If you are new in sailing or you just want to let someone else worry about handling the yacht, hire professional skipper.
Why skipper on the boat? Primarily, skipper on board means security and no stress, in other words, circumstances in which the client can enjoy his time on the boat without having to worry about any problems. Skipper is right solution if you do not want to think about how and where to mooring your boat, especially during the summer season and given the crowds on the coast, not to care about how to anchor, where and how to found safe anchorage over night, not to follow daily weather forecast, not to have to think about restaurant reservations, about the best local delicacies and which local specialties to taste. Of course, there are also many local stories related to the various places which cannot be found in any of the tourist guides. Finally, having a skipper on board also means having a tourist guide.
WHO SHOULD CHOOSE A SKIPPER
- A group of friends or a family that is fairly new to sailing, might have some experience but not a formal qualification
- A group that although armed with the right qualifications and experience, would like to leave the responsibility of the day to day sailing to a skipper
- A group that isn’t familiar with the area and is looking to have a local guide that will show them places, bays and restaurants that they might struggle to find themselves
SKIPPER AND YOU
Skipper is in charge of driving the boat, but if there are no other crew members on board, his job also includes maintaining the boat, making all necessary smaller repairs during the sailing, taking care of the paperwork in marinas, transferring the vessel from one marina to the other between the charters and other. He can also give you various useful advice, point out some interesting places for you to visit or things to do, answer most of your questions and show you a thing or two about navigating a boat.
He is in charge of driving the boat and taking care of your safety.
He often cleans the boat and does other similar chores to ensure proper functioning of the vessel, even though it is not his primarily job. Overall safety and pleasurable sailing mostly depend on good organization, assigning duties and good relationship between the guests as well as between the guests and the skipper. Since you’ll be spending at least a week together at the sea, it is important that you compromise and show respect for each other. Most guests get along great with their skippers and often ask for him/her when they come back next year.
When you hire a skipper, remember that you have to save a berth for him and provide his food. Skipper spends most of the time on board and always has a plenty to do, so he doesn’t have much time to cook meals for himself, so you should take care of this – regardless if you are eating on board or dinning out.
If you want your privacy, the skipper doesn’t always have to eat with you. Sometimes he can eat after you or go to a different restaurant. With skipper you won’t have any trouble finding a common ground and that is one of the main conditions for pleasant and joyful sail.