Fill the reservation form, including port of boarding and crew number, along with your dates and contact us to check availability. If our proposal is satisfactory, inform us of that and we will hold an option for you (which you may usually hold for seven days) or make directly your booking, including reading and acceptance of the Yacht Charter Agreement (YCA). This should be signed and returned with your reservation payment. No reservations will be confirmed until the YCA has been signed and received payment of the initial deposit. We recommend that for leases issued during the high season, reservations are made months in advance.

40% of the rental price is payable upon booking, with the remainder paid 4 weeks prior to departure. All payments can be made by bank transfer, cash or Paypal. For bookings made within 30 days before departure, full payment is required with the signing of the YCA.

Bareboat yacht charter requires the exhibition of a valid sailing license by the Skipper - an ICC (International Certificate of Competence) or similar qualification - and also a VHF License. The skipper may also be required to submit a sailing resume to enable us to assess their ability to sail safely. SAILAZORES YACHT CHARTER reserves the right to insist that charterers hire a skipper, despite their certification, if their sailing skills are not judged sufficient by our staff.

If you need a skipper, SAILAZORES can recommend a professional skipper for as many days as you wish. Even if you have experience in sailing, you may still require the services of a skipper to make your cruise more relaxing and benefit from the skippers’ local knowledge. Please remember that the skipper needs to be provided with his own cabin, beverage and food, as he is obliged to sleep on board. However, whenever possible, and if the boat is moored near the shore or in marinas and / or local harbors and ports, the skipper will not sleep on board, thus allowing greater privacy to your crew.

All SAILAZORES yacht charters are strictly limited to the Azorean waters. Any exception to this rule should be discussed and agreed between Parts prior to booking.

Weekly sailing yacht charters begin and end on Saturdays for multiples of seven days. In the low and medium season (check our pricelist) and depending on yacht availability, this may be flexible. In any case (also in the high season period) SAILAZORES will try to accommodate your wishes for different days of the week and uneven periods of time, such as a four or five-day charter.

All charters begin at 06:00 PM on the day of departure and end at 10:00 AM on the day following the arrival of the yacht to the marina, thus this arrival must occur until 06:00 PM. SAILAZORES ensures that yachts are always delivered to the next charter in perfect working order. If we can deliver your charter yacht earlier on the day of embarkation, without compromising our standards, we will, but this cannot be guaranteed.

Any combination of embark/disembark between Horta and Velas is cost free. Between other ports may be possible (depending on the availability of vessels), but you will be charged an additional cost. The cost varies according to the location of the other ports. Please check our pricelist.

The Security Payment is intended to cover the yacht insurance deductible and ensure any costs not covered on embarkation. If after charter there is no harm or loss to the yacht or its equipment, SAILAZORES shall refund the Security Payment deposit. However, if there is any damage and/or loss, there will only be refunding of any remaining money of the Security Payment deposit after full assessment of the costs of repairing the damage and/or loss occurred and its deduction. The Security Payment covers, although not limited to: > loss of and/or damage to the vessel, its tender and third party liability; > loss of and/or damage to the equipment listed in the inventory and given by SAILAZORES to the charterer at check-in; > costs incurred if the vessel is returned in an unacceptably dirty condition; > cost of returning the boat to the pre-arranged harbor, if the charterer fails to do so by the scheduled date and time. > cost of refueling if the boat is returned without refilled tanks.

SAILAZORES’s yachts and the company’s activities have adequate insurance coverage in respect of the maritime-touristic activity that overpasses the minimum Law requirements, assuring the following coverage: > Third Party Liability: 250.000 euros; > Personal Injury: 3.500 euros per person. The insurance of yachts above are valid in excess of Security Payment deposit.

In your own interest, you are advised to buy suitable travel insurance before leaving home, including cancellation insurance to protect your booking deposit.

All yachts’ safety equipment meets or exceeds the safety standards set by the Portuguese Law.

All the yachts chartered from SAILAZORES are equipped to offer safe and relaxing holidays and its list of equipment will be delivered along with the YCA at time of booking. Anyway, the equipment on all SAILAZORES’s Dufour Grand’Large 375 series include: > Furling genoa > Full battened mainsail (except the Dufour 450 Grand’Large “Trevi” that is furling mainsail) > Bow thruster (except the Dufour 375, 382, 405 & 410 Grand’Large) > Bimini top > Sprayhood > Electric windlass > Autopilot > GPS plotter / anemometer / odometer > VHF Radio > AIS > Life jackets & Harnesses > Lifelines > Lazy-bag > Lazy-jacks > Fenders > Bow fender > Mooring lines > Anchors > Bathing platform > Bathing ladder > Hot water > Head and cockpit shower > Oven > Microwave > Linen and towels > items and cooking on board > Wine cellar > Electric refrigerator in the kitchen > Ice box in the cockpit table > LCD w/ DVD and/or USB, CD, radio and iPod connectivity, four speakers (2 Lounge + 2 Cockpit) > Snorkel gear kits (max. 4 pax) > Dingy with outboard engine (Dinghy) > Liferaft

You can bring it aboard the yacht. You will have coverage in most coastal areas, but please note that you can only recharge your phone battery when it is docked at a marina, or when you have access to 220V electrical power.

Every yacht is fully equipped for charter. So aside from your personal clothing, we suggest the following baggage: a bath towel, boat shoes or similar (if you don’t have any, bring sports shoes with white soles), softshell jacket, sunscreen, hat or cap, slippers, sunglasses, and all this in a backpack or bag. Do not carry any hard case or similar.

There are far fewer people that get sick on board than you think and in many cases sickness is psychological. Either way, in case of sickness, take pills or put an anti-sickness bracelet, which is usually effective.

For late arrivals at the embarkation base (after 06:00 PM) please contact our base manager to make the appropriate arrangements.

The following scale of cancellation charges will apply on receipt of written confirmation of cancellation at SAILAZORES: > Cancellation prior to 4 weeks before departure: deposit only; > Cancellation prior to 3 weeks before departure: 50% of invoice amount; > Cancellation prior to 2 weeks before departure: 75% of invoice amount; > Cancellation less than 2 weeks before departure: 100% of invoice amount. SAILAZORES may however return the cancellation fee (minus administration fee €100), if the cancelled yacht is re-chartered in the next 30 days following the cancellation date.

At the end of the charter we will provide you with a Customer Satisfaction Survey for your completion, which will (i) give you the opportunity to express your thoughts and level of satisfaction with SAILAZORES YACHT CHARTER and (ii) allow us to improve our global level of service through the importance of your opinions and thoughts.