Bare boat, bareboat and bare charter all name the same arrangement: you take the yacht and nobody comes with it. You are the skipper, the navigator, the cook and the one who berths it in a crosswind on a Friday evening. It is the cheapest way to charter and the most demanding, and the whole trade is organized around the distinction.
What a bare charter asks you to take on
Full responsibility for the boat, the crew and the passage. You plan the route, read the forecast, decide when not to go, and hand the yacht back in the state you took it. The company briefs you at handover, gives you a phone number and expects not to hear from you. Most charter countries will not release a bare boat without a recognized skipper's certificate and a VHF operator's license for the person named on the contract, checked at the dock.
What it saves
The crew, which is the largest single line in this market. The Moorings publishes a 7 day bareboat charter for 2 in the Abacos from $5,579 and skippered packages from $12,479 on the same page: roughly a doubling for putting one professional aboard. Sunsail's approximate BVI figures start at about $3,500 for a low season seven day bareboat monohull, which is the shape of the entry to this market.
Bare boating as a way to travel
The appeal is not really the saving. It is that the day is yours: you can leave at six, stay two nights in a bay nobody else stopped at, or change the whole plan at breakfast because the wind went round. A skippered week gives you most of the same coastline with someone else making those calls. Crews who have done both usually describe them as different holidays rather than the same holiday at two prices.
Whether you are ready for it
The honest test is not whether you can sail but whether you can berth, anchor and decide. Charter companies rarely refuse anyone with the paperwork, so the filter is yours to apply. A common middle path is a skipper for the first two days, which several Mediterranean companies will sell, after which you have seen the boat handled in that particular marina and can take it on.
Questions people ask about bare boat charter
What is a bare boat charter?
The yacht with no crew: you take it, you skipper it, you hand it back. The company briefs you at handover and expects you to run the week yourself.
What licence do I need for a bare boat?
Most charter countries require a recognized skipper's certificate and a VHF operator's license for the person named as skipper, and the base checks the originals at handover.
How much does bare boating save?
Roughly half, against a skippered week. The Moorings publishes Bahamian bareboat from $5,579 and skippered packages from $12,479 for the same seven days.
Can I take a skipper for part of the week?
Several Mediterranean companies sell a skipper for the first day or two, which is the usual way a crew gets comfortable with an unfamiliar boat and marina before taking it on alone.