Long term charter instead of selling

[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...

[NickCreak]

Videos of the boat if anyone's interested:
https://youtu.be/npfgeV4xwA4
https://youtu.be/E3jQnuoInPY
https://youtu.be/GabUBubaDNw

[Bambooboat]

Hi Nick,

We are nearly halfway through our Caribbean sabbatical year. We bought our boat, have been refurbishing and improving with the same intent: to sell at the end of the adventure. We looked for long term charter/rent options and found very little of it. I believe it is a very interesting proposition and am interested in hearing the response from the forum.
Good luck with it all!

[Stu Jackson]

From decades of reading these types of requests, it seems that there are two options if you want to keep the boat and charter it out.

1. Go with a charter company

2. DIY

Both ways get you folks on your boat who won't care as much about your boat as you do. The first gets you maintenance, the latter someone has to do it.

I have no clue about the financial aspects, but consider insurance if you consider #2.

If you plan to keep the boat, does this mean you're not going to be sailing a lot and just keeping the boat for "the future?"


Where would the boat be located if you do keep it and where would you be living at the time?

[NickCreak]

All good points and these are the things to consider.
My counter, perhaps niavely is vetting. I'm sure there are people like me who know boats and how to maintain them. Keeping the boat as simple as possible and part of the deal for a longer term affordable charter would be looking after the boat.
When I have sailed others boats I treat them with the upmost care! If I can find someone similar to me, who understands basic maintenance I think it's viable.
It does however relie on the people.

My theory is week long charters, in general attract a certain type of sailor, a season charter, the boat becomes their home.

[NickCreak]

@bambooboat
Thanks very much, I'm sure there's something here. Just not sure of how it works quite yet.
How did you get on selling?

[Tillsbury]

Watch out with DIY charter. Depending on the location, all sorts of things become your responsibility from insurance to safety gear, and checking the charterer’s ability. I investigated chartering my Oceanlord in the UK, but it was certified Cat0 from the factory and was new. A 30-year old one is a different matter, especially for longer passages.

[Macblaze]

Its a tough call. At least a couple times a year you get people here asking about long-term charters. So theoretically you could do a fairly good business. But maintenance, cruising area restrictions, insurance and just plain liability would always be a hassle. The people who bought the old Zero to Cruising boat had some "experienced" people who volunteered to bring it from Grenada to the U.S. It didn't make it due to an anchoring fiasco. The risk makes me cringe... But I think, with a good marketing plan, you could make it work.

Like many we bought for our year sabbatical with the intention of selling. After the year was over we wanted to keep cruising so put her into charter (this is in the PNW). It's not for everyone, but we get 2-12 months of cruising each year for virtually nothing. I just have to remind myself that I am not emotionally attached to the boat and dings and other sh*t happens. I track the average sale prices and the amount of maintenance needed and i am sure we will end up selling her without too much of a loss (besides normal upkeep).

I've also been told I am deluding myself. But what the heck, I just got back from 5 weeks of glorious sailing and —if my luck an the bookings hold —its looking like the total cost to me is going to be flights, food & diesel.

Good luck and I totally would have bought in if this opportunity had occurred 5 years ago.

[Palarran]

What are you thinking you will get per month for the boat? I've been talking with folks for a couple years about doing a long term charter on Palarran with little success. From a quick search, your boat is selling for between $60 and $80k. I'd guess you would be lucky to get maybe $1,500 per month. Compare it to a house, you wouldn't pay very much in rent for a sub-$100k home. Before you shoot the messenger, I get it. Boat's take a lot of maintenance, but finding someone who will appreciate that with a 30 year old boat is tough.

[leboyd]

For DIY, it seems you really want to “sell” on a owner finance with a buy-back after the specific time with a full survey at the end. The buy-back amount would be minimal and based on the survey result.

[Dooglas]

Originally Posted by NickCreak

When I have sailed others boats I treat them with the upmost care! If I can find someone similar to me, who understands basic maintenance I think it's viable. It does however relie on the people.

I have chartered a number of sailboats in my life. Always from the best and most respected charter companies, so we are talking about well maintained boats. I can not help but notice, however, that these boats have lived a hard life. I'm sure you hope someone else will treat your boat like their own, but my experience does not support that.

[Scotty Kiwi]

As an experienced boat-less former owner of a 30+ year old Cat 1 vessel, I 'd be all for a long term DIY charter - 6 to 18 months - but not till around April 2021. The fishhooks can all be worked around - proof of ability, detail of insurance, what costs fall where, detailed inspection start and finish, inspection during charter period, security deposit.

So while this is not of direct assistance to you, there must be other folk out there in a similar situation to me ... cashed up enough to lease long term, not cashed up enough to buy (yet)

One of the problems for an owner prospecting to charter would be avoiding the con-men.

[jmschmidt]

I've been thinking about this too. I'm working on a draft document for the "dry lease" of a pleasure boat. These are common in both the maritime and aviation industry.

The lessee is responsible for everything and sends a net check in payment to the lessor on a monthly basis. Everything means, insurance, dockage, licenses, maintenance and general upkeep. A detailed and complete set of maintenance standards and requirements must be set out with a means to periodically insure that the lessee is performing these functions or is having them accomplished by professional contractors. Their also must be a reporting mechanism to track this information and report directly to the lessor. Today's technology has some interesting equipment which will provide real-time reports of various operational and maintenance functions to anyone anywhere in the world.

[Scotty Kiwi]

I'd go for something like that, in two years, Mr Schmidt! Leasing our house out for a back to back period would cover it.

One issue could be that I'd want to change hemispheres during the period, following the sun, and return to "base". Insurance would cover that I guess.

[Scaramanga F25]

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