598 guides · page 9/29

Boat rental guides

Real prices, licenses, skippers, platforms, itineraries: concrete answers before you book.

• The Courtesy Flag: A Custom Worth Knowing When Cruising AbroadFlying the flag of the country you're visiting from the starboard spreader is a maritime custom, not a legal requirement — but it genuinely changes how you're welcomed into port.
• The Beaufort Scale Explained: How Much Wind Is Safe to Go Out?From 0 (dead calm) to 12 (hurricane), the Beaufort scale is still the reference for reading a marine forecast. The thresholds worth knowing for a rental boat.
• Running Out of Fuel at Sea: How to Avoid It and What to DoRunning dry is one of the most common — and most avoidable — mishaps in boat rental. Why we underestimate our own fuel use, and the right moves if the engine stops.
• Does a Boat Licence Expire? What to Know Before You RentUnlike some driving licences, the French boat licence has no expiry date. What that really means for a renter, and why it isn't the whole story.
• Is a Logbook Required When Renting a Boat for Leisure?Ship's log, logbook, running notes: what regulation actually requires of a renter (and what it doesn't), and why keeping one anyway is still a good idea.
• Fire on Board: Prevention and What to Do on a Rental BoatElectrical faults are the leading cause of boat fires. Where the extinguisher is, how to use it, and the habits that stop a small problem becoming a big one.
• Taking on Water: What to Do on a Rental BoatA real hull breach is rare on a well-maintained rental boat, but knowing how to react in the first seconds changes everything. The checklist to know before you leave the dock.
• Navigation Lights at Night: Understanding Port, Starboard and SternRed on the left, green on the right, white astern: the navigation light code, simple once explained, essential the moment a trip runs past sunset.
• Watching the Perseids from a Boat: the Night of 12-13 August 2026A new moon falls right on the Perseids' peak on 12 August 2026: why a boat anchored well away from shore lights offers the best seat in Europe.
• Can you rent a boat if you can't swim? Yes — under these conditionsNo rule prevents renting a boat or stepping aboard without knowing how to swim. A worn lifejacket, an adapted programme, clear instructions: the guide to boarding with confidence.
• America's Cup 2027 in Naples: watching the racing from a boatThe 38th America's Cup will be raced in Naples in 2027, off Bagnoli. Announced dates, the racecourse, spectator-boat rules and rental advice for the bay of Naples.
• The Iroise Sea by boat: Ouessant, Molène and Sein from BrestFrance's first marine nature park, some of Europe's strongest tidal currents, three legendary islands: sailing the Iroise Sea from Brest — for experienced crews.
• Where to rent a boat in Europe? A tour of the big regionsFrench Riviera, Balearics, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Turkey, the Atlantic: a panorama of Europe's great boat rental regions, and how to choose by project rather than by cliché.
• Corfu or Lefkada: which Ionian base should you choose?The Ionian's two big charter bases compared: waters, islands within reach, winds and access logistics — how to choose between Corfu and Lefkada.
• Ibiza or Mallorca: which Balearic island for your boat rental?A day trip to Formentera or a week around Mallorca? Bases, waters, anchorages and posidonia rules: an honest comparison of the two big Balearic rental islands.
• Swimming from the boat: the safety rules at anchorEngine off, ladder down before anyone jumps, a watchkeeper on board: the simple rules that keep swimming at anchor as safe as it is glorious.
• Towing and assistance at sea: who to call, who pays what on a rentalBroken down offshore in a rented boat: operator, coastguard, sea-rescue volunteers, commercial assistance — who to call in each situation, what's free and what gets billed.
• Running aground in a rental boat: what to do if you touch bottomHitting a sandbank or a rock with a rented boat: the first moves, when to free yourself, who to call, and why you should never hide it from the operator.
• Man overboard: the reflexes every boat renter should knowShout, point, throw the buoy, kill the propeller: the man-overboard procedure explained simply — and why cold shock kills long before hypothermia does.
• Seal-watching in the Baie de Somme by boat: tides and safe distancesFrance's largest seal colony, a tide that rises a metre every 24 minutes, a nature reserve: the guide to seeing the seals of the Baie de Somme by boat, from Le Crotoy or Saint-Valery-sur-Somme.
• Renting a boat at Île d'Oléron: Boyardville, Fort Boyard and the Charente straitsFrance's second-largest island, linked by a toll-free bridge since 1991: Pertuis d'Antioche tides, the Pertuis de Maumusson closed to leisure boats since 2024, Fort Boyard seen from the water — the guide to renting a boat at Île d'Oléron.