Charter to test-drive boat life for a week?

[vasiliy]

Originally Posted by sail sfbay

Good plan. That is what I did before purchasing our first sailboat. What is you chartering duration and budget? Think of a catamaran as 2 monohull sailboats so the cost is double that of a monohull. That will determine whether it will cost you an arm and a leg.

We prefer a catamaran, I think. I don't have a cost budget per se, but what I see is $7,000-$15,000 for a week not counting airplane tickets to get there. Seems a bit too high for a week, at least based on what we typically spend on vacations.

[Jackz]

My wife and I are from Wisconsin and live aboard our Leopard 44 cat for six months per year in the Florida Keys. I am a USCG Captain and operate occasional charters and could accommodate your family in late Nov-early Dec. If interested you can email me at jackzav@charter.net

[garyfdl]

Originally Posted by vasiliy

Hello, we are a family of five (2 adults, 3 kids 3-11 years old). At the moment, we don't have a catamaran / boat but we want to try what others do in the future: buy a boat and live aboard/travel.

Plenty of good advice on where to charter.

Full disclaimer: I am not now, nor have I ever been a liveaboard. And I don't mean to go all Eeyore on you, but I will posit that while it's not a bad idea and should be a fun trip, a week chartering is not going to be long enough to truly 'get a taste' of living aboard. The novelty of the experience won't even have worn off in that time. Unless you are already experienced cruisers, I'd suggest taking another year (or two) to get your 'sea legs' before taking the 'big plunge'.

[vasiliy]

Originally Posted by garyfdl

Plenty of good advice on where to charter.

Full disclaimer: I am not now, nor have I ever been a liveaboard. And I don't mean to go all Eeyore on you, but I will posit that while it's not a bad idea and should be a fun trip, a week chartering is not going to be long enough to truly 'get a taste' of living aboard. The novelty of the experience won't even have worn off in that time. Unless you are already experienced cruisers, I'd suggest taking another year (or two) to get your 'sea legs' before taking the 'big plunge'.

I agree and think it will take longer than a week on a boat to see at least some part of liveabord life. But we still have time before we are ready to commit to leaving everything on land and going 100% liveaboards and may end up doing a few of these charters + sailing classes. For now, we just wanted a vacation and it came to us, why not try a catamaran for a week as vacation

[garyfdl]

Originally Posted by vasiliy

I agree and think it will take longer than a week on a boat to see at least some part of liveabord life. But we still have time before we are ready to commit to leaving everything on land and going 100% liveaboards and may end up doing a few of these charters + sailing classes. For now, we just wanted a vacation and it came to us, why not try a catamaran for a week as vacation

Another OBTW / something else to consider: very soon you will have a pre-nager/teenager as part of the crew.

[aqfishing]

Originally Posted by MultiCountryDon

Moorings-YES-EXPENSIVE BUT WORTH EVERY PENNY
DYC-NO-NOT EVEN FOR A PENNY !!!

And on that note….DYC…..Be warned. Just need to read the last page or two.


https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...232097-25.html

[CaribbeesYC]

Vasiliy,
I'd be happy to help you with recommendations on locations and boats. Please feel free to reach out to me directly.
Chris

[ChrisMehling]

We’ve personally chartered with CruiseAbaco in the Bahamas 3 times.

They offer a very interesting way of having a captain on board if you like. The captain joins you during the day, sails, teaches etc, then gets picked up around 4pm while you and your family enjoy the boat at an anchorage for the evening.

The captain then returns the next AM.

They also offer ASA classes that you can take while on charter. We did this because it was like having our own private class. If you choose this option, ask for Captain Joe. You won’t regret it.

Www.CruiseAbaco.com

They offer mostly catamarans and are a great small charter company to do business with. Checkout trip advisor.

[hukilaumike]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned using a broker to find an appropriate charter boat. Their services are free (to you anyway), and you get the benefit of expert advice and direction on what meets your needs. I used Ed Hamilton in Maine to broker a charter in the VI's. Absolutely great service and a fantastic charter.

