Deposit and cancellation: settle them before you pay

A deposit against damage is normal on charter boats. The amount is set per boat and so is the cancellation window — how much comes back depends on how far ahead you cancel.

Neither figure is printed on a listing page today, so they belong in the booking email: ask, and read the reply before you transfer anything. If the terms are not written somewhere you can point at afterwards, they are not settled yet.

One practical detail on the day: walk the boat with the operator at handover and photograph it before you leave the pontoon. That is the cheapest way to make sure a deposit conversation has nothing left to argue about.