Last updated July 31, 2026
The short version. A deposit is what holds your date. If you cancel with enough notice, you are covered. And if the weather makes it unsafe to sail, you never lose your money — we move your day or issue a credit.
This page explains how deposits, cancellations, reschedules and weather calls work at YachtBuddy, so you know exactly where you stand before you commit to anything. The specific amounts and dates that apply to your charter are the ones written in your quote. If anything here differs from your written quote, your quote is the one that counts.
1. Holding Your Date
Dates are held on a first-confirmed basis. A day is only yours once we have received the deposit and sent you a written confirmation. Until then, the date and the vessel stay open to other guests, even if we have already discussed them with you.
The standard deposit is 50 percent of the charter total. The remaining balance is due before boarding on the day of your charter, unless your quote states a different schedule.
2. If You Need to Cancel
We ask for cancellations in writing. An email or a WhatsApp message is enough. Your cancellation takes effect when we confirm we have received it, not when you send it.
Unless your written quote says otherwise, this is how your deposit is handled.
Fifteen days or more before your charter. Full refund of your deposit, or a credit for a future date — whichever you prefer.
Seven to fourteen days before. Half of the deposit is refunded and the other half is held as a credit valid for six months.
Less than seven days before, or no-show. The deposit is not refundable. By that point the vessel, the captain and the crew are committed to your day and the date can no longer be offered to anyone else.
3. Moving Your Date
Plans change, and we would rather move your day than lose it. If you ask at least seven days before your charter, you can reschedule once at no cost, subject to availability and to any difference in seasonal rate. A request made with less than seven days notice is treated as a cancellation.
4. Weather
This is the part most guests worry about, so we keep it simple: you will never lose your money because of unsafe weather.
The decision belongs to the captain and is made on the morning of your charter, based on marine forecasts, sea state and any advisory issued by the U.S. Coast Guard or the National Weather Service. If the captain determines that conditions are not safe, you choose between a new date at no additional cost or a full credit.
Rain on its own is not a reason to cancel. South Florida showers usually pass in twenty minutes and most charters sail straight through them. If you decide to cancel for weather after the captain has confirmed that conditions are safe, the standard terms in section 2 apply.
5. If We Have to Cancel
If a mechanical issue, a crew emergency or any circumstance on our side prevents your charter from sailing, we will offer you a comparable vessel for the same date whenever one is available. If it is not, you receive a full refund of everything you have paid, deposit included.
6. Timing on the Day
Your charter starts at the hour confirmed in your quote, whether or not the whole group has arrived. We hold the dock for thirty minutes; after that the charter may be treated as a no-show. Time lost to a late arrival is not refunded and cannot be added to the end of the charter, because the vessel usually has a schedule after yours.
If the day is going well and you want more time on the water, just ask the captain. Extra hours are charged at the hourly rate in your quote and are always subject to availability.
7. Security Deposit and Damage
Some charters require a refundable security deposit, which is stated in your quote whenever it applies. It covers damage to the vessel or its equipment, lost items, and cleaning beyond normal use — for example a spill that needs professional treatment, or any incident involving sickness on board. The deposit is released once the captain confirms the vessel came back in the condition it left in.
8. Conduct and Safety on Board
The captain has final authority over everything that happens on the vessel. For the safety of your group and the crew, the captain may end a charter early if guests behave in a way that is unsafe, illegal, or that puts the vessel at risk. A charter ended for this reason is not refunded.
Illegal substances are not permitted on board under any circumstance. The number of guests may not exceed the capacity stated in your quote. That is a legal limit set by the vessel certification, not a preference, and the captain cannot make exceptions to it.
9. Refunds
Approved refunds are issued to the original payment method within five to ten business days. Processing fees charged by payment providers are not refundable, because they are not retained by us. Credits for a future date are valid for six months from the original charter date and can be transferred to someone else in your name.
10. Gratuity
Gratuity for the captain and crew is not included in your charter total and is entirely at your discretion. In Miami, fifteen to twenty percent of the charter total is customary for good service. It is never charged automatically and it is never affected by a cancellation.
11. European Union and United Kingdom Customers
If you are a consumer resident in the European Union or the United Kingdom, this section applies in addition to the rest of this policy. Nothing here limits any right you may have under the mandatory consumer law of your country of residence.
The 14-day withdrawal right does not apply to a dated charter. A private yacht charter is a leisure service provided on a specific date. Under Article 16(l) of Directive 2011/83/EU and under regulation 28(1)(h) of the UK Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, the 14-day right of withdrawal does not apply to leisure services performed on a specific date or period. This means that once you confirm a date and pay a deposit, the cancellation windows and refund amounts described above are the ones that govern your booking.
What we confirm to you in writing before you pay. Before you make any payment we send you, by email or WhatsApp, the vessel, the date, the departure time and duration, the departure location, the maximum number of guests, the total price, what is included and what is not, the amount and treatment of any security deposit, and the cancellation windows that apply to your booking. Keep that confirmation: its amounts and dates take precedence over the general framework on this page.
If something goes wrong. If we cancel or materially change your charter, you are entitled to a full refund of everything you have paid, as described in section 5, without prejudice to any additional remedy available to you under the law of your country of residence. If you are not satisfied with how we have handled a complaint, you may use the European Commissions online dispute resolution platform, and you keep the right to bring proceedings in the courts of your country of residence where the law of that country gives you that right.
Your data. YACHTBUDDY L.L.C is the controller of the personal data you provide when you book. Your rights of access, correction, deletion, restriction, objection and portability, and how to exercise them, are described in our Privacy Policy. Write to info@goyachtbuddy.com for any request related to your data.
12. Questions Before You Book
If anything on this page is unclear, ask before you pay a deposit rather than after. Write to info@goyachtbuddy.com or call +1 786-554-5056, Monday to Sunday, 8:00am to 8:00pm. We would rather spend ten minutes explaining a detail than have you commit to a day you are not completely sure about.
This policy complements our Terms and Conditions and forms part of your booking agreement. The amounts, dates and conditions written in your individual quote take precedence over the general framework described on this page.