Bareboat chartering with a Yachtmaster: the Whitsundays and abroad

Chartering is where most Australian sailors first skipper a boat they do not own, and it is one of the most useful mile-builders in the pathway: a week in the Whitsundays as skipper adds seven skipper days, tidal pilotage, anchoring under load and crew management to the logbook in one go. It is also where the Yachtmaster stops being an abstraction and becomes a document that gets you the boat.

Australia

The Whitsundays are the bareboat centre of the country and one of the largest bareboat fleets in the world. Queensland allows bareboat charter without a boat licence under specific arrangements, so the charter operators decide who takes their boats out. They want evidence of experience (a sailing CV, a logbook, a qualification) and they give every skipper a briefing on the boat and the area before sail-away, followed by a check-out with a company skipper on board. Operators may also require a Yachtmaster or equivalent for larger or more complex yachts and catamarans. Holding Day Skipper makes the process routine; holding Yachtmaster makes it a formality. Pittwater, Sydney, Port Phillip, Hobart and the Gippsland Lakes have smaller bareboat fleets with similar expectations.

Overseas

Rules vary by country and by company, and they change. The general pattern:

• Croatia, Greece, Italy, Spain, Turkey, France: a recognised skipper certificate is required by law. Croatia also requires a radio certificate. Yachtmaster Coastal or Offshore is accepted without question; Day Skipper is usually accepted; the ICC is the internationally designed document.
• The Caribbean, Tahiti, Tonga, Fiji, Thailand, the Seychelles: the operator decides, on the basis of a sailing CV and, often, a qualification. Yachtmaster is universally accepted.
• New Zealand: like Australia, operator discretion; a qualification helps.

The ICC for Australians

The International Certificate of Competence (ICC) is a UN-backed document that many European countries treat as the standard evidence of skipper competence. The RYA issues it. Australia has not adopted the UN resolution behind it, and the RYA's rules allow it to issue the ICC to nationals of countries that have not, so Australians can generally obtain an ICC through the RYA (subject to its current eligibility rules) on the strength of an RYA Day Skipper practical, Coastal Skipper, Yachtmaster or an assessment. If you plan to charter in the Mediterranean, get it when you complete Day Skipper; check the RYA website for the current process.

Using charters for the logbook

• Log every day as skipper, with the boat name, the passages between anchorages, the distances and the conditions. A Whitsunday week is typically 7 skipper days and 100 to 150 miles.
• Sail at night if the operator allows it (many Whitsunday operators do not allow night sailing; ask). Where it is allowed, one evening passage adds night hours.
• Get the entry witnessed by a crew member and keep the charter agreement as evidence.
• Treat it like an exam. Plan each day's passage with tides and pilotage, brief the crew, practise mooring pick-ups and anchoring under sail.

What operators look for

Beyond the paper, operators (and the check-out skipper) watch for the same things an examiner does: a skipper who briefs the crew, handles the boat slowly and under control, understands the tides and reads the weather. A Yachtmaster who turns up with a plan for the week and a logbook to be signed is the customer they hope for.