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Booking and Contract Checklist

The clauses that decide what happens when things change: substitution, the weather decision, cancellation tiers, bonds and excess, plus everything to get in writing before you pay a deposit.

Illustration standing in for Australian charter sailing: a low sandy island in calm pale-blue water

A charter contract matters on the days the plan does not survive. Read these clauses before you pay a deposit, because after the deposit your leverage is gone.

What the booking confirmation must name exactly

A confirmation reading "yacht charter, Saturday, 12 guests" is a note, not a contract. Ask for a document naming:

  • The vessel, by name and ideally by registration or unique vessel identifier.
  • The operator entity, by legal name and ABN or ACN. A trading name is not enough.
  • The date, boarding time, departure time and return time. Boarding and departure are often different, and the gap is sometimes billed.
  • The route or operating area, in words specific enough to be wrong if it changes.
  • The passenger count, and whether infants or crew count toward it.
  • The named skipper, where the skipper is part of what you are buying.

Then check the vessel's numbers. A Survey: see glossary">Certificate of Survey belongs to the vessel and sets the maximum people aboard and the operating area. A Certificate of Operation belongs to the business. A vessel commonly has three figures: a day passenger limit, an offshore limit and a number of overnight berths. Confirm which one your booking sits inside. See safety and commercial vessel rules and choosing a vessel.

The substitution clause

Almost every contract allows substitution. Read what the clause permits, because a sister ship is not the same boat.

Two vessels of the same model can differ in berth layout, heads, shade, tender, galley, draft and sail plan. If you chose the boat for its two ensuites, substitution removes the reason you booked, and it can change the certificates, and so your approved passenger count or operating area.

Ask what the named alternatives are, who decides whether a substitute is acceptable, and what happens if you refuse. A clause permitting substitution of "a vessel of similar type and capacity" at the operator's sole discretion is common, and weak protection for you.

The weather decision

This clause generates the most disputes. Get four things in writing: who makes the call, at what hour, against which forecast and area, and how you will be told.

The master's judgement overrides the contract. On a Class 1 vessel a professional master is responsible and will not depart against their own assessment. On a Class 4 hire and drive charter the operator may refuse handover. Neither is a breach.

Contracts typically distinguish four outcomes, with different money consequences:

  1. Operator cancels for weather before departure.
  2. Charter is shortened or the route is curtailed after departure.
  3. Charter proceeds but conditions are poor, and you are disappointed.
  4. You cancel because you do not like the forecast, while the operator is willing to go.

Number four is the one people get wrong: a forecast you dislike is usually treated as your cancellation, at your cost. See weather and seasons, and note the official Australian tropical cyclone season runs 1 November to 30 April.

Weather and cancellation scenarios against typical money outcomes

Scenario Who decides Typical money outcome
Operator cancels for weather before departure Master or operator Full refund or free reschedule, at operator's option
Charter shortened after departure Master Pro rata credit at best, often nothing; varies widely
Conditions poor but charter proceeds Master No adjustment
You cancel on a forecast the operator will sail in You Treated as your cancellation; standard tiers apply

Typical, not guaranteed. These are patterns in published terms, not a promise about your contract.

Cancellation tiers, and what you get back

Cancellation terms are tiered by days out: the further from departure, the more you recover. Peak and multi-day whole-vessel bookings have stricter tiers than a half-day sail. Three different things get described as "getting your money back":

  • A refund returns money to you.
  • A credit holds your money with the operator, usually with an expiry and often excluding peak dates.
  • A reschedule moves the booking, sometimes with a price adjustment into a different season.

Ask which applies at each tier, whether credits expire or transfer, whether rescheduling is permitted more than once, and whether the deposit is separately non-refundable regardless of tier, because it often is.

Deposits, balances and bonds

Three payments, three purposes. The deposit secures the date and is commonly non-refundable. The balance falls due a stated number of days out, and non-payment usually counts as your cancellation. The bond is held against damage, loss, late return, excess fuel, cleaning and missing equipment, and released after the vessel is inspected.

Ask whether the bond is a charge or a pre-authorisation, how long release takes, and what may be deducted without your agreement. Bonds are commonest on bareboat charters; see the bareboat guide.

Insurance, excess and damage waiver

The vessel carries insurance. It protects the owner, not you, and it has an excess.

On a hire and drive charter the excess is usually your exposure, and it can be substantial. Operators often offer a damage waiver or excess reduction for a daily fee. Read what it does not cover, because the exclusions are where the money is. Commonly excluded: tender and outboard, ground tackle, sails and rigging, grounding, drivetrain, negligence, breach of the charter area, sailing at night if prohibited, and consequential losses. Check also whether the waiver applies per incident or per charter, and whether it caps your liability or only reduces the excess. Your own travel insurance covers what the operator's never did: your cancellation, your medical costs, your gear.

Extras that are not in the headline price

Ask for a written total for your actual trip, then check it against this list: fuel policy, crew wages or gratuities, provisioning, linen, end-of-charter cleaning, marine park and permit fees, mooring or anchorage charges, tender fuel, water sports gear, transfers, early boarding, late return, card surcharge and holiday loadings. Only 7 of the 44 operators here publish a standing dollar tariff, so most of this has to be asked for. See costs.

People policies: accessibility, children, swimming, alcohol

Ask before you book, not at the dock.

Accessibility: boarding method, step heights, whether the heads are reachable, whether a mobility aid can be carried. Many vessels cannot, and will say so.

Children: minimum ages, whether they count in the passenger limit, and whether child-sized lifejackets are aboard. See families and groups.

Swimming: whether it is permitted, stinger season policy in the tropics, and whether a swim ladder and stinger suits are provided.

Alcohol: BYO or licensed, glass restrictions, and the rule on bareboat charters that whoever operates the vessel is subject to the same limits as any other skipper. See qualifications.

Handover: what to photograph and record

On a hire and drive charter, handover is your evidence. Spend twenty minutes on it. Photograph, with timestamps: hull both sides, transom and swim platform, the tender and outboard with its serial number, the sails or sail bags, the chain markings, each cabin, the galley, the heads and the gauges. Record engine hours and fuel and water levels in writing, initialled by the handover officer. Note existing damage on the inventory sheet. Keep the briefing notes, the charter area chart with prohibited zones marked, and the after-hours number.

Pre-departure reconfirmation

Forty-eight hours out, in one email: vessel name, date, boarding time, meeting point with a pin, passenger names, skipper name, the weather decision time and who will call, luggage limits, provisioning, dietary needs, accessibility needs, the balance paid, the bond and the after-hours number. Ask them to reply confirming. A written reply beats a phone call you remember differently.

Cross-check details against the operator directory and vessel directory, and check whether your ground is one of the region directory entries with no resident operator, which changes your transfers. For the decision order that comes before all this, see how to choose.

Sources

This is editorial information, not legal or safety advice. Reconfirm safety-critical facts with the operator and the relevant regulator before you book or depart.