Trawler Lease

[Pellegrinowater]

Hello, my girlfriend Sarah and I are working remotely and are interested in leasing a 40'+ liveaboard Trawler for one year. We are experienced sailors looking to cruise the ICW to Florida for the winter, then back to Annapolis for the summer where we have a house and slip on the Severn River. We would be interested in vessels anywhere between New Jersey and Florida. Our plans are flexible, so if you have a boat sitting idle for sale, why not lease it to us. If she sells during our lease we can end our trip early.

About us: Sarah and I are working professionals in our mid-forties based in Washington, DC but have a summer cottage on the Severn outside of Annapolis, MD. Sarah is a competitive horse jumper so we would like to be in the West Palm Beach area January-April for the horse shows in Wellington. We have sailed the bay and Long Islands Sound on our former J30 and Hunter 35 sailboats, and currently crew on a Dufour 40 that races out of Annapolis. I hold a USCG 25 Ton Master license and have delivered boats up the East Coast and to Bermuda. I am meticulous about preventative maintenance and upkeep, so your girl will be extremely wall cared for while with us. We would like to use the pandemic work-from-home situation as an opportunity to have an adventure. We are considering purchasing a boat but a lease with an option to buy is preferred.

Please let me know if you have a Trawler you would like us to consider.

Thank you,

Joe

 

[bligh]

How much does one expect to pay to "lease" a 40ft trawler for one year?

How is general maintenance addressed?

 

[Pellegrinowater]

I suppose the lease rate will depend on the boat. In terms of maintenance, I would be willing to cover all the costs of maintenance as prescribed by the owner. In real estate terms, I would expect this would be a "triple-net" lease.

 

[mvweebles]

I would guess maintenance is just part of the overall risk-shift. How does the owner assure he gets the boat back in same condition as he rented it? What constitutes 'normal wear and tear' on a boat? How would you deal with a situation such as 6 months in, the exhaust elbow on the generator rusts through and buggers the engine? Is that a maintenance item or a mechanical failure item? Should it have been recognized before it destroys the engine? Or an impellor gets devoured and engine continues to be operated and overheats.

An operating lease has the lessee responsible for everything - leasing is essentially a financing mechanism. Problem would be most consumers are more familiar with rental arrangements such as charters where lessor is responsible for everything and carries a price tag commensurate with the vastly different operating model that includes on-staff maintenance personnel.

My fear would be the lessee wants the financial cost profile of a pure operating lease but, given the risk of unknown and unforeseeable expenses, would also want the low-risk of a rental arrangement. Theory would be an owner of an unused boat would rather see some costs defrayed via a long term lease .

But hey, as my grandmother used to say, for every pot there is a lid. I'm sure there's someone out there who might nibble at this.

Good luck

Peter