Charter Destinations
A charter week, decoded
The rate in the listing is about two thirds of what leaves your account. Here is every line, in the order it appears on the contract.
Your result
The Charterer
Two perfect weeks a year, a different boat each time, and no winter list.
You have done the arithmetic and concluded, correctly, that for anything under about eight weeks a year of use, chartering is better value and considerably less work than owning. What you need is not a boat but a broker, a system for choosing the right week, and enough knowledge to read a listing properly.
What works about it
You get a different coast every year, a newer boat than you would own, no refit year, no crew problems and no berth to find. You also get to test hull types and sizes before, if ever, committing to one.
What to watch
The listing rate is about sixty per cent of what you will pay, so budget the allowance, the tax and the gratuity from the start. Book early for the weeks that matter, fill in the preference sheet honestly, and resist the itinerary that visits a different harbour every night. The best charter weeks have three anchorages in them.
The boat it points to
- A broker who charters the same boats repeatedly and knows the crews
- A preference sheet filled in properly, a month before
- Shoulder season, where the same boat costs a third less
- An itinerary agreed with the captain before boarding
Charter Destinations
Itineraries, seasons, the two-continent calendar, and what a week really costs.
Beach Clubs
Where the fleet has lunch, and how to arrive.
Luxury Hotels
Hotels with a berth, hotels as a base, and the ones you can only reach by boat.
Private Jets
Aircraft classes, the airports that serve the fleet, and the forty minutes to the passerelle.
Read next
Charter Destinations
Charter Destinations
The Riviera week, honestly
The most chartered stretch of coast on earth is also the most crowded. Done badly it is a traffic jam. Done well it is still the best week in the Mediterranean.
Private Jets
The last forty minutes
Everybody plans the flight. The part that decides whether a guest arrives happy is what happens between the aircraft door and the boat.
The Log
One entry a week, on a Saturday.
One entry a week: the new long read, one boat worth studying, one number worth knowing. No advertising, no tracking, one click to leave.