Chartering a boat with minimum experience

[Floyd94]

Hello,
I was curious if anyone has chartered a boat with little experience. Im thinking of chartering a boat in BVI for a week. Only problem, is I have very little sailing experience, but I'm no strangers to power boats. I am a bit concerned that the charter company would rent me the boat but they say the sailing is really easy and everthing is line of site. What say the experts on the board??

[ssullivan]

Originally Posted by Floyd94

Hello,
I was curious if anyone has chartered a boat with little experience. Im thinking of chartering a boat in BVI for a week. Only problem, is I have very little sailing experience, but I'm no strangers to power boats. I am a bit concerned that the charter company would rent me the boat but they say the sailing is really easy and everthing is line of site. What say the experts on the board??

I say go for it.

Just use it like a power boat in the harbor, then when you get out where there is room, try putting the sailing theory you have read to use. We all had to start at one point. You probably won't mess up anything on the charter boat if you are careful to practice sailing in light winds (under 10 knots the first day)

Remember that by the dock, it will behave like a trawler with a long skeg/keel. No going sideways and in circles with it unless it's a cat, or has a bow thruster.

[OldSarg]

I wouldn't think it would be that difficult for you, if you have the powerboating experience. I would look at it as an opportunity to make mistakes without too great of risk. Keep your head down! What is the name of the company?

[David M]

All of the above, plus read up on sail theory and keep you sails down in heavy air until you fully understand what is happening.

[jackdale]

Originally Posted by Floyd94

Hello,
I was curious if anyone has chartered a boat with little experience. Im thinking of chartering a boat in BVI for a week. Only problem, is I have very little sailing experience, but I'm no strangers to power boats. I am a bit concerned that the charter company would rent me the boat but they say the sailing is really easy and everthing is line of site. What say the experts on the board??

The BVI's is easy to navigate. Mooring balls are picked up under power, anchoring is done under power, docking is done under power. Roller furling foresails and mains simply things. My only concern would be trying to do an MOB, mooring ball, anchor etc.. under sail. I had a transmission failure in the BVI's and had to sail from Jost van Dyke to Cane Garden to get repairs.

Jack

[LtBrett]

You will have to submit a sailing resume to the charter company. They will probably tell you the same thing I'm about to: get a captain for the first day. It will cost $150 or so, and will be worth every penny. You've probably got the basic seamanship, navigation and boathandling, so top it off with a captain to "show you the ropes." They may require a captian to stick around a little longer if you don't have experience on a comparably sized boat, be it power or sail.

Brett

[Floyd94]

Thanks for all the tips, Im starting to feel a little better about the trip. I do plan on using a Captain the first day so he/she can show me the ropes.

And to answer another question, the charter is through the Moorings. This being the first time for the wife and myself, I was hoping to make a good impression with the wife by going with a company like the Moorings. If all goes well, hopefully she will be receptive to another trip.

I was a little suprised that they were willing to charter me the boat after I filled out the "resume". It must be as someone else said, that as long as you have a visa....

[bstreep]

They will "catch up with you" when you get there - they have a very good nose for who knows what on a boat. Just like cops, they KNOW what they are looking for. They will likely require you to take a captain, for at least a day - and that's probably a good idea.

Another alternative would be to charter a powerboat. There are several companies that do that.

Best question to ask at the briefing: "where's the emergency tiller, and how does it go on the rudder post".

[Floyd94]

Originally Posted by bstreep

They will "catch up with you" when you get there - they have a very good nose for who knows what on a boat. Just like cops, they KNOW what they are looking for. ".

What exactly will they be looking for?? I would hope they wouldn't rent the boat to me over the phone and then I get down there and then they refuse me the boat.

[jackdale]

Originally Posted by Floyd94

What exactly will they be looking for?? I would hope they wouldn't rent the boat to me over the phone and then I get down there and then they refuse me the boat.

The knowledgeable questions / approach to the boat is how they judge. I have never been asked to show my logbook, but I have been asked for a resume. I do orientations occasionally for a charter company in BC. If we have concerns, we go out for a few hours to raise and lower sails, reef, anchor and come back to the dock. In the PNW, sailing in tidal waters with currents is a concern - not a problem in the BVIs.

Jack

[Pblais]

You will have to submit a sailing resume to the charter company. They will probably tell you the same thing I'm about to: get a captain for the first day. It will cost $150 or so, and will be worth every penny.

I would be honest with your discussions. If you were genuinely unqualified and got turned loose it won't be a fun trip and you still pay for all the damages. Requiring a captain for a checkout period is not uncommon and a good thing. If you had a captain for a day you would learn all the local information plus they would show you things you probably don't know specifically about that boat. If you checked out the rest of the crew would appreciate it as well. It's supposed to be fun not a theme park ride.

As noted all your prior experience does count toward your ability to perform operations but I would agree to be checked out if offerred.

I have a friend that was a Moorings captain and as he was leaving the boat the wife handed him a note. After he was out of sight she had written. "Help, my husband is an idiot and does not know what he is doing". He got back on the boat. I suppose it's easy to fake it for a short period of time but you can't fake it for a whole week without staying in one spot. A skippered charter can also be great. You sail the boat when you want and not when you don't feel like it and you always find the best possible anchorages and best local entertainmnet. Charter captains acquire this through extensive training .

[GordMay]

I asked my boat broker friend, and he told me: “Newer boats, with minimal experience, are generally in better shape than more experienced boats.”

[rtbates]

My experience with the Corpus Christi Sailing Academy is that they tell you IF they don't fell you have the skills a captain will be assigned. What they've done is place the captain on board BEFORE you leave. He sits down and say go and simply watches. The last time we chartered he asked to be taken back after we had backed out and started our turn out of the basin. Prior to that he stayed aboard for maybe a mile. I've been sailing for 30 years... Rules of the road are their biggy since we have to transit a shipping channel to get to the gulf. They asked what it means when an approaching ship gives one blast of their horn(he's going to HIS starboard, pass you on HIS port side) and two(he's going to HIS port, pass you on HIS starboard side) and eight or more. I told him I had never heard eight or more. His response was good cause it means 'get out of my way!!!" With 20 feet of water just outside the channel why would anyone sail down the ship channel I said. Good question he replied, but most folks do he said!

[Vasco]

Originally Posted by Floyd94

T
I was a little suprised that they were willing to charter me the boat after I filled out the "resume". It must be as someone else said, that as long as you have a visa....

These companies don't make money with the boats sitting at their docks. They will charter to nearly anybody, after all it's not their boat. It always amuses me when newbies want to be "charter boat qualified". If you have a credit card, you've qualified. If you have little experience, some companies will want to see you take the boat off the dock, others will want to put a skipper aboard for a day or two. One word of advice, put two lines on the dinghy. You don't want to lose it.

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by Pblais

I have a friend that was a Moorings captain and as he was leaving the boat the wife handed him a note. After he was out of sight she had written. "Help, my husband is an idiot and does not know what he is doing". He got back on the boat.
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