Yacht Ownership.

[82Venture22]

Has anyone ever did sailboat ownership through a chartering company like:

http://nauticblue.com

They maintain that when you purchase a boat it will cover the cost of the mortgage of your boat and some as if it was an actual investment.

Anyone done this ? Is it possible to at least cover the cost of your mortgage through one of these programs. Has anyone ever made money on one of these programs. Or is it just another timeshare program.

Does anyone know of some reputable companies.

[knotaloud]

There's a broker/charter club near us that advertises this kinda thing; they say if you purchase a new Dufour 34 and put it in the charter pool, they guarantee all of your expensive will be covered for the first 5 years, including your mortgage (up to $500 per month), moorage, maintenance, etc. They even wash and wax it on a regular basis. They only downside I see is usage, but if you are willing to just sail mid week and give them every weekend, then you'll come out ahead. They also sell used boats, like Catalina 25's, that you can purchase and leave in the charter system to help offset costs. Also....if your boat is out for the day, you can use any boat at the dock, big or small, (for about 1/2 off the regular charter rates)

[sailingdog]

There is one site with a pretty decent running account of owning a boat in charter... You can read about it here. However, I don't think that this is the usual case, since many people on the Live-aboard e-mail list recently wrote about this subject and many were very unhappy with the results of chartering their boat. The main complaints were wear and tear on their boat, theft of equipment and the charter fees not covering the mortgage on their boats over the course of the year.

[kd3pc]

Venture

We did the charter thing with a Beneteau 36CC, beautiful boat and sails well. As for the charter program, there were some major flaws...suffice it to say they may "offset" your mortgage, but they don't do a thing for your insurance (try 3 or 4 times more since you charter), your dockage (about twice the going rate), wear and tear (and there will be plenty of that), or equipment ( I bought 4 complete sets of dock lines the first month, as "they left them somewhere" or "I did not know they stayed with the boat" - and they won't upset a good customer by asking them to pay for them. You will eat a lot of things with the charter and at best you may knock a few percent off the boat payment if you are lucky.

I would look elsewhere as NO BOAT IS AN INVESTMENT.

dave

[tommyt]

Yachts in charter are really dependent on where you are and what you are attempting to accomplish.

I have a boat in charter in the northern great lakes. We have a short season, June to August for chartering basically, and therefore charter revenue to costs cover about half of my yearly nut. The good side is that 1/2 my nut is covered, the bad side is that there are weeks that I cannot sail because someone else is enjoying my boat. Hopefully taking care of it. Also, you have to have other passive income to offset your loss with. The day that I sell my boat business is the day that I get to deduct all of the excess costs and depreciation. Until then, it is my cost.

As to the poster that had many costs not covered that were theft or stupidity, I have not had that problem. Stupidity yes, but the price was at least covered. Losses from the boat have not happened, but if they did the charter company would compensate me and most likely take it from the charterer.

I believe that the only way that charter boat ownership actually covers all of your costs is with the big boys in the Virgin Islands. They have the lenght of season to guarantee it. You get to sail your boat 3-6 weeks a year and deduct some of the trips to check your investment. That is the good side, and you have to offset the revenue with another passive investment to make it work from a tax standpoint. The downside is that after 5 years in a long season charter environment your boat is not going to look pretty. Long time in the sun and the same nice people that rent a Lincoln from Hertz and go off roading will take a toll.

There are exceptions, but the cheaper way to go is to be the charterer. At the end of the day they sail boats longer and for less money than most owners, whether in charter or not. I am still trying to find friends that think they need to own a boat and can't get along without me helping them. Beer is cheaper than mortgage payments. Unfortunately, most of my friends have already figured it out and sail with me.

[82Venture22]

I thought it was too good to be true,, Guess I will just stick with trips through Moorings.

[tommyt]

82Venture,

Don't give up so easily. You did not say that you already charter with Moorings. Dependent on how many trips you take a year with them, it may work for you. An investment *( I know a boat should never be considered an investment) that can act as a second home and a rental property can work. The restrictions on how many weeks you can use a charter boat are different than a home rental from what I understand.

I would get on some of the charter sites, and more importantly the owner sites, and see what their experiences are. You will find some that think it is a great deal, and some with horror stories. Many people treat them as leases and roll them over as they go. Depends what you want at the end of the charter agreement. It might make business sense for you IF you will use it enough and you are in the right tax bracket. That is one for your accountant.

[haukebo]

I bought a used boat, coming out of the Sunsail fleet. Then I placed it in charter in a "second tier" company in the BVI for 5 more years. I agree with everyone's comments about wear & tear, stuff getting lost.
That being said, the costs, when you include the tax advantages, came out fairly even over the years...that is to say I almost made enough to cover the costs, but then I enjoyed the pride of ownership and I knew the boat alot better when coming down for my vacations. I also got to keep a couple boxes of gear and toys down there to use on my trips without having to haul it back and forth.
The biggest advantages were being able to go where I wanted with the boat...the charter companies put some tight restrictions on their charter boats, but as an owner we could explore alot of places the charterers dont go. Also it was nice to have someone else taking care of all the maintenance stuff for me...I could enjoy my time on the boat without having to spend my week off changing oil and scrubbing the bottom.
Chartering will allow you to afford a bigger boat then you otherwise might have...but you have to accept that there will be alot of wear and tear in trade.

[b6a4]

where can I locate owners to ask questions on the subject of a sunsail/moorings boat owning?

[camaraderie]

B6A4.... Is that a "Knight Move" (g) Chess Joke.

Anyway...try the search function here for threads that contain Moorings or Sunsail. If nothing good is found...go to the chartering home page and start your own thread with the question.