I have chartered many times over the years and, even when returning to the same area, not only have I always attended the chart briefing but bring along my first mate and another person - all taking notes and making notations on a chart. The only time I have been disappointed was with Sunsail in Belize. We REALLY wanted a good chart brief for these unknown (to us) waters and islands but got some person from the office who just turned on the powerpoint presentation and who had never been out in the islands and knew nothing to add to the boiler-plate presentation. We actually asked if there was someone available with knowledge of our sailing area, and there was not!

But we did find our way around and had a good time - great place for sailing without having to race for a spot to spend the night.