The essential internet
There’s no escape from it... Internet is present in our daily lives, and of course even more so when choosing our next holidays. Nowadays, people can’t envisage choosing a charter company, a boat or a destination without having a look on the net (including of course your favorite magazine’s website) to gather information. It’s often even the first step taken when the idea of going on vacation in a boat comes into the head of a future charter customer. Where to go? How much does it cost? With whom? The best destinations, or what you need to know before chartering a boat – you will find everything (but also its opposite!) on the internet.
It’s essential to differentiate between the various players present on the net: the information sites, generally those of the magazines or travel guides, the official tourist office sites for the destinations, which are full of information but don’t have the necessary objectivity for making a judicious choice, and finally the sites offering boats for charter. Amongst these there are firstly the charter company sites. These are of course the ones to favor! The charter company knows the destination and the boats it charters, and is able to answer all your questions. Above all, it will be your contact once you are in the destination, when the actual charter begins. So it’s best to deal with the same contact throughout the process.
You will also find numerous sites belonging to agencies, which market the boats from the different charter companies all over the world. These sites have the advantage of offering you at a glance a huge number of boats, spread out…over the whole world. Inevitably, with such an offer, knowledge of the areas and the boats available in the destinations is more uncertain than if you called on the charter company directly. But the agencies – like certain charter companies – can organize your voyage from A to Z, from the charter to the provisioning, via the air tickets, a possible skipper, and transport from the airport to the base. Finally, there are numerous sites on the net which offer charter between private individuals. Although the price is sometimes attractive, be very careful. What happens in the case of damage to the boat you are supposed to be chartering? A charter company would find a solution, to provide you with another one. But what about the private individual? And in the case of an incident? Don’t forget to check carefully the insurance and each party’s responsibilities, to avoid the week’s holiday in paradise turning into an endless financial nightmare. Whatever choice you make, whether you decide to pass directly via a charter company or an agency, never finalize your booking on the internet. Call the company (or the agency), ask questions, get answers and talk about your project, so you can get help from the professionals. Visiting the boat shows is then a good idea, to discuss directly with the charter companies. There are now boat shows almost all the year round and everywhere in the world, and the charter companies are often present or represented at the main shows. The ideal moment to organize, validate and…negotiate your cruise!
‘Guest’ boats
This is the big trend of the past few years: offering avid enthusiasts the chance to come and share the daily life of a couple (or a family) on their boat. The concept has always existed, as proven by the Multihulls World readers’ articles over more than 30 years. Refilling the coffers by welcoming paying guests has always been a solution for round the world sailors, keen to share their passion. Over time, the concept has become more professional, and we now find more and more of these ‘Guest’ boats. Here again it is advisable to be vigilant: the level of requirements is not the same for all, and although some people are real professionals on latest generation, carefully maintained boats, there are also a few wise guys who try to make a few thousand euros a year, without for all that offering an appropriate service…
The ‘Guest’ boats are an interesting solution for sharing the daily life of people who live aboard and know the cruising area by heart. A warmer welcome than a charter with a skipper from a classic company; on the other hand, there must be lots of exchange well before the cruise, to be certain that you are in agreement with what will be offered to you once you are in the area…
With or without a skipper?
Before leaving for a cruise, this is the question everyone asks themselves. Skipper: with or without? The question is justified when you are leaving for a totally unknown (to you) destination, or one which has a reputation for being more challenging from a sailing point of view. If you don’t think you have the skills to sail down to the Grenadines from Martinique, or to reach Saint Martin and the BVIs, a skipper is called for.
In fact if you don’t feel you have the spirit (and the skills) to be a captain, you mustn’t hesitate, as the cost (around 150 euros a day, depending on the destination) is easily compensated by the safety of the boat and its crew.
But for those of you who like to skipper their boat, what should you do? A skipper who knows the area well will be able to take you to his own spots, far from the ‘crowds’, and will help you discover all the right addresses, whilst teaching you a lot about the local culture. It’s a real ‘plus’ point. An option that more and more experienced sailors take without hesitation, to enjoy their vacation to the full.
A cat, yes, but a motor cat!
