looking for couple for shared ownership of cat

[sailingpower]

Looking for a couple to share ownership of a 40ft catamaran. We are a youthful, retired couple in our mid-50s from Ireland and America who want to live aboard initially in the Mediterranean for a couple of years then the Caribbean and beyond. We are both very experienced sailors so this is a great opportunity for beginners. Would like to buy a boat this year or early next year.

 

[Minerva]

To clarify, you are looking for someone to go 50:50 on a boat you intend to live on?

What does the other party get out of it? Seems somewhat of an odd request.

 

[Seastoke]

Is the boat called swoping sails

 

[sailingpower]

We would hope that both couples will live on board most of the time and enjoy sailing the boat. We feel that by pooling resources of four people we can get a nicer boat than two people might. It also means that we share the cost of berthing, fuel etc. It may take some time to find the right couple but we are hopfully that we can do it.

 

[Minerva]

best of luck with your search!

 

[PlanB]

One of the immediate snags that occurs to me is the 90/180 day rule.

 

[Tranona]

We would hope that both couples will live on board most of the time and enjoy sailing the boat. We feel that by pooling resources of four people we can get a nicer boat than two people might. It also means that we share the cost of berthing, fuel etc. It may take some time to find the right couple but we are hopfully that we can do it.

Highly unlikely you will find anybody interested in that sort of deal. It is difficult enough finding people to share a boat on a shared usage basis and would suggest to also share living permanently impossible. Research and anecdote have shown that most successful boat shares arise from pre-existing friendships or social connections with compatible people who have shared interests and goals.

One of the attractions of living and cruising on a boat is being free to make your own decisions. This can often be difficult with even one "partner" never mind finding common ground with another pair of partners.
One of the major attractions of living and cruising on a boat is the freedom of making your own decisions - often difficult with one partner even more difficult a group of 4 living in the confined space of a 40' cat.

 

[Paddys milestone]

Looking for a couple to share ownership of a 40ft catamaran. We are a youthful, retired couple in our mid-50s from Ireland and America who want to live aboard initially in the Mediterranean for a couple of years then the Caribbean and beyond. We are both very experienced sailors so this is a great opportunity for beginners. Would like to buy a boat this year or early next year.

If you can't afford to buy a boat by yourselves, save up until you can. Your plan is a recipe for disaster in so many ways.

 

[Yngmar]

So many couples break up once moving aboard and you're trying to get a double dose of that with inter-couple friction on top?

You'll end up sawing the thing in half and sailing separate ways, so you might as well buy a nice monohull instead.

 

[BobnLesley]

We would hope that both couples will live on board most of the time and enjoy sailing the boat. We feel that by pooling resources of four people we can get a nicer boat than two people might. It also means that we share the cost of berthing, fuel etc. It may take some time to find the right couple but we are hopfully that we can do it.

Good luck to you, in all aspects of your search:
I recall that when we were looking for a trans-at boat fifteen years ago, discovering that there were quite a few for sale in the Canary Islands (no doubt there still are) but finding that a large proportion were too large for our needs/budget. The back-story to a high proportion of those available boats were that they'd been purchased/fitted out by two or more couples 'pooling resources to get a nicer boat than two people might and subsequently sailing/sharing the cost of their travels'
I've no doubt that there are some success stories, but the amount of such boats we've seen there (and elsewhere around the world) that hadn't made it beyond that first offshore passage before those relationships broke down suggested they were a (small?) minority; life on a boat can... test, even solid/lomgstanding relationships and that's exacerbated when you take the boat out into the big blue

 

[BobnLesley]

If you can't afford to buy a boat by yourselves, save up until you can. Your plan is a recipe for disaster in so many ways.

Or better yet, reduce your expectations/requirements and settle for what you 'need' rather than what you'd 'like' and you can perhaps afford to buy/maintain/run that boat as a single couple right now... Within reason, ocean cruising is not about the boat!
That's what we did and we never regreted the decision. Along the way we met a few fellow cruisers who expressed surprise/reservations even concern about our boat choice, but 10x (at least!) as many who expressed regret that they hadn't done similar and dropped the dock lines 'when we were younger';. Some of those never had got away on their 'big trip', they were still sailing locally from their home dock life's realities having caught up with them before they'd saved enough to buy that perfect boat.

 

[Kelpie]

I've never met a pair of cruising couples sharing a boat full time.
Most people don't even like having family or friends staying aboard for more than a few days.

It might work if you wanted to cruise part time, and share the boat that way. But you'd still need to agree on the basic route and itinerary, and have the same ideas for how much to spend on maintenance and upgrades.

