Yacht charter check-in: the checklist for taking over the boat
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Saturday, 5 pm in Split. The base technician has three more boats to hand over and wants to be done with yours in twenty minutes. Whatever you miss now comes out of your deposit next Friday. This list goes through the boat area by area, to print and tick off on the pontoon.
Before the crew unpacks
Done properly, a check-in takes one and a half to two hours. That is longer than the base plans for, and exactly the time in which the crew would otherwise carry bags into the cabins, fill the fridge and cram the lockers with shopping. After that, nobody can tell what was broken before.
- The crew waits in the cockpit or at the café on the quay. Bags stay shut until cabins, bilge and lockers have been seen.
- Do it in pairs: one checks and calls out, the other writes and takes photos. Four eyes spot the tear in the headsail sooner than two.
- On deck first, then below. Up top it is still light; down below a head torch helps.
- Have everything that should run shown to you running: engine on, windlass on, pumps on. A nod and “it works” is not a test.
- Don't let yourself be rushed. Whoever signs the check-in report is liable for everything missing from it.
- What you can't test in the marina, such as the mainsail in a crosswind, you check right after casting off and report the same day.
The checklist, area by area
Each line is one check. Anything missing or broken goes into the check-in report, and the base technician initials it.
Papers, contract, deposit
- Charter contract, boat papers and the yacht's proof of insurance on board. Name and model in the contract match the boat at the pontoon.
- Crew list with ID details handed to the base
- Skipper's licence and radio certificate shown in the original
- Deposit paid: amount and method (credit card hold or cash) are in the contract. Keep the receipt.
- Return in the report: day and time of arrival back in the marina and of check-out
- The base's emergency number in every phone on board
Hull and underwater body
- Walk once around the boat: scratches, gelcoat chips, scuffs on the topsides, a dented rub rail. Photograph every spot.
- Pulpit, pushpit, stanchions and guardrails without bends or loose bases
- Fold the bathing ladder down and back up
- Look at the keel bolts in the bilge: hairline cracks in the laminate around the bolts point to an earlier grounding.
- If there is water in the bilge, taste it with a fingertip: fresh water usually comes from a tank or pipe, salt water from outside.
- Underwater check: look at keel, rudder and propeller with a mask where swimming in the marina is allowed. Otherwise on the first evening at anchor, and send anything you find to the base straight away with a photo.
Rig and sails
- Shrouds and stays: split pins secured and taped, no broken wires at the swages
- Unfurl or hoist the mainsail: clew, foot, batten pockets, slides, reefing lines
- Unfurl the headsail all the way: tears at the leech, the clew and spreader height, UV strip, furler runs freely
- Halyards, sheets and reefing lines without chafe; winches turn freely
- Count the winch handles: at least two
- Traveller and boom vang run, lazy bag without tears
Engine
- Read the engine hours and note them in the report
- Oil level on the dipstick between min and max. The oil may be dark but not milky: milky oil means water in the engine.
- Coolant in the expansion tank up to the mark, on engines with a fresh-water circuit
- Have the raw-water strainer shown to you: lid clean, seacock before it open
- Drive belt without cracks, no more than about one centimetre of play
- Spare impeller and spare belt on board? Ask where they are and whether the tools to change them are there.
- Start the engine: cooling water comes out of the exhaust with the fumes. If none does, stop at once and have the seacock and impeller checked.
- Engage forward and reverse, briefly against the lines at the pontoon
- Engine bay: no puddle of oil or diesel in the tray, hoses without cracks
Diesel and water
- Read the diesel level and agree whether the boat is handed over full. Tank gauges on yachts are rough; half on the gauge can mean a lot or a little.
- Water tanks: how many, how many litres, where to switch between them
- Open every tap once. The pressure pump starts and switches off again when the tap is closed.
- Hot water: the calorifier heats from the engine or on shore power.
- Have the diesel and water fillers shown to you, plus the key. Diesel in the water tank is the most expensive mistake of the week.
- Petrol can for the outboard: taken over full or empty?
Gas
- Count the gas bottles: one connected, one full spare. Ask where to get a refill in the area.
- Gas locker: bottle valve, regulator and hose without cracks
- Light the hob and oven: every flame burns, and the flame failure device keeps it lit when you let go of the knob after a few seconds.
- Have the shut-off valve in the galley shown to you, plus the gas alarm and solenoid valve where fitted
- Try the gimbals on the cooker and the lock for them
Electrics, batteries, shore power
- Battery isolators: where are they, which one is for the engine battery, which for the domestic bank?
- Read the battery monitor or voltmeter. A charged lead-acid battery shows about 12.7 volts at rest; at 12.2 volts it is half empty.
- Shore power cable and adapter on board; the charger charges as soon as the cable is plugged in
- The fridge cools. At anchor it is one of the biggest power users.
