Is Anybody Doing Charter Financing?

[nialltom]

Have been trying to buy a 2013 Leopard 44 that will be in full time charter in the BVI. Current owner has it in fleet right now (not Moorings or Sunsail, another reputable charter company) and has 80 days booked on it already for 2014.

I have talked with 5 or 6 boat finance people and have been basically told it's going to be very tough getting the deal done since its a charter boat out of the country (US) in the BVIs. I have good credit and all the necessary financial requirements.

How the heck are buyers purchasing boats with financing outside of the Moorings/Sunsail program down in the BVI??? Outside of Essex Credit, does anybody know of a bank that will do this?

[jostalli]

Yeah every boat finance guy I talked to said the same thing about buying a boat in the BVI. The reality is it happens quite frequently. Did Essex deny you? Call all the charter companies in the BVI and ask them who they use.

[BandB]

I'd suggest other financial institutions in the BVI. Basically if you're asking a bank outside that area to finance a charter boat for you, you might as well just be asking them to give you a personal unsecured loan. They can't see or check their collateral. They don't know how it's being used. And they can't even know that it's still where they were last told it was.

[RRMontgo]

The only financing I've seen has been on new boats in the TUI (Moorings/Sunsail) program and it's because they arrange it for their buyers. Dream Yacht may also have a helpful program, again only for new buyers. We were in your same "boat" in 2012. We bought a 2009 Leopard 46. No financing companies, not even our longtime bank BofA would touch it since it was in charter service outside the US. That was in 2012, which was still close to the "panic of 2008". We had to use home equity financing, which is easy to do if you have the equity. If you don't, I'm afraid you're climbing a steep hill. Of course, if you buy the Leopard 44 and take it out of charter and bring it back to the US, no problem.

[Svan]

I bought a charter boat in the Great Lakes, financed it with home equity LOC at around 3%. Canadian bank offered a marine mortgage at 11%. Last year. I told them it would have been better for our relationship if they just said no.

+1 to going with local financing, especially if the boat is registered there.