Cost/Benefit of Chartering/Buying

[Baggywrinkle]

If it flies, floats, or fornicates - it's always cheaper to rent. Boat ownership of any sort requires a special form of masochism.

I bought an ex-charter boat first time round, and last year bought a private boat after looking at numerous ex-charter boats again - the first one worked out well, so I had the intention to buy another. I was smitten by the condition of a private boat however and went with that.

My observations:

Charter boats get tired, worn, and suffer a lot of cosmetic damage. They still function perfectly well as boats, but won't win any concours prizes - if there were such a thing.

If you own a boat in charter, it's a bit of a lottery. If you are lucky, they never suffer any significant damage - but they will pick up scratches, wear and tear on everything. If this is not an issue for you, then it's not a problem. There wasn't one ex-charter boat I looked at that didn't have gelcoat damage, furniture damage or other damage - you just need to accept it and live with it.

Charter boats will not be treated well by some charter guests - salt-water in upholstery, engine abused, toilets not properly flushed, batteries constantly run down, anchor winch abused etc. etc. etc. All fixable but there were parts of my ex-charter boat that sported battle scars that I never got sorted. Again not a problem if you don't mind - which I didn't at the time.

All charter companies are not equal. Go to the base where your boat will be stationed and have a nose around - incognitio. Charter a boat from the base, again without telling them you are thinking of becoming an owner - then poke around in all the nooks and crannies to get an idea how well it is looked after. Some bases are good, others not so - it varies within the charter companies.

Charter boats get turned around in about 4-5 hours, and any damage/issues from the previous charter are usually "quick fixed". It is important that at the season end, these bodges are repaired properly - some companies don't do this so be prepared for an end of season visit and a discussion with the base to fix all the damage and breakages you are not happy with.

In the end, you have no control over who charters your boat, or what they do to it - so at one end of the spectrum, you have lucky owners who have a fantastic experience and a great boat, others not so lucky and end up with an interior-out hull repair, or it gets washed up on a beach and becomes a near write-off - I was offered a 1 year old Dufour which had suffered a beaching - very cheap, but the interior furniture didn't fit properly, and there were obvious signs of the damage and repairs. Insurance should give you an exit strategy, but it's not going to be an easy process so worth checking with the charter company beforehand about major damage and how you get out.

Overall, I wouldn't shy away from charter - I couldn't get the sums to work for me with the ownership options availabe from the various charter companies, mainly because I wanted a layout with less cabins/toilets and a fair amount of up-spec equipment. I like to have "my stuff" on board e.g. a rib with a big engine, galley properly equipped with good quality everything, better matresses and bedding, good quality nav equipment, safety equipment etc. I found the provided "charter package" was a collection of the cheapest stuff available - and chartering will destroy high quality cooking equipment pretty quickly - I did think about buying my own set of equipent but the hassle of putting it on board and taking it off again, not to mention what to do with the charter inverntory during my holidays also counted against charter ownership for me.

Have fun, and good luck.

 

[AllWinds]

If it flies, floats, or fornicates - it's always cheaper to rent. Boat ownership of any sort requires a special form of masochism.

I bought an ex-charter boat first time round, and last year bought a private boat after looking at numerous ex-charter boats again - the first one worked out well, so I had the intention to buy another. I was smitten by the condition of a private boat however and went with that.

My observations:

Charter boats get tired, worn, and suffer a lot of cosmetic damage. They still function perfectly well as boats, but won't win any concours prizes - if there were such a thing.

If you own a boat in charter, it's a bit of a lottery. If you are lucky, they never suffer any significant damage - but they will pick up scratches, wear and tear on everything. If this is not an issue for you, then it's not a problem. There wasn't one ex-charter boat I looked at that didn't have gelcoat damage, furniture damage or other damage - you just need to accept it and live with it.

