The first time you see a yacht charter quote, the math looks straightforward. A weekly rate. A contract. A signature. Then, somewhere near the bottom, a line item called APA — usually 25 to 35 percent of the base fee, payable up front, in addition to everything else. That number is where most first-time charterers either get nervous or get surprised at the end of the week. Neither is necessary if you understand what you're actually paying for.
The Mediterranean Yachting Brokers Association contract — MYBA — is the standard agreement for crewed yacht charters of any real size. It governs roughly 90 percent of the boats you'd want to be on. Inside that contract, the Advance Provisioning Allowance is the mechanism that keeps the boat running. Fuel, food, dockage, the gin you actually drank. Understanding how those two pieces work together is the difference between a clean settlement on disembarkation morning and a confused conversation about a bar tab in Porto Cervo.
What the base fee actually covers
The MYBA base fee is the rental cost of the yacht and her crew for the contracted period. That's it. It includes the vessel itself, all the toys listed on the central agency brochure (jet skis, seabobs, paddleboards, the tender), the captain and the full crew complement, their wages, their insurance, and the boat's hull and machinery insurance. It includes laundry of the boat's linens. It includes the use of every system on board.
It does not include fuel. It does not include food. It does not include dockage when you tie up to a quay in Saint-Tropez or Capri. It does not include the bottle of Whispering Angel the stewardess opened at lunch, the diesel for the tender, the harbor master's fee in Bonifacio, or the local taxes that apply once you cross into Italian waters from French ones. All of that runs through the APA.
This is the cleanest way to think about it: the base fee is what it costs to have the asset and the team. The APA is what it costs to actually use them. A 50-meter motor yacht sitting at her home berth in Antibes with the crew aboard is the base fee. The same yacht running ten hours from Antibes to Calvi, plugged into shore power overnight, with eight guests eating lobster and drinking Sancerre — that's the base fee plus a real APA draw.
For more context on how the broader chartering decision gets made — boat selection, itinerary, crew fit — our yacht charter overview walks through the front end of the process before any contract is signed.
How the APA works in practice
The APA is a cash float. You wire it to the central agent before the charter starts, and on day one of the trip the captain takes control of those funds and uses them to pay for everything the boat consumes during the week. Every euro spent is logged. Every receipt is kept. At the end of the charter, the captain or chief stew sits down with you — usually the night before disembarkation, over a coffee or a glass of wine — and walks through the accounts line by line.
If you spent less than the APA you deposited, the balance is refunded to you in cash or wired back. If you spent more — and on a heavy-fuel itinerary or a provisioning-heavy trip you often will — you top it up before you step off the boat. There is no markup. The crew is not making money on your fuel. The APA is a pass-through, and the receipts prove it.
What does it actually pay for during a normal week?
Fuel. This is the single largest line. A 40-meter motor yacht burns somewhere between 200 and 400 liters an hour at cruising speed. A long transit day — say, Mallorca to Ibiza and onward to Formentera — can move five figures through the APA in fuel alone. Sailing yachts are dramatically cheaper here, which is one of several reasons people who've chartered both keep coming back to sail.
Food and beverage. Provisioning is built around your preference sheet. If you've told the chef you want raw bar at lunch and a tasting menu twice during the week, the APA pays for the langoustines, the turbot, the truffle, the wine pairings. If you ask for a case of a specific Burgundy, the boat sources it and bills it through. There's no restaurant markup, but there is a real cost to having Petrossian caviar flown to Sardinia.
Dockage and port fees. Tying up stern-to in Monaco during the Grand Prix is a different number than anchoring off Pampelonne. Some weeks you'll spend most nights at anchor and dockage is minor. Other weeks — Porto Cervo in August, Saint-Tropez in late July — a single night on a quay can run several thousand euros. The captain will often discuss the trade-off with you.
Communications, laundry of guest clothing, crew gratuities are sometimes included in the APA, sometimes handled separately. The contract spells it out. Crew tip is conventionally 5 to 15 percent of the base fee, paid at the end, in cash or wire — and that is on top of the APA, not from it.
Where charterers get surprised
The surprises are almost always in the same three places.
Fuel on a fast itinerary
If you tell the broker you want to do Cannes, Saint-Tropez, Porquerolles, Calvi, Bonifacio, Porto Cervo, and back in seven days, the captain will run the numbers and tell you that itinerary burns through fuel. A 30 percent APA may not cover it. A good broker will flag this before you sign and recommend a 35 or even 40 percent deposit, with the understanding that any unused balance is refunded. The mistake is signing at the lower percentage and finding out on day five that the captain needs a top-up wire.
VAT and cruising taxes
French, Italian, Spanish, Greek, and Croatian waters all have different VAT regimes for charter. French commercial exemption rules, Italian charter VAT, the Greek TEPAI tax, the Croatian permit — these get charged through the APA in most cases, and the rates change. A week that crosses three flag jurisdictions can carry meaningful tax exposure. The contract should specify how this is handled. If it doesn't, ask before you sign.
