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Thanks to the growth of excellent bareboat yacht charter and skippered yacht charter companies in Queensland, chartering a boat doesn't require as much preplanning
as you may expect. Holidays Allover can arrange everything
for you... and it's free... from air travel
to provisioning. You can even schedule a 'cruise and learn'
holiday to brush up on your sailing skills during the
whole trip or just the first part of your sailing holidays, and afterward
you can skipper the yacht yourself.
The most common way to book your trip is directly with
Holidays Allover after researching the various yacht charter
companies
and the charter yachts they have available
in our web guide, see our section Choose
a 'Skipper - Yourself' bareboat or houseboat.
Just to let you know how popular cruising holidays
are, over 90 percent of the respondents to Cruising
World's annual surveys felt that the cost was worth
the experience...and that their sailing holidays went
smoothly... We think that the other 10 percent probably
never left the islands... visit our Australia yacht charter directory to find a skippered yacht charter for your sailing holidays.
Boating holidays fall into two principal categories
- Bareboat Cruising and Cruising with a Skipper.
Bareboat charters
 'Bareboat
charter' was a term used by the Americans in the 1950's to
describe what was then a new kind of 'sail-it-yourself' charter,
when you hired only the boat, without any crew.
Bareboats these days are anything but... they come fully
equipped with refrigeration, double and single beds, fully
equipped galleys (kitchens to the uninitiated) stern mounted
BBQ's, showers and toilet facilities, and hot and cold running
water.
Today virtually everyone is capable of taking a bareboat yacht charter,
you don't have to have a boat license or a great deal of boating
experience to skipper a bareboat big or small, but some experience
at the helm will still be necessary... However, with basic
common-sense almost anyone can enjoy safe and exhilarating
sailing holidays or operate a motor cruiser or houseboat.
Cruise with a skipper on a skippered yacht charter
An all crewed skippered yacht charter comes in
a few guises - the first is when you've decided on a 'bareboat
holiday', but because you feel you lack the experience to
take the boat out initially on your own, you've decided to
hire a qualified skipper as a sail guide for some "cruise
and learn" experience - on a half day, day or overnight
basis until you feel confident to head off alone... review a wide variety of free online articles about boating.  'Crewed'
can also mean you hire a boat for yourself exclusively, with
the complete complement of a professional skipper and hostess
who take full responsibility, to provision the boat and prepare
the meals - they do everything. You can participate by helping
choose your destination and assisting in getting the boat
there.
But when you want to relax you can leave everything up to
the professional crew...for some charterers this system offers
the best of both worlds - being able to skipper the boat themselves
while being free of some of the limitations (and responsibility)
under which a 'bareboat' has to operate - such as the restricted
charter area - a 'skipper-yourself' bareboat is not permitted
to visit the 'outer' Barrier Reef and is required to be anchored
by 4.00 pm... review a number of free boating articles about chartering.
 A
'crewed charter' can also be taken when you
are traveling alone... or in a small group... or only have
a couple of days to spare. You climb aboard a 'scheduled'
crewed vessel with a group of like minded holiday makers.
These vessels come complete with skipper and crew, are fully
provisioned (generally BYO) and offer you a unique way to
enjoy the thrill of sailing, while in the company of other
couples or groups like yourself.
A crewed skippered yacht charter is generally taken on larger vessels than
bareboats and can offer you a choice of luxurious surroundings
or a more casual environment. These crewed charters commonly
go out for 2 - 3 nights... and up to 7 nights.
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