Yacht Chartering in Mallorca
Why Mallorca?
The Balearics, and particularly Mallorca (Majorca in English) itself, are incredibly beautiful, with soaring mountains, spectacular canyons and protected calas. Internationally renowned restaurants and nightclubs abound and offer so many exciting experiences both day and night. And should the impossible happen and you get tired of all those water-based activities (swimming, diving, snorkelling, fishing, water-skiing, kite-surfing, 
wind-surfing, wake-boarding, or simply gently rocking at anchor in some beautiful secluded cala) then there's more land-based activities to make this a true holiday of a lifetime.
Mallorca is famous for so many good things and culture is high on the list. Palma's cathedral, started in 1230 by Jaime 1 took until 1601 to complete and is a superb example of the French Gothic style of architecture. Museums, castles, theatres, outdoor symphony orchestras in exquisite settings, saints' days and festivals all add to the magic that is Mallorca. The number of outdoor pursuits is impressive from a gentle stroll through beautiful countryside to some really extreme sports.
Looking for more hedonistic pleasures, then you'll be delighted by the sheer numbers of superb restaurants here, both inland or with staggering sea and mountain views. Service is exceptional and puts many of our English restaurants to shame and the cuisine ranges from inexpensive local dishes to international haute cuisine.
You'll also understand why Mallorcan wine is fast making a name for itself and there's a wine tour of the vineyards and bodegas that's very worthwhile. The nightlife here is already famous with spectacular shows that rival those in Las Vegas and nightclubs where you'll certainly rub shoulders with the rich and famous, both young and young at heart. Then of course there's the designer shops where clothes don't come any more fashionable.
English is spoken widely and everywhere the classic Spanish (Castilliano) is spoken along with Mallorca's own language, Catalan. It's great fun to practice your Spanish here and the locals will love the fact that you're having a go even if you get it a little bit wrong. Welcome to Mallorca or Majorca. It's a little bit of heaven that doesn't cost the earth.
Why charter?
Save between £200,000 and £400,000 and enjoy boating in the Med
Don't you just love our unpredictable British weather, planning abortive trips and propping up the local bar dreaming of the cruise that might have been? Or is the stiff upper lip routine becoming just a little jaded? Then you may be one of the thousands of boaters who've said enough is enough and taken the low-cost airline route to the sun. Just two hours away is an elegant, civilised paradise island that it seems many have still to discover.
Mallorca has long since shed its package holiday image and sophisticates from all over Europe are discovering the wealth of superb restaurants, the richness of the wines, the stunning architecture and the majestic beauty of this amazingly (considering over 300 days of sunshine a year) green and pleasant land. If you love to people-watch (and maybe even do a bit of posing yourself), then Puerto Portals marina, nestled in the bay of Palma, is the place to see and be seen.
Boating in the Med is nothing short of fabulous and if you get bitten by the bug (and who could blame you) cruising in a private yacht poses an interesting question - to charter or to buy?
Puerto Portals marina nestled in the bay of Palma is the place to see and be seen...
If you look at the cost, then there's only one sane answer - it has to be charter. However, sanity is not the quality most of us boaters are renowned for, so it may not be that simple. Before you decide, take a look at the comparisons below and hopefully some of the confusion will evaporate quicker than a resolution on New Year's Eve.
