Questions to ask Bareboat companies prior to booking?

[Nahbrown]

I am looking at two companies and am waiting for them to call me back.

What is typically included that I should verify? Any other questions that you wish you would have asked prior to chartering?

[DeepCut]

Most will list on their website.
Make sure your cruising area is covered by their chase boat.
You want to know the quality of their service (all will say outstanding).

See PM from me.
Wes

[leboyd]

References, references and more references.

What equipment/instruments do NOT work? Chartered one boat that we we got there neither fuel gauge worked and both were covered with duck tape. They didn't work and the charter company didn't plan on fixing them any time soon.

[yeloya]

Two basic questions;


-how many boats out of their fleet do they own
-how many technical staff do they have per number of boat in their fleet..


Cheers


Yeloya

[mogulskibum]

You probably won't get it, but it's worth asking for the last 2-3 post charter "gripe" sheet on the particular boat you're thinking about chartering.

Unless it's a brand new charter, there are going to be issues reported. Did they fix them, or is the same thing reported over and over again without any effort to fix it? Are the issues reported minor, and ones you can live with?

But chances are, you won't get to see those sheets.

One thing they might answer: how old are the batteries? Charter batteries are abused; last charter we had, the batteries would barely make it through the night - with the refrigerator Off, so only fans, anchor light, plus evening cabin lights.

The boat and batteries were less than three years old, and the bank was appropriately sized. Yeah, charter batteries are abused.

Other questions:
- how convenient is provisioning?
- are there places in a typical 7, 10, 14 day itinerary where one could reprovision?
- are there places in the cruising area that, given the typical weather the time year you will be there, are likely to be difficult and/or uncomfortable to get to (or anchor in)?
- are there passes, harbors, etc where they won't allow you to take their boat?

You'll probably get more honest answers about the geography and weather than you will about the boat condition. You'll need to ask around about particular operators in particular ports to start to get a sense of boat condition and maintenance.