charter strategy

[EricR]

I’ve been renting boats in the SoCal area for the last 1.5yr and I’m looking at my first charter next Spring in La Paz. My issue is that there are a million reports of nightmare charters online and I’m trying to best protect myself financially, physically, emotionally. The legal agreements are written to protect the charter co and you are really limited in leverage being far from home, likely another country, limited time, etc. Reputations and trust are nice, but when something unexpected happens trust can be hard to find.


My expectation is that they try to do a good job but are often stuck with rushed schedules. So give them time to have the best chance for success. That takes me to avoid the busy season (cheaper too) and to avoid Sat start days. The goal is to avoid a situation where a boat is returning Sat morning and I'm taking it Sat afternoon. If I’m taking it on Thurs my thought is that it is far more likely for the boat to be in the marina for several days where there is at least the opportunity for maintenance to get caught up.


Chartering in La Paz seems limited. I don’t see many of the larger companies like Moorings. I really only see DYC. Then there are listings through many brokers like samboat, 12knots, etc. Samboat shows numerous boats owned by Charter Partner. Not sure who/what they are but I think they are really all DYC boats that the brokers are marketing. Seems best to have the fewest companies involved so I expect its best to just go directly to DYC.


Love some feedback and I'm looking forward to a nice run through Sea of Cortez in Apr or May.