A licensed captain on your bareboat, or on the helm of a charter company's vessel for a contracted week. Two clients, one captain, one rate card.
The services on this page divide by who's hiring me, not by what's happening on the boat. Bareboat skipper-for-hire is for the end client — someone who's chartered a yacht from one of the operators in Pula, the wider Kvarner, or anywhere in the Mediterranean, and wants a professional running her for the week rather than skippering personally. Freelance charter skipper is for the operators themselves — charter companies and management programmes that need a credentialed captain on a particular vessel for contracted dates, where the boat and the booking are theirs and what's needed is the helm.
The contract structure differs, and the freelance side tends to involve weeks at a time at preferred rates. Both come with full professional indemnity insurance, a written engagement letter, and the standard expectations of a working captain — vessel inspection, passage planning, weather routing, and conduct that reflects well on whoever's paying.
You've booked a bareboat. You'd like a professional running her. The two halves don't usually come from the same place — but they should.
You book a bareboat directly with one of the charter operators — Adriatic Sailing Academy, Angelina, Sunsail, the Moorings, the larger Mediterranean fleets, or one of the smaller local outfits. The boat is yours; the contract is between you and the operator. Separately, you hire me as your skipper.
I show up for boarding with my paperwork in hand, run the operator's check-in alongside you, and from there I'm the captain. You're the client. Your guests are your guests. I sail the boat, navigate, handle the marinas, deal with the port authority, manage the weather calls, and bring her back to the operator at the end of the week in the condition she went out.
Most charter operators in the region are familiar with this arrangement and approve outside skippers without trouble — many actively recommend it. If yours has a different policy, I'll let you know up front before any deposit changes hands.
B2B for charter companies and management programmes that need a credentialed captain on a contracted week.
The charter company has a booked vessel and needs a skipper for the week. Usually that's because the client requested one, occasionally because the regular skipper has a conflict, sometimes because the boat is being soft-launched into a new programme and a known captain is preferred for the early weeks.
This is the steady freelance work — a week at a time, usually arranged a few weeks to a few months in advance, sometimes called same-week when something falls through. I'm comfortable on most production cruising sailboats and catamarans from 35–50 ft (Beneteau, Bavaria, Jeanneau, Hanse, Dufour, Lagoon, Fountaine Pajot), and on the equivalent motor-yacht class.
For operators new to working with outside skippers, I keep a clean paper trail — current credentials, indemnity certificate, recent reference list, written engagement letter — so the compliance side is handled before we get to the boat.
For bareboat clients: 30% deposit confirms the engagement; balance due on completion of the trip. Free cancellation up to 14 days before; deposit forfeited inside 14 days unless the trip is rescheduled to occur within 90 days of the original date. For charter-company contracts: terms negotiated with the operator, usually invoiced after the week.
If the bora makes the week unworkable, the call to delay or alter the route is the captain's. There's no commercial pressure here — I'd rather lose a day than write it up the wrong way later. For charter weeks where days are typically reschedulable, I work with the operator and the client to make the best of the available windows.
Production sailing yachts 35–50 ft (Beneteau, Bavaria, Jeanneau, Hanse, Dufour). Cruising catamarans (Lagoon, Fountaine Pajot) of comparable size. Motor yachts and trawlers up to 100 GT. Twin-screw and single-screw equally fine. For unusual or high-spec vessels, happy to do a familiarisation day before contract.
As an active American Sailing Association instructor, I'm comfortable with sailing students aboard if the client is mid-certification or interested in learning during their week. Note that this is informal coaching, not a formal ASA course — those are run separately through partner academies.
For bareboat clients: which operator, which boat, when. For charter companies: the vessel, the dates, and any vessel-specific requirements.