The savings range from £135,000 to £400,000
| EXPENSES (€) | BUY | CHARTER | |||
| Season | All | July/Aug | May/Jun/Sep | April/Oct | Nov to Mar |
| Yearly usage | 8 weeks | 8 weeks | 8 weeks | 8 weeks | 4 weeks |
| Price | 500,000 | 80,640 | 72,960 | 61,440 | 36,000 |
| Rent of Mooring in Puerto Portals | 30,000 | included | included | included | included |
| Insurance | 4,000 | included | included | included | included |
| Guardianage | 7,000 | included | included | included | included |
| Dry dock (once a year) | 1,500 | none | none | none | none |
| General maintenance | 3,000 | included | included | included | included |
| Devaluation ave. per year over first 3 years | 50,000 | none | none | none | none |
| TOTAL in first year (Euro) | 595,500 | 80,640 | 72,960 | 61,440 | 36,000 |
| Own boat/charter for 3 years (Euro) | 826,500 | 241,920 | 218,880 | 184,320 | 108,000 |
| Own boat/charter for 3 years (£ sterling) | £512,000 | £150,000 | £136,000 | £114,000 | £67,000 |
As you can see, costs are in euros with the bottom line converted to an approximate £'s sterling value. We've taken a new or nearly new mythical motor cruiser costing around £310,000 including VAT as that would compare with the age of the boats used by Charter Mallorca, although their 3 Sunseeker Camargue 44s cost closer to £350,000 each. We've also assumed you can get away from the office for 8 weeks each year. If it's in reality more like four, which for many it is, then simply halve the cost of the bottom line 3-year charter costs, and double your savings. And we've assumed that like Charter Mallorca, you would want your boat to have its home in Puerto Portals.
Arrive at your boat to find fresh flowers on the deck and the boat sparkling like new...
You can also see that excluding the purchase price of the boat, the unfortunately realistic annual costs of keeping your boat in Puerto Portals (you can save money by renting a cheaper mooring in a less sought-after marina) and all the associated insurance, guardianage and maintenance costs would total around £70,000 per year.
At the very least, chartering, even taking all of your 8 weeks during high season, is going to save you £362,000 in 3 years. If you sold your £310,000 boat after 3 years, then you could
expect to recoup about £220,00, providing you'd maintained it well, the market had remained reasonably buoyant and there weren't too many of your make and model for sale at the same time.
That's an overall saving of £135,000 in 3 years, (£270,000 if you only used your boat for 4 weeks). If you spent your 8 weeks in the sunshine of May, June or September, then your savings would have grown to £180,000 (£360,000 if you used your boat for 4 weeks a year) and chartering in April and October would bring your total savings to around £200,000 (£400,000 if you use your boat for 4 weeks a year)!
To be fair, if you owned your own boat you could get away without the guardianage, but then you have to deduct the time you lose preparing your boat at the beginning and end of your holiday, not to mention the times in between, finding reliable tradesmen to do the repairs and maintenance work and the time and effort spent stocking it with essentials - cans of lager and bottles of bubbly are so heavy to cart back from the supermarket! In the grand scheme of things, being able to arrive at your boat to find all this done for you, fresh flowers on the
deck and the boat sparkling like new, 7,000 euros guardianage costs (around £4,350) a year, hardly seem to matter.
Also, to be fair, devaluation of your motor cruiser does start to slow down from year 4 onwards, although maintenance and repair costs have a nasty habit of increasing pro rata. When you charter you aren't restricted to the same cruising grounds every year. If you fancy guaranteed winter sun, you simply charter in the Caribbean or if you fancy the Amalfi coast for a change you won't have a problem with a charter. In fact your cruising ground choice is unlimited - anytime, anyplace around the world.
With Charter Mallorca, you have the added benefits of a free chauffeur airport to boat service, technical and navigational advice, extra instruction if you need it, weather forecasts, fax and email services, marina and restaurant booking services, laundry service, advice on local beauty spots and the choice of size, make and model of boat, after all, you may decide you'd like to cruise with friends and share the cost.
Your cruising ground choice is unlimited anytime, anyplace around the world
However, there is a downside to saving somewhere between £200,000 to £400,000 in three years. (There is??) If you charter a boat, it isn't yours. That means you can't store personal items and equipment on it. Ladies don't appear to have quite the same problem with this as their men folk. After all, what self-respecting woman wants to wear last season's fashion? And sleeping in your own bed never bothers us when we dream between the freshly laundered sheets of a good hotel, so what is it that compels us to throw caution to the winds and hang onto the salesman's every word? Status. Has to be.
So summing it up for sunning it up, how much value you'd put on something as emotive as status will, of-course, be a very personal decision. We wish you Bon Voyage as you journey into the unchartered depths of your psyche to answer that one!