How To Book

  1. Contact our office by email or phone to check on the availability of the yacht of your choice and make a provisional booking. We will hold your provisional booking for a period of seven days while you complete the documentation. Bookings not confirmed within this time will be released.
  2. Complete the Charter Agreement (download it here or from the download page) ensuring that your signature on page three is witnessed.
  3. Send the Charter Agreement to us with your Booking Deposit (£1000 per week or 50% of the total charter fee for agencies), this may be paid by Bank Transfer Bank Details Harris – UK cheque, or complete the credit/debit card section of the Charter Agreement. We accept Switch, Delta, MasterCard and Visa cards but we do not accept American Express.
  4. We will complete the Charter Agreement and send a copy to you. No further payment is due until 8 weeks before your charter commences.
  5. Booking can be handled entirely by email – this is our preferred method. The Charter agreement and payment can be both sent electronically.
  6. All our prices are stated in UK Pounds and we only accept payment in UK Pounds. We are not responsible for fluctuations in world wide currencies. – All our prices include VAT at the current rate.

 

Weekend and Extended Charters

Subject to availability, short term or additional days rental are offered at a rate of one fifth of the weekly rate with a minimum of half the weekly rate. For weekend charters we reserve the right to transfer you to another yacht with the same or more berths should the yacht of your choice receive a full week’s booking. We do not accept bookings of less than 3 days.

 

Special Discounts

  1. There is a 5% discount on private charter fees for bookings of two or more consecutive weeks or for one party booking more than one yacht at the same time and for the same date, except for weekend charter, PROVIDED all the correspondence is sent to one party.
  2. As we try to be as flexible as possible with our turnaround days we do occasionally have special rates for last minute or midweek charters. Please contact us for details.

 

Pricing Policy

Our aim is to provide a wide choice of yachts from the ocean going classics to the light and airy modern designs. We pride ourselves on high standards and we work hard to ensure these standards are maintained. Our policy on pricing is simple. Many companies spend thousands on attracting new customers with incredible deals that are not available to existing customers. In our view this upsets existing customers as there is no reward for loyalty. At Alba Sailing we have a very loyal customer base – more than 70% of our customers come back year after year.  We put all our efforts into offering superb service to our existing customers – not into acquiring new customers to replace unhappy ones that have gone somewhere else!

Occasionally due to ill health / cancellations etc we have last minute deals – these are always offered to our existing customer database (via our Facebook page) at least a week before appearing on the Internet.  Click here for charter prices.

 

Experience required

It is obviously essential for the skipper to have appropriate sailing qualifications and significant practical experience in coastal waters.  Our insurers ask for RYA Coastal Skipper Practical (Tidal) or extensive practical experience as a minimum standard for the Skipper and the First Mate must be able to get the boat to a place of safety if the Skipper is incapacitated – which usually equates to something comparable to RYA Day Skipper. Many of our charterers don’t have a certificate to their name but have extensive practical experience. Feel free to either email or phone us for a chat if you aren’t sure whether your experience is sufficient. Please have to hand a brief synopsis of your sailing experience – as Skipper – on a similar vessel and in tidal waters only – do not include any non-tidal sailing, trips where you were not skipper or flotillas or motor boat trips etc.  If you do not have the experience required, we would be pleased to offer one of our RYA certified Instructors to skipper for you. He or she should occupy a cabin to him/herself and you would be responsible for his/her food. 

For the avoidance of doubt – the skipper and charterer are usually the same person but it is not a requirement. It is the person listed as Skipper ie the person in command of and totally responsible for the vessel and the persons on board that must have the qualifications and experience not the charterer.

We do not accept the new RYA Coastal Skipper Practical certificate (which is not marked tidal or non-tidal) if it was gained in non-tidal waters as sufficient to charter a yacht from us – unless it is backed up by extensive practical experience – as Skipper and in tidal waters on a similar vessel.  We do not recognise the RYA ICC certificate.