[Zanshin]

I disagree with Night0wl on the state of ex-charter boats. All of the ones I looked at had full autopilots and some even had radar (which the charter companies tended to de-activate). My charter boat had a good Raymarine autopilot with full instruments (but a crappy plotter), a genset, air conditioning, harken winches, etc. In addition, it had all of the small stuff that one tends to forget about (legal flares, 12 lifevests + harnesses, cutlery, pots, pans, glasses, extinguishers, and the other items that are required for commercial charter and private owners tend to overlook). The sails were almost unused but the engine hours high. The boat was worn inside and the wood scratched and dented, but over time I sanded and varnished to restore a bit of lustre. There was enough food in the hidden areas under the floorboards to feed a starving village and half a beach as well, but careful cleaning and a shop-vac took care of that.
All in all I still feel that the savings in price were well worth the experience and I would do it again; that having been said I now have a newer and never-been-chartered-boat and the differences are huge, but so was the price.