Bareboating is the act of chartering a sailboat that one lives upon, navigates, and operates for a vacation from an owner or a charter company. Common bareboating locations are the Caribbean, the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...

and the

Whitsundays The Whitsunday Islands are 74 continental islands of various sizes off the central coast of Queensland, Australia, north of Brisbane. The northernmost of the islands are off the coast by the town of Bowen, while the southernmost islands are o ...

. To charter a

sailboat A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails and is smaller than a sailing ship. Distinctions in what constitutes a sailing boat and ship vary by region and maritime culture. Types Although sailboat terminolo ...

, one must usually be able to demonstrate boat handling skills especially in operating the boat under power, docking, and anchoring. Typical sizes for bareboats come in the range of 30 ft to usually about 60 ft at the upper end. Most charter operators require a sailing resume listing sailing experience, boats that one has sailed and operated, and navigation and racing experience. If the charter operator is not satisfied that one has the appropriate experience, they will often require that the chartering party hire a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

from the charter company to sail with them for a few days. In most traditional charter destinations such as Greece or Croatia the chartering company would ask to see a skippers recognised yachting certificate in order to charter bareboat yachts. While it is always possible to add extra services to a bareboat rented vessel, it remains fundamental to understand that the term bareboat indicates that the vessel is being offered bare of crew, food and special equipment. The charterer (i.e. the person signing the contract) will rent the sailing boat, motor boat or catamaran, with the

dinghy A dinghy is a type of small boat, often carried or towed by a larger vessel for use as a tender. Utility dinghies are usually rowboats or have an outboard motor. Some are rigged for sailing but they differ from sailing dinghies, which ...

and the fundamental equipment for safe navigation included in the price. The charterer may then be the one responsible for navigation and supplies or ask the charter company to add services such as a skipper, hostess or cook, order also to be supplied with sets of linens, bath towels and beach towels, an outboard engine for the dinghy (which is given with paddles as standard), wi-fi or satellite phone, a grill for outside and many types of water equipment like a kayak, windsurf and S.U.P., but also other services like requesting the provisions for the vacation in advance or a re-fuel service for the return (i.e. the charter company staff will be in charge of filling the fuel tanks again). The bareboat charter market was established first in 1967 in Tortola by Jack Von Ost,Soundings Editors May 2, 2006
/ref> founder of Caribbean Sailing Yachts, who conceived the idea of a fleet made up of similar boats, with a standard for maintenance and equipment and boats especially designed for charter and not private use.

References

Sailing

See also

References