A free Word checklist for getting each charter yacht ready for the season: hull and underwater gear on the hard, rig and sails, engine and generator under load, systems, safety equipment dates and the paperwork a commercial boat needs, started six to eight weeks before the first booking.
Download the Word template.DOCXA breakdown in the first week of the season costs a booking, and the fix is usually something that could have been found on the hard. Southern Right Yachting, a yacht manager, suggests starting at least six to eight weeks before the first departure, and puts a commonly used maintenance budget at 1 to 2% of the boat's value a year.
Start with the boats that had groundings or heavy weather last season, and work through the fleet with the same list on every boat.
Do it on the hard if you can. Southern Right Yachting, a yacht manager, says shaft seals, cutless bearings and propellers are best inspected during a haul-out.
Southern Right lists the standing and running rigging for chafe and corrosion at the terminals, and the sails for UV damage and blown stitching.
Southern Right's list: oil and filters, coolant, impeller, belts, fuel system, exhaust, and a full test under load. Generators and thrusters are tested too.
Watermakers, air conditioning, bilge pumps and electrical panels all need testing and servicing where intervals are due, per Southern Right. Batteries should be load-tested and shore power connections inspected.
Life rafts, EPIRBs, flares and fire extinguishers all have service intervals and expiry dates, as Southern Right points out. Check every one lasts the season.
A boat in commercial charter needs its paperwork in order. Southern Right names a valid commercial endorsement or licence, a coded or classed safety certificate and up-to-date stability documents.
List anything not finished, with the date it will be. A boat with open safety items doesn't take a booking.
| ITEM | SAFETY ITEM? | DUE BY | SIGNED OFF |
|---|---|---|---|
A charter yacht carries more paperwork than a private one. Southern Right notes that commercially operated yachts need a commercial endorsement or licence, a coded or classed safety certificate and current stability documents. Where the country requires a periodic inspection, such as Croatia's technical inspections or Spain's ITB, check it's done before the first booking.
Commissioning a fleet means the same walk round twenty boats. With Axsail, the engineer dictates each item as they check it, and each boat ends up with its own list of what's done and what's open.
Southern Right Yachting suggests at least six to eight weeks before the first departure.
The hull and underwater gear, rig and sails, engine and generator under load, every system, safety equipment dates and, for a charter boat, the commercial paperwork.
Southern Right gives 1 to 2% of the boat's value a year for maintenance and preparation as a commonly used benchmark.
Dictate as you inspect. Axsail builds the findings and the report for your signature
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