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Strong wind warning: can the charter base stop you sailing?
Short answer
Usually, yes.
Many charter contracts let the base delay handover or departure in dangerous weather,
and in some countries the port authority can close the harbour itself.
Whether you get anything back for lost days is down to the contract.
The first day is booked, the crew has flown in, and the forecast shows a near gale or worse. Many charter contracts carry a clause for exactly this: the base hands over the boat, or lets it leave, only once conditions allow. It carries the risk for its own boat, knows its waters and also judges whether crew and weather are a match. On top of that come the rules of the state. In some countries the port authority can bar certain vessels from leaving harbour in a gale, and the base is bound by that too.
What happens to the lost days is set by the contract, and it rarely falls the charterer's way. Many contracts treat weather as something neither side is responsible for, and then there is usually no right to a refund or an extension. Some bases at least let the crew sleep aboard, others help replan the week in more sheltered water. It is different if the base cannot hand the boat over for reasons of its own, a fault for example. That is not weather; it is a question of whether you got what you paid for.
Read the weather clause before you book and ask what applies if the start is delayed: nights aboard, a changed route, a credit. Plan the week so that losing the first day does not wreck the whole plan, and do not leave the passage back for the final day. And do not go out just because the base has said you may, if you have doubts yourself. At sea the decision is the skipper's, and whoever sails against their own judgement carries the consequences personally.
Worth remembering
Base
may delay departure in dangerous weather
Skipper
decides at sea and carries the consequences
Build a spare day into the plan and a gale costs you a day, not the week.
Questions
What owners ask us about this
Do I get money back if a gale keeps us in harbour?
Usually not. Many contracts treat weather as something neither side answers for. Nights aboard, a new route or a credit are goodwill from the base, or they are written into the contract.
Can I leave anyway if the base says no?
No. Sailing against the base's instruction breaks the contract and puts the deposit at risk, and beyond that you carry the full cost of any damage. If the port authority has closed the harbour, a fine can follow as well.
Who decides about the weather once we are out?
At sea, the skipper. The base can advise, or ask you to head for a harbour, but responsibility for boat and crew stays with you. If the weather means you cannot make the return time, ring the base early.
Related
Not sure whether you qualify?
Whether it is “Strong wind warning: can the charter base stop you sailing?” or another question: send us your residence and the flag your boat flies. You will get a straight answer in one email; including a no, if that is the answer.
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