Fractional Sailboat Membership

[WestUniversity]

That's how I gave up on owning sailboats after 30 years and 5 sailboats from 26' to 35', 20 years racing sailboats. I was summarizing our spending and looked at what the boat cost me in 2018 - multiplied that by 20-30 years - and the total sum was staggering! I worked a lot of extra years for sailing, loved it, but not that much. Now I pay $550 a year to take out small daysailers up to 19' anytime I want, race or cruise, with no maintenance and no added expenses. Good enough...

Agreed. I hate to think about how much money I’ve spent over the years. Simply staggering. That’s why I’ll take a Sunfish any day. Super simple design and super easy to learn on, and with a planing hull vs a displacement hull so much fun and so fast on a windy day. I’ve also sailed cats, Hobies, Prindles etc. Lots of fun in my younger days but too much work in comparison…

 

[Brat]

My son started sailing with a Lazer and he is starting to teach his son. I would never recommend that boat for adult recreational sailers. He moved up to a Balboa when he realized that girls don't like to get wet sailing.

Son and wife own a boatyard. With rare exceptions, they are happy to let sailboat owners use another yard (there aren't a lot of large sailboats on the Columbia/Willamette Rivers), no need to get greedy. What gives me shivers is when a boat owner wants to ocean sail with his family with little ocean sailing experience.

There was a time when we explored sailboat rental as described by the OP and IMHO that is the way to go unless you have the time and financial resources to own the boat you want to use. We rented a sailboat out of Bellingham to sail in the Gulf Islands. Great experience.

 

[Starsky]

I had an acquaintance who loved the membership format and we looked into it in San Diego. At least there's a start and end to the deal, so you could try it and see if it works for you, and any gear problems are someone else's responsibility.
Boats are not cheap no matter how you slice it. Even the cheapest cruiser needs a slip to store it in, annual registration, and the occasional hull cleaning and maintenance - not to mention having good sails. That's another $5k+ per year, minimum for the most primitive 28' day cruiser.
One other thing to ask about is whether the membership has any reciprocal privileges available with other similar places. The ability to have easy access to nice sailboats in other ports is always something I thought would be very cool.

 

[Brat]

Thank you for mentioning moorage. In Seattle metro don't buy a boat without a slip. The states are limiting moorage so a place to tie up your boat is critical.

 

[WestUniversity]

My son started sailing with a Lazer and he is starting to teach his son. I would never recommend that boat for adult recreational sailers. He moved up to a Balboa when he realized that girls don't like to get wet sailing.

I’ve seen a couple of Beneteau sailboats over the years that I really liked. Have always loved their boats. But then I remember all the work and expenses and come back to my senses…

 

[skyking1]

They always look fantastic when someone else is taking care of them

 

[Koolau]

They always look fantastic when someone else is taking care of them

Each house we've "spruced up", we asked "Why are we selling this?" Cleaning the plane to sell, we did the same thing. I'm sure a boat has the same dynamic, though YMMV.

 

[Scuba]

My family had motor boats growing up so I’ve spent a fair amount of time on the water. Sailing is somewhat new to me but not to DH. I don’t mind the smaller 22 foot boats but I prefer a boat with a nice interior and a well appointment Lav and galley, especially if we are taking friends out with us.

Sailing in So Cal is not as nice as in places like Florida or Virgin Islands. There are not a lot of destinations so it’s mostly just open sailing. We can sail to Catalina and stay overnight, or head down to San Diego. The water is always cold and the weather can be chilly even during the summer.

So given that it’s mostly open sailing and chilly, do you enjoy sailing in So CA enough to get your money’s worth from this program?

 

[Ready]

So given that it’s mostly open sailing and chilly, do you enjoy sailing in So CA enough to get your money’s worth from this program?

That’s the question I keep asking myself. Realistically if we have to pay for the membership on our own, the answer is probably no. But if we can split the membership with some friends of ours the dollar amount is small enough that I’d probably be willing to give it a try.

 

[srpuywa]

How much sailing experience do you have?

Southern California is pretty boring place to sail

 

[skyking1]

i agree that would be a huge difference. Crew of 4 is nice. Friends to share the time with is nice.

 

[imnontrad]

Freedom Boat Club is getting a LOT of good press. And you can get a boat at other locations when you travel, not limited to one location. They have power boats and sailboats.

 

[Ready]

We went sailing yesterday in the 22 foot charter boat. DH wants to get some more experience before taking his test this weekend. It was windy so we had some good sailing. Weather was good. But I would like to have a larger boat. The 22 foot boat gets pretty choppy on the open seas. And the boats in the charter program are old and worn out.

I did learn that Sail Time, the fractional program, is owned by Benneateu. And they have very strict conditions on what boats are allowed in the program. Most are less than 2 years old so they are very nicely appointed and in great condition.

 

[Delawaredave5]

If you have another couple interested, and compatible, you could both split a boat.

I love "splitting toys" with friends - half the cost, half the work, all the fun.

Buddy and I had an 84 Hunter 27 foot for 8 years, mooring Chesapeake Bay.

Initial boat was $6,000. Half of mooring, storage and insurance was $1,200/year. We did maintenance ourselves. Just sold it for what we paid.

