In a previous article, we revealed how to prepare your vacation rental in this time of health crisis of the world. In addition to these health recommendations, there are a number of essentials inherent to every cruise, so that you can make the most of your trip. Olivier Albahary, managing director of GlobeSailor, explains how to prepare for a vacation on the water.
Keep up to date with administrative formalities
- For trips abroad, check that your passport is valid
- Take your coastal license with you: it's compulsory to rent a sailboat abroad
- Draw up the crew list (surname, first name and date of birth) and send it to the rental company or your agency
- Check with your bank to see what your banking limits are, and ask for them to be raised if necessary. The charter company will take an imprint of your credit card for the boat deposit, which sometimes exceeds ?4,000, and it is not possible to write checks abroad.
- Check that your rental contract has been signed
- Check that your vaccination records are up to date for your destination
Preparing your cartography
A week before chartering, it's important to check the weather forecast. "We recommend downloading Windy and preparing an itinerary based on the weather forecast, which they can fine-tune with the base leader."
When defining your route, adapt it to the crew you'll be sailing with: are some people seasickâeuros? Are there children on boardâeuros? Are there any keen sailorsâeuros?
You should also adapt your itinerary to the ports you wish to call at, which can be saturated at the height of summer. Plan to arrive earlier in the day, rather than later, to make sure you have enough space.
"We advise you to go as quickly as possible, as far as possible, to come back by coaster and not have too much distance to cover on the last day, with random weather conditions, and take the risk of being late. In this context of health crisis, the boats often have to be back in port on Friday evening to have time to clean them properly" adds Olivier.
Preparing menus
Before you start provisioning, it's a good idea to prepare your menus so you can plan what you're going to buy, depending on the number of people and your shared budget. "It's a good idea to have an on-board till (around ?30/day/person for food and drinks) and menus, so only two crew members can set off with the shopping list and be efficient." explains Olivier.
Taking out insurance
"We advise you to take out a damage waiver to insure your deposit. If an incident occurs at sea, the deposit will be deducted by the rental company, but will be reimbursed by the insurance company (deducted from the residual deductible). Be sure to take photos and record everything in the logbook. We recommend that you take out a deductible buy-back with your rental agency or with Ouest-Assurance. The Force 9 contract is the most successful franchise buy-back contract in France. It costs 4% of the rental amount for sailing in Europe" olivier explains.
On-board essentials
- Clothing adapted to prevailing conditions
- Sun creams
- Sunglasses
- Suitable footwear
- Warm evening clothes
- Dishcloths, which tend to disappear from boats
- Bonnet
- Mask, fins and snorkels (with the health crisis, rental companies no longer necessarily supply them)
In the case of a skippered charter
If you hire the services of a skipper, be sure to budget for his remuneration and extras. Contact him beforehand to organize the week. Don't forget to include the skipper's meals, which are taken care of by the crew.
