In the PNW the best cruising is packed into about 3 months per year. Divided by eight doesn't sound like much fun to me. Also, with a vessel the size you are contemplating lots of TLC is needed, I can't see 8 owners being diligent. Who decides on upgrades and fix up stuff? C lectric has a very good point, selling out can be iffy.
What has been your previous boating experience? Also, you may be seriously underestimating the depreciation on a new vessel as well as the ease of selling.
The calendaring is done by the brokerage twice a year, February for spring / summer months and September for fall / winter months. The brokerage works with the with the super share owner on initial upgrades and amenities. Once the boat is commissioned the brokerage handles ALL of the TLC from wash downs to haul out, bottom painting once a year. If a owner sells out early the brokerage is on the hook to resell the share until the term ends.
The breakdown of hard calendar and open time is as follows:
1/8 Share - 5 weeks per calendar year plus 7 days of open time.
1/4 Share - 10 weeks per calendar year plus unlimited open time.
1/2 Share - 20 weeks per calendar year plus unlimited open time.
My wife and I have been living in the PNW for 11 years now and have a small cuddy cabin. We typically do day trips or weekends. We are looking to increase that but both still work and our time is not as open as we would like. We would like to step up to a larger boat and really like the Nordic Tug. The factory shutdown was only a line stoppage and not a complete shutdown of operations. When you factor in the other tug manufacturers that either ceased operations altogether or also had a work stoppage, Nordic did well in
the recession. American Tug was building 28 boats a year prior to the recession and now only builds about 8. Nordic is currently building 18 per year.
Partnerships are not for everyone as I am finding. I have also heard plenty of horror stories of people who put their boats into charter.
As for depreciation and ease of sale this program is designed to keep the boat in the best shape possible for resale after five years. Thinking of a boat as an investment is not what we are doing, however we want to get the best bang for our dollars over a long term it would be nice to get some sort of return it could be as I described or less, as all investment advisers say
"All investments have a element of risk, it is up to the investor to decide how much risk they are willing to have."