I've done the same with old cars. Now looking for buddy to buy a hard sided popup camper - anyone in Mid Atlantic interested

 

[scottpush]

I have never sailed and joined a sailing club one month ago that owns 2 ~30 foot sailboats that we can take out for a nominal fee. I think around $75 every time you take one out. It was $330/year to join. The boats are old and somewhat musty below deck. They have classes to get you acclimated to the boats as well as how to be safe. It's out of busy Annapolis. They also show you how to sail but so far it's been very little. I don't feel comfortable at all taking one out at this point. I might take sailing lessons elsewhere until I do. Watching sailing people online and some boredom in retirement got me interested. Plus always loved the water. We'll see if it sticks or not.

 

[Brat]

My grandson's "currency" is time to sail a dinky Lazer. He just turned 12 so it is an appropriate boat. The other day he turtled it and a neighbor was preparing to come to his rescue but the kid righted the boat and sailed home.

Sailing to me is applied physics.

 

[Scuba]

That’s the question I keep asking myself. Realistically if we have to pay for the membership on our own, the answer is probably no. But if we can split the membership with some friends of ours the dollar amount is small enough that I’d probably be willing to give it a try.

Sounds like it’s worth trying. Worst case, consider it part of your travel and entertainment spending for the year. If you don’t like it, you can cancel the following year. The fractional program sounds ideal for you, especially with the quality of the boats.

I personally would never feel comfortable buying an expensive boat or a vacation home with another couple we are friends with. Others apparently have been successful with that. I’d be concerned about what would happen to the friendship as well as the asset if either couple in the partnership had a major change in financial or health circumstances. The fractional program avoids all of that risk.

 

[Ready]

Sounds like it’s worth trying. Worst case, consider it part of your travel and entertainment spending for the year. If you don’t like it, you can cancel the following year. The fractional program sounds ideal for you, especially with the quality of the boats.

I personally would never feel comfortable buying an expensive boat or a vacation home with another couple we are friends with. Others apparently have been successful with that. I’d be concerned about what would happen to the friendship as well as the asset if either couple in the partnership had a major change in financial or health circumstances. The fractional program avoids all of that risk.

Agreed. We have zero desire to own a boat. Renting with some friends should work out OK for us because we really don’t need that many days in the program and unused days roll over to the following month. There are easily a few winter months where none of us will be sailing so with all the carryover days we will never use up all of the available days in the program.

 

[Sunset]

Agreed. We have zero desire to own a boat. Renting with some friends should work out OK for us because we really don’t need that many days in the program and unused days roll over to the following month. There are easily a few winter months where none of us will be sailing so with all the carryover days we will never use up all of the available days in the program.

Won't that be similar for everyone, nobody sailing Dec, Jan, Feb, and then everyone wanting June, July August ?

 

[Scuba]

Agreed. We have zero desire to own a boat. Renting with some friends should work out OK for us because we really don’t need that many days in the program and unused days roll over to the following month. There are easily a few winter months where none of us will be sailing so with all the carryover days we will never use up all of the available days in the program.

I agree, splitting this rental program with friends would be ideal, especially if they are people you may want to sail with from time to time.

 

[Ready]

Won't that be similar for everyone, nobody sailing Dec, Jan, Feb, and then everyone wanting June, July August ?

Yes, but everyone is guaranteed 7 half days per months which is more than we would likely use it, so I don’t think it will matter.

 

[Ready]

We tried chartering a few boats over the past few months and every boat we ended up on was more than 20 years old and really worn out. It was not a great experience. So DH went searching for boats in the SailTime program and ultimately found one he really liked in San Pedro. We signed the contract and took the boat out for the first time yesterday.

The boat is a 41.1 foot 2019 Beneteau. It’s in almost brand new condition and seems really well appointed. I’m still unsure of how often we are going to want to sail, especially when the weather cools down. But DH decided that doing this was on his “bucket list” so I reluctantly went along with it.

There are four other owners on the boat. The boat is owned and maintained by a Beneteau dealer so it seems to be well cared for. For the month of July there are only five days that were booked by other owners. In August there are two days reserved. Oddly, even the holidays are wide open. We booked it for Thanksgiving but Christmas and New Year’s are still available.

So we’ll see how it works out, and it’s only a one year commitment. But for now DH is happy, so I guess that’s all that matters.

 

[Scuba]

We tried chartering a few boats over the past few months and every boat we ended up on was more than 20 years old and really worn out. It was not a great experience. So DH went searching for boats in the SailTime program and ultimately found one he really liked in San Pedro. We signed the contract and took the boat out for the first time yesterday.

The boat is a 41.1 foot 2019 Beneteau. It’s in almost brand new condition and seems really well appointed. I’m still unsure of how often we are going to want to sail, especially when the weather cools down. But DH decided that doing this was on his “bucket list” so I reluctantly went along with it.

There are four other owners on the boat. The boat is owned and maintained by a Beneteau dealer so it seems to be well cared for. For the month of July there are only five days that were booked by other owners. In August there are two days reserved. Oddly, even the holidays are wide open. We booked it for Thanksgiving but Christmas and New Year’s are still available.

So we’ll see how it works out, and it’s only a one year commitment. But for now DH is happy, so I guess that’s all that matters.

Thanks for the update. Surprised the summer is not more booked. Enjoy!!

 

[Brat]

Years ago the family rented a sailboat out of Bellingham. It was a fun vacation.

 

[brett]

A friend of ours owned co-owned a sailboat with a friend for years.

It was ideal. He stated that the reason why it was so successful was because each party did 60 percent of the work.

I would not be inclined to go into a timeshare agreement on a sailboat or anything else for that matter.