The skipper who comes with the boat, and what he actually does
With us the skipper is not an extra you can decline. He comes with the boat, and he does more than steer. Here is what he is actually doing during your four hours out.
3 min read · 29. august 2026
"Can we drive it ourselves?" is among the most common questions we get. The answer is no, and it is not because we do not trust you.
A Princess 85 is twenty-five metres and weighs around sixty tonnes. Bringing her alongside at Aker Brygge on a Saturday in July, with a crosswind and traffic, is not something you learn in an afternoon. Our insurance requires a certified skipper, and it would regardless of what we thought.
He is not an add-on
The skipper is inside the hourly rate. He is not a line you can untick to save a few thousand, and there is no bareboat version where you get the keys and good luck.
We mention it because it is not obvious. Rent a smaller boat in Oslo and it is often without a skipper, and the hourly rate is lower for good reason. Comparing our figures with a small-boat rental is comparing two different things.
The first twenty minutes
The skipper is on board long before you are. He has checked fuel, engines and weather, put out fenders and laid out towels and life vests. If you arrive at ten to twelve, the boat is ready with the engines running.
Then he receives you. Where you can sit, where the heads are, where not to stand when he takes her off the quay. It takes three minutes and saves everyone wondering for the rest of the day.
Underway he mostly does two things
He picks the route by the weather, not by the chart. With a fresh southerly we go inshore towards Nesodden rather than straight out. You notice it as the boat being comfortable; he noticed it as changing the route before you came aboard.
He stays out of the way. This is the part people do not expect. A good skipper on a private charter speaks when spoken to, and otherwise not. If you are giving a presentation on the aft deck or proposing to someone, he should be invisible.
If on the other hand you want to know what the white building on Bygdøy is, or where Færder lies, ask. Most of them have run this fjord for twenty years and have more to tell than they offer unprompted.
What he does not do
He is not a waiter. He does not pour, clear the table or handle the food. If you want service, we bring people for it — that costs extra, and it is in the quote.
He is not a photographer, a DJ or a babysitter either, though he has been all three in practice when the mood demanded it.
One thing he decides
He decides whether the trip goes. If a gale is forecast, or fog comes in, that is his call — not ours, and not yours. We have no interest in overruling it, and a trip cancelled for weather costs you nothing.
The same applies if someone on board has had too much. Then he turns back. It has happened twice, and both times it was right.
Who it is
We use the same few skippers again and again. They know the boats, they know the fjord, and they know how a company day differs from a wedding. If you are out several times a year, you can ask for the same one — it is usually easier for everyone.