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Chris Carstens, owner of the Helia 44 “Heliades” currently in charter with Dream Yacht Chaters in Grenada, was kind enough to share the following data with all who might be interested:
Hi everyone, I know many looking at the BAB (Boat as a Business) questioning the projected charter revenue weeks. I will offer up my data:
2018 to date actual plus projected bookings to the end of the year = 160 days of charter revenue.
I am in DYC Performance Plan and therefore with the help of my BAB boat LLC CPA took the 50% carry forward depreciation on my taxes for 2017. Boat went into service Dec 28th, 2017.
Charter days are higher than I expected (and probably desired) but so far so good...My TurboTax liked the deduction!
1) My boat is in great shape. Probably the same wear and tear as if I sailed the boat for 160 days.
2) I know the base maintenance and cleaning crew by first name and have provided gratuity to them for their service.
3) Probably a little luck as my boat went into business after Irma in a hurricane safe(r) area in the Caribbean.
4) Most of my customers are European. Seems like they are maybe more skilled at sailing and boat management.
5) My boat was mostly bareboat chartered. A few hire captain and cook – surprising to me.
6) I have a guest book and a few customers have contacted me directly with their comments and enjoyment.
7) There have been occasional/the usual problems with fuses blowing, pumps going out a light here or there, but the base has done a good job. My base manager tells me that the new Helia's are the more reliable boats he has in the fleet.
8) I might be considered a pain in the ass owner as I am probably more engaged with tinkering and upgrading on the boat then most owners, I am told 😉 But the base manager puts up with me and we get along fine. Just bought him lunch the other day and got a lot of good customer and boat feedback.
9) I avoid taking my free owners time and prefer to pay or have my guests pay retail and take the revenue back through my charter agreement. Looks cleaner to the IRS. a. When I am on the boat working on maintenance and projects I time track my work for my books.
10) I am a very pleased that I ended up choosing the Windward Islands as my sailing playground. It is a sailors sailing area. Haven't seen a day under 10 knots wind speed yet.
Some background information:
My boat is based in Grenada. A great sailing venue as I mentioned. Good N-S, mostly on the beam sailing, island to island day hops with 20-30 knots on the inter island sections. #1 or #2 reef common but rarely motor sailing unless really pressing a bit upwind or leeward of an island. If you haven't sailed Grenada, The Grenadines and St Lucia give me a shout and I will cut a deal ;). I do plan to move up to St Lucia for a change of scenery and maybe give Heliades a little rest next year. Maintenance has only been mainly lubes and filters changes at this point. One service charge to fix a Raymarine problem that should have been covered under warranty. Dockage and utilities costs were as expected. I use QuickBooks for accounting with the TSheets plug-in and App for time tracking. I also use MS OneNote synced on OneDrive with my iPhone, Ipad, Desktop and wife's phone to keep notes, boat inventory, work project pictures, tools, To-Do lists etc. I also passed boat not yet obtained my CG 100 Masters License (all time documented) which I hope to use for some purpose or customers in the future.
2018 to date actual plus projected bookings to the end of the year = 160 days of charter revenue.
I am in DYC Performance Plan and therefore with the help of my BAB boat LLC CPA took the 50% carry forward depreciation on my taxes for 2017. Boat went into service Dec 28th, 2017.
Charter days are higher than I expected (and probably desired) but so far so good...My TurboTax liked the deduction!
1) My boat is in great shape. Probably the same wear and tear as if I sailed the boat for 160 days.
2) I know the base maintenance and cleaning crew by first name and have provided gratuity to them for their service.
3) Probably a little luck as my boat went into business after Irma in a hurricane safe(r) area in the Caribbean.
4) Most of my customers are European. Seems like they are maybe more skilled at sailing and boat management.
5) My boat was mostly bareboat chartered. A few hire captain and cook – surprising to me.
6) I have a guest book and a few customers have contacted me directly with their comments and enjoyment.
7) There have been occasional/the usual problems with fuses blowing, pumps going out a light here or there, but the base has done a good job. My base manager tells me that the new Helia's are the more reliable boats he has in the fleet.
8) I might be considered a pain in the ass owner as I am probably more engaged with tinkering and upgrading on the boat then most owners, I am told 😉 But the base manager puts up with me and we get along fine. Just bought him lunch the other day and got a lot of good customer and boat feedback.
9) I avoid taking my free owners time and prefer to pay or have my guests pay retail and take the revenue back through my charter agreement. Looks cleaner to the IRS. a. When I am on the boat working on maintenance and projects I time track my work for my books.
10) I am a very pleased that I ended up choosing the Windward Islands as my sailing playground. It is a sailors sailing area. Haven't seen a day under 10 knots wind speed yet.
Some background information:
My boat is based in Grenada. A great sailing venue as I mentioned. Good N-S, mostly on the beam sailing, island to island day hops with 20-30 knots on the inter island sections. #1 or #2 reef common but rarely motor sailing unless really pressing a bit upwind or leeward of an island. If you haven't sailed Grenada, The Grenadines and St Lucia give me a shout and I will cut a deal ;). I do plan to move up to St Lucia for a change of scenery and maybe give Heliades a little rest next year. Maintenance has only been mainly lubes and filters changes at this point. One service charge to fix a Raymarine problem that should have been covered under warranty. Dockage and utilities costs were as expected. I use QuickBooks for accounting with the TSheets plug-in and App for time tracking. I also use MS OneNote synced on OneDrive with my iPhone, Ipad, Desktop and wife's phone to keep notes, boat inventory, work project pictures, tools, To-Do lists etc. I also passed boat not yet obtained my CG 100 Masters License (all time documented) which I hope to use for some purpose or customers in the future.
Chris Carstens
Submitted to 'Facebook' and republished with my permission
Chris, we are delighted that this program has worked so well for you! Virtually every buyer whom we have advise on this program has had similar success, provided they follow the rules. One caveat: The revenue numbers in the business plan that we provide you, are key to a successful outcome. However, not every company that offers Boat as a Business can deliver these numbers and could put the entire program at risk. So, it’s important to partner with a company that will deliver and our decision at Catamaran Guru to partner with Dream Yacht for this particular program, has paid off for all our clients.