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Booking a spot at a marina for a yacht charter?

Discussion in 'General Yachting Discussion' started by tuna_hp, Aug 4, 2023.

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  1. tuna_hp

    tuna_hp New Member

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    When you are chartering a yacht for a week in the Caribbean or Med, are you required to book a marina slip for the first and last nights?

    It's a random question that came up as I was looking at yacht charters. Under the MYBA contract the charterer is required to pay all marina costs, but the contract also states that it starts and ends at a specific marina... do you actually need to stay at that marina? What if you have no intention of staying overnight at a marina, you want to immediately motor somewhere else for the night? If the charterer doesn't want a spot at a marina, does that complicate turning over the yacht at the end of the charter like getting the garbage off the boat and getting the next charter's supplies onto the boat? What happens if there are no slips left at the marina by the time the charter is booked, is it a big deal?

    Looking at marinas it seems that most charge per night like a hotel, without hourly or other shorter term options. So it seems like if you wanted the yacht to be in a slip when you took delivery at 5pm, but wanted to immediately head out from the marina, then you would still have to pay for the whole night, which is why I wondered whether you could just skip the marina slip.

    Or am I thinking about this all wrong, are slips always available and at infinitesimal prices relative to the overall cost of the yacht charter, so that even if the charterer only wanted to stay in the slip for a couple hours he wouldn't think twice about paying for the whole night.
  2. Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

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    It depends on the boat and the location. It s all about what the charterer wants so if you want to cast off as soon as you get on board, why not. That’s what usually happens anyway. If you worry about paying a night dockage… we’ll it’s nothing compared to the overall charter cost :)

    note that like hotels marina have a check out time so if you boards at 3PM chances is that you will have to pay the first night anyway.
  3. tuna_hp

    tuna_hp New Member

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    Thanks that makes sense. The nightly dockage at Caribbean marinas does seem very small compared to the base charter costs.

  4. Ken Bracewell

    Ken Bracewell Senior Member

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    Arrival (in particular) and departure can be chaotic, with 8-12 people moving on/off the boat at once, with all of their luggage. Trying to do this via tender can be even more hectic, so it often makes sense to embark at a marina rather than at anchor. You must also think about the logistics of getting 7-10 days of provisions aboard while at anchor.