Bareboats from the larger yacht suppliers are available for one way charters, enabling you to leave the yacht at a different base from where you started. It is also possible to do one way Flotilla holidays and Cabin Charters. This saves you sailing back along the coast you have already visited, in areas where circular routes are harder to invent.
Smaller yacht operators are generally less amenable to one way charters. Although they can readily arrange for the yacht to be returned to its home port, this takes time and can mean the yacht is then unavailable for charter the following week. So if you want to do a one way with a small operator, you may be asked to vacate the yacht a bit early to allow time for its return.
For bareboaters, there is usually a charge for a one way, typically a couple of hundred pounds though it varies with increasing distance between start and finish points. However, if you pick your time or use a good agent (like me), you can sometimes avoid this charge if you’re flexible in your choice of yacht and/or destination:
If your one way is really a delivery, you may have to get a move on
- At the beginning and end of the season many companies move yachts between their main winter base and their outlying summer bases. Given the choice between paying for a delivery skipper and fuel, or selling the trip as a charter, you may be a good solution. You’ll still have to pay for the charter but I have known discounts to be offered in addition to waiving of the one way fee.The down side is that, especially at the beginning of the season, the time available for the move can be so short you don’t always have much time to stop anywhere en route! As the first charter of the season, you may experience more gremlins with the yacht than normal, as things settle down after winter maintenance.
- During the season, yachts sometimes need moving (maybe to reverse an earlier one way charter). A good agent with access to the booking plans can sometimes anticipate moves that will be needed and persuade the yacht supplier not to charge the one way supplement.
Before you rush in to a one way charter do remember there can be one complication. Charter flights are often sold into and back from the same airport. So you may have long land transfer at the start or end of the holiday to fit in with your flights. It is getting easier to buy one ways on charter flights but there is often a cost penalty associated with this. Note also that I’ve never known a one way charter that crosses an international boundary, so don’t get too ambitious!
With Flotillas and Cabin Charters, there is no extra charge for a one way trip where these are available. You may still have a longish transfer at one or other end of the holiday though.
Anyway, if you’re interested in a one way charter, let me know and I’ll see what I can find.