On a flotilla the lead crew plans the route and stands by on the radio, but on your boat you are the skipper: responsible for the yacht, the crew and the paperwork. Most of it is routine. Learn the routine and the week runs itself.
1 · Check-in and return
What you sign for
What should I check before signing the check-in sheet on a charter yacht?
Walk round with the base staff and have every scratch written on the check-in sheet: anything wrong that is not on it can be charged to you at check-out. Count the safety gear too: a lifejacket for everyone aboard, liferaft and flares in date.
At the base you walk round the boat with the staff and sign a check-in sheet. From then on, anything wrong that is not on the sheet can be charged to you at check-out. So look hard, and have every scratch written down before you sign.
Walk round with the base staff and look at every part before you sign.
Count the safety gear too: a lifejacket for every person aboard, the liferaft within its service date, the flares in date. A missing lifejacket is put right before you leave, not noted for later.
The same care applies at the end. Return the boat as the charter agreement says, normally with a full tank: fill up at the fuel quay on the way back, or the base charges you for the fuel at its own rate.
2 · Boat papers
What the port police ask for
What documents will the port police ask for on a charter yacht?
Three things, kept together: the boat's papers with the charter agreement, a crew list naming everyone aboard, and your valid skipper's certificate. Port authorities deal with the skipper.
Port authorities deal with the skipper. Keep three things together and ready to hand over.
Document
What it is
Boat's papers
The yacht's documents and the charter agreement, in the folder from the base
Crew list
Everyone aboard, by name
Your certificate
The valid skipper's certificate the charter was booked on
Crossing a border that is also the edge of the Schengen area, such as Greece to Turkey four miles away, means clearing out with customs and immigration on one side and in on the other. Any crossing takes you outside the flotilla's area. A yacht arriving from abroad flies the yellow flag Q until she is cleared.
3 · Safety briefing
Before the lines are let go
What should a skipper's safety briefing cover before the first departure?
Where each item is and how it works: lifejackets, fire gear and the gas shut-off, the lifebuoy, the liferaft and the VHF. Then make sure at least one other person can use the VHF and bring the boat back to a casualty.
Before the first departure, brief your crew. Show them where each item is and how it works: a lifejacket in its locker is no use to someone who has never put one on.
Lifejackets: where they are, how to fit them, when they are worn
Fire: extinguishers, fire blanket, gas shut-off
Man overboard: the lifebuoy, and what each person does
Liferaft: where it is and how it is launched
VHF: how to call for help
Then make sure at least one other person can use the VHF and bring the boat back to a casualty. If you are the one who goes overboard or gets hurt, the crew must manage without you.
4 · Flotilla routine
The shape of a flotilla day
What do I say when the lead boat calls on the flotilla radio schedule?
Your position and your expected time of arrival: it is how the lead crew knows each boat is safe. The ETA is distance divided by speed: 12 miles at 5 knots is 2 h 24 min.
When
What happens
Morning briefing
The lead crew gives the route, the weather, the destination and the berthing plan for the next harbour
Radio schedule
The lead boat calls every yacht at set times on the flotilla's working channel
Answer every radio schedule with your position and your expected time of arrival. It is how the lead crew knows each boat is safe.
17:00 radio schedule
Lead boat: all yachts, report in
You: Lead boat, this is Kalliope
Position: 5 miles north of the harbour
ETA 18:00 · OVER
The ETA is distance divided by speed. With 12 miles to go at 5 knots, 12 ÷ 5 = 2.4 hours, or 2 h 24 min: at 14:00 you report an ETA of about 16:25. If that is later than the lead crew asked, say so, or motor-sail to make it up.
Two limits are not yours to change. The sailing area is part of the charter terms and of the lead crew's cover: you stay inside it. And when the lead crew keeps the flotilla in harbour for weather, you stay in harbour, however keen your crew.
5 · Who to call
The coastguard for life, the lead crew for the rest
My engine has died but the boat sails fine: should I call the coastguard?
No: with no danger to life it is a matter for the lead crew, not a distress call. Sail on and call them early to plan your arrival or a tow; channel 16 is for life in danger.
What has happened
Who you tell
Danger to life: a crew member unconscious after a fall
The coastguard first, on channel 16; then the lead crew
A breakdown with no danger: a pump, the fridge
The lead crew, on the working channel
The lead boat does not answer on VHF
Phone the number given at the briefing
The engine is dead, but the boat sails well
Sail on; call the lead crew to plan your arrival or a tow
Damage to the boat, however small
The lead crew now; listed again at check-out
No danger means no distress call: a dead engine on a boat that sails is a matter for the lead crew, not the coastguard. But they must hear of it early, while they can still meet you outside the harbour.
Report damage at once. The lead crew can often repair it, it may affect safety, and it goes on the return report anyway.
Rule
Life in danger: channel 16. Everything else: the lead crew.
6 · Skipper's responsibility
Your boat, your decision
Can the skipper or the helm have a drink while sailing a charter yacht?
No: alcohol waits until the boat is moored, so the skipper stays fit to command and the helm alert. The dinghy ride back from dinner is where crews get hurt: it has a sober driver, lifejackets and a torch.
The skipper answers for everyone aboard, and that is why the skipper decides. When you say lifejackets are worn on deck, they are worn; it is not put to a vote.
Skipper's standing rules
Lifejackets on when the skipper says so
No alcohol for skipper or helm until moored
Night dinghy: sober driver, lifejackets, torch
Anyone who has been drinking sits low
Alcohol waits until the boat is moored: you must stay fit to command and the helm alert. The dinghy ride back from dinner is where crews get hurt, so it has a sober driver, lifejackets and a torch.
In harbour, good manners are good seamanship. When a boat reverses into the gap beside you, put a crew member on that side with a fender, ready to take a line. Tomorrow you will be the one coming in.
Practice questions
Questions from this topic, as the app asks them. Open one to see the answer.
Check-in at the base
Base staff walk round the boat with you
You find a deep scratch on the bow
It is not on the check-in sheet
The base hands you the check-in sheet to sign. What do you do before you sign it?
Have it added to the check-in sheet
Sign — a scratch is too small to matter
Mention it at the evening briefing instead
Take a photo, but leave the sheet as it is
Show the answer
A. Have it added to the check-in sheet
Anything not on the check-in sheet may be charged to you at check-out.
All 20 questions of this topic are in the app: practice by topic with the reason after every answer, your mistakes brought back, and a timed mock exam. Free, no sign-up, in the browser or in Telegram.
