What if I told you that you could own a 30 foot sailboat on the San Francisco Bay for as little as $3 per day or $100
per month (after the initial purchase price)? Well you can and I do! If you thought owning a sailboat was too expensive,
then you should read on. Partnerships are a way to meet great folks, sail economically and have a boat of your own. And
you can do it for just a few dollars a day!
The first step is to
find your partners and pool your resources. Your partners could be close friends or even other family members. They could
be coworkers or folks you meet through the classified ads on Latitude 38. Choosing the right partners is a very important
aspect of building a successful partnership. You want to make sure they have the resources, have a steady job and they are
not likely to be leaving the area for a while. Another plus would be to have a sailing background or be willing to take some
sailing courses. Also they should have similar goals as far as sailing goes. If you want to cruise with all the toys and
your partners are serious racers who want to "strip" the boat, you could have problems. Whoever you choose, make sure that
you are like minded and you get along with them. Be forewarned that compromise will play a big part in building your partnership.
How many partners do you need? You could do this with two folks and it would work
great. We started with three, went to four and now have five. Four works well as you can each have one week a month when
the boat is "yours". The nice thing about our partnership is we all get to sail as much or as little as we want. We assign
one week to each partner starting on Thursday. This way if someone wants to take the boat for a long weekend, you don't have
to worry about trading days with the other partners. If one of the other partners wants to go sailing they just email the
partner who's week it is and work out the details. When it's "your" week you can just head out. With a partnership, you
also have a built in crew who want to go sailing with you. Just let them know and and off you go for a day sail or what ever.
Setting a budget. Figure out what your needs are and set a budget. Are you
looking for a racer/cruiser, a day sailor or maybe a coastal cruiser. We wanted a safe day sailor that could do weekend
trips on the bay and week long trips up to the delta. We needed a boat that could sleep 5-6 and had a legal private head
along with a galley. Our partners were keen on a used 30 foot boat in the $15k range. That meant about $5000 a piece as
an initial investment. In the April edition of Latitude you could have your pick of a Hunter 30, a Pearson 31, a Catalina
30 or a Islander 30 in that price range. And you can certainly negotiate with these folks and get a better price. We started
the hunt and after looking through the Classy Classifides in Latitude, we found a few to look at. The third boat we looked
at turned out to be a great one. A Gary Mull designed Newport 30 from 1981. We met with the owners and coincidentally it
was three partners about our age who showed us the boat. They had had it for six years and were moving on. We had a surveyor
come out and look at her. His conclusion was " Buy this boat!".
We did some sea trials and the boat sailed great.
We signed on the dotted line, paid the negotiated price and we had ourselves a beauty.
The
Financial Side. Once we had done the deed, we still had some work to do. We needed to go to the DMV and transfer the title
and pay the sales tax. Even though the sales tax had been paid by the original owners when they bought the boat, our local
government wants us to pay it again. Then we needed insurance. We found it through Boat US at a very reasonable price.
Lastly, we needed a place to put the boat. We decided to stay put in Alameda and just rented the slip that it was in. This
worked out well as we could practice in the estuary and not get into too much trouble.
We
each pay $100 a month and that covers all our expenses and leaves us enough to cover little things that come up. Insurance,
property taxes, bottom cleaning, canvas work, etc. We split all the costs evenly. Once every 2 years we have the boat hauled
out and have the bottom painted and do some minor repairs. Some of this is covered by the kitty, but most is paid out of
pocket. Usually between $300 and $350 per person.
In order to tie
all this together we put together a simple contract that each partner signed. It stated the purchase price and who the partners
are. It also listed the basics of the partnership. When the week starts and ends, keeping the boat clean for others, if
something breaks during your sail, you need to make repairs in a timely fashion, minimum one year participation (you don't
want partners coming and going every few months), and that sailing is a dangerous sport and no one will sue the other partners
unless their is gross negligence.
If a partner decides to leave,
it is on them to place the ad and do the sea trials. Then each of the current partners meets the prospective partner and
determines if this person is a fit. If for whatever reason they don't feel comfortable with this person, they can revoke
this person and the process starts again. This has never happened to us but it could come in handy if the person is questionable
to any of the other partners. If you would like to see a sample of our contract, please contact me at fungod@gmail.com
We have had a wonderful experience with partnerships over the last six years.
If you do your homework and pick the right people to get involved, you can make it work. Having a great boat that can keep
you safe on the water helps too. Take your time and make sure you manage all the details along the way and you too can be
sailing the bay for just a few dollars a day!
