Looking for
advice from folks who may have had experience with this kind of scenario in the past... Also looking for experiences/advice from folks who have done similar scenarios, but with a non-family-member as the partner...
My brother and I have been
boating much of our lives. He lives down in southern
California, I am up in northern. I have a 37' SeaRay
express cruiser, he has a similar, but smaller and older
boat.
He lives in a much more interesting area for
boating, at least from the perspective of my
kids and the admiral (which, let's face it, is really the only perspective that matters... :->). So I've been entertaining moving the
boat down there, and we would
head down maybe 1 weekend per month for trips to
Catalina and the channel islands.
My brother would love to have the use of our boat, and sell his...
In theory, that sounds find to me, but I worry about the complications that can arise in an informal boat
partnership, and would rather keep things formal. I'd also rather remain the owner of the boat, and not share
ownership.
So, I'm trying to figure out an equitable division of expenses, that makes sense given those criteria.
Things that I'm trying to factor into the equation are:
- slip
fees
- routine
maintenance
- unexpected
maintenance
-
insurance
-
taxes
-
fuel
- wear-and-tear/depreciation (not entirely the same thing as maintenance...)
My brother would be using the boat a lot more than I would, since he lives down there. So that suggests that he should bear a larger amount of the maintenance and slip
fees? I suppose the amount we divvy routine maintenance could be a function of the
engine hours (and
generator hours) used on the boat?
I'm fairly sure that we could
work out the
fuel split, since that's at least easily documented (again, at least as a function of
engine hours, which is not exactly the right division, but might serve as a basis).
It would seem reasonable that as the owner,
taxes would be my concern? Likewise for any documentation-related stuff (should the USCG start
charging fees for renewal, as they've been threatening to do...).
But what about slip fees? On the one hand, since I own (and thus pay for) the boat, one might imagine that he should bear a larger portion of the slip fees, but I'm not sure I want to play that card?
And then there's
insurance... Should we split the insurance costs, or (as the owner) should I bear the brunt, and simply ask him for the differential required to add him to the policy?
And what about unexpected maintenance due to mechanical failure? Should I bear that solely as the owner? Or should I factor in the wear and tear of the greater usage?
It all seems rather complicated for someone who just wants to enjoy a boat in a different
environment...
Thanks in advance...