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A 50m motor yacht running a 7-day Mediterranean charter for 10 guests in 2026 spends $42,000 to $78,000 on provisioning. Fuel accounts for $14,000 to $30,000 of that depending on cruising speed and distance, food and beverage for $18,000 to $32,000, dockage and port fees for $6,000 to $12,000, and crew gratuity if APA-funded for an additional $3,500 to $5,000 of float (the gratuity itself is separate). All of this comes out of the APA, not the base fee. None of it goes to the broker.
This page is what to do with that money and how to brief the people spending it.
What the APA actually covers
The Advance Provisioning Allowance is a running account against actual expenditure. The contract sets it at 25 to 35 percent of base fee, paid to the central agent 30 days before charter start. The captain draws from this account during the trip. Receipts are kept. A daily statement is available on request. The final reconciliation is delivered within 14 days of disembarkation, with surplus refunded or shortfall invoiced.
Mediterranean charters trend toward 30 percent APA. Caribbean charters trend toward 25 percent. High-end weeks (Cannes during the film festival, Monaco during the Grand Prix, August in Sardinia) trend toward 33 to 35 percent because dockage and provisioning prices spike. A yacht offering a 20 percent APA is offering optimism, not budget reality. We have not seen a 20 percent APA hold on a Mediterranean charter in five years.
What the APA covers, by category:
Fuel for the yacht and for any tenders or jet skis. Food and beverage for guests, including all alcohol. Dockage and port fees in any port the yacht enters. Customs and immigration clearance fees. Pilotage where required (Bonifacio, some Croatian ports, some Caribbean entries). Crew laundry and consumables when the trip is extended. Helicopter landing fees if the yacht has a touch-and-go deck and a helicopter is used. Communications charges for guest data use beyond included bandwidth. Onshore experience bookings made by the chief stew on your behalf.
What the APA does not cover:
Crew gratuity (separate, 5 to 15 percent of base fee, paid in cash or wire at trip end). Personal purchases ashore (your meals out, your shopping, your hotel nights either side of the trip). Damage deposits (separate, refundable, held against guest damage). Any extras agreed off-contract (sometimes a sportfish day, sometimes a helicopter charter).
If the broker tells you the APA covers crew gratuity, the broker is wrong. We see this misstated in roughly one in eight charter inquiries. Push back on it before signing.
The preference sheet, in detail
Provisioning starts with the preference sheet, which the chef and chief stew use to plan the seven days. The mistake first-time clients make is filling this in with vague language: "we like seafood," "we drink red wine," "no specific allergies." This generates a generic provisioning run that wastes both money and crew effort.
The preference sheet should contain:
Full names of all guests, ages, and any allergies or dietary restrictions, with the severity flagged. A celiac diagnosis is different from a wheat preference. The chef plans differently.
Specific cuisine direction for the week: Mediterranean light, Asian-leaning, classic French, steakhouse-heavy, plant-forward. The chef can flex but cannot read minds.
Brand-name preferences for the items where brand matters: which whisky, which gin, which water, which coffee, which tea. The chief stew sources by brand when named.
Wine direction: producers and vintages or, at minimum, regions and styles. "Burgundy white and Bordeaux red" is workable. "Whatever you usually have" is not. A 7-night charter for 10 guests consumes 35 to 60 bottles of wine on a normal trip and 80 to 120 on a celebration week.
Three named ashore meals you want booked. The chief stew handles the reservations and any deposits.
The water sports profile: how many jet ski hours, how many paddleboard sessions, how many waterskiing runs, how many dive trips. The crew plans the day-cycle around this.
Any anniversaries, birthdays, or surprises the chief stew should plan around, with the date and the level of formality you want.
Send the preference sheet 4 to 6 weeks before charter start. Earlier risks the chef rotation changing. Later and the wine supplier cannot source the harder allocations.
The wine list, specifically
Wine is where provisioning runs hottest and where the APA shows the largest variance. A 7-night charter at the high end consumes $8,000 to $20,000 of wine. A casual week runs $3,000 to $6,000.
Name three to five wines you want stocked, by producer and vintage. The chief stew sources through a local supplier (the standard names in the Mediterranean are Wine & Co, MyVitis, and the major Monaco and Antibes wine merchants). The supplier delivers to the yacht in port.
Wines that are easy to source in the Mediterranean: Domaines Ott, Sancerre from the standard producers, Provence rose at every price point, Tuscan reds, Burgundy whites in the 100 to 250 euro range. Wines that take more lead time: cult Burgundy, mature Bordeaux, top-of-pyramid Champagne in the older vintages, anything from a producer with a tight allocation. If you want Domaine de la Romanee-Conti, name it eight weeks out. If you want Krug Clos d'Ambonnay, name it twelve weeks out and accept that it may not arrive.
