No formal qualifications are required to skipper a bareboat, but it is obviously desirable that somebody in the bare boat crew has had a little experience handling a boat... if you're hiring a yacht for your bareboat yacht charter, think about taking a few lessons before you go or organise yourself a sail guide to teach you for a half day or a day before you start your charter (this can by organized for you by your charter company after you make your choice of bareboat).

Costs vary but are approximately $140 for half a day and $260-$280 for a full day. Taking a sail guide is an excellent way to improve your bare boat sailing skills in an enjoyable and informal manner. Some general boating experience is usually enough to learn how to operate a motor cruiser.

The right bareboat for your boating holidays

Probably one of the most common, yet most difficult questions asked is - what is the right type of boat to charter for a bareboat yacht charter... to review bareboats available in Queensland, Australia visit the bareboat yacht charter directory.

It is difficult because so many people have so many different ideas about cruising... Some enjoy exploring lakes and estuaries... others prefer working their way up the headwaters of rivers in houseboats, or sleeping under canvas either ashore or in the bottom of the boat...By contrast, a boating holidays afloat are not complete for others unless they can accommodate guests and friends on board, relaxing with a cocktail in one hand and hors-d'oeuvre in the other.

It would be safe to say, however, that most bare boat cruising holidays fall somewhere between these two extremes, enjoying a comfortable, but not lavish, bareboat with sensible comforts in the form of a shower and toilet, refrigeration, cooking facilities and comfortable bunks.

Obviously then, your choice of bareboat, apart from being the one which best suits your pocket, is the one that best suits your needs... Power or sail will depend on personal tastes, bearing in mind that in the closer confines usually associated with the upper reaches of rivers, cruising in anything other than a flat bottom houseboat would be a problem... check out the range of Queensland houseboats for rent in sheltered houseboat waterways along the east coast.

So it depends to great extent on what type of bareboat cruising you have in mind and the amount you want to pay... Since these two factors are not always compatible, more often than not, you will have to compromise. The compromise may not only be in the size and type of boat, but also in the length of the charter and just where you intend taking your boating holidays.

Since most cruises are a family affair, it is a wise procedure before taking any steps towards booking your holiday, to sit down and discuss the pros and cons of both the projected cruise, and the degree of comfort required.

There are other factors to bear in mind when planning on chartering a bareboat. Many families do not enjoy open sea or even coastal cruising since they are prone to seasickness or have some other personal problem which dictates that they must stay in calm waters...read about how to avoid seasickness and the causes of seasickness.

Others, by contrast, do not like the fresh water of lakes and rivers but enjoy the dazzling waters and isolation of offshore islands as many find on a Whitsundays yacht charter... Some like to spend the whole holiday tucked away in quiet inlets, swinging to the anchor and with a dangling fishing line tied to each big toe... Others prefer to spend the time reveling in the exhilaration of beating hard through a stiff offshore breeze.

Fortunately, with cruising boats, there is always something for everyone and providing all the pros and cons are thrashed out beforehand, there is no reason why a compromise cannot be reached which suits everyone's requirements, yet fits within the budget.

Sailing yacht or motor cruiser

The choice between sail or power will almost certainly be determined by personal preference. If there is an optimum, it probably lies in the hybrid motor sailor, generally a catamaran, a type of craft which has found increasing popularity in recent years. But there are factors which can have a considerable bearing on the choice between power and sail when considering bareboat charters and these should be mentioned in order to avoid the possibility of problems and disappointments later.

A sailing yacht can sail indefinitely since its fuel is free and readily available. A motor cruiser has the cost of fuel to take into consideration.

Accommodation is usually a key factor, and here there is no doubt that large motor cruisers and motor yachts offer more spacious and comfortable room than do sailing yachts of the same size.

If your family is not boat minded, they will enjoy the apartment-like comfort of a modern motor cruiser or catamaran, while taking doubtful pleasure at being restricted to the confines of a sailing yachts below-deck accommodation.

Motor cruisers and yachts have big windows and spacious lounges while sailboats often have small portholes and headroom only in the centre of the cabin trunkway.

Cruisers have spacious after decks and flybridges with chairs and tables, while sailing yachts tend more towards confined cockpits with steering wheels.

Then again there are more aesthetic qualities. 'Just by way of comparison, take the soft, sweet motion of a sailing yacht in a seaway' as opposed to the thump and bang 'of a power driven boat'.

But don't forget that the hard ride to windward in a motor cruiser will be a great deal shorter than the long tacking progress of a sailboat in similar conditions. And in a flat calm, a motor cruiser goes someplace while a yacht sits and waits.

There is the clean, untainted air of a yacht underway to compare with the fumes of diesels that somehow can never be totally dispersed.

And above all there is the sweeping silence of wind in the sails as opposed to motors drumming under the feet.

These are a few of the factors which may have a bearing on the type of boat you choose for your boating holidays, but they are important factors and could have a considerable effect on the ultimate enjoyment of your holiday.

It is too late, when you are thumping through a headaching seaway to yearn for the soft, quiet motion of a yacht... Just as it is, when trying to beat the tide, to run out of wind and wish to blazes you had a more powerfully motor.