Bareboat Safety

16 May 2022 3 minute read

One of our most popular charter options is to ‘Bareboat Charter’, if you have the right powerboat qualifications and suitable experience on the. This is a fantastic option for family days out as it allows you to get the full ‘ownership experience’ without all the stress, upkeep and cost of actually owning a boat.

With this option, there is one major difference, as you are helming the Rib you are liable for the first £3,000 of any loss/ damage. Certainly not something to be sniffed at and emphasizes why it’s important to make sure you are completely comfortable with helming the boat and with the waters you will be chartering in.

Plan ahead

Create a passage plan for the day, even if you think you’re familiar with an area, it’s easy to get caught out. Hitting a submerged object or rocks, you may have never known where there because you’ve only ever passed over them at high tide, is easily done without prior planning. It’s a costly way of discovering them as this can be anything from a new prop, to a complete engine right-off which is all avoidable with just half an hour of prior planning.

Weather check

Look at what the weather is forecast to do on your planned day out, what are the winds and tide doing and how will it affect your day’s itinerary. Heading over to Portsmouth from Lymington in the morning, only to discover that conditions pick up late afternoon with wind against tide for your return journey back to Lymington is not necessarily a situation you want to be in. Especially with young children onboard, don’t just plan your day based on your own comfort threshold but also that of your guests.

Suitability for guests

Ribs are fantastic fun and a great way to explore the Solent, certainly quicker than sailing! However, the boats can be subject to significant shock loads if landing heavily off chop which means they aren’t the most suitable activity for everyone. We advise that anyone with neck, back, hip, knee and foot injuries or are pregnant should not come out on the Ribs, as the skipper, this is something you need to check with your group.

Drinking

When skippering it’s reasonable to have a drink, but no more than this, you are in charge of an 8-9m Rib with a 250hp engine on the back. It goes without saying that the two do not mix. We have a zero policy on drinking and helming the boats, if you would prefer to have a couple of drinks on the day, we are always happy to organise one of our skippers to helm for you.

Have fun

This blog is meant to remind that with just a short amount of pre-planning you can go ahead with your day with the knowledge that you’ve done everything to help prevent any easily avoidable mistakes. It’s very rare for our boats to be damaged on a charter, as the majority of our clients do plan ahead, when it does happen it’s often something that could have been easily avoided due to lack of planning.