x-no-archive:yes

"Don W." wrote:

I should
add that we hired the captain directly, and he did not work for the
charter company although he was on their list of outside captains.

YMMV,

I put this at the top of the post because this IMHO KEY to getting a
good captain. When I was putting down captains, I really meant
getting a bareboat and letting the bareboat company assign a captain
to you. I've read a couple of horror stories about that - one where
the captain wouldn't let them fish even though they had specifically
asked if they could bring their gear and fish.

Sometimes the bareboat company will assign a good captain (in one of
the horror stories there had been a really good captain assigned that
was between boats or his own, but the charter company changed him to
another charter at the last minute), but keep in mind that the
captains get a flat rate (probably less than you pay the charter
company) and IMHO if he had any ambition or was any good, he wouldn't
be working for the charter company.

Hi Rosalie,

Just to give a different opinion of charter "captains". We
chartered out of Ft. Lauderdale, and crossed to the Bahamas
on a 51' Bendytoy. It started as two couples on a 42' boat,
but got a last minute upgrade to the 51' at no extra cost because
another couple wanted the 42', and they hadn't hired a captain.
Then, at the last moment, the other couple dropped out.

So that left just the three of us--me, my wife, and our captain
on a 51' boat. This worked out great, because our captain knew
the area very well, including clearing procedures, and where the
good anchorages were. He also brought his fishing gear, which we
would not have had otherwise.

A good captain is well worth the money you spend on paying and feeding
him, just for the local knowledge. Our's expected to cook for
us, and was willing to provision the boat before we arrived, but we said
no. We provisioned, and shared the cooking because we both like to cook.

Its also nice to have someone who is getting paid, so they don't mind
standing late night watches, and anchor watches. We also swapped
stories etc, and ended up learning from a very seasoned blue water sailor.

Bottom line is that if you get a _good_ captain, they are worth more
than you'll pay for them, and you'll have made a new friend.

Of course, you could also end up with a personality conflict.

Don W.


"Rosalie B." wrote:

x-no-archive:yes (nick) wrote:

I'm planning a sailing charter in the Caribbean around Christmas -
7-10 days with captain for two couples.

Just a note - I note that you talk about bareboating 'with a captain'.
IMHO that's the worst of both worlds. You have to do all the work of
feeding and catering to the captain, so you are responsible for the
provisioning etc and that negates the savings you get by bareboating.


snip

grandma Rosalie


grandma Rosalie