How to book owner's time

When you book owner's time, how do you establish trust. Assuming you find them on sailonline.com or another online site, how do you know you'll get a boat when you send them a check? Or do you pay some other way? Or get credentials? Or check up on them?

How does it work?

Thanks in advance!

When I owned a boat with TMM, many years ago, I would strike the deal with the charterer, then turn it over to TMM. They would manage the money, and take care of the charter, just as if they had booked it themselves. Basically, if you have a boat in charter with TMM, Horizon, or similar companies, they primarily want the charter - it can be booked by their booking agent, an independent like Ed Hamilton, or the owner. Each company may work it a bit differently, but that's the general concept - so it's a pretty "safe" arrangement for the client. All this being said, the larger companies (Moorings/Sunsail, who have a little bit more of a time-share arrangement with their owners, work it differently, I believe. If you are booking a boat from someone who does NOT have it with a charter company, that's a whole different set of risks.

I booked some owner time a while ago through Sailonline for an upcoming trip. In addition to some initial due diligence, I asked the owner if I could call the charter company to confirm that they are in fact the owner. That provided a little bit of comfort knowing they were selling me time on a boat that they at least owned. I have also kept tabs on the boat making sure their ad hasn't disappeared from Sailonline in addition to checking the reservation system making sure the boat is still blocked out those days for me. Still, you never know until you are on the boat. I have saved all of the e-mail and other correspondence just in case anything goes wrong. I guess the steep discount you receive is partially in exchange for the small risk you take booking directly through the owner.

Hi Stormy ... TMM is my Charter Mgmt company and if I, as an Owner, book time directly with a customer, we use all the same contracts and procedures as would be used if the customer had booked directly with TMM. Contacting the Charter Mgmt company to confirm legitimacy of Owner seems like a good suggestion. Thanks!

I've used an owners time on Sunsail a few times. I spoke with the owner on the phone, and also called Sunsail to verify that the person actually owned the boat. The owner then booked it via Sunsail under my name and I was assigned a contract number just like a regular charter. From that point, all dealings were with Sunsail, not the owner. Easy peasy.

Did you pay the owner or Sunsail?

Directly to the owner, stormster

not necessarily, we paid TMM for owners time. We even spoke with Barney Crook, yeh a great name for a business owner. They thought we might have issues with the owner's time and they were prepared to switch boats at the same price.They treated us like TMM customers.

With Sunsail/Moorings and probably footloose it varies. It can be done many different ways - I have those buying my time pay me directly as this gives them a single payment. Otherwise some payments would be made to Moorings/sunsail and some to the owner. This is something that just needs to be worked out with the owner.

But you can get a contract number once things are worked out and you can call the owners agent to verify. Feel free to PM me with any specific questions - I own a Moorings 43.3.

All owners time bookings with Sunsail and the Moorings should be made directly with the company. The owner simply notifies the company that you will use a week of his guest allotment. You will get a standard contract.nthe base will not even know you are using owners time. The owner is paid directly. There is a per Diem charge that also has to be paid. It's generally 400 to 600 a week. That can be paid directly to Sunsail or the Moorings by the guest or the owner can include it in the price and pay it himself.
You should always have a contract in your name with either company so the risk is virtually zero. On occasion some owners will try and sell more time then their guest allotment. If your name is not shown on the contract then you need to get it added to insure its legit. If the owner refuses look elsewhere.
G

We book owner's time on our boat which is with TMM. TMM's current policy is the person (TMM, booking agent or owner) responsible for booking the charter is also responsible for collecting the monies and paperwork. The paperwork (charter contract, resume, crew manifest, etc)for owner booked or tmm booked is identical. If a potential client of mine is concerned about my integrity, I encourage them to contact TMM to confirm my ownership and contract with TMM. I also direct them to the USCG documentation database to verify my ownership. However, the best peac of mind comes from past charterers who have purchased owners time directly from me and have offered to be a reference for concerns like this.

Cheers,

Tony

Well said Tony!

TTOL'ers ... I can confirm that TMM operates exactly as Tony has described. Additionally, I have chartered through Tony on S/V Mardi Gras and I can tell you it is the best experience I have had in chartering! The individual attention I received from Tony throughout the entire process was priceless (as they say).

Thanks! - Mark