On Sun, 28 Mar 2004, Laura or Brian wrote:

Does anybody have any experience
with this company?

Over-all excellent (if comparatively expensive) company to charter
from.

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.

Reread your sentence above, carefully. Then do the math, carefully.
That is, the real, tax-effected/post-tax math net of whatever may be
the return on the funds you will be using to "buy a boat from them"
minus the cost of "buying" (in actual effect, lending Sunsail the
funds for it to buy and own a boat on/against which it will have liens
until it has been fully paid for albeit, nominally, you will be its
"owner" too) and, of course, even after crediting whatever (if
anything) may be the "annual profit" (in effect, also just a reduction
in the costs to you) less, too, whatever sum you believe it is
realistically worth it to you, in dollar terms to compensate you for
the the inconvenience (in whatever degree your "purchase"/charter
contract stipulates) of the particular schedule for which specific
"coupla months" you will be using "your" boat.

Further presume that (apart from potential long-term damage to the
keel and keel bolts from what certainly will be lots of groundings by
persons who don't own "your" boat, especially if the charter area will
be in the Carribbean or some other comparatively shallow/reef-riven
area) Sunsail will, in fact, maintain the (you and it presumably would
hope: heavily used) vessel pretty well, at least cosmetically
(including more or less frequent pump-outs of the pretty much always
near full holding tank), although, if the charter use is heavy, also
don't forget also to factor in (realistically) the hours on the motor
and prop shaft and their related parts compared with the number of
hours and nature of the use you would be giving if only you used the
boat.

Then make two other substantially economic but, concededly, also in
part personal/esthetic calculations -- namely, on the one hand, what
it would cost you to purchase, outright, from Sunsail or Moorings
(_if_ you are in a position to use it) a boat that is comming out of
charter use (for you own/exclusive use), assuming a
knowledgeable/thorough arms-lenghth survey, and, on the other hand,
the sums it probably/realistically would cost to charter whatever boat
you wish (e.g., from Sunsail or Moorings - basically now merged
companies) for whenever/wherever you wish.

Granted, it is very nice to "own" a new or almost new boat, and is
also nice actually to own one. But in making your calculations,
financial and otherwise, don't overlook the also substantial market in
used (yet, if you prefer, comparatively new boats).

outright and can either continue the relationship
for fun and profit or sail away into the sunset.

With all deference due Sunsail's (or like enterprises') experience
including in management and whatever may be due the related
efficiencies of scale and of experience offered (compared with an
individual, like you, just trying newly to enter into the charter
business presumably half-a-world away from where you primarily reside
and are employed) note that you don't actually say that your primary
(or even an important) purpose in acquiring an interest in a boat is
to charter it to others for their use. Anyway, do the math.
Carefully. In light of what are any number of other alternatives for
purchase outright.




They advertise in Sail Magazine.
Thanks for any info.