The Glossary

Yacht charter,
in plain words.

51 terms — APA, beam, charter party, gangway, MYBA, Posidonia, tender, more — defined the way the office actually uses them. Updated as terminology evolves.

A3 terms

Aft: Toward the stern (back) of the yacht. The aft deck is the back deck — typically where dining and lounging happen.
Anchorage: A sheltered location where a yacht can drop anchor and remain stationary. Anchorages have variable depth, bottom type (sand, weed, rock) and wind shelter.
APA (Advanced Provisioning Allowance): A separate budget — typically 25–35% of the base charter rate — that the captain manages on the charterer's behalf for fuel, dockage, provisions, drinks and incidentals. Settled with receipts at the end of the charter; unspent APA is returned.

B6 terms

Beach club: A fold-down or low-set platform at the stern of a yacht, used as a swimming and lounging deck at water level. The defining feature of modern superyachts.
Beam: The width of the yacht at its widest point, measured in metres. A wider beam means more interior volume for a given length.
Berth: (1) A marina mooring spot for a yacht. (2) A bed on board.
Bimini: A canvas cover providing shade on the aft deck or flybridge — essential equipment in Mediterranean summer.
Bosun: A crew member responsible for the exterior of the yacht — deck equipment, water toys, tender operation, swim platform setup.
Bow: The front of the yacht. The bow lounger / bow sunpad is the forward sunbathing area.

C5 terms

Captain (or Skipper): The crew member responsible for navigation, safety and command of the yacht. On day charters, often the only crew. On larger yachts, leads a crew of 3–10.
Catamaran: A multi-hull yacht with two parallel hulls. Wider beam, more deck space, shallower draft than a single-hull motor yacht of the same length. Common in the Caribbean; less common in the Mediterranean charter fleet.
Charter party (contract): The formal charter contract between the charterer and the owner (or central agent). Industry-standard contracts include MYBA, ASA and CYBA forms.
Crew: The professional staff on board — captain, mate, stewardess, chef, bosun, engineer. Crew size scales with yacht size: typically 2 on a 15m, 3–4 on a 25m, 6+ on a 35m+ superyacht.
Cruising speed: The speed at which a yacht is comfortably and efficiently run, typically expressed in knots. Not the same as top speed (which is fuel-intensive).

D3 terms

Daily rate: The base price quoted per 24-hour period of charter. Excludes APA, fuel (on day charters), and tip.
Day charter: A single-day yacht rental — typically half-day (4 hours), full-day (8–10 hours) or sundowner (3 hours). No overnight aboard.
Draft: The vertical distance between the waterline and the deepest point of the yacht's hull. Determines which anchorages and harbours a yacht can enter.

E1 term

Embarkation: The moment of boarding the yacht at the start of the charter. Typically scheduled between 10:30 and 14:00; takes about 20 minutes from the pontoon.

F1 term

Flybridge: A second helm and lounging area above the main deck — typically with sun pads and a second helm station. Defining feature of mid-to-large motor yachts.

G2 terms

Galley: The yacht's kitchen — typically equipped with full chef-grade appliances on yachts 20m+.
Gangway: The ramp or steps used to board the yacht from the dock or tender.

H2 terms

Helm: The yacht's steering station — typically on the bridge (main helm) and on the flybridge (upper helm).
Hull: The main body of the yacht below the deck.

K1 term

Knot: A unit of speed equal to one nautical mile per hour (1.852 km/h). A 'cruising speed of 18 knots' is roughly 33 km/h.

M2 terms

Mooring buoy: A fixed buoy in an anchorage that yachts can tie to instead of dropping their own anchor. Often used in Posidonia-protected areas.
MYBA (Mediterranean Yacht Brokers Association): The standard contract framework used for Mediterranean charters. MYBA contracts define APA, cancellation, weather clauses and liability terms.

N1 term

Nautical mile (nm): A unit of distance used at sea, equal to 1.852 km or 1.151 statute miles. The distance from Marina Ibiza to Espalmador is ≈ 18 nm.

O1 term

Owner-direct: A charter booked directly with the yacht owner (or their captive office), with no intermediating retail broker. Typically 10–15% cheaper than retail broker rates.

P3 terms

Pitch (pitching): The fore-and-aft rocking motion of a yacht in waves. Larger yachts and stabilised yachts pitch less.
Port: (1) The left side of the yacht when facing forward. (2) A harbour or marina.
Posidonia: A protected seagrass species native to the Mediterranean, particularly abundant around Ibiza and Formentera. Anchoring is restricted in Posidonia meadows; modern Posidonia-friendly anchoring methods are now standard.

R1 term

RIB (Rigid Inflatable Boat): A boat with a rigid hull and inflatable tubes around the gunwale. Used as a tender, a day-charter, or as a fast sport boat. The Speedy Gonzales in our fleet is a 21ft BRIG Eagle 650 RIB.

S12 terms

Salon: The main interior lounge on a yacht — typically with sofas, a dining table, AV. The yacht's living room.
Seakeeper: A brand of gyroscopic stabiliser used to reduce roll motion both underway and at anchor. Defining comfort feature on modern mid-size yachts.
Skipper: Informal name for the captain — used most often on day-charter yachts where the skipper is the only professional crew.
Sport flybridge: A flybridge motor yacht with a sport-oriented hull — faster cruising speed than a traditional displacement flybridge, with the same exterior features.
Stabiliser (zero-speed): A mechanism (fin or gyroscopic) that reduces roll motion. 'Zero-speed' stabilisers work at anchor as well as underway — the marker of comfort for long lunches and overnights.
Starboard: The right side of the yacht when facing forward.
Stateroom: A guest cabin on a yacht — typically with ensuite shower and head.
Stern: The back of the yacht. The stern platform / beach club is the lowered swim and lounging deck at water level.
Stewardess (stew): Interior crew responsible for service, housekeeping, table dressing and discreet guest support. Typically two on a 25m yacht, three or more on a 35m+.
Sundowner charter: A short (typically 3-hour) evening charter ending around 22:00, with a focus on the sunset hour at anchor. The office's most-quoted short format.
Superyacht: A yacht over 24 metres (78 ft) in length. The line is technical — used by classification societies — but commercially also implies a level of crew, service and amenity.
Swim platform: A small deck at the stern at or near water level, used for swimming and tender boarding. On modern yachts this often folds down to become a beach club.

T1 term

Tender: A smaller boat carried on board the main yacht — used to ferry guests to and from the shore when at anchor, or as a B-roll vessel for photography.

V1 term

VAT (charter VAT): Value-Added Tax on charter — in Spain, currently 21% on the charter base rate for European-flagged commercial yachts. Some non-Spanish-flagged yachts attract lower VAT under specific regimes; the office handles the structure.

W4 terms

Waterline: The line on a yacht's hull where it meets the surface of the water when properly loaded. The 'length at the waterline' (LWL) is one of two main length measurements.
Watermaker: An on-board desalination unit that produces fresh water from seawater. Standard on yachts 24m+; allows charters at anchor without marina top-ups.
Weekly rate: The base price quoted per week of charter. Industry standard for charters of 6+ days, expressed in EUR or USD. Excludes APA and tip.
Wind shelter: The degree to which an anchorage is protected from wind in different directions. A cove 'sheltered from W' means the anchorage is calm in westerly winds but exposed when the wind comes from another direction.

Y1 term

Yacht class: The categorisation of yachts by size, style and function. Common classes: dayboat (11–14m), sport (15–18m), flybridge (19–28m), superyacht (28m+).

The office

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