool, We would get there early and pre check the vessel. The head stay and foil of the roller snarling jib was defective.

Trash on board , not removed by the previous people. I hauled that to the bin. I look in the engine compartment, and oil is covering the engine, and sides of the compartment, and the area under the engine looks like an oil lake.

Then I hear voices, it is the friends of the owner who are also coming along. I show him the engine. He says, he and his wife are sleeping on board for a couple of days.
I said lets check the fresh water tank. He did not know how to do that...we pull of the starboard setee cushion, and open the hatch......and the fresh water tank cap. Totally dry.

So, I look for a hose, find a short piece of hose in the dock box that is under junk and garbage. I took some of that to the shore side bin. The hose was too short, but I used another boats hose and connected the two and ran the hose thru the starboard port light window and to the tank.

Now , all done, the owner shows up, and had been made aware of the engine problem. Remember , we have scheduled ahead to take this boat to catalina.

We also filled the engine oil to the full line.

The owner gets on board, and I explain what the problem is. He is sitting behind the wheel and does not even look at the oil filled engine compartment. He tells my lady to toss him the keys. Starts the engine and is ready to head off.

While this is all going on, I am back at the wheel area talking to him about the oil leak. I look at the ships compass. The clear plastic half dome is opaque, and I cannot even read the headings on the compass card. To expensive to replace it, since they are no longer in stock. Needs a whole new compass. He does have a GPS....well , this ol sailing capt needs a real ships compass as well.

We declined to go. Plus , with all of the delays our evening plans for our saturday date night were not going to work out.

These are just a few instances of the sailing and boating world. And I mean a few.

Just how would your organization handle these types of situations. You must have a lot of those representatives working for you, with your 20,000 boats. There are many boats, marinas, and docks and mooring fields and anchorages all over the world.

Oh, we also cancelled our plans for that vessel and going to Catalina .

I think at this time, we are going to hold off sailing in socal, and concentrate on trip # 17, in the BVI.....with a small family owned charter company that has been around for 30 years. Already have sailed with " C: twice, and every thing, people , staff, boats, were excellent.

Wondering how your company would have handled those situations, when would you even be aware of the problems. If the money goes to the owner, how do the charter people get their money back. What about their airline fare, and hotels , and lost vacation time.

Business planning is one thing, the actual real world of boats is another.

Thanks for your point of view and the stories you provided. It’s always interesting to see how people handle different issues. I can relate to some of your stories as it also happened a few times during the 3 years of operation with Samboat. I ain’t gonna write an essay but instead will provide a short answer.

Issues are resolved on a case-by-case basis. Yes, we do put trust in people and on our checking/verifying processes with continuous improvement. Yes, we try to do our best regarding safety and security with insurance, deposits and stuff (see my previous answers). But zero risk does not exist and stuff happen sometimes. And it goes the same with all charter companies, car rental companies, peer-to-peer rental companies and so on.

We do not hesitate to unlist and ban people from our platform if they don’t comply with Samboat’s criteria. And once again, ultimately, it is the reviews that hold it all together.

Finally, I’m sure you can relate to this, as you used to do it before, but seeing people enjoying their vacations, receiving pictures of families having good times aboard, young adults having fun fishing for a day, well more or less providing the joy and freedom of sailing, this kind of thing is really rewarding. And this is what drives us.

[Lihuedooley77]

very good, you are doing your best, and have things well thought out.

And totally agree it is great to see your members, and customers having a grand time on their sailing vacations, bare boat or charter or M/V and fishing. Their eyes lit up, big smiles, faces glowing, and the weight and stress of every day living totally vanished.

Another area to look into for the west coast of the U.S.

Might be southern california, for charter and bare boating. Sail and power.

There are generally fairly calm seas and good weather, except winter time can get pretty cold. No snow, no hurricanes, no sleet, etc. Some rain, but we need that badly and our winter rain season is helping out the drought a little. The local sailors and power boaters will have full understanding of the weather which is usually not a problem.

But, there is fishing along the coast, and out in the expanse of the San Pedro Channel, as well as Catalina Island, for Avalon, other protected harbors along the coast of the island up to Two Harbors, isthmus Cove, moorings are available , and in the same area, other snug coves.

