Long term charter instead of selling

[Scotty Kiwi]

Originally Posted by Scaramanga F25

You would trust your boat to a stranger...LOL???

Nope.

They would not be a stranger by the time a lease deposit has been identied, due diligence has been done and the insurance is in place.

[Keelbender]

Hi Nick,
I have been looking for a long term charter for several months now and have only found a company called Seabatical which offers long term charters. The price they charge is still expensive which brings me back to searching for a used boat and going the route you have taken. I have been sailing for 40 years and have owned several boats over the years. I am retired now but my wife still works as a college professor so we have only about 2 to 3 months each year to get away. As it is, we try to charter a few weeks when we can but would really like an extended time cruising. The idea of purchasing a boat that will sit idle for months at a time is not appealing. I have found that an unused boat seems to deteriorate more then one is use, probably because you tend to fix all the problems as they come along when you are on the boat. One thing that has always bothered me when visiting a marina was seeing all the unused boats that were just wasting away in the slip. Several years ago I belonged to a Texas lake sailing club where the founder of the club started contacting owners of the neglected boats in one marina, talking them into putting their boat in the club for charter. In return they got free labor cleaning and repairing their boat, slip fees paid, and a very small amount of the charter fee. Charterers paid a short term insurance while renting the boat and of course a very reasonable charter fee. Charterers were club members and as such felt an ownership and obligation to take care of the boat they were renting. We understood that these were older boats that needed TLC, but that was a good trade-off for the lower charter fees. It was a good thing for both parties and the boat. I have often wondered why this did not catch on at seaport marinas.

I would be very interested in a long term charter of your boat and I believe many others would be also. The main problems I see for you is knowing who is an honest, reliable, experienced charterer and finding liability/damage insurance.

If you, or anyone reading this, know of a place or a person where someone might find a reasonable long term charter, please let us know.

Originally Posted by NickCreak

Dear All,
My wife and I have just been on a year long 'seabatical'. Like many dream off, we bought, renovated and sailed our beautiful Westerly Oceanlord 41 for the Caribbean season. AND AMAZING IT WAS.

The plan was to sell...but, she's such a good solid, comfortable and reliable boat we wondered if there were others, like us, that rather than risking the buying process for the short term...would rent our boat for the season, at a reasonable price.
Obviously lots to work out on this but...I'm interested if anyone out there would like this option if it were available and we set it up...

[Ivylin]

I have been searching for a medium to long term charter solution for quite some time. So far without success but am now again looking.
Having grown up on a trimaran and sailed extensively on my father's boats, including a catamaran he built from a kit, I have been bareboat chartering (2 - 3 weeks per year) for the last 10 years. I always treat the boats as if they were my own.
The ideal solution would be a 3 month one-way charter (mid-April to mid-July 2021 or September to November 2020 or 2021). The spring itinerary would be South of France to Athens. The autumn itinerary would be South of France to Southern Turkey. One of my wife's conditions for joining me is that we charter a catamaran!
I understand the practical problems involved with arranging this kind of charter but surely this represents a gap in the overcrowded charter broking market.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Keelbender, and Ivylin.

[l2ridehd]

A viable alternative might be to sell shares in your boat. Maybe find up to five others plus yourself to each own 1/6 of the boat and 1/6 of all costs. Or 3 others with each owning 1/4. Each person gets two or three months a year with month 13 used for maintenance and repairs. Then each person gets two or three months for the next 12 months. This way the months move each year. This type arrangement is done a lot with airplanes and works very well. Planes have better maintenance and usage controls than boats but it could all be worked out.

This way the users have skin in the game and hopefully treat the boat more like an owner. A good start would be to google flying club bylaws and you will start to understand how this could work. Things like months could be swapped or shared among members and who ever manages the whole operation gets some portion of cost reduced. And that responsibility switches every year. It can all be worked out. And yes, I would have an interest in something like this.

[Macblaze]

Originally Posted by Ivylin

I understand the practical problems involved with arranging this kind of charter but surely this represents a gap in the overcrowded charter broking market.

You may be right Check out this other post where Dream Yacht Charters is giving it a go...

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...er-216681.html

[Ivylin]

Thank you Macblaze. Very helpful.

[Exonerated]

Like a couple others commenting, long-term chartering does seem like an attractive alternative to buying, if it can all work out (in a couple years).

But all of the concerns from the various naysayers do seem legit. I'm in Boston so if you're ever in my area, maybe we can sail together here, and start building the trust that might make chartering from you possible!

I wonder what the pricing is like on Dream Yacht's thing.