[sailteachr]

DON"T DO IT!!!
I am a sailinginstructor for a charter company in the Pacific Northwest. I teach on charter boats from 28-48 feet. I have seen first hand the way that charter boats are treated by the so called well intentioned "Experienced Charter Guests" I have experienced and heard the horror stories of the things that these people do to boats. I could rant for hours on some of the exploits and pure lunacy that charter guests go through, and they think nothing of it, why... Because it is NOT THEIR BOAT. Charter boats for the most part are the abused neglected step children of the sailboat world. There is a reason that companies, like the one that you were looking at on the Chesapeke, get NEW boats every 4 or five years. This is because after 4 or 5 years of abuse even the best maintained charter boats start to die. A diesel can only take so many shifts without throttling down before it throttles you with a HUGE rebuild bill, and I have seen it many many times. Not to mention that charter boats RARELY pay for themselves in a charter season. Out of 30 boats in our fleet, last year only ONE paid for itself (maintenance contracts, moorage, insurance, and other hidden charter costs to the owner)
If you want to go sailing on a regular basis but want to avoid the cost of ownership, I would suggest looking into a sailing club of some kind in your area. Most of these organizations have their own boats, and their members pay monthly dues and have either free or highly discounted use of a variety of vessels.
I apologize for rambling but I hate to see people get into the Charter Owner situation without hearing from someone on the inside, about what REALLY can happen to YOUR boat. Remember, at the end of the charter season, it is still YOUR boat. I hope that this helps and I am sorry if I offended anyone.
-Keith