TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands Bareboat Qualifications

This is about the Bahamas, but I'm posting here because this is where most bareboat skippers hang out.

I understand that beginning in October, in order to charter a bareboat in the Bahamas, the skipper must have evidence of competency in the form of certifications (International Proficiency Certificate, ASA 104 completion) or licenses (USCG license), and not just sailing resumes.

Can anyone point me to the actual law? Is there any published info on why they decided to require this?

Trying to understand why the Bahamian government would exclude so many potential bareboat skippers with plenty of experience.

Any guidance would be very helpful!

News to me. Where did you hear this, Eva?

It's on the charter companies' websites (Moorings, Sunsail). When I called the Moorings to get more detailed info, they told me about the law. Incidentally, there is apparently no leeway either. You can't demonstrate your competence with a test sail or extensive sailing resume.

According to Croatian Administration, for someone from the US to charter, captain must have ASA certs up thru coastal cruising and VHF cert.

United States
of America

US Sailing Association
(USSA)

American Sailing Association
(ASA)

Basic Coastal Cruising (ASA)
Basic Keelboat (USSA)

competence to operate:
- boats used for private purposes
- bareboat chartered boats
at a distance up to 6 nm from mainland or island coast in internal
waters and territorial sea of the Republic of Croatia and waters accessible
from the sea, under the condition of holding an appropriate national or
foreign certificate for operating radio station if there is a radio-telephone
VHF station or a GMDSS-VHF station on the boat or yacht.

Maybe Bahamas are starting to follow the same requirements as other European countries??
Not even sure US coast guard captains license ( which I have) meets the requirements.

The requirements sound a lot like the European ones. We had to hire a captain in Croatia, but the customs and practices in the Med (not to mention the language) are so different to what we're used to in the US and Caribbean that we were glad to have done it.

The Moorings dismissed it as a small thing to get an ASA 104 qualification. (They neglected the fact that you have to have completed the prerequisites, commit the time to take the course(s), and pay $$$ to do it.)

Meanwhile, those of us who have plenty of experience without the official credential would be locked out.

A cursory check didn't show that Dream Yacht is imposing this yet.

The ASA courses aren't cheap but I think you can "challenge" and test out. This is an old thread: https://www.sailnet.com/threads/asa-101-course-or-challenge.85502/

We have done bareboat in Greece a few times and they were very particular about credentials. Hubby has his Masters and we both have 101-104 ASA so ok but very different regs for different sailing areas.

from Navigare: The Bahamas Port Authority is saying that this doesn't exist, but The Moorings company keeps saying it does (citing the same source).

They said they were going to look into it further and follow back up with me.

I'm in Abaco right now and I will say that the level of competency demonstrated by bareboat charterers in BVI would be entirely inadequate here. Cruising here really underscores that there is very little valid reason to run aground in the BVI, despite that being a regular occurrence. There is no comparison.

As an owner, I can't say that I'm unhappy about it and I wish they would institute this requirement in the BVI, it might give some of the least qualified some pause.

That said, the IPC is very easy to get if you have the ASA courses, I just got mine in anticipation of going to Croatia next year.

MrEZgoin. If you are going to Croatia, be aware that marina costs are very high. 300 Euro a night for a 45 ft cat on what was basically just the town dock, not even proper marina, appeared to be the standard rate in the Split area in 2023. Cost of everything has rocketed since they joined the Euro. Lovely people make up for it but we were shocked.

Hi Jeannius, thanks for the heads up - that is pretty shocking. It is our intention to join a Sunsail flotilla and I'm not sure we will go through with the trip if that should prove not to be an option.

We did one prior trip in the Ionian with three boats and a lead boat. I don't know how I would have handled the communication with harbor masters myself, or how some of the overnights where boats were rafted up into small harbors would have worked out.

I have to trust that the flotilla crew have the local knowledge and local relationships to at least keep the surprises to a minimum and costs somewhat under control.

Add to that that unless we find people that want to join us, it would just be my wife and I on a Sunsail 424 (4-cabin L42), I'm not sure we could handle the mooring procedures without the possibility of help.

Back to the original topic....

A source in the Bahamas has said that such a law is under consideration, but it doesn't exist yet.

I've also checked other charter companies in the Bahamas (Navigare, Navtours, Dream, and Cruise Abaco), and none of them references any licensing requirements in the Bahamas. They only go so far as to require sailors to have the appropriate skills and/or to comply with local requirements, whatever they may be.

So, it seems that Moorings/Sunsail are imposing requirements that Bahamian regulations don't require. (I get that they may want to hold charterers to a higher standard, but why blame non-existent rules? Maybe they are testing higher standards in a smaller market?)

Matt W, I'll be very interested to hear what you find out.

Sorry for the thread detour... We're headed back to the base in a few hours. I can ask the base staff if they know anything about a new licensing requirement.

MrEZgoin - would you please consider posting a trip report upon your return home? I would be very interested to hear your experiences there from a bareboat perspective, especially the progress in recovery from Dorian. Thank you!

MKGrey, I did a bareboat charter in the Abacos in November. Here is my blog post: Abacos Charter. (I also rented a house there the year before, so there's a post for that here:Abacos Beach House.)

I asked the base staff in Abaco (Sienna) about the licensing issue, and she claimed that the new requirement originates with the Bahamas government and is still under consideration, but would apply to all charter operators if instituted.

Maybe the Moorings is trying to avoid the awkward "Sorry, new rules!" call to their customers. They might be betting on approval and hoping to dodge the hassle of imposing new requirements on already booked charters.

USA Citizens can apply for an ICC by taking a 1 day practical test at an RYA approved training centre (center ) in the US. Here is a LINK to one such centre. I know it is a pain when you've been sailing all your life but it is only one day and it'll open up the Mediterranean and other places around the world for you.