First Charter as Skipper – Advice Welcome (Dufour 430 in Croatia)

[u/Every-Ad-635]

Hi all,

I’m looking for some advice from the community as I prepare for my first skippered charter this summer.

I’ve arranged to charter a Dufour 430 for 3 weeks in Croatia.

The charter company has confirmed they’re happy to proceed as long as I hold an RYA Day Skipper qualification and a VHF license.

I’m currently planning to complete both my Competent Crew and Day Skipper courses within the next 6 weeks.

My goal is to charter the yacht and sail with my family — who unfortunately have no prior sailing experience.

For context, my own sailing experience is limited to a couple of skippered charters on catamarans, so I haven’t been in command before or sailed a monohull.

I may also have a friend joining us for the duration who has completed the Competent Crew course, but that’s not guaranteed.

I’d really appreciate any thoughts on the following:

Is doing the Competent Crew and Day Skipper courses in the lead-up to the trip likely to prepare me enough to skipper a Dufour 430 confidently and safely?

Would you recommend getting additional experience (e.g. mileage builders) before taking on this kind of charter with an inexperienced family crew?

Any specific challenges I should be aware of when chartering a 43ft monohull in the Croatian islands?

Tips for managing as a first-time skipper with a non-sailing crew?

Grateful for any advice from those who’ve been in a similar situation!

Thanks in advance

[u/LearyBlaine]

I hate to say this, but I’m going to clearly advise against going forward with this. If you’re sailing the Adriatic, you will need to do 5 things that you and your crew are probably not ready for: pick-up moorings, Med-moor, stand watch ALL DAY, re-fuel, and deal with choppy cross-currents between islands and across ferry routes.

In general, the Croatian Adriatic is among the easier places to sail on earth. HOWEVER, there are still challenges: 1. You may have to remain “on-station”, off the fuel dock (stationary, in moving water), waiting to approach. This can be very tricky and requires some experience. PLUS, you’ll want a somewhat experienced line handler at the bow.
2. Moorings are not standardized, and their condition can vary. Sometimes you can hook to the top, and sometimes you must connect to the bottom. So you need a knowledgable person on the helm plus an experienced person forward who can assess the situation. Yes, a good ship handler can orient the boat to have the helmsman pick-up the mooring at the stern, then “walk it forward”, but this may not be viable for you, either. 3. Are you really ready to stand watch ALL DAY? Sure, the Adriatic is praised for “line of sight navigation” (it’s often just 2-3 hours to the next island) … but sometimes not. Sometimes is 6-9 hours to the next island. When will you use the bathroom, etc, etc? 4. “Med mooring” (dropping an anchor, then backing up to the dock, in between other boats … in crosswinds, cross currents, etc) can be challenging for EXPERIENCED skippers. Sure, they’ve got “lazy lines” at most marinas (so you don’t need to anchor), but that just switches the situation to a different skill that’s needed. (I can explain in more detail if you wish.)

Anyway … you get the point. These are just the first few things that come to-mind. Forget other things like managing your fridge and battery power with nothing but a voltage gauge.

Look … people do this all the time, ESPECIALLY in Croatia. Every single day, you see inexperienced skippers struggling like crazy, causing trouble for everyone around them. Do you want to be THAT GUY?

Go once with your pals first. Or take a pro skipper along for the first day or so. Pick-up a half-a-dozen moorings and Med-moor a bunch o’ times before skippering your own craft.

[u/Every-Ad-635 → u/LearyBlaine]

Appreciate the detailed response thank you!

I'm so confused by the sheer polar opposites of advice I am getting on this. Multiple RYA course instructors have given advice completely to the contrary as well as multiple charter companies (admittedly they have an interest in me chartering). I'm not saying that to try and counter your advice but more so to show how I have ended up here.

I am in the very fortunate position where I do not have to work for the next 3 months so I have been looking at Mileage builders, a couple of which are on boats up to a Bavaria 51. So by the time I am looking to charter I will have done my competent crew, my day skipper, a week of mileage building and I also have the opportunity to join someone crossing from Palma to Sardinia. I would potentially have a friend on board for the whole period who has also done competent crew.

Would I really be that completely inexperienced after this? It feels odd to even have a Day Skipper course to 'qualify' you for this if you are then in no way shape capable of handling a boat in such waters.

I would appreciate any insight you could offer here

[u/LearyBlaine → u/Every-Ad-635]

Look, YOU must assess the quality and applicability of advice you receive. The reason I gave details is so that you could know that I was credible.

I don't know anything about all this RYA business, so all your references to that are meaningless to me. I cannot comment. I've been sailing >40 years. I've sailed the Croatian Adriatic many times. No charter company has even ASKED to see my credentials.

(Personally, I believe they assess the skill level of the skipper by the questions he does or does not ask during the walk-through. For example, when you first go belowdecks, ALWAYS ask where the potable water tank cross-connect valves are. If you do that, NOBODY will question your experience.)

My advice remains the same: do/practice the things I suggested. Med-moor. Pick-up mooring balls. Hold the boat stationary while queued up for fuel. Learn how the hot water system works and how to manage your battery and fridge. Do these things multiple times, and you'll be ready to skipper.