Charter boats have two delivery windows a year: at the start of the season from winter storage to the charter base, and back at the end. Both are squeezed by the calendar; the boat must be ready before the first guests and safely in winter storage after the last.
Start of season
- Post-lay-up check. Engines, plumbing and safety gear; problems common on boats that stood over winter.
- Delivery. In a weather window, with margin before the first charter.
- Handover record. The boat's condition on arrival at base, recorded in photos.
End of season
- Season's wear. Faults accumulated during charter are noted and passed to the lay-up and refit list.
- Delivery. In autumn weather, before the lodos and poyraz season sets in.
- Lay-up. Winterising and haul-out on arrival.
More than one boat
For fleet operators deliveries are sequenced; several boats can move in the same weather window. Each boat gets its own handover and arrival record; end-of-season notes become that boat's winter work list.
Timing
Charter deliveries cluster at the start and end of the season: boats go from lay-up to the charter base, and at season's end back again or to a yard for refit. With many boats moving at once, skippers, berths and travel lift slots must be booked early. A plan built backwards from the first charter date makes sure the boat is ready before the guests arrive.
Preparation before the delivery
A charter boat that wintered ashore is launched and its systems run before the delivery. Engine, cooling, fuel, bilge pumps and instruments are checked; acceptance of the winter's work is completed at this stage. The delivery also serves as the boat's final pre-season test.
Handover at the base
On arrival, the boat's condition, inventory and any shortfalls noticed under way are handed to the charter company's technical team with a photographic record, so they can be put right before the first guests arrive.
The season wear list
On the end-of-season delivery, wear and faults built up over the season are noted. That list starts the winter refit's work list. Records kept during the delivery also summarise the boat's use over the season.
Fleets
If several boats must move in the same period, deliveries are sequenced on a calendar, with a separate skipper and crew planned for each.
Insurance
Which policy applies to an off-season charter delivery is confirmed in advance with the company's insurer.
Guest-ready
A boat that arrives with its shortfall list already sent gives the base team days, not hours, to prepare.
Records
Each delivery's log, engine hours and photographic records go into the company's technical file. Built up over several seasons, they show how each boat in the fleet is ageing and make renewal decisions easier, fleet-wide as well as boat by boat.
At the start of the season, safety gear, liferaft and extinguisher service dates are also reviewed; on charter boats this kit must be complete before guests board, and anything out of date is flagged in the arrival report so it can be renewed in time.
At season's end, the boat is handed over at its winter berth cleaned, emptied and ready for lay-up, which shortens spring preparation and gets the next season off to an early start.
The calendar is built with the company, around its bookings.
Early booking of skippers avoids the spring rush, when every good one is already taken.