Yes. The skipper's or crew's fee does not include their meals, so you provide food and drinks for your hired crew for the whole trip. Plan your provisioning with them in mind.
Agree on the details before you leave
Talk to your crew before the trip about how provisioning will work, and ask about any dietary needs or preferences.
Eating out
For evenings in restaurants, you have two options:
- take the skipper and crew with you and pay for their meals, or
- agree on a daily allowance per crew member, so they can eat on their own.
Either works, as long as everyone knows the arrangement from the start.
Tipping
It is customary to tip at the end of the trip, and how much is up to you and how happy you are with the service. A hired skipper usually gets the fee for one extra day as a tip.
On a fully crewed charter with an APA (advance provisioning allowance), the usual guideline is 5% to 15% of the charter fee, about 10% for a week. The tip is calculated on the charter fee, not on the APA.