You can bring your own wine. Most yachts permit this without corkage. EU customs paperwork must be in order for any quantity above the personal limit, which the chief stew can handle if briefed in advance.
A small number of yachts (we have logged six in the Mediterranean fleet over 60m) keep an in-house cellar that travels with the boat. These are usually marketed in the broker pack. If a yacht has a cellar listed at 800 bottles, ask for the inventory before signing. The contents are sometimes better than what you would source yourself.
The fuel question
Fuel is the single largest provisioning line and the one most affected by how you run the trip. A 50m motor yacht at slow cruise (10 to 12 knots) burns 250 to 400 liters per hour. At standard cruise (14 to 16 knots), 500 to 800 liters per hour. At fast cruise (22 to 24 knots), 1,500 to 2,200 liters per hour.
At Mediterranean diesel prices in 2026 (roughly 1.45 to 1.65 euros per liter for yacht-grade duty-free), a 7-day charter at standard cruise covers fuel costs of $16,000 to $26,000. A trip that pushes for fast cruise on three or four days runs $28,000 to $40,000. A trip that anchors more and transits at slow cruise sometimes finishes at $11,000 to $14,000.
The captain decides cruising speed based on weather, schedule, and the client's stated preferences. If you have not stated a preference, the captain runs at standard cruise. If you want fuel managed downward, say so in the preference sheet. The captain will lengthen transit times in exchange.
Daily APA review
Ask the captain for a daily APA statement during the charter. The captain provides this on request and most captains expect to be asked. The statement shows running spend against the deposit, broken out by category.
Why this matters: a charter that hits 90 percent of APA by day 5 is heading toward a shortfall invoice. The captain will flag this if asked, and the client can adjust before disembarkation (cutting a planned dockage, reducing fast-cruise transit, holding back on additional wine orders). The shortfall is settled before the yacht departs your last port. We have seen shortfall invoices of $4,000 to $22,000 on Mediterranean charters where APA was set at 25 percent on a trip that should have been at 32 percent. A daily review prevents the surprise.
The reverse case: a charter at 60 percent of APA on day 5 is on track for a surplus refund. Most clients adjust upward (a final-night extravagance, a helicopter day, a more aggressive wine list) rather than refund. Either path is fine. The point is that you know.
What to pass on
Two provisioning patterns we tell clients to skip.
The client-supplied full grocery run. Some charter clients try to bring on a full week of groceries from their home country to save money or to match their preferred brands. This causes three problems: the crew has not budgeted galley storage, EU customs paperwork is non-trivial on commercial quantities, and the chef's mise-en-place is built around what was provisioned through the regular supplier chain. Bring specific items you cannot get locally (a particular tea, a specific bourbon, a brand of coffee). Do not bring the week's groceries.
The "we trust the chef entirely" preference sheet. We see this on roughly one in three new charter clients, and it produces the most disappointed feedback at trip end. The chef is good but cannot read minds. A vague preference sheet generates a vague provisioning run. Be specific.
The shortfall and surplus mechanics
Final APA reconciliation is delivered within 14 days of disembarkation with full receipts. Most central agents send a PDF statement with each line item and supplier name. Review it. Push back on lines that look out of pattern. We have seen errors averaging 1 to 3 percent on roughly one in six reconciliations we have audited, almost always in the client's favor when corrected (a duplicated fuel charge, a dockage entered twice, a misallocated supplier invoice).
Surplus is refunded by the central agent within 30 days of reconciliation. Shortfall is invoiced. Pay the shortfall promptly, then audit. Disputes are easier resolved with money already settled.
FAQ
What is provisioning on a charter yacht? The pre-trip and in-trip purchase of food, beverages, fuel, dockage, port fees, and consumables. Paid from the APA.
How much does provisioning cost on a 7-day charter? On a 50m yacht for 10 guests in the Mediterranean, $42,000 to $78,000 for a 7-day charter.
Can I bring my own wine on board? Yes. Most yachts permit guest-supplied wine without corkage. EU customs paperwork must be in order.
Who provisions the yacht, the broker or the crew? The chief stew and the chef provision based on your preference sheet.
What happens to leftover food at the end of the charter? The crew consumes or donates it. The client does not take provisions home.
How specific should the preference sheet be? Very specific. Name brands, vintages, allergies, and dietary restrictions in detail.