Boat Owner

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Under the use it or loose it doctrine on the idea that boats and engines do better when they are out on the water getting a little exercise. Fuel sitting around too long degrades into a varnish like substance, spark plugs deteriorate, and other systems and components that normally slowly deteriorate in corrosive salt water go unnoticed and un maintained in idle boat.

Some charter management companies mention a section 179 SECTION 179 INFO .) under the IRS Code that allows deductions for businesses, on the idea that a boat may under some circumstances be deducted as a business expense

We don’t know. However, only a few charters will make up for the extra cost of the commercial insurance you will need. In our experience, the sort of boats that tend to get the most business are the newer, better kept, cleaner ones. Our top selling charters seem to be catamarans, power boats, and sailboats in the 30 to 75 foot range. There also seems to be a general lack of coast guard inspected party boats for smaller numbers of passengers in many ports.

You will need commercial insurance. Your boat will also need a licensed captain who knows how to use your boat. There are usually such people who live around ports that are available. We can sometimes suggest captains whom we know.

Compliance with applicable law, insurance, rules and regulations is your responsibility. Typically, up to six people, called a “six pack”, are allowed if either yourself or a captain under your employment is sailing your boat. Captains must have appropriate license and boats must have commercial insurance. There is also an interpretation of the rules, often referred to as “bareboat”, whereby many charter companies take out up to twelve. This requires that the charter customers sign a separate agreement that they have hired their own captain, separately from your charter business. Boats that accept over twelve must be certified under a rigorous coast guard inspection process, and are referred to in the charter industry as “inspected boats”

MDR Boats would like to represent a select few boats in  the of Marina del Rey, CA. Please contact us with your boat specifications if we may have the opportunity to discuss so we may consider marketing your boat for the purpose of referring our passengers for your private charter business. Boats we tend to list are newer, in the 30 plus foot range, although we also like vintage and other well kept boats. To list a boat on our website, we would need your OK to do so, along with high resolution pictures, at least 600 x 800 dpi.

We will also have to inspect it in person and go out for a sea trial.

No, we will not make you rich, but hopefully a little slimmer by, at least, lessening the cost and therefore the stress of boat ownership. That said, some of our charter boat owners are making good money and some are even buying more boats. Perhaps a better reason to do this is simply to defray the cost of boat ownership. The second year cost of depreciation, dockage, and other ownership of a typical $200,000 yacht would be around $20,000. Typical back of the envelop estimates for additional annual repair costs are in the 10% to 20% of boat value range. Please see our webpages on www.OnBoat.com for comparative rates that for boats put into charter. Therefore, even a few charters a year may significantly defray from the cost of boat ownership.