Put a boat in charter, how well do they take care of it?

[videorov]

If I put a boat into charter service with one of the comapines like Moorings etc out there. I wonder how well these compains take care of your boat and if something gets gets broken or just a cushion get cut
do they pay to have that fixed. I wonder how the boat will look in say
3 to 4 years. Do they keep service records all everything done to the boat.
Has anyone here done this? Looking to put a 50ft Cat in Charter.

[David M]

You would need to contact the charter company to determine who pays for what and how much you make on the deal. Consider that they rotate the boats out of service after roughly 4 years or so because of the heavy usage use they get.

At 50 feet are you going to have a professional skipper? ...or let newbies take off with your million dollar plus 50 foot catamaran?

I think you would be lucky to break even on the expenses plus the cost of depreciation in the value of the boat. Perhaps the company you sign up with has the numbers?...and a guaranteed, in writing, minimum amount of money you will make?

[dario]

Videorov,
visit the web sites of the major charter companies as they are full of information.
Maybe larger companies will agree that a 50' cat is big enough to justify the presence of crew and so target a different kind of clients offering an all inclusive service maybe also changing cruising ground for you to enjoy.
A "cushion get cut" isn't the problem and the presence of the crew will also help in this case.
Take your time in choosing the charter company, understand what you sign. Fairwinds, Dario

[imagine2frolic]

Take a look at the boats coming out of charter that are for sale. Then you will get an idea what shape your boat will be in when it is turned over to you. I do mean a look in person. Pictures don't tell the whole story......BEST WISHES in figuring it out....i2f

[Pblais]

They do what is in the contract. They don't do extra. One mans fix is another mans problem. They do need to get them out for rental. You have to be in that frame of mind or as an owner you can't expect any money either. They do try at least with the Moorings to make the boats very standard so the gear swaps out easily. You can find customers that rented boats and found things not in order with any one that has rented more than a few times. Not always major stuff but sometimes it is. It really is all about the money. The owners want theirs and the company wants theirs too.

With any operation the guys doing the fixing are being rushed and the guy doing the rushing is getting pressure from a manager. Doing the least that they can do is what is expected so the results usually match the expectations. What passes as good enough depends on who is doing the assessment.

At some level they have to care or the boat won't get through the contract period. At the end of the contract they want you to buy it back. All boats need constant attention. There is always a time of reckoning, but it may not be today.

[funsailthekeys]

I work for a charter company and this is basically how things work. Included in the contract is basic maintenance ( things you can do with out tools). Service is charged to the owner such as oil changes,filters, belts, water pumps, basically anything that wears out from normal use. If you want more than soap and water washing like stainless polishing and hull polishing and waxing that would be extra. If there is damage to the boat, that is charged to the charter. The labor rates vary. The cats we have are Lagoon,Island Spirit and Gemini. Out mono hulls are Island Packet, Beneteau,E-Tap, Hunter and Catalina. We try to have some thing for everyone.

[funsailthekeys]

I forgot to mention that we keep records of every single thing done to each boat. Engines are kept in a separate log on the vessel to maintain regular service and after each trip there is a 11 page checkout of every vessel right down to how many sharpened pencils there are on board. The charter gets a post charter sheet to critique their experience and no one sees it until the charter has left to help with the honesty of it.

[dario]

25 years ago I ran a charter agency for about ten years in Milano, Italy, they are still in operation and is still specialized in bareboat, flottilla sailing and house boat in french canals cruises. I had also a direct experience in managing 10 house boat in Venice lagoon. My experience is :
1. a large company is better equipped and organized to deal with both charters and phase out of the boats

[dario]

2. I had also the opportunity and sometime the pleasure to skipper a 55' steel schooner with clients aboard for 2 weeks shifts.

3. my suggestion was to allow ONLY skippered charter on a 50' catamaran that represent a substantial amount of money AND a complex boat system to be "explained" to a range of clients not always enough prepared. With a skipper you can expect that the daily operation of controls and maintenance are performed.

4. Can we also compare apple with apple and consider how much you have to invest in a private yacht or through those charter companies ?

5. I suspect that between several hundreds charter boats for sale there are few that are in better conditions then others exactly as in the second or third hand market.

Just my 2 cents of an euro

Dario

[sailvi767]

Your question is really almost impossible to answer without a lot more information. What type boat, what charter company, what location? All make a difference. The Moorings is a nice package with little need for the owner to handle anything. They do a overall poor job on deep maintenance however a nice job on cosmetics. I had a boat with them for 5 years and switched to a smaller company that does a much better job on maintenance. The Moorings maintenance varies from base to base also.

[Auspicious]

funsailthekeys described one relationship between boat owner and charter company. There are others. You will have to check with the various charter companies to find a relationship that works for you.

Look at Yacht Charters | Discount sailboat charters | Charter yacht ownership | Sailonline.com for a group of charter owners - mostly Moorings - who get together and talk.

[nautical62]

As mentionied above the maintenance procedures will vary from company to company.

I currently have a boat in charter with the Moorings and am 2 years into a 5-year contract. I know some people feel that the larger boats are less likely to be as abused as they more frequently have a professional charter captain in charge.

With the Moorings, all maintenance and repair to my boat is provided as a part of the contract. At the end, everything needs to be functioning, but that doesn't mean not well worn. I image the contracts are timed so that the company doesn't have to pay for things that are getting near the end of their life, such as sails. Certainly, things are likely to be used more frequently and harder than in normal non-charter ownership.

However, what I do like is things need to be maintained well enough that the boats are appealing to charter peopel who are dropping a fair bit of money. I also like that things like the instruments, autopilots, etc. were all installed by people use to doing so and maintenance and repair is provided by people used to working on those specific boats.

My feeling with the charter management (specifically The Moorings/Footloose program) is this:

If your goal is to sail much like you would chartering, you plan to sail 4-8 weeks per year and you'd like to do it less expensively than chartering, you are likely to be happy with a boat in charter management. (In otherwords, you view purchasing the boat as much as purchasing a plan as a specific boat.)

If your goal is to get into a newer boat with less expense, I think you are better off shopping around for slighly used boats. This gives you more options than comitting to a specific boat 5 years ahead of time.