I would suggest buying a cheaper boat. Our boat has been perfectly fine and cost considerably less than half the price of the cheapest suitable catamaran.

 

[Baggywrinkle]

I recently skippered for a friend who wanted to take his family on a sailing holiday - simple arrangement, no money changed hands, we just went for a weeks holiday together.

I know him well and have been sailing with him before. It was me, my friend, his wife, and their 2 year old daughter.

All in all it was very successful, but I am a pretty easy-going person and had no fixed itinerary - just explained distances, travel time, and available facilities at the destinations - then went along with wherever they wanted to go - it was only a week. There were no disagreements, but there were tensions at times between him and his wife which obviously, when living aboard, I could not get away from. I could not imagine it working long-term.

Perhaps you and your partner have very tolerant, laid-back personalities, compromise easily, and are experts in the art of conflict management and persuasion. Maybe it will work for you - so good luck in your search.

I have no advice other than you never really know people until it comes to money - and are you really prepared to bet half a 40ft cat on finding a couple who will fit your expectations? Families and friends can be turned into mortal enemies when it comes to money, especially large amounts of it.

It has already been said that you can get a reasonable boat for half the cost of a cat - you could make it your own with no compromises or concessions to the wishes of others and go live your dream - it is possible on a whole range of budgets.

 

[westernman]

Also seriously consider what it is which makes you want to be a liveaboard.
Unless you are into super yacht territory, it will be less comforable than living on land. Particularly in winter when it is pissing down hard with rain or is snowing.

For many people, a flat near to the sea and a small day sailer in the local port work out much better. I see this in many Spanish ports.

Also the overall financial cost will be much more favourable. The flat probably won't lose value and if chosen wisely will gain value. And a small boat loses less value than a big one.

 

[srm]

Did you flat share as a student or later? How would that work out if you could not get more than 40 or if you have very deep pockets 50 feet from the other people and knew you were committed to sharing that space for an indefinite period? Most people can put up with a difficult situation if they know there is an end date. It's when a situation will continue without the prospect of ending that normally minor irritations can magnify and get out of control.

When running a skippered charter yacht I found that having a clear focus as to why we were there and what we were doing made for a good team. Things were rarely so coherent when we had time to fill and needed to agree on what to do or where to go each day.

Early in my career I worked at sea on survey vessels; you have to accept the rest of the crew as they are, but know that it is only for four or five weeks then you will be on leave for a couple of weeks. Also, when working there is a focus on getting the job done. On one contract we did not have an end date, just more work extensions without breaks: inevitably tensions within what had been an easy going crew started to built up. On another vessel a guy made himself unpopular by not pulling his weight. The rest of the crew eventually made his life difficult to the extent that he quit the company at the next crew change.

"We are both very experienced sailors so this is a great opportunity for beginners". Sounds like you are proposing a very unequal partnership. At some stage your beginners will start to gain experience and to think for themselves.

Come to think of it, perhaps you could pitch your idea to TV producers for a, so called, "Reality TV Show".

 

[KevinV]

Two couples, equal co-owners, on one boat, all the time? Who's the skipper, ie in charge when the chips are down? Who decides how clean clean is, or how messy a locker is allowed to be? Who decides the menu, and cooks it, and washes up afterwards? How expensive the wine should be? Or how plentiful the beer? Or where to next, for how long? Couples fall out over this stuff all the time on boats - twice the people will probably be four times the bother.

It's beyond me why any grown up who can afford half a cat would spend all that money to buy themselves a load of grief.

 

[sailingpower]

Thanks for all the messages and advice, we are both very laid back but I can see how it could be very challenging at times to share a space with another couple. We have put the message out to family and friends and using our networks as someone you know may work better. We are also looking at having crew on board from time to time and sharing expenses. We are currently cruising on an older 38 ft cat in Croatia and Montenegro so looking forward to getting a better boat in the spring.

 

[billskip]

Thanks for all the messages and advice, we are both very laid back but I can see how it could be very challenging at times to share a space with another couple. We have put the message out to family and friends and using our networks as someone you know may work better. We are also looking at having crew on board from time to time and sharing expenses. We are currently cruising on an older 38 ft cat in Croatia and Montenegro so looking forward to getting a better boat in the spring.

Join the navy, they will give you a big boat to live on with lots of people and pay you for doing it.

 

[sailingpower]

Join the navy, they will give you a big boat to live on with lots of people and pay you for doing it.

I wanted to join the Navy but they didn't take women when I finished school

 

[billskip]

I wanted to join the Navy but they didn't take women when I finished school

You mus be the Irish half, coz I'm sure I've seen women in the yankee navy in the movies....