I own a 48-foot motoryacht that I would like to offer for charter to offset my costs of ownership. Unfortunately, the regulations that govern this kind of operation seem arcane and decidedly unfriendly to small boats like mine. I have looked into more “creative” approaches to chartering, such as fractional...
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Thank you so much for simplifying maritime law. My husband and I enjoyed your articles while boating in California, and although we have now sailed around the world, we still find your articles interesting and applicable to all kinds of boating situations. We sincerely hope that you will continue to offer your sage advice to readers.
My wife and I bought a 1994 Catalina 270LE in May of 2017. We have been thinking of ways to maximize the investment and receiving $ from people who are interested in using the vessel seems a good way to go.
My idea is I would like to create a group (selling monthly/yearly memberships) to get some income, then use that income to pay slip fees, insurance, maintenance/repairs/upgrades, etc. I want to retain full ownership but in exchange for $ offer people use of the vessel for sailing or overnight stays.
I am also very excited about the systems on the vessel, mechanical, electrical, etc. I have already done some repairs and upgrades and it is very fun to learn new skills. I would also like to offer as part of the membership “work share days” that people can come join in and help make the vessel better. (Just bought Nigel Calder’s “Boat Owner’s Mechanical and Electrical Manual” and I am looking forward to going through each system on our vessel, I thought others might enjoy it as well!)
Are there any recommendations for format? A LLC? A private group of friends? I am not thinking of making a lot of $ with this, my initial thought was “members” could put down $1,000 as a deposit to cover deductible from insurance in case of accidents and then around $250/mo (the cost of a single day charter most places I’ve looked) for 6 half days (or 3 full days) each month.
Our monthly expenses since May average about $650 (though they might be closer to $750 if we got more insurance coverage for extra operators) so if we had 2 members it would reduce our costs and if we had 3 members sharing it would almost completely eliminate costs to us (aside from time).
The current issues I see are:
1.No certification/licensing so I can’t do a passenger for hire type setup. (Nor do I have any diesel mechanic, marine electrician or other official craftsman qualifications so I can’t say the work sharing days are any kind of education, just an informal gathering of people wanting to rely on their own abilities to learn and apply basic principles)
2. Slip is rented on lease w/ my wife and her parents as listed owners so idk if others could stay overnight under harbor rules and regulations.
3. If members stole anything off the boat, I have no idea how we would hold them accountable. There are lots of loose items like safety equipment (pfds, headlamps, first aid, epirb/beacons, and more), tools, spare hardware, sails, etc. Worst case scenario they could strip the vessel and plead ignorance.
Any thoughts on how I could start this group legally, ethically and with low liability to myself and the others (members) I would share time on the vessel with is greatly appreciated!
Safe sailing to everyone!
Hi I have a question, as a listed captain for bareboat charters on someone’s boat, and hopefully you can answer. So given all 7 bareboat rules, as far as the one where the charterer pays the captain separately from what they pay the owner. Could this way work as well…(I just want to mention that I know that the owner can’t pay me from what the charterer would pay the owner) Could the charterer pay me let’s say, $700 for 4 hours, I charge $50 an hour for my fee, I then deduct that from the $700 and give the owner $500 for use of his boat. Simple enough, would this be legal and keep my name free and clear or does the owner have to be paid separately from the captain by the charterer? So basically, does it matter how the owner is paid? Whether it be from the captain or from the charterer? Please email a response. That would be extremely helpful to get some insight. I also have another question regarding if a captain on the bareboat list can also be the designated captain for legal 6 packs on the same vessel?