It really depends on your situation. I really can't comment on the
financial side much but being fairly competent in fixing most boat
systems I volunteer on delivery crews for Moorings boats going down out
of Charleston and coming back either to the liquidation center in
Florida or to the owners.

The boats coming out of 3 to 5 years of charter are in surprisingly good
shape. Actually I have to fix less things on the boats coming back than
the new ones going down. The refurb operation in Florida is basically
cosmetic. I give them a list of things that I found and the BVI base
sends another evaluation.

I have delivered 3 boats for owners. One to some big wig Houston lawyer
who was happy as a pig in s**t. Couldn't stop talking about what a
great deal it was. The other two, one in Mobile and the other in
Jacksonville, thought they had been screwed. Both were upside down on
their loans and faced with laying out a chunk of cash just to get rid of
the boat.

Bendytoe hulls come in two flavors. The charter layouts are floating
dormitories but the private designs are pretty decent. You can convert
the charter versions of 505s and the 40+ hulls to the private layout
fairly easily by ripping out some bulkheads and one or two heads but
that is not so easy with the smaller boats.

One financial thing I did find out. You will pay about 10 to 15% more
for the boat buying through Moorings than you will in a private purchase.

If you plan to use it as a tax deduction you can only use the boat 2
weeks a year plus maybe a week for "inspection and maintenance" if you
feel lucky. You should also have a considerable amount of qualified
passive income or the deduction will be useless.

Overall, if you can only get away to sail 2 or 3 weeks a year you will
be better off chartering.

Laura or Brian wrote:

Does anybody have any experience with this company? The plan is, you buy
a boat from them, they charter it out and maintain it and the proceeds
from this rental use pays for the boat and allows you a coupla months
use for yourself, plus some annual profit. Eventually, you own the boat
outright and can either continue the relationship for fun and profit or
sail away into the sunset. They advertise in Sail Magazine.
Thanks for any info.


--
Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com