Avalon, and Desconso, and Two Harbors with shore boat to service to shore .
One, one of our peaceful dive and snorkeling sites is Emerald Bay. No hotels or buildings. During Whale season, lots of migrating whales and of course large pods of dolphins.

You can check out Avalon, Catlina Is. and also Two Harbors ( isthmus Cove) which is more like a carribean island, and Avalon is more med style with lots of shops, restaurants, bars, beach, zip lining, small craft rentals, stand up paddle boarding, etc. Both also have nice beaches and hiking trails.

some ' Over town'...( mainland ) harbor marinas to check out would be Alimitos Bay, Long Beach, Newport Beach. Those are our favorite harbors and marinas.

Newport Bay is very nice and upscale, lots of restaurants, and shopping and is a little further south. 26 miles, roughly to Avalon.

Alimitos Bay, since it is further north, is an easier and shorter sail to Catalina. At Alimitos bay, you can walk to restaurants and shops and even into the small quaint village of Seal Beach. One main street, three blocks long, with friendly shops, and restaurants and great beach .

Long beach harbor, and the several marinas there are also easy passages to Catalina Island. Nice having an island a few miles across the pond.

Catalina also presents sveral different harbors and coves. Also there are hiking trails all over the island.

You can check some of these ideas out on their web sites, and see if they might be what you are looking for.

[ferrailleur]

Originally Posted by aye-aye-captain

Yep indeed, boat owners need to carry a licence if they want to skipper their own boat for gain.

We've been really careful with this - that's why we are doing manual checking with owners ! Last month, a skipper was flagged and fined by not having its licence (not with Samboat, fortunately for us but with less-cautious competitor).

Interested in 2-3 days sailing out of Annapolis on Hunter 33 with skipper.
Cannot get the with skipper option on your web site.
Thanks

[Hoodsail]

A-A Cap'n:
Here in the USA along the Long Island Sound I would be reluctant to rent my sailboat due to the nature of our coast, as it is very tortuous and rocky which makes sailing in the area, even with charts/GPS, challenging. Never a season goes by without someone running either their sail or powerboat aground with significant damage to the vessel. Additionally, due to a full-time job/short season, my time sailing is never enough and I would be loathe to spend it captaining strangers about, even if I was licensed.

Good news is it is also an excellent area for sailing, especially as you move more easterly down the sound with increasing winds. The Connecticut and Rhode Island coasts have numerous harbors, bays, as well as our islands; Block, Nantucket, Elizabeth islands, and Martha's Vineyard. Last but not least are the harbors on Long Island itself.
Good luck in your expanding endeavor.
dave

[aye-aye-captain]

Hey Ferrailleur, thanks for pointing out. I forwarded the message to our IT team. Indeed, we just rolled out a entirely new version of our website last week. More than a simple design update, it was a big overhaul on our database and the way we manage it. Bugs still exist and I am happy you helped us discovered it.

[aye-aye-captain]

Originally Posted by Hoodsail

A-A Cap'n:
Here in the USA along the Long Island Sound I would be reluctant to rent my sailboat due to the nature of our coast, as it is very tortuous and rocky which makes sailing in the area, even with charts/GPS, challenging. Never a season goes by without someone running either their sail or powerboat aground with significant damage to the vessel. Additionally, due to a full-time job/short season, my time sailing is never enough and I would be loathe to spend it captaining strangers about, even if I was licensed.

Good news is it is also an excellent area for sailing, especially as you move more easterly down the sound with increasing winds. The Connecticut and Rhode Island coasts have numerous harbors, bays, as well as our islands; Block, Nantucket, Elizabeth islands, and Martha's Vineyard. Last but not least are the harbors on Long Island itself.
Good luck in your expanding endeavor.
dave

Thanks Hoodsail. Yep I understand, even if I never personally sailed in the US, some areas require to be a skillful sailor or to know perfectly the coasts.

Definitely gonna add the harbors you listed on our "to do plan"

[john61ct]

https://www.wired.com/story/airbnb-for-everything/amp