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Charter glossary

64 terms as they are actually used on an Australian charter, written for someone booking a boat rather than sitting a theory exam. Terms marked in prose across this site link back here.

Charter

Bareboat: A boat hired for the hirer to operate, subject to the operator’s conditions and applicable requirements.
Charter resume: A summary of sailing experience and qualifications supplied to help an operator assess a proposed skipper.
Handover: The briefing, checks and transfer of a hired vessel under the operator’s agreed procedures.
Sail guide: A term used for sailing support during a charter. Confirm the person’s role, duration aboard and who is in command.

Regulation

Certificate of Operation: An AMSA certificate authorising the specified domestic commercial vessel operation, subject to its conditions. Exemptions may apply.
Certificate of Survey: An AMSA certificate concerning a commercial vessel’s survey compliance and conditions. Some vessels operate under exemptions.
Class 1: AMSA’s passenger vessel service category. Confirm the classification and conditions of the actual operation.
Class 4: AMSA’s hire-and-drive service category, where the hirer operates the hired vessel.
Marine park zoning: Rules dividing a marine park into areas with different permitted activities and restrictions.
Master: The person in command of a vessel, with the responsibilities applicable to that operation.
Operating area: The area in which a vessel is authorised or permitted to operate under its applicable conditions.
Survey: An assessment of a vessel against applicable standards and requirements.

Money

Bond: A security amount held under the booking terms. Confirm deductions, release and whether liability is limited.
Damage waiver: An agreement that changes specified damage responsibility. Its limits and exclusions depend on the written terms.

Vessel

Beam: The width of a vessel, usually measured at its widest point.
Berth: A sleeping place aboard, or a place where a boat is moored. Check which meaning is intended.
Bimini: A canopy that provides shade over part of a cockpit or deck.
Cabin: An enclosed accommodation space. Its number and type of beds need to be checked separately.
Catamaran: A vessel with two hulls joined by a connecting structure. Layout and performance vary by design.
Davits: Structures used to support and raise a tender or other equipment.
Displacement: The weight of water displaced by a floating vessel, equal to its total weight in that condition.
Draft: The vertical distance from the waterline to the lowest part of a boat in its current configuration.
Ketch: A two-masted sailing rig with the smaller mizzen mast forward of the rudder post.
LOA: Length overall: a vessel length measurement. Confirm what fittings the published measurement includes.
Monohull: A vessel with one hull. Layout, motion and performance vary by design and conditions.
Sloop: A single-masted sailing rig with a mainsail and a headsail.

Aboard

Galley: The kitchen area aboard a boat. Equipment and storage vary by vessel.
Head: A boat’s toilet; “heads” can refer to the toilet compartments.
Painter: A line attached to the bow of a small boat or tender.
Provisioning: Organising the food, drink and supplies needed aboard.
Saloon: The main indoor living or dining space aboard. Some boats have convertible beds in this shared area.
Tender: A smaller boat used to support a larger vessel, often for transfers.

Sailing

Apparent wind: The wind experienced aboard a moving boat, combining the true wind and the boat’s motion.
Furler: Equipment used to roll a sail away or deploy it.
Halyard: A line used to raise a sail or other equipment.
Heel: A boat leaning to one side, for example under the force of the wind.
Mainsail: The principal sail carried on the main mast.
Reef: A shallow rock or coral feature. As a sailing verb, to reef means to reduce sail area.
Sheet: A line used to control a sail’s position or shape.
Windward: The direction or side from which the wind is coming.

Anchoring

Anchorage: A place where a boat may anchor. Suitability depends on conditions, local restrictions and the vessel.
Bridle: An arrangement of lines joining two attachment points to a common connection, for example in an anchoring system.
Ground tackle: The anchor and its associated chain, rope and fittings.
Holding: How effectively an anchor grips the seabed in the conditions present.
Rode: The chain, rope or combination connecting a boat to its anchor.
Scope: A ratio describing the anchor rode deployed relative to the vertical distance to the seabed. Follow the vessel briefing and applicable guidance.
Swing room: Space for a boat to move around its anchor or mooring as conditions change.
Windlass: Equipment used to handle anchor chain or rope.

Weather

Cyclone season: Australia’s official tropical cyclone season is 1 November to 30 April. Cyclones can also occur outside it.
Fetch: The distance over water across which wind blows in a consistent direction, influencing wave development.
MetEye: A Bureau of Meteorology graphical forecast service. Use the relevant current forecast and warnings for your waters.
Sea breeze: A local wind blowing from water towards land, associated with differences in daytime heating.
Squall: A sudden increase in wind that lasts longer than a brief gust, sometimes associated with showers or storms.
Trade winds: Persistent winds occurring in tropical latitudes. Local strength and direction still vary.

Hazards

Bommie: An isolated coral formation that can be a navigation hazard.
Lee shore: A shore towards which the wind is blowing.

Safety

EPIRB: Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon: a distress beacon. Learn the vessel’s equipment and procedures during the briefing.
Seacock: A valve controlling a through-hull opening.
VHF: Very High Frequency radio, used for marine communications. Learn the equipment and procedures for the vessel.

Missing a term you met in a charter contract? Tell us and it will be added. For the regulatory vocabulary in context, see safety and commercial vessel rules; for what an operator will ask of you, see qualifications and briefings.