For charter operators, fleet managers and owners of several boats the real problem is not any single defect, it is not seeing what is accumulating on which boat.
Fleet condition monitoring is a set of regular inspections made by the same method and in the same format. Its value lies not in any one report but in the difference between them.
1. How It Works
| Point in the year | What happens |
|---|---|
| Start of season | A condition record for each boat: hull, systems, safety equipment, document expiry dates. Photographed and measured, the evidence of what state she entered the season in. |
| Mid-season (optional) | Short interim checks, particularly on heavily used boats or after a damage report. |
| End of season | Wear recorded, compared with the start, winter maintenance planned and next season budgeted. |
2. Why the Same Format
Every boat is recorded under the same headings, in the same order, against the same criteria. That has three consequences:
- Comparability: which boat lags on which item is visible at a glance.
- Trend: the change in one boat between two seasons, the moisture curve, anode consumption, the age of the rig, appears as a number.
- Budgeting: what happens to which boat over winter is decided from records rather than guesswork.
3. Fleet Summary
Alongside the individual reports comes a one-page fleet summary: how many class A findings on which boat, which safety equipment is approaching expiry, which rig is entering its renewal window, which boat is not ready for next season.
4. Who It Is For
- Owners running a charter fleet, or placing boats into one
- Private owners with more than one boat
- Yacht management companies wanting an independent record for their clients
- Corporate owners holding boats as an asset
5. Year-round monitoring for single-boat owners
The number and timing of visits depend on where the boat is and what the owner needs. A typical year:
- Autumn: lay-up check; mooring lines, covers, bilge and batteries.
- Midwinter: one or two visits; bilge, battery charge, damp and mould, cover damage.
- After storms: an extra visit after a hard lodos or poyraz in the Aegean.
- Spring: pre-season check.
- Mooring lines, fenders and chafe.
- Bilge: water level, automatic pump and alarm.
- Battery bank voltage and charging.
- Damp, mould and leak traces inside; ventilation.
- Covers, awnings and deck gear.
- Signs of unauthorised entry or damage.
After every visit a short photo report is sent in writing. If something urgent is found (water in the bilge, a parted line, cover damage) the marina is told first and the owner is written to at once. Work is arranged with contractors only with the owner's approval; labour and materials are invoiced separately.
6. Pre-season check: before launch
- Hull and antifouling; impact marks and blistering.
- Seacocks and through-hulls: operation, clamps and hoses.
- Propeller, shaft, cutless bearing and anodes; bellows on saildrives or sterndrives.
- Rudder blade and bearings.
- If the boat wintered ashore, hull moisture readings (a dry hull reads true).
- Bilge and through-hulls checked for water straight after launch.
- Machinery: first start, raw-water flow, oil and fuel leaks, temperatures under load.
- Electrics: battery bank, charging, shore power and residual-current protection.
- Deck: windlass, winches, furling; rig and terminals on a sailing yacht.
- A short sea trial.
The start of the season is the right time to check service dates:
- Liferaft service date.
- Fire extinguisher inspection dates.
- Flare expiry dates.
- Lifejacket inflation cartridges.
- EPIRB and AIS battery and registration.
More: safety equipment check.
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- Charter season deliveries: Start and end of season.