Boat Partnerships

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Derek

Has anyone experience with sharing your boat - good or bad? I am thinking of selling half my boat to a friend.
 
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Bob

Works For Us

My wife and I purchased a new 320 last year along with a great friend of ours from our college days. We all live in downtown Chicago and moor our boat here. We are 50/50 owners and it has worked great for the past two years. It works great for us, as I like to tinker and fix things and make sure that we have all the proper equipment and our partner likes to write the checks. We've yet to have any kind of major disagreement. So far, so good!! Bob S/V "Never Say Never"
 
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dave

don't do it

my "friend" trashed the boat. along story but he is no l0onger afriend and the boat willnever be the same. he had friends who had friends whopartied etc etc
 
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LaDonna Bubak - Catalina Owners

If you do

If you do end up getting a partner, write up a LONG detailed contract including who is responsible for what (maintenance, moorage, etc) and what will happen to the boat if one or both of you decide to sell. Be VERY careful - remember the old saying "Never do business with a friend if you want to stay friends." Good luck! LaDonna
 
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Marc Honey

What she said!!!

LaDonna's post is on the money. My 1st sailboat was a partnership deal that lasted 8 years or so. At first it was great, but people change, families grow or separate, and sometimes even best of friends get tired of eachother. I've heard of some "boat share" arrangements that seem to work because they are strictly business and in writting, but other than that I wouldn't do it myself. When I bought my latest boat, one prerequisit was no partners!
 
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Tom

Sooner or later, all partnerships end up sour.

I tried it once and will never do it again. The boat was a Hatteras convertible and "mysteriously" one of the propeller shafts bent on the partner's week. Of course he denied even taking the boat out that weekend, so we ended up splitting the cost (several sets of braces each).
 
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Peggie Hall/Head Mistress

Oh...I dunno, Tom...

I married my boat partner. It was the only way he could be sure of using our boat every weekend instead of every other weekend.
 
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Ed Schenck

Why are you considering this?

If a question of finances would chartering be another option? I am amazed at how active the charter boats are in our marina on Lake Erie. This could be bareboat or you as captain. A weekend rate is $1500. for an H34. What do the rest of you think? Is chartering your boat better/worse than sharing with a "friend"?
 
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Derek

Good Question Ed

I use the boat for 2 weeks (often not consecutive) per month in south Florida in the winter and about 20 days in the Great Lakes in the summer (I foolishly took up golf 3 years ago). I also race on my son’s J24 when I can find the time. I still have to work for a living. My pros are: Share expenses. Share equipment costs. Share maintenance time. Share travel time Allow one partner to sail Miami to Key West, Bahamas or Cuba and the other to make the return. Save approximately $10,000 to $15,000 per year each in operating and capital equipment costs (Cdn. Dollars).
 
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Dan

Chartering

We have never had a boat partnership, but we have done it with an airplane. We do have our boat in a charter arrangement. Everything that has been said regarding putting things in writing is appropriate for any partnership. We also noticed that having partners with very similar expectations about maintenance is critical. That was the biggest difficulty in our airplane partnership. We had four partners and I was the only instrument rated partner. Can't tell you how many times an instrument critical component broke without my other partners taking the time to punch list it, because it was not critical to their flying. We are generally happy with our charter arrangement on the boat. We have little in the way of cost and enjoy a pretty nice boat whenever we want to schedule it. We have as much weekday time as weekend, so this works very well for us, as our use usually does not interfere with the charter income. The down side is that we had to get used to the idea that not everyone takes care of the boat the way that we do, nor do they all have as much experience as we wish they did. The upside...I've sailed 25 days so far this year, and would not have come close to that if I had to pay charter fees for each of those days. And I did those days on a boat we own, equipped the way we want it.
 
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Mike

How about time sharing

We time shared on a boat for a summer and found it to be a great experience. A local dealer ran the program. For $1000, we received six scheduled days on the boat (a Catalina 22), and the right to use the boat an unlimited number of unscheduled days for $20 a pop. There were some minor restrictions about scheduling, but in practice, we got to use the boat whenever we wanted. If you bought a boat from the dealer that season (new or used), he credited your time share fee towards the purchase price. Also included in the fee were as many sailing lessons as it took to make them and you comfortable that you were not a danger to yourself or others. The boat was not pristine (no electrical system at all, no VHF), but it was clean, sound, and all you had to do was show up. There was gas in the tank and the porta potti was empty. We would sail all day, come back and tie up, loosely furl the sail, and walk away. The dealer put the sails away, washed down the boat, etc. There are definite advantages to this system. I have seen them at other places advertised as "Sailing Clubs" and the like.
 
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Bryan C.

Partnership agreement

I had a boat partner for 3 years, was great to have someone help share the expenses and experiences. It's important that your partner is someone you can expect to be able to work with. And also, like LaDonna says, have a contract detailing various aspects and contingencies (how to pay for expenses, what to do if you want sell out, death, divorce, etc.). I have a copy of the contract I drafted, will be happy to send it to you if you want to take a look at it. Email me at: BRC@Ferrellschultz.com
 
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georgelakesiii@yahoo.com

Test

You may want to ask yourself if you could be married to the person. If the answer is no, then I would not want to be in the partnership. If you have different phylosophys about how you run the engine, maintain, treat upkeep etc., bad decision. Conversely, I don't think I would like a lease back because of the diverse group of lessee's. Remember the old saying of rental cars, "prfessional use or amateur abuse".
 
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Derek

Thanks for the terrific response

If you see a P42 “Life Style” between Toronto and Miami this fall stop by and say hello.
 
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Michael Angier

Works for Me!

I've had two boats and had partners on both. One partner was a friend (but not a close one), the other a brother. Very important to trust your partner, have confidence in their ability to sail and take care of the boat. Also important to have very clear agreements. I'm about to enter into another partnership with my brother in a newer, bigger boat. This will be 2/3, 1/3 where the others have been 50/50. I'm very pleased with my partnerships. ------------------------- Michael E. Angier, president of Success Networks Our Business is Your Success! Become part of an association dedicated to informing, inspiring and empowering people to be their best--personally and professionally. Free subscription and membership available at <http://www.successnet.org> Win-Win Way, PO Box 2048, So Burlington VT 05407 USA 802.862.0812 voice, 425.988.7300 fax mailto:success@successnet.org
 
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