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I am looking for ideas on short-term chartering opportunities for 25’ to 40’ boats. I've been sailing for several seasons, and have gotten my ASA certifications through bareboat as well as coastal nav, but, as much as I love cruising, I’m not so keen on buying a boat. For all of the obvious attractions, my wife and I have decided we don't need another commitment in our lives.

So I’m looking to charter within an hour or so of New York City (basically Western Long Island Sound, Hudson River, and upper parts of the Jersey shore). Over the last couple of years I have frequently rented from local sailing schools, which has been great, but I’m trying to figure out if there are other sorts of opportunities that I’m overlooking.

I have thought about fractional ownership and timeshare, but that just gets me back into the boat ownership I’m trying to avoid. Of course, another good option is the various sailing clubs.

I have also been thinking that if I had a way to connect with them, perhaps there are individual owners that would like to charter their boats for the occasional day or weekend. For sure, I recognize that many people would be reluctant to rent to an unknown person (and there are insurance and liability issues as well). As a friend of mine quipped (quite accurately) on this subject, “most boat owners are only slightly more possessive of their boats than their spouses and equally inclined to rent them out.”

Having said that, I have to think there are people that might be willing to rent (their boats, not their spouses), especially to someone that can present good sailing "references." Does anything like this ever happen and, if so, how does one make these sorts of connections? I’ve looked through some classifieds but not seen anything. Oddly enough, having gone back through this forum for a couple of years and found nothing on this subject, I was interested to see another post on this subject earlier today.

Anyway, I would appreciate any thoughts on all of this.

Much thanks.

Paul