Chartering out a boat
Discussion
Does anyone currently charter out a boat or have any experience doing so?
I’m looking into doing this at the moment and have a few questions/concerns i was hoping someone could spare a few minutes to look over.
I’m looking into doing this at the moment and although I've done most of the business plan already, hearing from anyone that has had some experience doing this would be a big help.
I’m looking into doing this at the moment and have a few questions/concerns i was hoping someone could spare a few minutes to look over.
I’m looking into doing this at the moment and although I've done most of the business plan already, hearing from anyone that has had some experience doing this would be a big help.
RumRunner said:
Yes....fire away on the questions
My questions were more around any issues you have experienced while chartering out that you may not have thought of initially.So far i have looked into or confirmed –
The boat
Safety equipment
Insurance (both boat and public liability)
How much I will charge
What level of qualification I want the person chartering to have
Local byelaws
Advertising/packages
The t&cs of the charter/legal docs
Security deposits
Things i have yet to consider fully are the handover process both pre/post charter and the big question is will the marina it will be in have an issue with this type of process (I have alternative solutions if it does so not a game stopper).
Is there anything that I’m missing or should know before putting this plan into action?
Looks like you've covered most of the essentials. I've considered this myself during a few seasons when my own boat was being little used but more as a slightly different aspect of a boat share agreement.
Good place to start may be to talk to charter companies themselves and see what conditions they impose on clients for boats similar to yours and ask your insurance company the same questions too. I'm assuming you're considering Bareboat and won't be skippering the boat yourself, and if that's the case you'll need to consider where in the world the boat will be based as the Norfolk Broards on a sunny day don't require quite the same level of aptitude as the middle of the shipping lanes in the Thames Estuary on a stormy night with the tide ebbing fast.
You'll need to consider where the boat will be based as well as its potential cruising range from that base and exactly who will be chartering it and if it were me I'd want a absolute minimum of Coastal Skipper and DSC VHF and equally importantly several years of experience on similar boats and a proven knowledge of the cruising area hazards and complications.
You'll certainly need a legally enforceable charter contract drawn up that's tighter than a mouses a
hole taking into account relevant marine legislation including speed limits and navigation restrictions and I suspect some means of placing clients deposit and excess funds in escrow as well. You'll need to look at the legal obligations too regarding safety equipment and get written agreement for chartering from wherever the boat is based.
We've charted ourselves several times in Croatia and having seen the amount of work involved on handover days even by a slick and experienced outfit with cleaners, mechanics and boat fitters and a huge stash of spare stuff all to hand as well the shagged and tired state of even relatively new boats I eventually concluded other people on board was all going to be a bit of a ball ache and once I'd thrown the vision of somebody else thrashing the backside off my boat and treating it just like a hire car I went cold on the idea all together.
Good place to start may be to talk to charter companies themselves and see what conditions they impose on clients for boats similar to yours and ask your insurance company the same questions too. I'm assuming you're considering Bareboat and won't be skippering the boat yourself, and if that's the case you'll need to consider where in the world the boat will be based as the Norfolk Broards on a sunny day don't require quite the same level of aptitude as the middle of the shipping lanes in the Thames Estuary on a stormy night with the tide ebbing fast.
You'll need to consider where the boat will be based as well as its potential cruising range from that base and exactly who will be chartering it and if it were me I'd want a absolute minimum of Coastal Skipper and DSC VHF and equally importantly several years of experience on similar boats and a proven knowledge of the cruising area hazards and complications.
You'll certainly need a legally enforceable charter contract drawn up that's tighter than a mouses a
hole taking into account relevant marine legislation including speed limits and navigation restrictions and I suspect some means of placing clients deposit and excess funds in escrow as well. You'll need to look at the legal obligations too regarding safety equipment and get written agreement for chartering from wherever the boat is based.We've charted ourselves several times in Croatia and having seen the amount of work involved on handover days even by a slick and experienced outfit with cleaners, mechanics and boat fitters and a huge stash of spare stuff all to hand as well the shagged and tired state of even relatively new boats I eventually concluded other people on board was all going to be a bit of a ball ache and once I'd thrown the vision of somebody else thrashing the backside off my boat and treating it just like a hire car I went cold on the idea all together.
