Now that we've reached December, many can breathe a collective sigh of relief. Atlantic Hurricane Season is officially over for 2008. Man, was it a doozy. According to The Weather Channel, there were a total of 16 storms, 8 of which turned into hurricanes with 5 being defined as "major".
What does that have to do with chartering, you ask? Well, if you've ever given your contact info to a charter company, you've undoubtedly received the many "summer/fall discount" offers in the mail. This is because summer and fall are slow travel seasons for places like the Caribbean due to both climate unpredictability and the fact that come September, many families are back to school and unable to travel as much.
The weather unpredictability is driven directly from hurricane season which runs from June 1 through November 30th. When you consider that Atlantic hurricane season supposedly peaks around September 10th, you can see why charter companies (in the Caribbean, at least) work so hard to motivate sailors to charter in the fall months. I've seen offers for as much as 30% off of charters, specials on larger boats in various fleets, and more.
The big question is simple: is it worth it? Well, here are a few points to consider.
- Years ago, I did a charter in the BVI during early June. It was damn hot and particularly humid. I'm not sure that I would charter at that time again simply because it was uncomfortable. Were the savings worth it? At the time, the savings made the difference between chartering and not chartering.
- Hurricane weather impacts more than your sailing experience. Many islands and infrastructure can be devastated by hurricane weather. While it's also GREAT to visit to help inject cash into local economies as they wrestle with the impact of hurricanes on many services we take for granted, it's likely better to do it AFTER the season has passed when some sense of order and reason has returned.
- Hurricane activity, and the impact on weather, can vary wildly. A crystal ball would be nice right now if you're considering a charter for next fall (BTW - you might want to wait and book closer to get the better deals then). Some years - like 2008 - can really impact the quality of your trip. Here's an interesting comment from a recent Weather Channel article:
"The 2008 hurricane season was an all time record breaker; 5 of the 6 months of hurricane season had a major hurricane. The old record (2005) was a least one major hurricane in 4 months of hurricane season."
In other words, had you booked a discounted charter during "charter discount season", there wasn't really a month where a serious hurricane didn't threaten that trip.This is significant because most people, when spending their hard-earned cash (especially right now) plan a trip of charter-like proportions and expense (even at a discount), they want to know they're going to get paradise and nothing less!
What to do?
It really depends on a number of factors:
- Where are you going? Some locations (definitely beyond the Caribbean) remain adequately removed from the impact of these storms. Places like the Windward Island (southern region) have more stabilized temperatures and suffer less nasty weather. Also be sure to look at locations you're considering to see what historic averages show for weather. Here are some interesting charts for the BVI:
Average rainfall (by month) for Road Town, Tortola, BVI
Average temperature (by month) for Road Town, Tortola, BVI
(charts and images courtesy of www.weather.com)
Looking at these charts, September is likely hot and wet in the BVI. And, who knew that November could experience so much rain? Granted, it's tropical rain (warm, quick bursts) but if you're expecting cloud-free days, you might want to think again.
- How flexible are you? From all of the research I've done, it's best to approach the discount season for charters with a very flexible gameplan. That allows you to really understand the local impact of hurricane season, react to weather patterns, and being to be selective. From what I've seen, there remains plenty of inventory for boats to charter at this time of year for those flexible enough to play it loosely.
- Utilize travel insurance. If you can't be flexible and need to book far in advance, it's probably worth it to purchase travel insurance or some charter protection plan that ensures that if you do need to cancel at the last moment, you'll be covered and recoup the majority of your charter costs.
- "Hug the corners". Figure out the months and focus on the earliest part of hurricane/discount season or the latest part. This will enable you to at least get closer to the more favorable times (and more ideal weather, possibly) that something right in the middle of the season.
I'm sure there are more ideas (please share them in the comments field!) but hopefully some of these thoughts share a little light on how hurricane season affects discounts on bareboat charters and why.