Charter companies...

Hi -

A yacht came up for sale that my wife and I may want to make an offer and put into charter service. The vessel has been in charter service before and we would use the same company.

There are MANY fees that charter companies assess (moorage, cleanup, diving, maintenance, etc.)... Has anyone been successful in negotiating any of these fees lower? It seems moorage and cleanup would be a good place to start.

Thanks,

Mike

Mike, I doubt you'd get very far negotiating these items. A friend of mine owns one of these operations and all the adder services and fees to the boat owner are considered important to the profitability of the charter company on a 12 month basis, realizing half the year has very few charters booked and correspondingly low revenue.

You might get some fees lower but they will just raise the base fee. Rather than trying to nickel and dime them the question I would be concerned about is what is your bottom line? And is that bottom line acceptable to you? If yes then proceed if no then don’t. If you were successful in getting them to take less money, who’s boat do you think would get chartered last???

A charter company with skilled staff and adequate resources to maintain your boat will naturally cost more than a lean and mean low-cost competitor. Go with the outfit that is accountable. Your boat will move more often, and you'll get it back in better shape.

Somewhat to Commodave's point, you are putting your boat's welfare in the hands of the charter management company. The boat will not make money for you, period. It will simply cost you less to own it than it would have without putting it into charter service.

Here are a couple of additional thoughts.

I'm imagining that the moorage fee is simply the moorage cost. If you're mooring your boat in Bellingham (for San Juan Sailing or NW Explorations) or in Anacortes (for AYC), the moorage fee should be the actual cost of the moorage -- not more and not less.

I have chartered a boat many times, but never owned a boat in charter. That said, I have talked with a few owners of charter boats and a few people who have worked at the charter companies. From my understanding, both NW Explorations and AYC consider maintenance/repairs of the boats in their fleets to be a significant generator of revenue. The sense conveyed to me by some people is that it is VERY important for an owner to be actively involved in maintenance/repair decisions and to carefully oversee expenditures if your overall costs are of a concern to you.

palasz said:

Hi -

A yacht came up for sale that my wife and I may want to make an offer and put into charter service. The vessel has been in charter service before and we would use the same company.

There are MANY fees that charter companies assess (moorage, cleanup, diving, maintenance, etc.)... Has anyone been successful in negotiating any of these fees lower? It seems moorage and cleanup would be a good place to start.

Thanks,

Mike

Click to expand...

I would say fixed fees like moorage and cleanup are fixed. The company would have serious ramifications if they started charging different boats different amounts. Obviously you're pleased with the condition of the boat they've taken care of. It's in that condition because of the quality of the charter company. You want them to continue to provide you that quality with no shortcuts.