Holiday on an empty Yacht or boat

[anonymous-user]

An unusual question! I would like to go on holiday somewhere like Greece, Croatia, etc. and stay on a nice boat or yacht but the difference being I have no intention of going anywhere on it! Whenever I am on holiday and wander around the fishing village or harbours I often think how nice it would be to stay right in the town and sit on a boat and watch the world go by then go into the local restaurants in the evening.

I know there are loads of companies that charter yachts but I only want one for me and the misses to spend the week on to make a change from the usual villa/apartment holiday.

Are there any companies that deal in renting out empty boats for use as accommodation that any one has come across?

[fat80b]

Definitely unusual.

I would have thought that after a couple of days, you would be itching to get the boat out even just to find a nice spot / beach for lunch.

If boats are what you want then get onto sailing holidays and book a week with them. You don't really need any experience (pretty much all of the people with us last year had never been on a boat before) and you'll have an awesome time - we did 2 weeks last August and loved it ( just me and the mrs on a 32 foot Beneteau ) and are booked again to go for a week this June ...

We enjoy the sailing every day and the conditions are great - others just motored from a to b and stopped half way for lunch. You have the day to go wherever you want and a lead crew help you in and out if harbour every day -
And you are right, there is nothing quite like sitting on your yacht with a gin and tonic watching the sun go down ...

Bob

[anonymous-user]

I see loads of Brits doing this in Portugal.

It's usually middle aged men sitting on some silver pershing monstrosity playing loud music and drinking champagne pretending they're 20 year old playboys.

I've lived in marinas before and depending on where you are, there's often some kind of daily trip to showers/skip/laundrette etc. OK if you're on some big oligarch's boat but I was always on little ones with limited facilities.

[Steven Quas]

It does sound a potentially very expensive way of holidaying in discomfort! I think the minimum size sailing yacht to be equivalent in space to a comfortable small apartment would be around 15 metres in length. They typically cost around £5000 per week to rent, compared with perhaps £500-£1000 for a well-placed Med apartment.

Steven Quas
Hamburg

[NorthDave]

fat80b said:

Definitely unusual.

I would have thought that after a couple of days, you would be itching to get the boat out even just to find a nice spot / beach for lunch.

If boats are what you want then get onto sailing holidays and book a week with them. You don't really need any experience (pretty much all of the people with us last year had never been on a boat before) and you'll have an awesome time - we did 2 weeks last August and loved it ( just me and the mrs on a 32 foot Beneteau ) and are booked again to go for a week this June ...

We enjoy the sailing every day and the conditions are great - others just motored from a to b and stopped half way for lunch. You have the day to go wherever you want and a lead crew help you in and out if harbour every day -
And you are right, there is nothing quite like sitting on your yacht with a gin and tonic watching the sun go down ...

Bob

Any links Bob? I'd be interested in this. Presumably you have some sailing qualifications?

I've got day skipper but dont use it enough to have the confidence to take something out solo.

[anonymous-user]

Steven Quas said:

It does sound a potentially very expensive way of holidaying in discomfort! I think the minimum size sailing yacht to be equivalent in space to a comfortable small apartment would be around 15 metres in length. They typically cost around £5000 per week to rent, compared with perhaps £500-£1000 for a well-placed Med apartment.

Steven Quas
Hamburg

As said I dont want to charter a boat or actually leave port! I want somewhere to sit and have breakfast and somewhere to sleep, I will spend the rest of the day out exploring the local area. I thought it may be that people who normally have a boat sitting there doing nothing, or when there is a gap in nornmall bookings that they might like to earn some extra money.

[fat80b]

NorthDave said:

Any links Bob? I'd be interested in this. Presumably you have some sailing qualifications?

I've got day skipper but don't use it enough to have the confidence to take something out solo.

As I said, last year, we were expecting to be the least experienced on our Flotilla but turned out to be the most experienced. We (both the Mrs and I) have a competent crew certificate but many others had nothing. The family on the yacht next to us had zero experience whatsoever. If you have day skipper, you will be more than capable.

We went with http://www.sailingholidays.com/ and they were absolutely superb, from the up front brochures / harbour guides / organisation etc to the lead crew that were with us throughout the holiday.

On the flotilla, you end up with a dozen or so other boats and a crew on a lead boat to help you out if you need it. We didn't ever have to call on them although others did.

We went round the South Ionian and visited several Islands and harbours in the area. The lead crew are there to help you in and out each day although it is not that difficult.

The yachts are in superb nick and most have sat nav etc so you can't go wrong.

We can't recommend them highly enough... and it doesn't cost anywhere near the £5K per week indicated above.

Bob

[driverrob]

Sometimes there are empty boats available for free.
This one in the Pacific, for example.

[caiss4]

fat80b said:

As I said, last year, we were expecting to be the least experienced on our Flotilla but turned out to be the most experienced. We (both the Mrs and I) have a competent crew certificate but many others had nothing. The family on the yacht next to us had zero experience whatsoever. If you have day skipper, you will be more than capable.

We went with http://www.sailingholidays.com/ and they were absolutely superb, from the up front brochures / harbour guides / organisation etc to the lead crew that were with us throughout the holiday.

On the flotilla, you end up with a dozen or so other boats and a crew on a lead boat to help you out if you need it. We didn't ever have to call on them although others did.

We went round the South Ionian and visited several Islands and harbours in the area. The lead crew are there to help you in and out each day although it is not that difficult.

The yachts are in superb nick and most have sat nav etc so you can't go wrong.

We can't recommend them highly enough... and it doesn't cost anywhere near the £5K per week indicated above.

Bob

I'll second the above. If you have day skipper you'll just itch to get out and about. Sailing Holidays are good and have a reputation for giving novices a chance on flotilla. The lead crews are usually first class and the boats are well maintained. If you're really nervous about going solo they will even crew with you for the first day or so until you get your confidence. I've been on 3 flotillas with them over the years and am going again this year to the Sporades. As for cost - about £6.5K for 5 for 2 weeks which frankly compares well with villa holidays when you consider that for most of the day your on the water and not sitting in a bar/taverna spending money!

Edited by caiss4 on Sunday 25th March 11:52