The other major trend of the last decade is the arrival of more and more motor catamarans in the charter fleets. Just as sailing catamarans made a name for themselves in the fleets faced with the monohulls in the 1990s, the motor catamaran is today showing its full potential for comfort and ease of use. And it appeals! The Moorings was one of the first to believe in the motor catamaran’s potential in the charter world, and the company is now offering its Leopard 43 PC and 51 PC in most of its bases throughout the world. But the other charter companies were not to be outdone, and everyone – or almost – is today offering this alternative to sailing boats. It must be said that the motor cat offers the same advantages as the sailing catamarans – comfort, privacy and living areas aboard, while remaining exceptionally easy to handle. With two engines, maneuvering is really easy, and all you have to do when you want to head off to the next anchorage is turn the key, and you will arrive there in less time than it takes to write about it, as these boats are capable of motoring at almost 20 knots…
And long-term charter?
There has also been a noticeable development in the long-term charter market. We see in fact more and more enthusiasts who choose a sabbatical trip of at least a year (see the article in our Special Edition no11 – Summer 2017). The idea is to leave for a maximum of 3, 6 or 12 months, to experience an adventure which has often been dreamt about for a long time. For these cruisers, long-term charter is THE ideal solution. It avoids the cost and trouble linked to the purchase, preparation and re-sale of a boat. Punch Croisière is one of the precursors of this trend, and this year is again offering three catamarans (2 private owner Lagoon 400s, and 1 Nautitech 441) uniquely dedicated to this quite special program. The advantage, over and above knowing how much your sabbatical break is going to cost you before you leave, and avoiding the worries of being an owner, is having assistance throughout your cruise from the charter company, which has been based in the West Indies for over 30 years… In Martinique, Sail Paradise is also offering a 2016 Lagoon 380 private owner’s version for long-term charter. But there are very few companies offering this type of service, and it is advisable to book your boat well in advance if you want to be certain of enjoying it.
And charter-management?
Charter-management is a brilliant system which allows you to cruise…almost for free. How? It’s quite simple: you purchase a boat which you then put up for charter with a charter company. The company pays you a share of your boat’s income, and allows you to sail for a certain number of weeks per year aboard your boat, or an equivalent in its fleet. Obviously using one of the major charter companies allows you to take advantage of all their bases throughout the world.
If the arrangement is well drawn up and your partner is reliable, between the re-sale of the boat (which the company takes care of) and your charter income, you will have sailed for up to 9 weeks a year for a cost close to zero… But you have to accept that your capital will be tied up for the five years that a management plan usually lasts. If you have a bit of money you don’t mind tying up, and time for cruising, it’s a solution which deserves consideration.
A market which is becoming refocused and concentrated
The trend over the last few years is towards concentration. We thus find bigger and bigger charter companies, offering bases all over the world, and boats which are better and better equipped and maintained. The standard has become the premium – for the biggest companies as well as those with just a few boats – which is a real ‘plus’ for the customer. The key word today is to offer irreproachable service, to face up to fierce competition.
The new destinations to be discovered
There are the essentials, those destinations which had us dreaming, sometimes several decades previously, and to which we like to return regularly. BVI, Grenadines, Greece or the Bahamas are ‘musts’, which you must visit and revisit. We never tire of them!
Then there are the new destinations the charter companies go to great lengths to find, to allow us to discover new, more beautiful and wilder anchorages. The Spanish Virgin Islands, Montenegro, Sri Lanka, Burma, Malaysia or Tonga are a few of these new destinations.
You are spoilt for choice for having a great time on vacation. So, why deny yourself?
Good cruising!
MULTIHULLS-WORLD.COM
Whether you are looking for information about a destination or the catamaran you are going to charter, don’t forget to have a look on your favorite magazine’s web site…
From the Caribbean to the Pacific, via the Atlantic, you will find a mine of useful information for organizing your catamaran holidays and the technical specifications, photos and accommodation plans of almost a thousand cruising multihulls…
To note
A ‘bare-boat’ is a boat chartered without a skipper. You therefore take care of all the tasks aboard, from the navigation to the cooking, and even the cleaning, but you also take full responsibility in the case of a problem.
‘Bare-boat’ charter is reserved for experienced skippers.
If you don’t feel up to handling a boat alone, you can add the skills of a professional skipper the charter company will provide for you.
Crewed charter: as its name suggests, with this kind of charter, you get not just the boat, but a skipper, a hostess and sometimes even a deckhand on bigger vessels. This crew takes care of everything, from the maneuvers to the cooking. All you have to do is relax…
Per cabin charter: you are alone, but you dream of setting off to discover the Polynesian lagoons? No problem, more and more charter companies are offering to charter you a cabin in a boat. The advantage is that you can set off without having to get ten friends together to share the costs. The disadvantage is that you don't know who you will be sailing with...
