Pondering a Trawler Partnership

Hey. It depends on the people involved.

Just make sure you have a plan B

Or at least a way out should it not be what you want.

SD

I'm taking my boat proceeds and buying beans, guns, ammo, and a cabin in Idaho.

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Major Martin

Pender Is offers an equally good refuge to Idaho. Now back to your question--

I had a very good partnership with my BIL who is quite well off but without much time. He turned all the boat maintenance over to me with no questions asked. It was a 50/50 deal and whoever broke something fixed it, again no questions asked. Upgrades and improvements were mutually agreed upon, but almost always we moved ahead on them.

If I wanted to do a partnership I would look into a person's philosophy as much as anything. To me, unless the partner understands boating is a money pit to be enjoyed, and not all do, I'd not consider that guy. A well heeled partner is good to have, a cheapo partner is not good to have.

If I was of your mind, here is what I would do -- talk to Anacortes Yacht Charters or one in Sidney or Vancouver. They may well know an owner who is looking for a more pemanent partner than chartering provides.

Major Martin said:

Okay, you guys have convinced me! Boat partnerships are bad idea!

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But..... look who you've been asking. Most of us on this forum own our own boats and do so because owning our own boats is one of the things we want out of boating. So your question was a bit like going into a Ferrari dealership and asking, "I'm thinking of buying a Ferrari or an Aston Martin. Which one do you think I should get."

I know a couple of people who have GBs in charter. And while they acknowledge the downside-- can't leave your stuff on board, can't always use the boat when you want to, and so on--- they feel the arrangement suits what they want out of boating quite well.

There are obviously boat partnerships that work very well, just as there are airplane partnerships-- like mine--- that work very well. But there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Lots of variables as SD mentioned earlier.

So I'm hoping that you are taking what we have said on this forum to hand, but that you are also asking people (or groups--- are there forums for boat charterers or partners?) who have good partnership setups for their views as well.

Armed with both views of the issue you can then apply your own desires and personality to the formula to see if it will work for you or not.

Great points raised here but SD nailed perhaps the most important one of all. Do not get involved in any partnership without a very well defined exit strategy. To me that is the single biggest issue.

sunchaser said:

If I wanted to do a partnership I would look into a person's philosophy as much as anything. To me, unless the partner understands boating is a money pit to be enjoyed, and not all do, I'd not consider that guy. A well heeled partner is good to have, a cheapo partner is not good to have.

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this speaks to one of the disconnects we had with our partners. they were quite well off and happy to spend money on the boat while we are more budget conscious and happy to do work on the boat... which actually worked out great, the problem came in that the husband of the other couple had never owned a boat before and expected to reach a point that the boat would be "perfect." He is still trying to attain that, two plus years and I have no idea how much money later. To us a boat is a never ending project and we derive enjoyment from working on it. Definitely a big philosophical difference.

You nailed it Pineapple Girl.

Work on the boat. Use the boat. Something else needs fixing.
Work on the boat. Use the boat. Something else needs fixing.
Work on the boat. Use the boat. Something else needs fixing.

ad-um infinitum.
I love every Minuit of it.

SD

Pineapple Girl said:

To us a boat is a never ending project and we derive enjoyment from working on it. Definitely a big philosophical difference.

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While some of this is rationalization on my part, one of the reasons we wanted an older boat was to have a "hobby" that the two of us could work on together. The list of to-do projects is very long and involves a lot of small stuff as well as big items like totally refinishing the main cabin sole, making and installing new solid-panel headliners in the main cabin, redoing all the seat cushions in the main cabin and so on. It's not so much that we're seeking perfection but that we have improvement projects that we can do and get satisfaction from together.

While we do not have the time to tackle these big things right now, we are both looking forward to the day when we can rip out the original headliner and figure out the best way to make, and then make and install, a new headliner and so on.

So our requirement when selecting a boat was to have a boat that would keep us both involved with it (and each other) and to have a boat we could use and enjoy from day one. We did not want to buy a big project that we coudn't use until the project was done. This boat, despite its glacial and really annoying speed, has fit that bill perfectly and promises to continue to do so.

Major Martin said:

It just seems to me there might be a middle-ground between those who must always possess their boats and those who have a more flexible, cooperative outlook. One needn't be a Buddhist monk or a former submariner to make this work; just a mature attitude and the ability to follow a few common-sense rules.

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I work at a fly in fly out camp in the oil patch. I wish my cross shift at work was into boating. We live in close to each other and could go two weeks at work and two weeks boating!

I've also been scheming on a boat share with other Nordic Tug 26s. They can use my NT near Desolation Sound for a week and I can use theirs in the Chesapeake for a week.

Alas, I am a former submariner... and yes, I used to hot bunk.

Northern Spy said:

I work at a fly in fly out camp in the oil patch.
Alas, I am a former submariner... and yes, I used to hot bunk.

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But not a Buddhist monk?

My long story short. When I bought the Rose my neighbor wanted to go in a partnership. I declined because he had the money and I had the time. His plan on the repair would have been greatly accelerated and I couldn't keep up with the money. A few years later a man offered me a great deal of money for My boat and I refused. My neighbor "almost partner" fell out! He would have sold it in a minute. I couldn't believe it.

Marin said:

While some of this is rationalization on my part, one of the reasons we wanted an older boat was to have a "hobby" that the two of us could work on together. The list of to-do projects is very long and involves a lot of small stuff as well as big items like totally refinishing the main cabin sole, [Done that] making and installing new solid-panel headliners in the main cabin....

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Please let me know how that goes Marin. My headliner is pretty grotty also.....

I think you would have less trouble putting your wife in a partnership than a boat.