[joelhemington]

Originally Posted by vasiliy

Hello, we are a family of five (2 adults, 3 kids 3-11 years old). At the moment, we don't have a catamaran / boat but we want to try what others do in the future: buy a boat and live aboard/travel.


While we are cherishing our dreams and saving $$, and considering we've got our vaccines finally, and after spending two years at home, we would like to test drive how it is to be on a catamaran for a week. Basically, this sounds like charting a boat.


We are open about the destination (can be anywhere in the US or abroad) and can travel if needed to get there. We live in the upper mid-west USA (Michigan). Our p referred time is about week in November (around Thanksgiving) of December.


Do you have any recommendations on how to find such charter so it does not cost us an arm and a leg? Our preference would be a catamaran.



Thank you!

Sounds like you're looking at a couple of charters. One to see if your family could live on sailboat and two to hopefully charter the exact boat you'd want to buy. A catamaran would be a logical choice for a family that size. If you plan to stay in the caribean, then any typical charter boat would do. If trans ocean is the plan, then I'd be looking at a Leopard or Seawind at minimum.

[GILow]

Originally Posted by vasiliy

Hello, we are a family of five (2 adults, 3 kids 3-11 years old). At the moment, we don't have a catamaran / boat but we want to try what others do in the future: buy a boat and live aboard/travel.


While we are cherishing our dreams and saving $$, and considering we've got our vaccines finally, and after spending two years at home, we would like to test drive how it is to be on a catamaran for a week. Basically, this sounds like charting a boat.


We are open about the destination (can be anywhere in the US or abroad) and can travel if needed to get there. We live in the upper mid-west USA (Michigan). Our preferred time is about week in November (around Thanksgiving) of December.


Do you have any recommendations on how to find such charter so it does not cost us an arm and a leg? Our preference would be a catamaran.



Thank you!

Not sure if it has been mentioned here already, but no point chartering some ultra modern fully kitted out cat if you can’t afford to buy something similar. It will prove nothing and may well lead to disappointment with what you eventually buy.

[sail sfbay]

Originally Posted by vasiliy

...........Do you have any recommendations on how to find such charter so it does not cost us an arm and a leg? Our preference would be a catamaran............

It will not cost you an arm and leg ...........but is will cost a lot. Keep in mine, the cost of catamarman charter or purchase will be twice the cost of a monohull............that is one reason why I own a 46 ft monohull. Do an internet search on "cheap catamaran charters". Also, without catamaran sailing / motoring experience you will likely need to pay for a captain.

[Stewie12]

The BVI will give you an excellent start with small seas and wind. Charter from an established company so that you have support in case of any breakdowns.

[KimC]

Originally Posted by vasiliy

Hello, we are a family of five (2 adults, 3 kids 3-11 years old). At the moment, we don't have a catamaran / boat but we want to try what others do in the future: buy a boat and live aboard/travel.


While we are cherishing our dreams and saving $$, and considering we've got our vaccines finally, and after spending two years at home, we would like to test drive how it is to be on a catamaran for a week. Basically, this sounds like charting a boat.


We are open about the destination (can be anywhere in the US or abroad) and can travel if needed to get there. We live in the upper mid-west USA (Michigan). Our preferred time is about week in November (around Thanksgiving) of December.


Do you have any recommendations on how to find such charter so it does not cost us an arm and a leg? Our preference would be a catamaran.



Thank you!

We live in a Catamaran in the Caribbean. I have 3 great ideas for you having gone through the process.

Any charter cruising ground like the BVI or Martinique will have all the Catamarans for you to look at and compare.

For Charter, Outremer Sailing concepts in Martinique will beat everybody else’s price by thousands due to the volume of those they have available in Martinique.

Also, in the BVI there is a wonderful charter cat called Sailing Kuma Too, run by Joe and Mandy. I highly recommend them. They are priced well and have a beautifully well-maintained older cat.

You really need to know your budget going in to the catamaran purchase, also it helps if you already know how to sail a catamaran because when you’re looking at the various models it’s important if you would like all of the lines run back to the cockpit and if you want to have a main sail that is rigged differently from a lagoon versus a leopard for trimming these types of questions you might not know to ask if you haven’t sailed the cat much.