Rhona H

Charter Terms & Conditions

1. Who you are booking

The charter contract is with Red Schooner Ocean Adventure (“we”, “us”). The client named on the booking (“you”) is the hirer. These terms are accepted when the deposit is paid. An agent may make the booking. The contract is still with us, and you are responsible for every guest on board.

2. The charter

Rhona H is a private charter for up to 24 guests, children included, in operational area E. With that load she works Sydney Harbour as far as Watsons Bay. She does not do the outer harbour or the heads with 24 guests. Hawkesbury day charters are available on request at the same rates and on these terms. Offshore and overnight voyages are quoted separately and are not covered by these terms.

Hire includes the skipper and a deckhand, and harbour fuel. Minimum hire is 4 hours. Start and finish times are as booked, with ordinary operational flexibility. Overtime, if the wharf and the survey allow it, is charged at the hourly rate in 30-minute blocks. Sails are set when the wind allows. If it does not, the vessel motors and the charter still runs.

A swim is only from the anchored vessel, by the boarding ladder, and only if the skipper agrees. The tender is launched for a swim. The skipper is on the tender, or ready to board it, and in sight of anyone in the water. No swimming while the vessel is underway.

3. Price and payment

Published rates are GST inclusive. The price is the vessel rate for the month and day, plus wharf fee, any BYO amenity, pre-access, DJ decks and any other extra agreed in writing. Public holidays, including Boxing Day, Australia Day and Christmas, are plus 20% on the vessel hire. New Year’s Eve is the fixed private-charter rate on the rate card, not the hourly rate.

A 50% deposit secures the date. The balance is due 14 days before the charter. A hold without a deposit lasts 24 hours if another enquiry comes in. Catering is the attached menu, or you bring your own, or your own caterer delivers to the gangway. Dietaries and drop-off time are confirmed 7 days out.

A booking management fee applies to all bookings and covers booking administration, reservation management, payment processing and customer service regardless of the method of payment. Payment methods accepted are EFT, or credit card.

4. Changes, cancellation, weather

You may move the date once, at no fee, to another available date in the same rate month. A move into a different rate month is re-quoted.

Inside 14 days of the charter, the balance is payable if you cancel.

Deposits are non-refundable. A cancelled deposit is held as credit for you only, toward another charter within 6 months. It cannot be transferred to another client. November, December, January and public-holiday deposits are non-refundable and are not held as credit.

Rain is not a reason to cancel. If we cancel a normal charter because the skipper judges the conditions unsafe, you receive one free reschedule to any available date. If we cannot sail on New Year’s Eve because of weather or a vessel fault, the New Year’s Eve payment is refunded.

5. Bond

A security bond of $1,500 is pre-authorised before boarding and released after inspection if there is no damage. The bond is fixed. It is not increased on the night and it is not topped up after the charter. If damage is found, we may hold it for up to 7 days while it is costed, and apply it to that damage. That is the security.

6. On board

You are responsible for your guests. We may end the charter without refund if a guest is unsafe, will not follow a crew direction, or is damaging the vessel, another vessel, or the crew. The vessel returns to the wharf. The unused time is not refunded.

No stilettos. Platforms, wedges and boat shoes are fine. The vessel is not wheelchair accessible. Heads are below. Children are welcome and must be supervised. Smoking is in the allocated area only, over the side, never below. Pets and drones only with prior approval.

Confetti, glitter, fireworks and smoke bombs are not allowed. Decorations are allowed if they are taped, not stuck, nailed or tied to varnish, paint or rigging, and are removed before you leave.

Music is at the crew’s discretion, including the volume and when it is turned down. Bluetooth is onboard. DJ decks and speakers are the $100 extra if booked. BYO drinks are served by the crew. Service stops 15 minutes before the end of the charter. RSA applies, and the crew may refuse service. Glass and property that goes over the side, including phones, is your loss.

Coastal lifejackets are carried for every person the vessel is certified to carry, which is the operational area E requirement. Child-size lifejackets are carried for children under 32 kg. A lifejacket is worn when the skipper directs, and by any child under 32 kg on the swim ladder or in the water.

7. Liability

A charter on a timber sailing vessel, including time in the water, has ordinary risks of wind, sea, movement underfoot and other harbour traffic. You board on that basis. We do not exclude liability that Australian law does not allow us to exclude. Personal belongings are carried at your risk. Nothing in these terms removes a right you have under the Australian Consumer Law that cannot be excluded.