Bareboat Charter Holidays

Bare boat charters provide the ultimate freedom. All you get is the boat and a briefing when you collect the boat at the start of the charter. This briefing should include safety on board, a look at the way the various systems work on the boat and some local knowledge of the proposed cruising area. Then it's down to you. Before taking a bareboat charter you should have some basics of navigation and seamanship, the level of this knowledge in some part determined by the proposed cruising area. You will, for example, need more experience for a two week charter in the Channel Islands, just of the coast of France in the English channel, with its 5 metre tides and numerous rocks and shoals lying just beneath the surface than is required for an Ionian charter in Greece. No tides, very little to bump into in terms of hidden rocks and most of the sailing between islands is by line of site.

Bareboat charter yachts come fully equipped with everything you will need, from safety equipment to galley equipment, bedding & linen. Some charter companies will provision the yacht for the first few days so you don't even need to worry about that aspect of your holiday.

Some companies who provide bareboat charter holidays are:

• SunSail - www.sunsail.com
• AllAFloat - www.allafloat.com
• OceanBlue - www.yacht-charter-holidays.co.uk
• Portway Yacht Charters - www.portwayyachtcharters.com

Details of which areas these companies cover can be found on the Flotilla Holidays page.

If you are not confident to sail your own boat look at our Skippered Boat Charter page. Or try an instructional charter holiday to help you learn to sail.