Special requests mid-charter
The afternoon helicopter transfer from the boat to a restaurant in the hills above Èze. The dinner reservation at La Vague d'Or that requires a tender shuttle and a car waiting at the dock. The case of 2015 Sassicaia your guest mentions on day two. All of it is doable. All of it runs through the APA. None of it is a problem if the float is sized correctly and the captain is given a heads-up. It becomes a problem when guests assume these things are included in the base fee. They aren't.
This is the part of the work that doesn't show up in the brochure — the conversation about realistic APA sizing, the read on which captain runs a tight ledger, the relationships with central agents that mean we hear about the boat's actual fuel burn last season instead of the optimistic spec sheet number. If you want to talk through a specific itinerary, start the conversation here.
MYBA vs other contract forms
MYBA is the dominant form, but it isn't the only one. You'll occasionally see the older Western Mediterranean contract on smaller boats, and in the Caribbean the Caribbean Yacht Brokers Association (CYBA) form is common — the CYBA is structured differently and tends to be all-inclusive, meaning fuel and food are bundled into a higher base fee with no separate APA. This is why a BVI catamaran week and a Mediterranean motor yacht week look so different on the invoice even when the headline rates are similar.
There's also the increasingly common "plus expenses" form on day-charter or short-term arrangements, which is essentially an APA-style mechanic without the formal MYBA structure. For a full week on a serious yacht, MYBA is what you want — the contract is battle-tested, the dispute mechanism works, and every reputable broker, captain, and central agent in the Mediterranean operates under it.
The other reason MYBA matters: it standardizes cancellation, force majeure, delivery and redelivery, and what happens if the boat breaks down. The APA is one part of the document. The rest of it is the protection you actually want when something goes wrong — a generator failure that forces a port change, a crew COVID case, a guest medical issue. The contract anticipates these. The handshake deal does not.
Reading a settlement at the end of the week
On the last evening or the morning of disembarkation, the captain will hand you the APA accounts. It's usually a printed spreadsheet — date, vendor, category, amount, running total. Fuel uplifts will show liters and price per liter. Provisioning will show the supplier. Dockage will show the marina. If the boat has any meaningful cash transactions, the receipts are stapled or scanned.
What you're looking for: does the fuel burn match the engine hours? Does the provisioning math track with what was actually served and consumed? Are the dockage charges from marinas you actually tied up at? Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, on a properly run boat, the answer is yes and the conversation takes ten minutes. The captain has been doing this for a decade. The chief stew runs the books to a standard you'd recognize from a real business.
If something doesn't look right, you ask. A good captain expects the question and has the answer ready. If you're working through a broker who placed the boat, that broker is also reviewing the accounts on your behalf — that's part of what they're paid for, and it's why the right placement matters more than the rate. The settlement is the last operational moment of the charter, and it should feel like the rest of the week: organized, transparent, and fast.
FAQ
Is the APA refundable if I don't spend it?
Yes. The APA is your money held in trust by the captain for the duration of the charter. Any unspent balance is returned to you at settlement, either in cash on board or wired back to the account it came from within a few days of disembarkation. There is no fee on the unused portion.
How big should the APA be?
The MYBA default is 25 to 30 percent of the base fee, but the right number depends on the itinerary. Heavy cruising, peak-season dockage in Sardinia or the South of France, or unusual provisioning requests can push the realistic number to 35 or 40 percent. A good broker sizes the APA to the actual trip, not the contract default, so you're not topping up mid-week.
Are crew tips paid from the APA?
No. Crew gratuity is separate and customarily ranges from 5 to 15 percent of the base fee, paid directly at the end of the charter. The MYBA contract notes the convention but doesn't mandate an amount. The tip reflects service quality and is given to the captain to distribute among the crew.
What happens if the boat breaks down?
The MYBA contract has specific provisions for mechanical failure that prevents the charter from proceeding. Depending on the duration and severity, you may be entitled to a pro-rata refund of the base fee, a substitute vessel, or full cancellation. The APA covers consumables actually used; it isn't at risk for mechanical issues.
Can I see the APA accounts during the charter, not just at the end?
Yes, and on a long or expensive charter it's reasonable to ask for a mid-week update. Most captains will give you a running total any time you ask. If you're tracking against a specific budget, tell the captain on day one — they'll keep you informed without you having to chase it.
Does the APA cover shore excursions and restaurants ashore?
Generally no. Meals you eat off the boat, helicopter transfers, private guides, and shopping are personal expenses paid directly. The APA covers what the boat consumes on your behalf — fuel, dockage, provisioning, port fees. Some captains will arrange and front-pay shore activities and bill them through the APA as a convenience, but that's a courtesy, not a contractual feature. Confirm before you assume.
One last thing. The APA isn't a fee. It's not a markup, it's not a surcharge, it's not a tip jar. It's the operating account for a small floating hotel that exists for one week to do exactly what you want it to do. Understood that way, it stops being the confusing line at the bottom of the invoice and starts being the most honest part of the whole arrangement — a real ledger of a real week, settled in cash, on the morning you step off.