Edited by Jaguar steve on Wednesday 17th February 04:59
Jaguar steve said:
Looks like you've covered most of the essentials. I've considered this myself during a few seasons when my own boat was being little used but more as a slightly different aspect of a boat share agreement.
Good place to start may be to talk to charter companies themselves and see what conditions they impose on clients for boats similar to yours and ask your insurance company the same questions too. I'm assuming you're considering Bareboat and won't be skippering the boat yourself, and if that's the case you'll need to consider where in the world the boat will be based as the Norfolk Broards on a sunny day don't require quite the same level of aptitude as the middle of the shipping lanes in the Thames Estuary on a stormy night with the tide ebbing fast.
You'll need to consider where the boat will be based as well as its potential cruising range from that base and exactly who will be chartering it and if it were me I'd want a absolute minimum of Coastal Skipper and DSC VHF and equally importantly several years of experience on similar boats and a proven knowledge of the cruising area hazards and complications.
You'll certainly need a legally enforceable charter contract drawn up that's tighter than a mouses ahole taking into account relevant marine legislation including speed limits and navigation restrictions and I suspect some means of placing clients deposit and excess funds in escrow as well. You'll need to look at the legal obligations too regarding safety equipment and get written agreement for chartering from wherever the boat is based.
We've charted ourselves several times in Croatia and having seen the amount of work involved on handover days even by a slick and experienced outfit with cleaners, mechanics and boat fitters and a huge stash of spare stuff all to hand as well the shagged and tired state of even relatively new boats I eventually concluded other people on board was all going to be a bit of a ball ache and once I'd thrown the vision of somebody else thrashing the backside off my boat and treating it just like a hire car I went cold on the idea all together.
I have looked into the other charter companies and managed to get what information i can from what is available online. The boat will be located on a freshwater loch so there is no big issues around tides, customs, security, etc and this loch has been my stomping ground for about 20 years so i know it like the back of my hand.Good place to start may be to talk to charter companies themselves and see what conditions they impose on clients for boats similar to yours and ask your insurance company the same questions too. I'm assuming you're considering Bareboat and won't be skippering the boat yourself, and if that's the case you'll need to consider where in the world the boat will be based as the Norfolk Broards on a sunny day don't require quite the same level of aptitude as the middle of the shipping lanes in the Thames Estuary on a stormy night with the tide ebbing fast.
You'll need to consider where the boat will be based as well as its potential cruising range from that base and exactly who will be chartering it and if it were me I'd want a absolute minimum of Coastal Skipper and DSC VHF and equally importantly several years of experience on similar boats and a proven knowledge of the cruising area hazards and complications.
You'll certainly need a legally enforceable charter contract drawn up that's tighter than a mouses a
hole taking into account relevant marine legislation including speed limits and navigation restrictions and I suspect some means of placing clients deposit and excess funds in escrow as well. You'll need to look at the legal obligations too regarding safety equipment and get written agreement for chartering from wherever the boat is based.We've charted ourselves several times in Croatia and having seen the amount of work involved on handover days even by a slick and experienced outfit with cleaners, mechanics and boat fitters and a huge stash of spare stuff all to hand as well the shagged and tired state of even relatively new boats I eventually concluded other people on board was all going to be a bit of a ball ache and once I'd thrown the vision of somebody else thrashing the backside off my boat and treating it just like a hire car I went cold on the idea all together.
Edited by Jaguar steve on Wednesday 17th February 04:59
I suppose it’s finding the right balance between qualifications/experience required. I don’t want to have too many requirements here in that I limit my market to a very, very select few but at the same time I certainly wouldn’t want a complete novice turning up and hoping for the best with a 50k powerboat (not to mention in a marina with ones worth many times that!). My initial thoughts on this was a requirement for powerboat level 2 and above. I also considered a requirement of a half day handover/training session by myself at the start of the charter.
