Policies & Procedures for Great Lakes
Booking Procedure
- Choose your yacht and the dates you? like to charter
- Call the Solstice Sailing office to confirm availability and pricing
- A $500 deposit will confirm your yacht and the dates of your choice (For Captained Charters - 10% deposit of the total charter cost)
- You can pay the deposit with a credit card or we can simply hold the card number for 7 days to allow you to mail a check
- We?l mail (or email) you the contracts, confirmations and arrival information
- The balance is due 45 days prior to your charter start date
Payment
We accept Visa, MasterCard and personal checks. Checks are preferred. We can hold your deposit or balance payment on your credit card for up to 7 days to allow you to mail a check.
Security Deposit
The charterer is required to pay a refundable security deposit against any damages or loss that might occur during charter. For catamarans and the Morgan 50, $1000 is held, for the rest of the fleet, $600 is held. A temporary hold can be placed on a Visa or MasterCard or we can accept cash, a money order or cashiers check. The security deposit will be refunded to you within 14 days of the charter end less any damages incurred, if any.
Damage Waiver
The charterer is required to pay $25 per day, non-refundable damage waiver, not to exceed $250. A damage waiver protects the charterer for losses and/or damages incurred that exceed the Security Deposit amount.
Cancellation Policy
- Cancellations more than 45 days before your charter start: your $500 deposit will be applied to another date to charter the current season or to the next charter season. When rescheduling, your $500 deposit will be applied to your next charter.
- Cancellations less than 45 days before your charter start:: your total payments (deposit and balance) will be applied to another date to charter the current season or to the next charter season. When rescheduling, your $500 deposit and balance paid will be applied to your next charter. The full amount must be paid to reschedule your next charter.
- If you do not exercise your charter that same season or the end of the next season, your deposit and/or balance will be forfeited.
- If you reschedule your charter and have to cancel a second time, your deposit and/or balance will be forfeited.
- Weather we do not consider inclement weather a reason for canceling or rescheduling a charter. With early or late season charters when there are more available yachts and dates, we can be flexible on this policy and will try to accommodate you as best we can.
Briefings (Yacht Familiarization)
- Charters and briefings start at 9:00 am on the contract start date. The contract states that the charter will start at 9:00 am but you will not leave the dock at 9:00 am. Briefings can take anywhere from 1.0 - 2.5 hrs. This directly depends how organized the captain and crew are and if the inventory sheet has been completed. We do not rush briefings and will take as much time as needed to completely familiarize you with your yacht. The amount of time involved in your pre-charter briefing directly depends on the charterer skill level, organization or crew and gear and completion of the inventory sheet.
Briefings (Charter End)
- Charters end at 4:00 pm on the contract end date. This means you should be off the boat by this time. We will conduct a post-charter debrief when you return to report any problems and count yacht inventory items. Allow 30-45 minutes for our staff to debrief the yacht and allow you and your crew time to unload luggage and to be off the yacht by 4:00 pm.
Yacht Availability
- If a yacht becomes unavailable due to events beyond our control, every effort will be made to move your charter to a similar size boat with similar appointments. Week long charters take precedence over shorter duration charters.
Early Boarding & Late Departure
- Early Boarding allows you to board the yacht the evening before your charter start date. Early Boarding is $75 and you can board the yacht anytime after 8:00 pm. In most cases, the yacht is available earlier. Check with our office during the afternoon to see if you can board the yacht earlier than 8pm. Early Boarding does not include a briefing. It simply allows you to board the yacht, settle in and the next morning our staff will perform the briefing.
- Late Departure allows you to stay on board the yacht the evening you return back to our dock on your charter end date. Late departure cost is $100 and cannot be confirmed until 1 day prior to your return date. You must depart the yacht by 8:00 the morning following your return date.
Rates
Rates are subject to change without notice. Our general policy is to honor published prices for the calendar year.
Fueling & Pump Out
Fuel, pump out and all cruising expenses are to be paid by the charterer. The yacht is to be returned to Solstice Sailing at the end of the charter with empty holding tanks and a full fuel tank. Solstice Sailing can provide this service at the end of the charter for the cost of pump-out and fuel plus $25 labor fee.
Pets & Smoking
- Pets of any kind are strictly prohibited from all charter vessels in the Solstice Sailing fleet
- Smoking is prohibited below decks on all boats and must be confined to the aft cockpit area