Florida Bareboat Charters

SouthArk · 12-21-2017, 07:21 PM

Hopefully this hasn’t been gone over a bunch and I just missed it in the search. Our current boat is a 37’ SeaRay Sundancer on Lake Ouchita in Arkansas. We have fallen in love with the thought of the cruising lifestyle but still have young kids and a new business so the full time plan is a ways off. Our boating experience on inland waterways and lakes is over 20 years and we have rented center consoles in the keys and other parts of Florida multiple times. We are looking to charter a trawler this summer in early June. I have found Southwest Florida Yacht Charters which seems to have a great reputation. I’d love to charter a Krogen but there doesn’t seem to be one available in Florida. The most comparable would possibly be the Selenes which Chitwood Charters in Sarasota shows on their website. However, I can’t find any reviews or other info about them. Does anyone know anything about them or other options to do a bareboat charter? We will have 4 adults and 2 children (14-10) on board.
Thanks for any help
Rob

caltexflanc · 12-21-2017, 08:50 PM

I used to charter Grand Banks from Chitwood, and that was 12 years ago+. Always had very good experiences, though you had to be very clear about what you wanted, for instance a dinghy. Or in the summertime, unlimited use of the generator, and early June is summer down there. Great time to cruise as it is off season. But that was then; call them up and have a chat. There used to be a poster on this forum BillIII (as I recall his handle was here) that is professional captain that worked for Jerry Chitwood for awhile.

We are going to get back into chartering and I wouldn't hesitate to use either firm. Southwest used to have a Krogen in the fleet.

jimL · 12-22-2017, 10:56 PM

Hi all,

Ditto on Chitwood. We rented a 36' GB aft cabin trawler in July 2015 and cruised between Sarasota and Ft Meyers. No complaints. You get what you pay for. The boat and experience is what was advertised. Be sure to ask about anchoring and dinks ahead of time. Our contract did not include either or cruising in the open Gulf waters, otherwise it was as advertised. It was with this cruise we realized we needed more speed and went with a Mainship 430 aft cabin trawler with twins.

jim L

Jim L