Purchasing a Boat Currently in a Charter Fleet - Good/Bad Idea?

Hello all. I have previously requested advice on this forum regarding the purchase of my first boat. The response has been great, and very helpful. Thanks? Here's a related question.

One of the boats I'm looking at is currently in a charter fleet. Does anyone have any opinions - one way or another - about buying a boat that is currently in charter service?

One of the reasons that the arrangement is attractive to me -- at least superficially -- is that I will not be using the boat as much as I'd like to for the next 2 years or so. During this interim period, I will also not be able to spend a whole lot of time inspecting, maintaining, etc. For this reason, it seems to me that having the boat in charter service and under the charterer's care is a way of securing basic maintenance and also keeping costs down until I am able to make more extensive use of the boat?

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Steve

Like buying anything of consequence.
Due dilligence.

Like the reputation of the charter service i.e. how well do they maintain the fleet.

How often can you yourself use the boat.

Dollars and cents. Work it all out on paper first see what it will cost you.

For some it is a good way to go.

As long as you are not in love with the boat.

I could never let someone else run my boat but that is just me.

sd

To me, the 2 biggest negatives are you have to go with the charter fleets configuration which may not be the way you'd want a personal cruising boat, and the hard use the charterboats see.

I wouldn't be afraid of buying a boat that was in charter service but I would make darn sure I saw the maintenance records for the boat and also had a surveyor who was familiar with that type of boat and an engine surveyor who was familiar with that type of engine.

Yes, charter boats do get a lot of hours and often those hours are not from people who have tons of experience on boats. But the hours alone would not turn me off unless they were VERY high. Relatively high hours might not be as bad as very low hours....it would depend on whether or not the maintenance had been done on schedule and was well documented.

why not charter the boat and buy a boat when you have the time?

Had a friend that ran a huge charter boat op in Tortola years back.

The hassle is the boats get very very hard use almost constantly.

Production boats died before the charter period was up leaving owners stuck with payments and a boat far from the US , where repair might be possible.

CSY attempted to build boats up to the rigors of constant charter use , with only modest success.

Dont know what or where your looking at , but in most cases a chartered boat will have the equal of many decades of use in a few years.

NOT a deal I would take .

like they say about rental cars..."world's best all terrain vehicles"..

Seriously...there's good and bad...many things get attention that some owners may neglect...but driver controlled systems/fleet maintenance may get "pencil whipped".

My friends cat that was in charter service got all spruced up prior to turnover...but...blew an engine in Florida after leaving the Virgin Islands. Could have been the delivery captains fault on that leg...who knows...and that's the problem.

There is a trawler charter company in Ft. Myers I would consider a purchase for charter arrangement with, Southwest Florida Yachts. Check out their website. We chartered a 36 ft PDQ from them last month and our experience was very positive.

Kawini said:

Hello all. I have previously requested advice on this forum regarding the purchase of my first boat. The response has been great, and very helpful. Thanks? Here's a related question.

One of the boats I'm looking at is currently in a charter fleet. Does anyone have any opinions - one way or another - about buying a boat that is currently in charter service?

One of the reasons that the arrangement is attractive to me -- at least superficially -- is that I will not be using the boat as much as I'd like to for the next 2 years or so. During this interim period, I will also not be able to spend a whole lot of time inspecting, maintaining, etc. For this reason, it seems to me that having the boat in charter service and under the charterer's care is a way of securing basic maintenance and also keeping costs down until I am able to make more extensive use of the boat?

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Steve

Click to expand...

Steve, look up my posts using search function. I have owned a charter boat. There are some definite pluses, and negatives. However, for someone unable to spend much time on or maintaining a boat, and not costing too much to do so, it can suit one's circumstances. I have posted details on this elsewhere.

Steve,
Our boat is in charter, this is our fourth season. I put it in charter for some of the same reasons that you have mentioned. I knew we weren't going to be able to use it as much as we would like for a few years. We're over 200 miles from the boat and still actively working in our business. Our customers are all in agriculture, so we're busiest between June 1 and August 31st. The boat is in the San Juan Islands and that is the height of the charter season in the Northwest.

I knew that there could be times when I couldn't get to the boat for a month or two, but I wanted the boat watched over, maintained and used. The charter company has some good employees to do the basics, but I also have an independent mechanic that works on the boat.

I think your experience will depend on a number of factors. First, be sure the boat is in good shape before you buy it. Then the location of the charter company is critical. My boat gets used about 8 weeks per year. It is relatively easy to keep up on maintenance because it isn't used very much. If it was in a tropical vacation spot where it was running 40-50 weeks a year, I think it would get tired very quickly. Next you need to be sure that your charter company has the same goals as you. We went with a small charter company because I could deal directly with the owner and be sure they were doing what I wanted with my boat.

About 60% of gross revenue goes to me, out of that I have to pay all boat expenses. Be aware that the maintenance costs and insurance will be higher while your boat is in charter. You also have the worry that accompanies having someone else use your boat. Some of that is unfounded. I have talked to many of the people who charter our boat. Most are older, experienced people that own boats elsewhere and just want to spend a week or two in the San Juan's. Out of four years we've only had one charterer that I could tell was not careful with our boat.

Charter boats get knocked a lot by some boaters. It's not for everyone. If you have a strong emotional attachment to your boat or you hate having other people use your things it will drive you crazy. However, in my limited experience in my marina, the boats in charter get more maintenance, more cleaning and more use than most of the other boats. They have to be ready to get off the dock at any time during the season.

I'm contemplating taking the boat out of charter after this season, but I am concerned that I will have to build up a new support team to watch over the boat while I'm not there. Right now, I have someone that can handle anything from polishing to a mechanical issue. It is really great to arrive at the boat on a Friday afternoon and have a boat ready to leave the dock within an hour. It's a real luxury that I know I'm going to miss when we quit chartering.
Lyle