Bareboat Chartering (ASA 104)

Prerequisites

ASA 101 Keelboat Sailing 1 and ASA 103 Coastal Cruising, or equivalent experience.
Comfortable handling a cruising keelboat under sail and power, anchoring and picking up a mooring.
Basic chart reading and an understanding of the boat's engine and electrical systems.

Learning Objectives

This lesson covers what the ASA 104 Bareboat Cruising standard asks of you and how a real bareboat charter runs from start to finish. By the end of it you will be able to:

Explain what ASA 104 covers and what experience schools expect before you take it.
Run a thorough check-out briefing with the charter base, including systems, engine, electrics, tanks and the dinghy.
Check the inventory and record existing damage so you are not charged for it.
Plan provisioning and manage fuel, water and battery power for a multi-day cruise.
Pick up a mooring ball as a crew, and operate the heads and holding tank responsibly.
Return the boat cleanly and get your deposit back.

What "Bareboat" Means

A bareboat charter is one where you rent the yacht without a professional skipper or crew. You are the skipper. The charter company hands over a boat worth several hundred thousand dollars and trusts you to sail it, anchor it, look after its systems and bring it back undamaged. Charter companies ask for a sailing resume listing your certificates and experience, and an ASA 104 certificate is the qualification most of them look for.

The ASA 104 Standard

ASA 104 sits after ASA 101 and ASA 103. A typical school setup, such as Modern Sailing's, looks like this:

Prerequisites: ASA 101 and ASA 103, plus about six days on the water, three of them as skipper. Students with comparable experience can submit a sailing resume instead. If your ASA 103 is more than three years old, schools usually want a recent resume, and if you have not sailed for over three years a review sail is recommended first.
Format: often a live-aboard course of three days and two nights. You plan and buy the food, practise docking, sail to an anchorage, learn the boat's systems, navigate, sail at night and take the written test at anchor on the last day.
Skills covered: provisioning and galley operation; anchoring, mooring and docking, including close-quarters handling of a larger monohull; electrical, mechanical and plumbing systems; routine engine checks; coastal navigation with chart plotting and GPS; weather interpretation; sail trim; night sailing; crew health and safety; and crew overboard recovery.

Requirements vary between schools, so check with yours. The rest of this lesson is the part the course is preparing you for: the charter itself.

The Check-Out Briefing

Most bases start check-in in the late afternoon, around 5 pm, once the yacht has been cleaned, fuelled and serviced. Arrive early. A base staff member will brief you on the boat's systems and safety gear, discuss your itinerary and give local weather and pilotage advice. Treat this as your only chance to learn the boat with an expert beside you.

Systems

Radios: make a test call on the fixed VHF. Carry a handheld VHF as a backup and test it too.
Unusual systems: ask to see any generator, watermaker, electric winch or electric head turned on and off, and what to do if it stops working. On one charter the windlass only worked once the bow thruster was switched on. That is the kind of detail to find out at the dock, not at anchor.
Chartplotter: make sure it is set to English and units you understand. Ask whether the depth sounder reads depth under the keel or depth below the waterline.
Reefing: ask how this boat reefs. Reefing lines differ from boat to boat.
Faults: ask the base to note anything that is not working before you leave.

Engine and Electrics

Ask the staff member to open the engine compartment. Check the oil, coolant and bilge together. On a catamaran, check both engines and the generator.
Find the batteries and learn their capacity. Guests leave fans and lights on, and flat batteries are a common charter problem.
Learn how to combine the battery banks if the engine battery is too low to start, whether there is an inverter, and how to switch between shore power and the generator.
Find the engine cooling-water intake and its strainer.

Fuel, Water and the Galley

Know how big the fuel and water tanks are and how many there are. Tank gauges are often unreliable, so do not trust them on their own.
Find the water filler and the deck key for it, the hose, and the valve that switches from one water tank to the other.
Fill the water tanks before you leave. One guide suggests allowing around 25 US gallons per person per day, which is far more than most cruisers use if they take short showers.
Have someone show you how to light the stove, how much propane is left and how to change the bottle.

The Dinghy and Outboard

Find the foot pump and oars, and learn how to raise, lower and secure the dinghy on the davits.
Start the outboard at the dock. It proves the engine runs, and it shows the base it was undamaged when you took it. Outboards carry a damage charge if they are dunked.
Check fuel, and whether it is a two-stroke (oil mixed into the fuel) or a four-stroke.
Ask for the dinghy and outboard locks and their keys.

Anchoring

Check the windlass works and that a snubber line is aboard. Ask which anchorages and mooring fields the staff recommend.

Inventory and Damage

Ask for a written inventory sheet that lists the equipment aboard and any existing damage. Walk round with it, item by item, with one crew member reading and another ticking. Photograph or film the walkthrough, and photograph every scratch while the base staff are present. Sign the sheet and keep a copy. If they cannot give you a copy, photograph every page.

