Who knew that toilets, air condition, the right captain, and the right management company were the principal determinants of your yachting experience.

The main reason is because of the way they are used:

• as a "floating house"
• as a "sport vehicle"
• as a "luxury vehicle"
• as an "intercontinental holiday-adventure and cultural-exploration cross-oceanic transport vessel"

With additional equipment like ovens, A/C and plumbing, there are a lot of things that can break and cause inconveniences that could ruin a long awaited or spontaneous trip with friends and family.

1. Working toilets (when they are out of service you will have to request fellow passengers to turn around as you extend yourself over the stern while double-gripping the boarding ladder)
2. Reliable and performing AC - The AC gets clogged frequently, goes out often, and your trip can be an uncomfortable sweatbox when it is not working
3. Working navigation equipment

Key areas of yacht maintenance

Yacht maintenance companies conduct regular systems and service checks that include key points of comfort, convenience, and performance

• Making sure toilets work
• Servicing the AC sea strainers which get gummed up and must be cleaned and flushed every month (a before and after photo is usually taken), otherwise it can cause an AC high pressure fault
• Keeping the lines clean and out of the way of potential problems
• Thrusting the vessel in its slip to make certain the motors are working as expected
• Servicing the engine and generators every 1000-2000 hours, and completing oil changes

Additional Vanity services that a maintenance company may offer:

• Remove items like spoilers and replace equipment etc
• Change the name on the boat for new boat owners

A great captain has many talents and capabilities, and you will find yourself relying on him/her for many of the issues that come up.

Identifying a good captain:

• Qualifications are up to date
• Make sure its someone you get along with, trust and enjoy working with (they end up doing a lot of things for you - mechanic, travel planner). A bad one can ruin your experience
• Have longevity and experience in this role
• Handy enough to fix basic things like broken latches, hatches, cauking, and simple repairs and upkeep
• Know who to call to get something done

Your captain should not be completing your regular 1000 hour engine service. That work should be given to a specialist, perhaps one with whom the captain is familiar.

Captains come available all the time because boats are bought and sold frequently.

Signs of a good dock and the 2 types of dockage:

1. Commercial Marinas: Desired amenities (country-club-like features), good location, and strong security
   Examples:
   • Marina Bay in Ft Lauderdale - Older facility, weak security
   • Lauderdale Marina Center - all new facility with amenities and string security
   NOTE: Miami has many marinas, but only has 1 or 2 shipyards where boats can be serviced. Fort Lauderdale has many marinas and also many shipyards which is why it is preferred and competitive.
   
   
2. Residential waterfront houses
   • Make sure you have contract with dock owner that not skewed toward their side
   • Check the power on the dock (done by the captain or the management company) and make sure its sufficient so as not to lose power and also not a hazard that catches the boat on fire
   • Check the condition of the dock (done by the captain or the management company)
   • Make sure the "draft" or depth of water on the approach to the house from the intracoastal at low tide is sufficiently deep (measurment done by the captain or the management company). If it needs to be dredged look elsewhere because that is a long and drawn out process that is expensive and does not always turn out right.
   • Management companies have a short list of dock owners and there are also a few websites that offer this

Choose your captain and management company carefully because these 2 choices practially dictate the experience you will have.

Material graciously and professionally provided by:
Brant Craft - owner of Craft Yacht Management
922 Eve St Delray Beach 33483 FL
+1 561 926 5412
+1 317 966 6379

www.craftyachtmanagement.com