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Hi Nils, nice website!
Buying a boat in charter isn't for everyone, but for some situations, it's a great choice. I think it's great to see a site dedicated the pluses and minuses from someone who's actually doing it. Again, it doesn't make sense for everyone but what bugs be about many of the posts in this forum about the topic are:
People saying that because chartering didn't make sense for them, it doesn't make sense for anyone.
People who have never owned a charter boat, and haven't researched it well, making strong opinions against buying a charter boat, based very incomplete views and sometimes simply misinformation, such as claiming that charter boats get a lot of use, without any consideration to how that balances against the incredible cost savings or how the boat gets maintained.
It's great to see a real personal experience out there people can read and judge for themselves.
A few details to add: I have owned 4 cruising sailboats, only one of which was a charter boat, so my views are not biased by having owned only boats in charter. In contrast many who criticize charter ownership, have never experienced it.
My experience in buying, owning, using and eventually selling a boat in charter was overall very positive. It was most certainly the cheapest and most hassle free of my four cruising sailboat ownerships.
Evaluating what I wanted to do next, I decided owning another charter boat was not the best fit, which I think demonstrates there is one no one size fits all answer to this issue.
Everyone needs to look at their own situation and objectively evaluate the alternatives they actually face, rather than rely on simplistic, generic comments which may or may not reflect their particular needs and circumstances.
Buying a boat in charter isn't for everyone, but for some situations, it's a great choice. I think it's great to see a site dedicated the pluses and minuses from someone who's actually doing it. Again, it doesn't make sense for everyone but what bugs be about many of the posts in this forum about the topic are:
People saying that because chartering didn't make sense for them, it doesn't make sense for anyone.
People who have never owned a charter boat, and haven't researched it well, making strong opinions against buying a charter boat, based very incomplete views and sometimes simply misinformation, such as claiming that charter boats get a lot of use, without any consideration to how that balances against the incredible cost savings or how the boat gets maintained.
It's great to see a real personal experience out there people can read and judge for themselves.
A few details to add: I have owned 4 cruising sailboats, only one of which was a charter boat, so my views are not biased by having owned only boats in charter. In contrast many who criticize charter ownership, have never experienced it.
My experience in buying, owning, using and eventually selling a boat in charter was overall very positive. It was most certainly the cheapest and most hassle free of my four cruising sailboat ownerships.
Evaluating what I wanted to do next, I decided owning another charter boat was not the best fit, which I think demonstrates there is one no one size fits all answer to this issue.
Everyone needs to look at their own situation and objectively evaluate the alternatives they actually face, rather than rely on simplistic, generic comments which may or may not reflect their particular needs and circumstances.
nautical62
Submitted to 'Cruising Forum' and republished with my permission
