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Bringing a charter yacht back late: what does it cost?
Short answer
If the weather keeps you in harbour, the handover time in your charter contract keeps running.
Most agreements leave that risk with the charterer,
so a spare day in the passage plan and an early message to the base are worth more than any
argument.
A charter week runs on a tight clock. The base takes the boat back in the morning, cleans it, refuels, fixes what needs fixing, and hands it to the next crew in the afternoon. There are only a few hours in between, which is why almost every charter agreement names a time for the return and sets out what a late one costs: usually a daily rate for each day started, plus whatever the base has to refund the crew left waiting on the pontoon.
Bad weather rarely changes that. Plenty of skippers assume a gale counts as force majeure and releases them from the handover time. Standard charter terms take the opposite view and leave the weather risk with the person who wrote the passage plan. That is also why many bases require the last night to be spent in the home port or an anchorage close to it. Skippers who keep that rule face a two hour hop on the final morning instead of a two day beat back against a rising sea.
Three habits make the difference. Build a spare day into the plan before you book, not once the barometer starts falling. Write to the base as soon as a delay looks likely, giving your position, the forecast and your expected arrival; a base warned in good time can move its own schedule and tends to be more reasonable about the bill. And never sail against your own judgement to keep an appointment. Damage picked up in a blow costs far more than a daily rate, and an insurer will ask afterwards how the decision was made.
Worth remembering
1 spare day
built into the passage plan
Daily rate
starts at the agreed handover time
A day of slack in the plan is cheaper than any late return charge.
Questions
What owners ask us about this
Do I have to pay if a gale keeps me in port?
Usually yes. Standard charter terms leave the weather risk with the charterer and set a daily rate for each day started. There is often still room to talk, particularly if you warned the base early rather than turning up late without notice.
How should I report a delay?
In writing, as soon as it looks likely, with your position, the forecast and your expected time of arrival. A short message to the base is enough, but it should be traceable and it should not arrive on the morning of the handover.
Will insurance pay the late return charge?
No. It is a contractual charge under the charter agreement, not damage to a boat. Deposit products generally respond to deductions for damage, so read the wording before you assume a late return sits anywhere near it.
Should I sail in heavy weather to keep the time?
That call belongs to the skipper and should be made on seamanship, not on a clause. A handover time is not a reason to put a boat and a crew into conditions you would otherwise avoid, and no charter base expects it in writing.
Related
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