Fractional boat ownership

[Butch .H]

Can any one recommend any reputable companies offering fractional boat ownership packages? I am planning my exit strategy from my company with the banks and I would like to invest in a few boats or boat companies.

Regards
Butch

[masalai]

Have you considered bare-boat charter business - - you own the boat (wholly or partially) and the boat is managed by the charter company - several around the Whitsunday Islands group central coast of Queensland - a stable political environment and "sheltered" by the Great Barrier Reef....

[Stumble]

Butch,

Can you give some idea of what type of boat you are interested in, how large, how often you plan on using it, where at ect?

There are a number of fractional ownership programs but they tend to have nitches, and it is hard to give a suggestion without knowing some of the particulars.

[Butch .H]

Masa sounds interesting do you have contact details?

[Butch .H]

Stumble. I suppose Cats are the way to go 30 to 45ft or monos of the same size. Its going to be a investment for old age

[Manie B]

Hi Butch

i have kept a watch on the Sunsail programmes as Chris Bonnet mails me the "newsletters"

http://www.sunsail.co.za/

i am not mad about ANY of these schemes - they are lousy investments

My mate has now gone ahead and bought one of the new "town house" developments in the Seychells as marketed by Pam Golding - those with the mooring. To me it is just another bottomless pit where they suck you dry with levies and hidden expenses.

I am convinced the fractional ownership is not an investment -with hidden expenses that come afterwards.

My wife is starting her new job now this December and to our horror we found out that her pension payout and an Old Mutual shares investment is worth ****

People think there is a nest egg - beware it is worth much less than anticipated - the payout values have dropped dramatically.

My take on this is - if you want a boat to live on or possibly go cruising - buy your own or build - and now you can control your own expenses, as and when they come. If they messup their cash flow, or over pay the CEO that is looking after your fractional ownership, that is their problem, share frikken nothing with their money making rackets.

We now know that if we had taken the so called pension and shares money and put it into a normal savings account with normal interest we would have had double the cash value today

Cash is still king - no matter which way you look at it - a simple savings account has out performed 95% of ALL THE FRIKKEN ******** that is out there.

Then another good thing is small industrial property (NOT COMMERCIAL SHOPS)- go and buy a couple of small factories / workshops approx 200 sq meters each, that is still very good rental, and when the tennant cant pay, you can kick him out. As you know a large portion of my work comes from the residential property developers. I am on site everyday - DO NOT buy houses to rent out, it is a major fu2kup.

Buy a moderate boat and go and live on it - the "camping" lifestyle is something that we may just HAVE to get used too - frikken beeeeeeg changes coming our way in Saffa over the next 5 years.

[Stumble]

Butch,

I don't know anyone that has been happy doing a charter company deal. Typically the boats get used hard, are poorly maintained, and at the end you get back a boat that looks like a 10 year old hotel room, ya it is mostly functional, but there are weird spots on the bed sheets. The other problem is that rarely do the charter companies pay much more than the increased maintenance and insurance cost so at the end of the deal you wind up with a heavily used boat and very little to show for it.

The best 40ish foot fractional ownership programs I have seen are between 2-5 people who know each other before becoming partners on the boat. IF the partnership agreement is written well, and you spend some time before you buy the boat working out all the details about who pays what, how long they have to pay, where the boat will go, who gets to use it when, ect...

Finally there are commercial fractional ownership programs, but my experience is only with the larger end of this market, and only in the US. But if you can find a company with a good reputation that has years of experience it may not be a bad way to go.

[Wynand N]

Greg,

Take your money, build yourself a nice sports fisherman of about 30 - 34 feet with tower and fighting chair, IOW, the whole show. Then build yourself a nice catamaran sail boat of about 30 feet and you have a business you control, period as Manie mentioned.
Take these boats and set of to Bazaruta island groups off the coast of Maputu, put up camp and make a killing with a charter company -many rich tourists going there. Jeez man, what a life, everyday a holiday and you can screw the taxman good as well..

Actually, I entertained the idea myself, and will probably do something like this myself when the youngsters take over from me in about 3 years time.

[masalai]

I am inclined to affirm the consensus - wholly own the boat, (two if the funds will allow complete ownership), and use them or run a business from them - mobile engineering services, photographic base for yourself or other keen photographers in diving, surfing, twitching, fishing, cultural experiences - whatever is your interest or hobby..... Go where the wind blows and the money flows..... We are in the boat design forum for some reason - love of boats?

My thoughts also include a capacity to be totally self reliant for anything and everything where possible 'cause the world will be a vastly different place soon enough, for a very long time into the future....

Follow my link below for the base for my sea-change....

[Manie B]

I also think that there are going to be some really good one year old bargains on the market over the next year - Japan is going into recession - so the **** is still going to hit the fan for the next 24 months

cash is king and the guy with it will be able to drive a very hard bargain

[masalai]

Even now in Oz, - Manie, - Nothing in the housing sector is moving unless it is below AU$550,000................... bugger - I'll wait it out I suppose....

Boats not yet ('cept mono's are already relatively cheap)? bloody cats seem to be holding up or NOT moving.... http://www.yachthub.com/ click on boats for sale, then click used boats and select your category and size.... for stuff in OZ and NZ.

[Butch .H]

Thanks Guys I have a exit plane that spans five years. Believe it or not the company is making a huge amount of money (in Rand terms) for its size. All the staff is contract staff, offices are small and well rescored (lean and mean).We have no massive office overheads and carry no stock. We sell time. The problem is either we pay super tax or invest money on a monthly basis in something that will realise a small profit but maintain some capital integrity. We can only by so many farms . Life policies are the pits or not to put too finer point on it total bull ****. Wynand I have explored Moz not interested, new policy’s are on the cards so as to enforce the 51% share holding with some dick head with a wheel barrow and two chickens that refers to you as “Bra”

A boat yard in SA would be first prize only if people sailed and maintained their boats but if you want to make money out of “South African Sailors” you only need a liquor licence and a long bar close to the sea.

[masalai]

Butch, your last para - - Now that sounds like a good idea that would work almost everywhere.... We need some first hand advice from a user like "Frosty"...

[Manie B]

Butch you are 100% spot-on

A boat yard in SA would be first prize only if people sailed and maintained their boats but if you want to make money out of “South African Sailors” you only need a liquor licence and a long bar close to the sea.

Life policies are the pits or not to put too finer point on it total bull ****