- Switch on navigation lights, anchor light, steaming light, saloon and cabin lights
- 12-volt and USB sockets, inverter if fitted
Ground tackle and windlass
- Windlass with remote or foot switches: let out a few metres of chain and bring it back in
- Have the windlass breaker or main switch shown to you
- Ask for the chain length and markings; the bitter end is made fast in the chain locker.
- Chain hook or bridle, so the windlass does not carry the whole load at anchor
- Shore lines and mooring lines: two shore lines of about 30 metres are the minimum, plus four shorter mooring lines.
- Count the fenders, boat hook on board
Dinghy and outboard
- Dinghy inflated, chambers hold air, valves tight
- Pump, oars and painter on board
- Start the outboard: kill cord attached, spare shear pin there, tank filled
- Photograph scuffs and patches on the tubes. The dinghy often gets expensive at check-out.
- Lock and chain for the dinghy when it lies at the pontoon or in the bay overnight
Safety equipment
- Count the life jackets: one per person in the right size, children's jackets for children. On automatic jackets the gas cylinder is screwed in tight and the firing mechanism is in date.
- Harnesses with tethers, jacklines on deck and strong points in the cockpit
- Lifebuoy or rescue sling with line and light; check the light's batteries
- Life raft: service date on the canister, painter made fast to the boat
- Fire extinguishers: number, location, inspection label, needle in the green. Fire blanket by the galley.
- Distress flares: expiry date
- Open the first-aid kit, report anything expired or used up
- Manual bilge pump with handle, electric bilge pump starts
- Emergency tiller: where it is stowed and where it fits
- Seacocks: location of every one, each one turns, wooden plugs are next to them
Inventory
- Go through the base's inventory line by line instead of just signing it
- Open the toolbox; half of it is often missing.
- Galley: pots, pans, plates and cutlery for the whole crew, corkscrew, tin opener
- Bed linen and towels, if booked
- Sprayhood, bimini and covers without tears, zips work
- Pump the heads, holding tank empty, have the valve between tank and overboard shown to you
Photograph the damage
- Photograph every defect twice: once close up, once with its surroundings, so it is clear where it is.
- Your phone stores the date and time in every image file. A photo from Saturday afternoon shows the damage was there before the trip.
- A video of a walk-through, on deck and below: two minutes are enough, but it does not replace the photos of each spot.
- Write every defect into the report, don't just photograph it. At check-out a different technician often stands on the pontoon who knows nothing about your agreement.
- Take a copy of the report signed by the base, or photograph it
Return and check-out
- Return to base and check-out time from the contract. Plan the last evening in the base marina; then the handover in the morning runs without a rush.
- Fill up on the way back. On the last afternoon there is often a queue at the fuel dock near the base; come in early.
- Keep the fuel receipt. If diesel is missing, the base charges it at its own price.
- Boat swept clean, fridge empty, rubbish off the boat, holding tank empty
- Report damage from the week yourself, before the technician finds it
- Walk through the boat with the technician and only sign the check-out report once everything is in it. With your signature the boat counts as returned.
- Ask and note when the hold on your credit card will be released
Values for the report
These numbers decide at check-out whether you pay extra. Enter them at check-in and next to them on the last day.
| Value | Check-in | Check-out |
|---|---|---|
| Date and time | ||
| Engine hours | ||
| Diesel (gauge) | ||
| Water (per tank) | ||
| Gas bottles full / in use | ||
| Petrol for the outboard | ||
| Existing defects in the report (number) |
Where deposits get disputed
Arguments over the deposit almost always come down to the same spots. If you photographed them on Saturday and wrote them into the report, there is nothing to argue about on Friday.
- Dinghy and outboard: scuffs on the tubes, a missing oar, a sheared shear pin
- Keel and rudder after a grounding. Some charter terms explicitly list the cost of a diver.
- A bent pulpit, scratches on the topsides, dings in the rudder: small defects that not every base repairs and that several crews in a row are then asked to pay for
- A tear in the headsail after a gust, a torn batten pocket
- Lost items: winch handle overboard, boat hook, mooring lines, fenders
- A line round the propeller, snapped mooring lines
- A blocked toilet the technician has to take apart
- Diesel not full, boat not swept clean
What helps: existing defects in the report with the base's initials, photos with a timestamp, and reporting damage from the week yourself, with an entry in the logbook. Under some charter terms, whoever conceals damage loses the insurance cover and then pays more than the deposit.
A reminder 14 days before your trip
Two weeks before departure is the right time for provisions, packing and the check-in list. Enter when you cast off. 14 days before, an email arrives with the lists. One email, then the address is deleted.
Contract and report in Crewsy
The skipper uploads the charter contract, the inventory and the signed check-in report, scanned as a PDF with the phone, to the trip's documents. The crew sees them there, unless the skipper keeps a document to himself. Whoever paid for the fuel at check-out adds the receipt to the boat kitty with a photo.