I picked up a business card at the recent industry-only charter yacht show in Newport, Rhode Island, for a new website. It appears to be yet another attempt to create a place where boat owners can list their yachts and people can search for charter vacations–a “click here to book this yacht” setup.

There is no indication of who owns or runs the site. The promotional copy says: “Charterers: There is nothing to join and no cost to view our extensive list of available charters.” There are currently 37 charter yachts listed as available for bookings.

It’s hard for me to figure out which red flag to throw up first.

Let’s start with the idea of you booking a boat directly through the owner. How many times do I have to say it? Do not give your money directly to the guy who owns the yacht! You have no protection, nobody looking out for your legal rights, and no method of recourse should anything go wrong. Use a reputable charter broker. They’re free, and their job is to ensure your vacation goes well.

Next, let’s make clear that there’s no way to tell who owns or operates this website. Most reputable websites at least have an “about us” section where they state their intentions and ownership. This site doesn’t even have a telephone number or physical address where you can contact a real person.

Last, I have to address the promotional copy that says you’ll pay nothing to join and search the listings of yachts. Well why in the heck would you? Countless websites run by reputable management companies the world over have free listings of yachts available for charter–hundreds if not thousands of yachts. This “free search” feature is something you can find elsewhere–and you’ll have access to a heck of a lot more than 37 boats.

The World Wide Web is a tangled place these days as companies struggle to dominate in every given field. Yacht charter is no different, and you’re going to find good and bad websites alike as honest companies try to get their message out alongside scam artists who just happen to be good at looking good online.

Look for the kinds of red flags I’ve pointed out here, and take every step you can to ensure you are working with a reputable charter company when you book your vacation.

That starts with knowing who’s behind any website you find, especially if the site itself seems fishy.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 3rd, 2007 at 8:52 am and is filed under charter tips, Boating Business, Charter Brokers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.