Hi all,
Im looking again at chartering in the whitsundays... I have googled and
looked around.

My wife and i would like to charter from mid-end of september for about a
week, and idealy what we would really love is a small cat that can be single
handed, something about 26-30 feet would be ideal. Most of the charter
companies seem to have only bigger cats in the 30foot+ range with 6-8
berths. The price for these things starts at about $500/night and goes up,
$3500 for a week plus flights, fuel and provisioning then whatever we spend
at resorts etc could see this week long holiday quite easily costing us
$1000/day.

There are some smaller monos, but again i havent seen anything below 30
feet, and the best price i have come up with is about $300/night. My wife
isnt particularly a sailor, so i think she would have a much better time on
a cat than a mono. plus it would be nice to be able to get close enough to
the islands to walk.

Is this a good time of year to be in the whitsundays? Does anyone have a
lead on small cats in this area? I'd also be keen on hiring something off a
private owner. For the boat only, I was hoping to spend somewhere around
$2500 for the week.

thanks,
Shaun

"Shaun Van Poecke" wrote in message
...
Hi all,
Im looking again at chartering in the whitsundays... I have googled and
looked around.

My wife and i would like to charter from mid-end of september for about a
week, and idealy what we would really love is a small cat that can be
single
handed, something about 26-30 feet would be ideal. Most of the charter
companies seem to have only bigger cats in the 30foot+ range with 6-8
berths. The price for these things starts at about $500/night and goes
up,
$3500 for a week plus flights, fuel and provisioning then whatever we
spend
at resorts etc could see this week long holiday quite easily costing us
$1000/day.

There are some smaller monos, but again i havent seen anything below 30
feet, and the best price i have come up with is about $300/night. My wife
isnt particularly a sailor, so i think she would have a much better time
on
a cat than a mono. plus it would be nice to be able to get close enough
to
the islands to walk.

Is this a good time of year to be in the whitsundays? Does anyone have a
lead on small cats in this area? I'd also be keen on hiring something off
a
private owner. For the boat only, I was hoping to spend somewhere around
$2500 for the week.

thanks,
Shaun

September is peak season. Most operators have heavy bookings, charge peak
rates and will only charter out in blocks of 7 days. Cheaper rates and
easier chartering conditions apply at other times of the year, with the
weather, and other things(sandflies, mosquitosand stingers) being the
tradeoff..

Even if you could find an owner who would do it, hiring outside the system
is not recommended. It is illegal, the boat would not be in survey and would
not have insurance. Any charter operator who became aware of the situation
would take it straight to the authorities.

Is making up a larger group an option? Otherwise, an older smaller mono is
your only choice to cut costs.

On Fri, 17 Aug 2007 01:31:00 GMT, "Lee Martin"
wrote:

Even if you could find an owner who would do it, hiring outside the system
is not recommended. It is illegal, the boat would not be in survey and would
not have insurance. Any charter operator who became aware of the situation
would take it straight to the authorities.

Why would it be illegal, and why could not a private owner have
insurance for chartering? It's fairly common other places.

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 17 Aug 2007 01:31:00 GMT, "Lee Martin"
wrote:

Even if you could find an owner who would do it, hiring outside the system
is not recommended. It is illegal, the boat would not be in survey and
would
not have insurance. Any charter operator who became aware of the situation
would take it straight to the authorities.

Why would it be illegal, and why could not a private owner have
insurance for chartering? It's fairly common other places.

For a yacht to be put into legal charter in Queensland it requires
appropriate(and current) certificate of survey, appropriate comercial
registration, and appropriate insurances.Much of the charter fleet is made
up of privately owned boats that have met these requirements, and many of
these owners have put their boats under management.

I read the OP as asking if he could get a cheap, under the counter rate,
outside of the legal system.

"Lee Martin" wrote in message
...

For a yacht to be put into legal charter in Queensland it requires
appropriate(and current) certificate of survey, appropriate comercial
registration, and appropriate insurances.Much of the charter fleet is made
up of privately owned boats that have met these requirements, and many of
these owners have put their boats under management.

I read the OP as asking if he could get a cheap, under the counter rate,
outside of the legal system.

you read right ;-)
I was aware vaguely that it was something not allowed, but after reading
your post it has me thinking a bit. What's the story with part-owned boats
for example, are they also required to be in survey, with commercial
registration and insurance? i see ads every now and then for half shares in
cats, and some split up into as much as 1/10 shares. are these considered
as charter boats also?

Thanks,
Shaun

"Shaun Van Poecke" wrote in message
...

you read right ;-)
I was aware vaguely that it was something not allowed, but after reading
your post it has me thinking a bit. What's the story with part-owned
boats for example, are they also required to be in survey, with commercial
registration and insurance? i see ads every now and then for half shares
in cats, and some split up into as much as 1/10 shares. are these
considered as charter boats also?

Thanks,
Shaun

As far as I know, structure of ownership is not an issue. Its whether the
boat is involved in activities for payment. One arrangement that is often a
topic for discussion around barbecues is taking on crew on a shared costs
basis....if the skipper charges them on a daily rate, is that drifting into
a chartering arrangement?

BTW, the whitsundays are truly magnificent, a wonderful cruising ground.
While the costs may look high , just do it! You won't regret it.Read up on
"100 Magic Miles" by David and Carolyn Colfet, and just go.