Whenever possible, book your charter so that you are staying on the boat the first night at the marina you are departing from. The advantages are numerous.<\/p>\n
Staying at the departure location the first night allows you to get settled in and unpacked without hurry. You will have time to get to know the layout of your boat and learn how your systems work. You can take the time to familiarize yourself with all of the switches, valves, and other equipment before you are out of reach of the support of the charter company.<\/p>\n
If possible, try to use all of the systems of the boat before you get underway and out to that remote anchorage. By cooking, eating and showering on board the first night, you will discover any non-working equipment while you can still get help from the charter company to fix it before you go. We have some examples from our last two charters, none of which were any type of issue because they were fixed before we left the dock. Clogged shower drain filters, non-working fuel gauges, leaking fresh water systems – all of these things occur regularly on charter boats and the maintenance staff can’t possibly find everything unless it has been reported by the previous charterer.<\/p>\n
Staying on the boat the night before you leave will also give you time to leisurely go through your provisioning and make any runs to the local markets without the pressure of getting the boat underway and getting to your first anchorage before night-fall.<\/p>\n
Note: Since you did use the galley and the showers, be sure to top off your water again before you leave in the morning!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Whenever possible, book your charter so that you are staying on the boat the first night at the marina you are departing from. The advantages are numerous. Staying at the departure location the first night allows you to get settled … Continue reading