At sea, practical experience is extremely important and if you do not have it or you think you do not have enough of it, it is certainly advisable to hire a professional skipper. This way, you will be much more carefree and, at the same time, you will combine pleasant with the useful and with the help of a skipper, you will learn and gain practice for independent navigation.
The cost of a skipper is usually not included in the rental price of the vessel, it is charged per day and the price is around 125.00 EUR/day. Skipper is with you all the time, he sleeps on the boat, in the salon or in the cabin if all the beds are occupied; larger vessels have skipper cabins. In addition to payment, you are obliged to provide food and beverage for the skipper, as well as for the entire crew; the skipper is basically considered as part of the crew. Also, if you go for a dinner in a tavern, the skipper goes with you.
First and foremost, the skipper operates the vessel, takes care of sailing out, navigation, berthing, he arranges with the crew about routes and destinations you plan to visit. All these factors depend on weather conditions, which often cause the plans to change. He also takes care of the technical part of the vessel's management. He helps and advises the crew on locations, makes sure your holiday is safe, gives the crew instructions for helping with sailing out and/or berthing, helps with registering in marinas and ports, takes care of pouring water and fuel into tanks.
However, the skipper is not responsible for taking care of children, household work, cleaning inside the boat, etc., nor is he bound to contribute to the shared expenses for berths, food and beverages.
Instructions given by a skipper must be implemented and respected, because he is responsible for the safety of a vessel and the crew who has no experience.
The renter of a vessel is obliged to pay caution money, despite hiring a skipper. The potential damage caused by the crew is covered from the caution money.
