Charter Ownership Programs

[safariKY]

This is probably a subject that has been addressed many times, but I would appreciate anyone's opinions who have actually been a part of these programs. First, we are landlocked and still working; 9 hrs to the closest ocean. Hence, we charter every year. (Moorings, Dreamyachtcharters, Sunsail, Horizon). We have decided being a part of a charter ownership program may best option. Interested in Horizon Guaranteed Income program in the BVIs. (Bavaria 46- 48). Anyone with experience with Horizon? Any feedback is most appreciated.

[Stu Jackson]

This is an economic issue only YOU can decide for yourself based on income, expenses and costs to you personally.

I recommend you do a Google search (using the fine Google site search in the search button up on the top tabs) under "charter income" and you can find many articles that discuss just that.

Good luck.

[safariKY]

Thank you for your quick response. I was hoping to hear more about anyone's actual experience with service, Management, etc.

[nautical62]

I owned a boat in charter with the Moorings/Footloose for 7 years and have no regrets. For me, it basically meant I could use my boat or boat elsewhere for 5 weeks a year for what chartering for 2 weeks would have cost.


A few more specific thoughts:

I much prefer the guaranteed income option. I've hard stories about people who have commission contracts but their boat doesn't get charred out nearly as much as they were lead to believe.

Talk to your tax person about the tax consequences of earning income and writing off depreciation on the boat. This is something I find the charter management companies tend to gloss over.

Make a rational economic comparison to what you would otherwise realistically do. Charter management is likely much cheaper than buying the same boat and using it of the same time and likely cheaper than chartering the same boat 5 weeks a year, but is that what you would actually otherwise do? With my charter boat, that was absolutely the case, but as I now look at Cats in charter management, I realize that buying a used one at 25% or the cost of splitting a few charters with friends is more economical. When comparing buying to chartering be sure to consider the cost of your money (lost interest) or interest on a loan. By dumb luck I bought my boat just before the 2008 crash, so it ended up being an even better financial decision.

Think about what will happen when it comes out of charter. A year of storage, maintenance and insurance in the VIs could easily eat up a huge chunk of that savings.