Hi lovelies,

If you are thinking about hiring a boat while abroad, you will need to make sure that you are as prepared for it as possible. The truth is that there are lots of things you’ll have to think about and be aware of in order to ensure that you are doing it right and that you are looking after it as well as possible. This is vital for your safety as well as for the future of the boat itself, and helps to secure the money you have put into the experience.

So here are some of the main things you might want to know about hiring a boat. As long as you get the following right, you should find that you can effectively look after the boat and enjoy yourself.

There Are Many Types Of Boat
First of all, you need to appreciate that there are many types of boat, and that you need to be aware of them in order to get it right and to make sure you are getting the right one for your needs. You might have a sailboat, a yacht, a barge or narrowboat, or anything in between. Depending on what kind of boat you have, there will be vast differences in how you care for it and what it needs from you, so this is something to consider when you are choosing your vessel.

Make sure that you are getting exactly the kind of boat you need, so that you know what you are getting into. This is a really essential part of the whole process, in fact.

Hull Care
Any boat, however, regardless of its type, needs to be looked after, and the main way that you need to make sure you are doing this is by taking proper care of its hull. As long as you care for the hull, you will find that you are going to have a much better ability to look after the whole boat, and that it is going to last a lot longer in general and be much better looked after. Hull care is really the most essential thing of all. Although the boat owner will have ultimate responsibility for this, there are things you can do while using the boat to help too.

The main thing is to make sure that you are avoiding it rusting through. So you need to keep the interior of the hull bone dry at all times to help ensure this. If you can do that, you will find that it’s going to be a much more effectively cared for hull, and it’s really amazing how well this can work. The owner will need to black it occasionally, which essentially means painting it with a bitumen-based paint, and that will need doing every three years or so. For that, it will need to come out of the water.

As long as you look after the hull, it should be a much better cared for boat that lasts a lot longer.

Docking
Docking a boat is important to get right too, as it will affect how you are going to approach the whole situation, and it’s something you’ll have to get organized in advance. Usually having a dock or mooring will cost you money, and you’ll need to make sure that you are able to pay that. But there are also other concerns when it comes to docking which you should be aware of for safety reasons and to ensure that you are caring for the boat as well as possible.

For instance, think about the size of the boat and how much space you’ll need to dock in. You should also consider looking into lighting for my dock as well as any other safety apparatus that might be necessary. As long as you get that right, it should mean that you can effectively moor the hire boat much more easily.

Insurance
Any boat is going to need insurance, and in most parts of the world this is a legal necessity. So make sure that you are thinking about this as well and that you get it as soon as possible. Once you have insurance, you should be able to feel a lot more secure financially about your boat holiday, so it’s a great way to get some peace of mind all in all.

Those are the main ways to make sure you are looking after your hire boat effectively.