Terms of Service

These terms are an agreement between you and Stowaway ("we", "us"). By creating an account or booking, you agree to them.

1. Stowaway is a marketplace

Stowaway connects travelers with independent captains who offer spare berths on voyages they operate. We are not a vessel operator, charter company, carrier or travel agent. Captains are independent and are not our employees or agents. The captain alone is responsible for the vessel, crew, navigation, safety, and the voyage itself.

2. Captain obligations

• Hold every license, certification and permit legally required to carry passengers for the voyage offered (for example, a U.S. Coast Guard credential where required) and comply with all maritime, customs and immigration laws.
• Keep valid insurance covering passengers for the full voyage and tell us immediately if it lapses.
• Keep the vessel seaworthy, carry required safety equipment, and describe voyages truthfully.

Our "verified" badges mean we reviewed documents a captain submitted at a point in time. They are not a guarantee of the captain's skill, the vessel's condition, or that coverage remains in force.

2a. Guests, not crew

Travelers book as paying guests. Captains may not require travelers to work, stand watch or perform crew duties as a condition of a booking. Captains are responsible for holding the correct credential and vessel status for carrying paying passengers on the voyage offered (for example, a U.S. Coast Guard license and inspected-vessel limits where they apply) and for confirming their insurance covers paying guests.

3. Traveler obligations

• Be at least 18, provide accurate information, and follow the captain's safety instructions at all times.
• Carry valid travel documents and understand that sea travel involves inherent risks, including weather, delays, injury and seasickness. Before each booking you confirm you accept these risks and will follow the captain's safety instructions.

4. Payments, fees and refunds

Payments are processed by Stripe. When you book, we collect payment and hold it. If the captain declines or the booking is cancelled before the voyage, you receive a full refund to your original payment method. After the captain marks the voyage completed, the captain receives the fare minus our 12% service fee. Captains may need to complete Stripe's identity checks to receive payouts.

5. Weather and safety

The captain may delay, reroute or cancel a voyage for safety reasons. If a voyage is cancelled, you are refunded. We are not responsible for delays or route changes.

6. Prohibited conduct

No illegal activity, harassment, discrimination, fraud, taking payment outside Stowaway, or false listings. We may suspend or remove accounts that break these terms.

7. Reviews and content

Reviews must be honest and based on a real voyage. You give us permission to display content you post in the app.

8. Disclaimers and limitation of liability

The service is provided "as is". To the fullest extent permitted by law, Stowaway is not liable for injury, loss, damage or delay arising from a voyage or a user's conduct, and our total liability to you is limited to the fees we received from you in the 12 months before the claim. Nothing here limits liability that cannot be limited by law.

Assumption of risk. Sea travel involves inherent risks, including weather, rough water, injury, illness, delay and remoteness from medical help. By booking you voluntarily accept those risks. Stowaway is an online marketplace only: we do not own, operate, crew, inspect or control any vessel, and captains are independent operators, not our employees or agents. The total liability cap above also applies to Stowaway's owners, officers and developers personally.

9. Indemnity

You agree to cover losses we suffer because you broke these terms or the law. Captains additionally agree to cover claims arising from voyages they operate.

10. Disputes and governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Colorado, USA. Please contact us first so we can try to resolve any issue informally. If we can't, any dispute will be resolved by binding individual arbitration in Colorado rather than in court, except small-claims matters, and you waive any right to bring or join a class action, to the extent the law allows.

11. Changes

We may update these terms. If we make material changes we will notify you in the app; continuing to use Stowaway means you accept them.