Charter boats will not be treated well by some charter guests - salt-water in upholstery, engine abused, toilets not properly flushed, batteries constantly run down, anchor winch abused etc. etc. etc. All fixable but there were parts of my ex-charter boat that sported battle scars that I never got sorted. Again not a problem if you don't mind - which I didn't at the time.

All charter companies are not equal. Go to the base where your boat will be stationed and have a nose around - incognitio. Charter a boat from the base, again without telling them you are thinking of becoming an owner - then poke around in all the nooks and crannies to get an idea how well it is looked after. Some bases are good, others not so - it varies within the charter companies.

Charter boats get turned around in about 4-5 hours, and any damage/issues from the previous charter are usually "quick fixed". It is important that at the season end, these bodges are repaired properly - some companies don't do this so be prepared for an end of season visit and a discussion with the base to fix all the damage and breakages you are not happy with.

In the end, you have no control over who charters your boat, or what they do to it - so at one end of the spectrum, you have lucky owners who have a fantastic experience and a great boat, others not so lucky and end up with an interior-out hull repair, or it gets washed up on a beach and becomes a near write-off - I was offered a 1 year old Dufour which had suffered a beaching - very cheap, but the interior furniture didn't fit properly, and there were obvious signs of the damage and repairs. Insurance should give you an exit strategy, but it's not going to be an easy process so worth checking with the charter company beforehand about major damage and how you get out.

Overall, I wouldn't shy away from charter - I couldn't get the sums to work for me with the ownership options availabe from the various charter companies, mainly because I wanted a layout with less cabins/toilets and a fair amount of up-spec equipment. I like to have "my stuff" on board e.g. a rib with a big engine, galley properly equipped with good quality everything, better matresses and bedding, good quality nav equipment, safety equipment etc. I found the provided "charter package" was a collection of the cheapest stuff available - and chartering will destroy high quality cooking equipment pretty quickly - I did think about buying my own set of equipent but the hassle of putting it on board and taking it off again, not to mention what to do with the charter inverntory during my holidays also counted against charter ownership for me.

Have fun, and good luck.

Thanks for that Baggywrinkle.

Some of your points make a lot of sense, and we have in some ways mitigated against them. The more sensible option we have on the table at the moment (zero percent finance, in less favoured area) is actually with a company we have already chartered with twice. We went and asked them about charter management because of how we felt about the base, base staff and the quality of the boats we chartered from them. The boat we had this spring was 8 years old and likely at the end of it's charter life. We asked ourselves how we would feel about that boat becoming ours at the end of the season and we were ok with it. Yes, it had some scratches here and there, but in general the boat was in a functional and most importantly safe condition.

Our offer in the preferred area is with a company I've seen from afar, but not had first-hand experience of chartering with myself.

Both companies would allow us to upgrade aspects of the boat (We would also be looking at Dinghy and Outboard and adding a Gennaker) and either offer them as extras for the charter or store them for us for our "owners weeks". We would also very likely end up having our Owners weeks as the very first and very last of the season. I have no interest in being in the Med in summer, so instead would be going early April and Early October (when we have traditionally chartered there anyway). This also helps maximise the charter income as we wouldn't be using owners weeks at the most expensive time. But would also allow us to see the condition of the boat after the winter refit and at the end of the charter season. Until now, the two times we chartered with this company have been the first two weeks of their season.

The exit strategy after major damage is something that I will need to ask about. Thanks a million for your thoughts. Hearing the experience of others is definitely helpful in terms of trying to wrap our own heads around this.

 

[Stemar]

If the boat is just a comodity - another white good like the dishwasher, putting it to charter makes a lot of sense. If, however, as Refueller says, she becomes part of the family, I imagine all the extra wear and tear would be heartbreaking. I couldn't have done that for our last boat, there was just too much of me in her, and we only sold her after 18 years because Madame was struggling with the companionway steps. I still miss that boat.

Another consideration is that putting the boat to charter means buying a boat suitable for charter, which may not be the best boat for a couple in terms of layout.