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Booking your charter | Living
aboard during the charter | Seamanship & navigation
Booking your charter / Saving Money
- Use large charter companies’ in-house travel desks. They offer
non-published discounted rates on some airlines.
- Charter companies always offer special discounts during boat shows.
- Book your charters at either outer edge of high seasons. If the high
season ends on April 20, start your charter right after. You will enjoy
better discounts and service, and less crowd.
- Ask specific questions to the charter company about all extras: cruising/fishing
licenses, marine park fees, local taxes, fuel and water cost, ice, staple
items.
- Fly mid-week; it is usually cheaper, especially to the Caribbean.
Two additional benefits: a) You escape the dreadful week-end connection
in Puerto Rico, with hordes of cruise ship passengers; b) You escape
the busy weekend charter starts at your charter base.
- Arrive one day before your charter starts. It is not a good idea to
cast off on an unfamiliar boat in unfamiliar waters after a 10-hour
trip. Plus it gives you time to provision and have a relaxed chart/boat
briefing.
- Take advantage of the 'sleep aboard' a.k.a. '5PM early start', at
50% of the daily rate. For a party with 3 or 4 couples, it is much cheaper
than paying for 3 or 4 hotel rooms. Besides, including all the pre-charter
chores, you are on your way at 10:30AM at the latest. So by paying for
only an extra half-day for the sleep aboard, you gain an entire sailing
day.
- Charter companies offer provisioning, which, for a 6 pax/7 day charter,
will exceed $1,100 plus beverages. That’s some serious grocery-shopping
money. Instead, shop at the local market or, yes, bring your own food.
Use a large duffel bag or a large cooler that you check at the airline
counter. Shop at your favorite discount store and freeze everything
before leaving. Upon arrival, everything is still frozen. We never had
a problem.
Living aboard
- When packing, put all your stuff on your bed. Then take half of the
clothes, and put them back in the closet. Trust us, it works.
- A charter is not like any other trip with friends: a boat is an enclosed
environment with no possible escape. So choose your crew very carefully.
No whiners or short fused people. Choose a crew you know you are compatible
with. Your crew will have to be able to take unexpected circumstances
with good humor and grace.
- Prepare. Work your itinerary, put the navigation together and choose
nice restaurants along the way. Do this properly, possibly with your
crew. It is an opportunity to start the fun early and assess how your
crew will behave (see above).
- Share the chores between crewmembers. If you don’t want to
hear this:"Why in hell am I doing the dishes all the time while
Lori, Ms. Perfect Tan over there, does nothing all day?" Set up
an informal schedule of chores (you don't need to go overboard with
this, keep it fun, remember?).
- Assign an undisputed skipper who will have the last word in problematic
situations. A boat with two skippers is a no-no.
- Save water: Rinse off the dishes in a bucket in the ocean over the
boat transom, then use dish soap and quickly rinse with fresh water.
If there is a salt-water pump in the galley, use it whenever fresh water
is not necessary.
- The sound of the boom rocking and squeaking at anchor drives you crazy?
Give some slack to main sheet. Tie a line from one of the loops at the
end of the boom to one of the handrails on either side of the roof.
Take the slack off the line and off the main sheet. Your boom does not
move any more and is out of the way over the companionway.
Seamanship & Navigation
- Understand/know – at the very least:
• Seacocks location and operation
• Bilge pumps procedures
• Location of flares and fire extinguishers
• Windlass: electric AND manual procedures in case of power failure
• Reefing procedures
• Location of the emergency tiller
• Location of the First Aid kit (should be fully stocked)
- Start the dinghy outboard and check that it spits water. You can make
do with many flaws in a dinghy, but not with a faulty engine.
- For your first charter day, plan a short, easy sail. Try not to schedule
a long beat segment on your first day. Give yourself and your crew time
to unwind and get adjusted.
- Learn how to heave to:
In heave to position, a sailboat slows down considerably and keeps moving
forward at about 1 to 2 kts. The pounding felt in strong seas almost
disappears and the boat does not heel as much. It's like "parking"
the boat at idle speed.
- Especially in the Caribbean, be very careful about sunset times. The
sun sets very quickly over there and you do not want to be caught sailing
in the dark. a) Charter companies strictly forbid it. b) You will be
really scared if you are not used to it.
- To avoid writing on charts and damaging them, use small strips of
yellow "Stickies" to mark positions and make notes on the
chart under sail.
- Going into a tricky segment of your trip involving reefs or shallow
areas, do it around midday, when the sun is directly above you.
- Always put safety first. When you do, you are not a party-pooper,
you are a prudent mariner.
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