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Seasonal Considerations in Bareboat Chartering
Weather in the Caribbean is near-perfect almost all year. Temperatures vary from the high 80's to low 90's in the summer and from the low to mid 80's during the winter. Reliable trade winds blow from the northeast at 15 to 25 mph during the winter and shift to the southeast at 10 to 15 mph during the summer. However late summer and early autumn can bring unsettled weather. Mid-August to mid-October is the time that you are most likely to see a tropical storm occur, but they happen infrequently and always provide several days of advance warning. So despite the possibility of such weather, many people choose this time of the year to enjoy the quiet and solitude of the "off season". The two most important things you want to consider when deciding the time of year to charter will be (1)weather conditions and (2)seasonal pricing. 
Bareboat companies have established a multi-level pricing structure in an effort to keep fleet utilization high throughout the year and they discount heavily during hurricane season. But most crewed yachts have only three pricing periods. The winter season begins December 15th and ends April 30th. The summer season starts May 1st and ends December 14th. (Some yachts charge the same for both of these seasons but most of them reduce their summer price by about 10%.) In addition to these two seasons, most yachts charge a premium for Christmas and New Years. Normally this premium is about 10% but during the Millennium many yacht have successfully doubled their prices. As crewed yachts don't offer a large large discount for chartering during the peak hurricane period (starting in mid-August and ending in mid-October), we suggest that your best option during this time would be a charter in the Grenadines, as this southern end of the Caribbean island chain receives far less bad weather than the islands to the north. School holidays may dictate that you charter during the summer months. Should this be the case we strongly recommend planning your charter for June or early July. Temperatures are a little cooler, the wind's a little stronger, and the chances of a tropical weather disturbance is quite low. As crewed yachts don't offer lower pricing for charters later in the summer (late August through early October being the time of peak hurricane activity) it makes sense to avoid these few weeks. However if that's the only time you have for your charter then consider sailing in the Windward Islands which are far to the south, where hurricanes are few and far between. While the above information applies to the Caribbean, other areas (including Florida and the Bahamas) have different weather, different pricing and different sailing seasons. Please ask. |
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