The boat wouldn’t be my personal boat and would be strictly used for the purposes of chartering so I have no emotional attachment to it. I think it has to be this way to let someone else use it!
maser_spyder said:
Bareboat powerboat charter, not yacht charter?
Yikes.
Yep, you sound like you have concerns? Yikes.
I know it's extremely hard to find and I'm sure there's a reason for it but I figure there's a gap in the market and if you can rent a lambo, etc there is a market out there for it.
It's just a yacht with an engine after all
The boat I'm looking at is a sealine s34
Boatbuoy said:
Thanks for that! That's my exact location/business idea so there must be some viability after all!I might give it a few months to see how they get on first and let them take the risk. I do find it slightly suspicious that someone i was talking to about my idea is involved in the set up of this right enough!
My understanding is Linssen boats are displacement boats, and very different to a Sealine S34.
You'll almost definitely find that the loch is controlled by the local council and you will need permission to operate charters. This permission will come with limitations, and that will almost definitely be that any charter boats and not fast, powerful craft.
I was involved with something very similar in another part of the UK. Did loads of hard work but after a couple of meetings with the local authority, they wanted to limit the cruising area to almost nothing, limit the speed of the boats (to somethings like 4 knots) and loads of other little things that really took the flesh off the project. It basically wasn't worth it with all their rules so I backed out. The nail in the coffin was the harbourmaster saying any boats used had to be certified with a 'certificate of worthiness' by the MCA, but the MCA had never heard if this and certainly couldn't give me what they were asking for. I got fed up with dealing with idiots and beaurocrats!
You'll almost definitely find that the loch is controlled by the local council and you will need permission to operate charters. This permission will come with limitations, and that will almost definitely be that any charter boats and not fast, powerful craft.
I was involved with something very similar in another part of the UK. Did loads of hard work but after a couple of meetings with the local authority, they wanted to limit the cruising area to almost nothing, limit the speed of the boats (to somethings like 4 knots) and loads of other little things that really took the flesh off the project. It basically wasn't worth it with all their rules so I backed out. The nail in the coffin was the harbourmaster saying any boats used had to be certified with a 'certificate of worthiness' by the MCA, but the MCA had never heard if this and certainly couldn't give me what they were asking for. I got fed up with dealing with idiots and beaurocrats!
maser_spyder said:
My understanding is Linssen boats are displacement boats, and very different to a Sealine S34.
You'll almost definitely find that the loch is controlled by the local council and you will need permission to operate charters. This permission will come with limitations, and that will almost definitely be that any charter boats and not fast, powerful craft.
I was involved with something very similar in another part of the UK. Did loads of hard work but after a couple of meetings with the local authority, they wanted to limit the cruising area to almost nothing, limit the speed of the boats (to somethings like 4 knots) and loads of other little things that really took the flesh off the project. It basically wasn't worth it with all their rules so I backed out. The nail in the coffin was the harbourmaster saying any boats used had to be certified with a 'certificate of worthiness' by the MCA, but the MCA had never heard if this and certainly couldn't give me what they were asking for. I got fed up with dealing with idiots and beaurocrats!
I've already met with the relevant people and have written permission should I wish to proceed so no issues there thankfully You'll almost definitely find that the loch is controlled by the local council and you will need permission to operate charters. This permission will come with limitations, and that will almost definitely be that any charter boats and not fast, powerful craft.
I was involved with something very similar in another part of the UK. Did loads of hard work but after a couple of meetings with the local authority, they wanted to limit the cruising area to almost nothing, limit the speed of the boats (to somethings like 4 knots) and loads of other little things that really took the flesh off the project. It basically wasn't worth it with all their rules so I backed out. The nail in the coffin was the harbourmaster saying any boats used had to be certified with a 'certificate of worthiness' by the MCA, but the MCA had never heard if this and certainly couldn't give me what they were asking for. I got fed up with dealing with idiots and beaurocrats!
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