This website was made to help all the yacht lovers no matter if they own their boat or not. A yacht or a boat provides more than transportation, it implies a certain lifestyle. A yacht can be better considered more a luxury home from home, rather than just a simple means of transport. When you park a yacht in a marina, you pay less than you often would for a luxury suite in a 5 stars hotel, but you have your own apartment to lodge in. Before owning a yacht, you have to try the benefits of yacht charter.
A nice Beneteau 35 to charter in Europe
[source: theyachtweek.com]
Living on a Yacht, or Living Aboard
Living on a yacht means that you have now a certain kind of life. No matter what your profession is, if you’re a yacht owner you have to know how to live on the water. Before buying a yacht of your own, you have to learn the ropes. You can be a tourist on a chartered yacht, or you can be a guest on a friend’s boat, either way you have to learn to live on the sea. It’s not hard, but sometimes can be tough. I have already written about living aboard all year long as a meaning of life. It’s when you sell your house and continue your life on a boat. The advantage is that you can live anywhere in the world on your boat, preferably between the Tropics, juggling with seasons when you are out of the zone.
You live on your own property. You pay taxes when needed, depending on your flag, but this is a whole different subject. You may own a motoryacht, but that constricts you to some limitations according to the boat’s power, capacity and performance.
Yacht Charter in Europe
With a sailing boat starting from 30ft up, you can think even to circumnavigate the world, following Laura Dekker‘s example. Before starting anything like that, you have to be prepared for the possibility of leasing a yacht. For two weeks at a time, you can use a yacht charter just to get a feel for a life on the seas. You can rent a boat for yourself if you are qualified, or you can charter a boat with a captain. In this case, you have a great opportunity to learn how to handle a boat at sea. If you learn some more things on your own, you can become the skipper of your future boat in no time. Best countries to lease a sailing yacht in Europe are Greece, Italy, Turkey, Spain and of course, Croatia.
Skippered Yacht Renting
There are different ways to chartering a yacht. In Turkey, for example, great tourist agencies like TUI, Thomas Cook or Sailing Holidays, lease yachts for six-seven months in advance, and then sell the berths at a weekly package, all inclusive. The yachts have usually a skipper, a sailor and a cook, but most of the time, it’s just a matter of paper works and authorizations from governmental and regulatory institutions, because every crew member can do everything, no matter the license. By the way, the cook doesn’t usually have a specialized license for cooking.
One can rent the whole yacht for a week, from the yacht owner. Most of the time, the yacht owner is the captain as well, but that’s not the rule. Dealing directly with the yacht owner can offer you a nice bargain. If you can find a chartered plane which covers the destination zone, you make yourself a deal.
There are companies operating all over Europe who can offer you a competent crew member certificate if you learn to properly handle the boat during your blue voyage. “Competent crew” is the entry-level course of the RYA (Royal Yachting Association) for tourists who wish to be active crew members of a sailing yacht. Usually the recognized trainers have RYA recognized training centers, but if your skipper gives you such a certificate, you can consider yourself “competent”.
The competent crew certificate you obtain on a yacht after the 5 required days of training
[source: www.grenadabluewatersailing.com]
In five days you’ll learn sea terms and parts of a boat, her rigging and sails, sail handling, rope-work, fire precautions and fire fighting, personal safety equipment, man overboard, emergency equipment, meteorology, seasickness, helmsman-ship, other general duties, manners and customs, rules of the road, dinghies. After the course you have to be able to steer, handle sails, keep a lookout, row a dinghy and assist in all the day to day routines.
Yacht Leasing in South America
Much of South America is outside of normal yacht charter routes. Ecuador’s Galapagos Islands are an exception that offer dramatic diversity in their geology and indigenous species. Many crewed charter options operate right out of the islands and some offer packages that include the two hour flight from Quito.
Yacht Charter wherever you desire, be it Europe, Tropics or Cape Horn
[source: sunsail.com]
To the south, crewed charters can be arranged in the lake districts of Patagonia, around Cape Horn, and for the truly adventurous, across the Southern Ocean to the Falklands, Antarctica and South Georgia. Ushuaia is a common jumping off port for South Atlantic adventures. Anchor in remote bays and, with a terrestrial and diving guide, explore the geology and wildlife on foot or the fascinating depths. Swim with the hammerheads, the marine iguanas and the penguins.
A yacht charter can make your mind about wanting your own boat or not. If you avoid danger, I can’t think of anything better than the life on sea.
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The US Virgin Islands, especially St Thomas and St John have become a huge market for boat charter and luxury yacht charter. With many islands to explore (actually over 50) when including the British Virgin Islands, the opportunities abound and many powerboat companies can provide a great opportunity to see the sights.
Extraordinary article! I totally concur, sanctioning is a splendid method to make sense of on the off chance that you need to purchase a yacht, and a skippered contract can be an extraordinary method to get familiar with the ropes.
Too many comments in a very tiny period of time, Oliver. Also, why do you have to double the link in your comment? The rules are clearly stated, my friend 🙂
Great article! I completely agree, chartering is a brilliant way to figure out if you want to buy a yacht, and a skippered charter can be a great way to learn the ropes.
However, what you say about getting the best deal direct with the owners is not quite right. The best way to guarantee the optimum value is to use a charter broker, like helm.yt, who have years of experience and industry knowledge, strong relationships with the providers, and a good deal of leverage.
We act on behalf of every customer, have access to all of the fleets worldwide, and our services are completely free to use!
We have years of yachting knowledge regularly publish advice on destinations and yachts. Not sure where to go? Try our guide to summer sailing!
It’s good that you point out that a boat charter can help you figure out if you would like to own a boat. I’ve been contemplating a boat purchase, and now I’m considering renting a boat charter first to see how much I enjoy the experience. I’m going to look for a good boat charter company that can let me try it out.
Hi Alec, are you still looking at renting a yacht? I’d be very happy to look at some suitable options for you. You can start with our experience builder on my website!
Alec does exactly what you try to do, only nicer, don’t you see? Oh, I’m actually joking, of course you see, James.
I liked what you said about how living on a yacht is a certain kind of life that you need to get used to. My brother has been thinking about retiring and traveling the world by boat in the next two months or so. I will recommend he find a good chartering service near him to see if it is what he wants to do for the rest of his life.
My husband and I are going on vacation in a few months and we are thinking about getting a yacht charter. You make a great point that this is a great way to learn about boating and a chance to ask the captain questions during the trip. Also, I didn’t know that some yachts provide all-inclusive amenities and that would make traveling on the charter much more convenient and less stressful.
Thanks for talking about how talking with yacht owners directly can help you get the best deal on a yacht charter! My family has been wanting to try one for a while now, and I think it would be great if we could get a good price on one. We’ll have to look up some of the companies in the area we are traveling to next month so we can talk with yacht owners and see what prices are like there.