Missing items are easy to replace at the base and hard to replace at sea. Many companies also offer a damage waiver in place of a large refundable deposit. Read it carefully: waivers often exclude the dinghy, the outboard, the anchor and the anchor chain, which are the very things charterers lose or damage most.

Provisioning

Plan the meals before you shop, as you would on the ASA 104 course. Some bases let you order provisions online in advance; otherwise visit a supermarket before check-in. Don't forget the basics: drinking water, sunscreen, toilet paper, cleaning products and dry food. Check what the galley already has, and ask whether there is spare engine oil aboard and where the spares and tool kit are kept.

Moorings and Mooring Balls

Many popular charter grounds have mooring balls attached by chain to a ground anchor or concrete block. Ask during the chart briefing which ones you may use and how fees are paid. Charges vary widely by area and are often paid in cash.

To pick one up:

Agree on the plan and the roles before you approach. Agree on hand signals, or use headsets, so the helmsman knows the distance and speed.
Approach slowly, head to wind or tide, whichever is stronger.
One crew member on the bow picks up the pennant with the boat hook. A second takes the hook back once the pennant is aboard.
Make the pennant fast to the bow cleat, or run your own line through it back to a cleat on each side.

Berths in busy marinas fill up. If you want one, it is up to you to reserve it.

Heads and Holding Tanks

The briefing should cover how to use the heads and how to empty the holding tank. Give one crew member the job of managing it. US law and most charter areas ban discharging untreated sewage in harbours, anchorages and near the shore, so pump out at a pump-out station or only where it is allowed, well offshore. Nearly every charter company also requires the holding tank to be empty when you return the boat.

Returning the Boat

Plan the return in advance to avoid a large charge on your card:

Fuel and holding tank: fill up with diesel and empty the holding tank. Ask at check-out which fuel dock is cheapest. Some offer a free pump-out with fuel.
Clean up: leave the boat reasonably clean, or expect a cleaning fee.
Roles: the skipper handles the check-in with the staff while the crew clean up, return rented equipment and clear out the food.
Report problems: write every fault on the base's maintenance sheet. Ask the staff to test the windlass in front of you.
Timing: check-out is often around 9 am on the final day, and most charterers return the night before. In the Mediterranean, many companies require the boat back the evening before.
Inspection: staff check the inventory and damage, and many send a diver to inspect the hull, keel and rudder.
Paperwork: get receipts for anything you rented and confirm in writing when the deposit will be refunded.

Worked Example: The First Afternoon

Your crew of four arrives at the base at 3 pm. The skipper goes to the briefing while two crew take the provisioning list to the supermarket. During the briefing you find the water gauge reads empty although the tanks were just filled, the depth sounder reads below the waterline (so you subtract the draft of 6 feet), and the starboard reefing line is chafed. You note the gauge and depth offset in the log, and the base replaces the reefing line. During the inventory walk you photograph a gouge in the dinghy and get it written on the damage sheet. You start the outboard, check the windlass, and leave next morning knowing the boat.

Common Mistakes

Rushing the briefing to get to the first anchorage.
Not photographing existing damage, then paying for it on return.
Trusting the tank gauges and running out of water.
Leaving fans and fridge running overnight and finding the engine battery flat.
Forgetting to empty the holding tank or fill up with fuel before the return.
Assuming the damage waiver covers the dinghy and outboard.

Summary

ASA 104 prepares you to skipper a cruising yacht on a multi-day live-aboard trip. It is the certificate charter companies most often ask for.
The check-out briefing is where you learn the systems, engine, electrics, tanks and dinghy. Ask questions.
Inventory and record damage in writing and photographs before you leave.
Plan meals, water and power for the whole trip.
Pick up moorings with a briefed crew, and manage the holding tank within the law.
Return the boat clean, fuelled and pumped out, and report faults honestly.

Check Your Understanding

Why should you start the outboard during the briefing? To make sure it works, and to show it was undamaged when you took the boat.
The depth sounder reads depth below the waterline and your draft is 6 feet. It shows 10 feet. How much water is under the keel? About 4 feet.
Which items are often excluded from a damage waiver? The dinghy, outboard, anchor and anchor chain.
Name two things nearly every charter company requires before you return the boat. Fill the fuel tank and empty the holding tank.
Why agree on hand signals before picking up a mooring? So the bow crew can tell the helmsman how far off the ball is and how fast you are approaching.

Sources

https://www.modernsailing.com/content/bareboat-cruising-asa-104
https://www.cruisingworld.com/charter/the-checklist-at-the-end-of-your-charter/
https://www.sailconnections.com/faq/typical-charter-check-in-and-check-out-procedures/
https://yachtwarriors.com/bareboat-charter-boat-briefing-checklist/
https://boattest.com/view-news/6268_how-to-check-out-a-charterboat
https://www.boatbookings.com/blog/?p=57402
https://www.sailingchoices.com/going-away/check-in-check-out/