Full boat charter - contract question

[McDermottPhoto]

I am booking my first full boat charter and am wondering if anyone has some info or a sample of a contract they've used with the individual divers? Being that I am working with the boat I have all the liability so I need something for the other divers to cover myself. I'm also unsure of what a common payment schedule is for something like this.

Appreciate the help in advance!

 

[Jayfarmlaw]

here are several.
General Forms, Waivers and Releases - South Beach Divers
Don't forget a medical statement and USE it. I would also strongly encourage consulting an attorney in your state as well as sitting down with your insurance carrier. You do have insurance don't you? I'm not a huge fan of pre printed forms, but they are a good place to start to develop your own.

The main question to ask your lawyer and insurance carrier is what is my risk in the worse case scenario. At least that way your going in informed.

Good luck,
Jay

 

[BDSC]

I am booking my first full boat charter and am wondering if anyone has some info or a sample of a contract they've used with the individual divers? Being that I am working with the boat I have all the liability so I need something for the other divers to cover myself. I'm also unsure of what a common payment schedule is for something like this.

Appreciate the help in advance!

You may want to consider using a booking agent to book full boat charters. I only book full boats and I use a dive travel wholesaler. They actually book the boat with the liveaboard company for you so you are not directly booking yourself. I have done it this way for years. I still get the 10% commission and the free spots which we spread that savings over the entire group of divers. No need to deal with contracts with individual divers. The wholesaler will generally set up a payment schedule for you. It usually involves an initial deposit, a second payment maybe 8-10 months out, and then a final payment due say 60 to 90 days out.

 

[BDSC]

Here is an example of a trip I have coming up to the Socorro Islands this November. I booked this trip back in 2016 because I wanted the entire boat and I wanted a particular time of the year.

June 30, 2016 was my initial deposit when I booked.
November 15th, 2018 was my second payment. (One year out)
August 15th, 2019 was my final payment (three months out)

 

[McDermottPhoto]

here are several.
General Forms, Waivers and Releases - South Beach Divers
Don't forget a medical statement and USE it. I would also strongly encourage consulting an attorney in your state as well as sitting down with your insurance carrier. You do have insurance don't you? I'm not a huge fan of pre printed forms, but they are a good place to start to develop your own.

The main question to ask your lawyer and insurance carrier is what is my risk in the worse case scenario. At least that way your going in informed.

Good luck,
Jay

Hey Jay.

I guess I didn't specify enough. This would be for a live-aboard trip, not just a day charter. All the liability forms will be signed with the boat but I'm looking for a contract between myself and the individuals coming on the trip since the bill is in my name.

 

[McDermottPhoto]

Here is an example of a trip I have coming up to the Socorro Islands this November. I booked this trip back in 2016 because I wanted the entire boat and I wanted a particular time of the year.

June 30, 2016 was my initial deposit when I booked.
November 15th, 2018 was my second payment. (One year out)
August 15th, 2019 was my final payment (three months out)

This sounds similar to my situation with the payment schedule but I think I've created the situation where I am the wholesaler (I am a travel agent). So I am accountable to make sure money is collected and paid to the boat as scheduled. I don't have personal relationships with everyone who is going on the boat so, while I like to believe everyone will graciously just send me the money for their spot, I am hoping someone else has already put together contracts for this situation. I have friends who are lawyers so it's not a big deal to get created but I was hoping we wouldn't need to reinvent the wheel.

 

[Wookie]

This sounds similar to my situation with the payment schedule but I think I've created the situation where I am the wholesaler (I am a travel agent). So I am accountable to make sure money is collected and paid to the boat as scheduled. I don't have personal relationships with everyone who is going on the boat so, while I like to believe everyone will graciously just send me the money for their spot, I am hoping someone else has already put together contracts for this situation. I have friends who are lawyers so it's not a big deal to get created but I was hoping we wouldn't need to reinvent the wheel.

Out of curiosity, do you give away your photos for free? Or give photo training gratis?

You seem to be asking for work product that many of us have spent great deals of time and money creating. I am more than happy to refer you to my attorneys who are very good at diving liability and will advise you how to run your charter. Or, you could follow BDSCs advice and hire a travel agent who does this for a living, and already has created what you are asking for. They typically take 30%, but may split it with you if you bring a whole boat. Depending on the boat, you might ask them to help you, when I operated a liveaboard, we would collect the funds from the client and ensure that all paperwork was completed to the satisfaction of our and the charterers attorneys. The system cost me a full time employee and a relatively expensive package to modify.

The full time employee is available to hire, and he comes with the software.

 

[McDermottPhoto]

Out of curiosity, do you give away your photos for free? Or give photo training gratis?

You seem to be asking for work product that many of us have spent great deals of time and money creating. I am more than happy to refer you to my attorneys who are very good at diving liability and will advise you how to run your charter. Or, you could follow BDSCs advice and hire a travel agent who does this for a living, and already has created what you are asking for. They typically take 30%, but may split it with you if you bring a whole boat. Depending on the boat, you might ask them to help you, when I operated a liveaboard, we would collect the funds from the client and ensure that all paperwork was completed to the satisfaction of our and the charterers attorneys. The system cost me a full time employee and a relatively expensive package to modify.

The full time employee is available to hire, and he comes with the software.

Hey Wookie. Didn't mean to offend you. As a photographer we collaborate and share information. So to answer your question - Yes. We share workflows and contracts so we can all pick out the best and most relevant tools to make everyone's life better, more efficient, and easier. No need to worry. I'll have my lawyers work on it. As an agent new to this I thought I'd seek some guidance. I didn't realize it was so competitive and I wasn't trying to steal your trade secrets.

 

[BDSC]

This sounds similar to my situation with the payment schedule but I think I've created the situation where I am the wholesaler (I am a travel agent). So I am accountable to make sure money is collected and paid to the boat as scheduled. I don't have personal relationships with everyone who is going on the boat so, while I like to believe everyone will graciously just send me the money for their spot, I am hoping someone else has already put together contracts for this situation. I have friends who are lawyers so it's not a big deal to get created but I was hoping we wouldn't need to reinvent the wheel.

I guess I’m not understanding the idea of a contract.

Let’s say in the past I called up Wookie and told him I wanted a spot on his boat. I send him a deposit and at some point I will need to fill out some sort of waiver but I don’t know that he would send me a contract to sign but maybe he would. I know before I started doing my own trips I had booked a few spots on liveaboards. I never signed a contract.

 

[Wookie]

I guess I’m not understanding the idea of a contract.

Let’s say in the past I called up Wookie and told him I wanted a spot on his boat. I send him a deposit and at some point I will need to fill out some sort of waiver but I don’t know that he would send me a contract to sign but maybe he would. I know before I started doing my own trips I had booked a few spots on liveaboards. I never signed a contract.

I would send you a contract if you chartered the whole boat, but we'd call it a charter agreement. It would not be a charter in the legal sense, but in scuba terminology.

If you allowed me to open spots on the trip as well, I would not send you a charter agreement, as it is not then a "charter". It would depend on how you got paid for your the people you brought.