Charter boat ownership helps accelerate getting you on the water now, rather than waiting until retirement. This means you start gaining experience on your own boat and brings you a step closer to going cruising to new destinations sooner.

Your boat won’t be sailing with charter guests every week of the year.  And chances are that someone in your family has less confidence aboard or wants more time training inshore.  So in the off season and in any unsold weeks, you train up by sailing your own boat, preparing you and your family for your great adventure.

When the numbers are right, and you and your family are ready, withdraw the boat from charter and go cruising – at a time of your choosing, and overall having invested less in the boat, and more in quality time.

By default, charter boats are located in superb destinations, be it the 74 islands of the Whitsundays, the pristine waters of the Caribbean or the historic Croatian coastline. And they are typically in locations easily accessed by tourists and boat owners alike, with good flight connections from major airports. But as a boat owner, you are not restricted to the same limited cruising areas that charterers need to fit into a 1 or 2 week charter.  On your own boat, during your time aboard you can explore further afield.

But the location is important.  Find a balance between the most lucrative charter locations – which are often far from home, compared to something closer to home which might offer lower charter revenue potential.  If you have less cruising experience and want or need more time training on your boat, choose somewhere closer to home where you can more easily access the boat in off-weeks.  It might be your flight connections which determine the destination.

We all struggle to spend quality time with our friends and family, so it makes a big difference when you can take full advantage of your limited holiday time.  And a big upside to charter boat ownership is that the boat will be professionally maintained by a charter company – it has to be clean and in full working order for guests, and you’ll benefit from that same upkeep.  Having a boat that’s ready to enjoy is a stress reducer in itself.  And with no need to spend hours doing maintenance yourself you won’t be tempted to pour hours into the boat that you should be spending with friends and family!

A charter boat has the potential to generate sufficient revenue to not only cover holding costs (i.e. insurance, registration, marina fees and yearly servicing) and running costs (such as wear and tear, fuel, cleaning and management) but also to provide a healthy profit. When compared to private ownership where the costs of ownership and natural decline in value of a boat are entirely at the expense of the owner, the contrast in outcomes is significant.

As your boat starts to return some of the investment, you’re beginning to “pay the boat off”.  While that’s happening, the boat is depreciating in value – but not very quickly. Depending on the layout, Seawinds hold 70-80% of their value after 5 years, and 60-65% after 10 years. Plan it right and you’ll have paid off more than that through the charter revenue.

Because a charter boat has the ability to cover all of a boats holding costs and generate a profit, this builds up over time and has a considerable cumulative affect on the overall outcome. Combined with positive taxable outcomes due to depreciation as a result of the natural market decline in value, a charter catamaran has the potential to pay for itself. This helps fund the dream of cruising before retirement and make a your catamaran ownership dream a reality.