Sailboat Timeshare Questions

[Swelbo1]

We are new to sailing, but are enrolled in the basic course at the end of April. we are interested in doing a timeshare program hat guarantees us 3 scheduled trips a month. Guaranteed boats that are 5 yrs old or newer, 31 ft on up to whatever fits our needs. Membership fee is $2000 and about $150 a month for a year contract. What are the things I should be aware of, positives and negatives of the deal?

I think it is a no lose situation because we are 2.5 hrs away from the boat and any unused trips are rolled over to the next month. What do yall think?

[Whaubner]

It's probably cheaper than you would spend on a slip for the season so what do you have to loose?

I would try to talk to some actual members. It would also be interesting to see what percentage of members are mutli year clients

[tomtw]

I have never been involved with a time share but some of the questions I would ask is who is responsible for any damage and do you need to carry some kind of liability insurance? What do they mean by 3 trips a month? Is a trip sailing for a day or over night trip what is considered a trip? If they mean a trip is 1 day sailing I do that much in 1 week. Also (in my view point) you should start out renting a smaller boat until you have some experience built up.

[Swelbo1]

Day cruise is 10 am-6 pm. Overnight cruise is 6 pm-10 am. I won't be able to put that much more time on the water because of other activities we do. I fish every weekend

[mausgras]

Hmm !!!!!! so 3 trips a month is like 3 day trips or 2 consecutive days a month. For $150 a month and 5 hours driving each time. With a $2000 up front payment if you drop out after a year then it has really cost you more like $300 a month. Plus fuel costs for driving and the boat at say $150 - $200 a time.
Your first year is more realistically costing $400-$500 a month for one weekend a month, more of you make separate trips.
It might not sound so good a deal when you look at it that way.
Do you actually have any equity or"ownership" which you can sell or is it just a compulsory rental scheme. Also ask if there is a cleaning or turn around f fee after each trip.

[Swelbo1]

That is very good thinking about it being 400/month after all expenses paid, but I would end up spending that much money going to the lake 2 consecutive weekends. The money is going to be spend regardless of where I go, sailing or to the lake.

[Tbrad]

well then, I guess if you got the money honey; they got the time.

[Captain Grandpa]

Shortly after I purchased and began working on my boat I found this yacht club. It is something similar to what you're talking about. If what you want to do is go sailing once or twice a month and you can afford the membership it's not a horrid way to go.
I would look closely at liability responsibilities as suggested Tomtw.

Not a choice I would make, but then again in the rest of my life I will probably not own a sail boat 5 years old or newer.

[nautical62]

As an owner of a charter managed boat, I get to schedule the boat whenever I wish. With an equally shared situation, of course everyone involved desires the best time. Time that does not fit your schedule does you no good. Same with roll over time - Having time on the books doesn't necessarily mean anything if you can't actually schedule that time when you wish.

Certainly you want to investigate any other fees and liabilities such as insurance, maintenance, etc.

Given many people can only use a boat a limited amount of time and given many boats just sit in their slips unused, sharing the costs can make sense, but make sure it's managed in a way that fits your needs and makes financial sense to you.

[Captain Grandpa]

I'm curious what happens in those situations if there is no weather window during your scheduled time. It's my weekend for the boat and there's gale force winds next month it's my turn and there is no winds.

[denverd0n]

Well, first off, this is definitely NOT a "no lose situation." If you end up, for whatever reason, not being able to use the boat as much as you expect, then you lose. If you aren't careful to read all of the fine print, and make sure you understand all of the conditions and costs, you could lose that way.

Other than that, though, this is a simple equation. How much--realistically--will you use the boat? How much would it cost you to rent a boat for that amount of time? If the answer is "more" then the timeshare is a good deal. If the answer is "less" then it is not a good deal. But you have to be realistic. The problem that most people have is that they say to themselves, "Oh goody, goody! I get to use the boat three times a month!"

The first month they use it three times. And the second month. Then the third month they only use it twice. Fourth month, once. Fifth month, not at all. Sixth month they're back to twice. See where this is going? If they had been realistic about how often they were truly going to sail, they'd have seen that renting was cheaper.

I'm not trying to burst your bubble, and I'm not trying to say that you won't use it as much as you think. I'm just saying that you have to be brutally honest when you are thinking about how much you are REALLY going to use it.

Good luck, whatever you decide. (Though, from the sounds of it, you have already decided.)

[foggysail]

And there are only about 12 weeks of summer sailing around here. Guess what the popular demand days are going to be!

Personally---- I would RENT a boat without belonging to a club for the days needed. Even at 300/day it will still be less expensive than $3800/year......2000 + 150/month assuming 12 usable season trips.

Are there additional hidden costs?

Although it is not for me, it could work I guess for others.

[Lnill]

There are pluses and minuses. Plus: you are new to sailing and probably don't know what boat you want. Overall cost will be lower than owning if you use your time. You dont soend your time working on the boat. Just sail. Minus. Boats will probably not be as we'll cared for as your own and you cannot just pick up and go whenever you want.

I have owned and belonged to a sailing club with access to 65 boats. The sailing club was great when my time was constrained but the boats almost always had some minor issue.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by Swelbo1

We are new to sailing, but are enrolled in the basic course at the end of April. we are interested in doing a timeshare program hat guarantees us 3 scheduled trips a month. Guaranteed boats that are 5 yrs old or newer, 31 ft on up to whatever fits our needs. Membership fee is $2000 and about $150 a month for a year contract. What are the things I should be aware of, positives and negatives of the deal?

I think it is a no lose situation because we are 2.5 hrs away from the boat and any unused trips are rolled over to the next month. What do yall think?

Is this with SailTime or one of the smilar boat manufacturer programs? When I got into sailing I looked at this, but the schedule time slots seemed very limited to the hours.

For the same amount of money I joined a club instead, which met that when I had the boat I had it for a 24 hours period. And I always managed to have 1 every weekend for for the 3 months I was a memeber. And I lots of times got the boat for both Sat & Sun.

The only thing was that the boats were older and more beat up. But I got to sail more which was the goal.

So I would recommend you look into what other "clubs" have to offer.

[Swelbo1]

The company is called Nautic Share based out of Kemah, TX. I have been told by Nautic share thatvthe boats are loaded out and are kept in top shape. 3 trips per month will be plenty for us. If we don't use all the trips one month, we will be able to use them down the road.