Boating partnerships

[dvan1901]

I am trying to find out some information on boating partnerships. A friend of mine and I are thinking of going in together on a boat. I know this is very common and so I was trying to track down some resources on the web and maybe some canned agreements or something like that. Any information would be very helpful...thanks.

 

[WillyBWright]

Re: Boating partnerships

Property partnerships seem to be a good way to end good friendships.

 

[Frugal Floater]

Re: Boating partnerships

I thought about this several years ago, but decided not to go this route. Besides the issues of splitting cost/repair/insurance, having time to boat can be difficult. If you are not retired and can only boat on weekends, then take all 52 possible weekends (if you boat all seasons) and subtract the following events that can eat away a boating weekend:

1. Bad weather
2. Family Functions/vacations
3. Boat Maintainance and repair
4. Projects at home

That does not leave you with too many boating weekends...I did not want to add to this dilemma the chance that my co-owner would want to take the boat out with his family the same weekend I had open.

I think renting a boat is becoming more and more attractive and I bet is much cheaper than owning for most weekend boaters....It is nice to have one parked out in your driveway though

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Boating partnerships

My brother has a partnership. This is what they do.

All maintance and repair costs are prorated by the number of hours put on the boat during the calendar year. They put all hours used in a log book. This is similar to how airplane partnerships are done.

Any new items bought for the boat like radios, life jackets, etc, are split down the middle.

The bigger problem is spliting popular weekends. In my brother's case, his partner really doesn't care too much about taking it on multi day trips...yet.

A possible problem is when one person wants an expensive piece of gear and the other doesn't. Another would be if one is more mechanically inclined and does most of the maintenance.

To disolve the partnership, the person who wants to leave the partnership sets a price and the other partner can either buy or sell atthat price.

 

[roscoe]

Re: Boating partnerships

People do stupid things with boats.
When your partner does a stupid thing, it will now cost you money.


""To disolve the partnership, the person who wants to leave the partnership sets a price and the other partner can either buy or sell at that price""

Hmmmm, but what if neither can afford to buy out the other?
Or what if neither wants the boat, but it can't be sold for enough to satisfy both partners?

What if I am a slob, and leave it a mess every week?

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Boating partnerships

i've done it and will never again.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Boating partnerships

Hmmmm, but what if neither can afford to buy out the other?

Then you probably shouldn't be buying a boat in the first place.

 

[dvan1901]

Re: Boating partnerships

I understand the potential time issue, but that one I'm not too worried about due to our schedules. For those have "done it and will never again"; why not? What went wrong? Any of you done it and it worked out fine? If it never worked, there wouldn't be boat clubs...

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Boating partnerships

there's a big difference in a boat club, and a partnership. the club owns the boats, the membership fees and use fees pay the maintainance. the manager takes care of the cleaning, service, cleaning up the puke left in the boat. in a partnership, the especially in a 3 or 4 person, you may have 3 who want that $3,000 loran system, and split the cost which the 4th cannot afford right now, or sees no use for. partner # 2 knocks the foot off the outdrive, and 1,3,4 expect him to pay for his neglegence. # 1 takes a boat load out for the evening partying, 2 friends get puking sick and puke all over the carpet and upolstery. who cleans it. #1 has to be in Spokan at 10am in the morning on business. just the way it goes, in a partnership. partnerships, have ruined, and caused great resentment in the best of friendships. since the beginning of time.

also the legal liabilty is tremenous. partners are 100% each total responsible for the actions of the other partners. #1 drunk runs over a pontoon boat with 15 people , kills 2, maims 5 for life. all partners a fully and equally liable.

 

[bsh21wash]

Re: Boating partnerships

I went half on a boat with my buddy, granted I'm only 23 and either of us has a family. We take it out all the time with the rest of our friends. It's nice to because I dont have to do all the work once were out of the lake. We just split everything down the middle.

 

[dvan1901]

Re: Boating partnerships

trashasdaddy, I guess the difference is two fold for me; first, it will just be me and one other guy, not 3 or 4. Second, he is not the typed to trash the boat, get drunk and puke all over it, etc. Again, that is why I am even considering doing this with him. I don't forsee any major issues on this one.

 

[Rob454]

Re: Boating partnerships

Everyone has good intentions. things happen. I can tell you that the average partenership lasts abotu 10 months. I was in a partenership on a boat. When I got out of the USMC I had a few bucks so a friend of my moms talked me into going parteners. I did and it was the worse thing I ever did.
First of all I got very little time on it due to his entertaining clients. mind you we were 50 50. besides the ridiculous maintenance costs ( which supposedly a good buddy of his will give us a cut rate but I think he doubled the charges)
inability to take out my gf or family, and his pompous its my boat attitude I ended up going to him and demanding to be bought out. We ended up sellign the boat cause he couldnt buy me out. I told him that the boat is no longer in use. the boat was kept at my house so i ended up locking it down until it was sold. Thank god it sold quick. i swore to myself that I woudl never go parteners again. I made the same mistake with my construction business but I made out on that because they wanted to buy me out and made me a offer that paid off my house bills and any debts.
Rob

 

[Solittle]

Re: Boating partnerships

Sounds like you made up your mind before you posted. I hope you don't run accross this post someday and have to say to yourself - them guys were right.

For me the big issue would be the liability exposure as tashasdaddy points out.

 

[bucky7680]

Re: Boating partnerships

Who pays for the gas? Who takes it to be serviced? Who's house is it stored closer to? How will the insurance be handled? What if the other guy gets a DUI, how will this affect your rates? I say make sure you BOTH know what you BOTH are getting into. Have everything in writing. You two might get along but what about your better halves? I've seen partnerships work and others fail. Like others have said have an excape clause. The smart thing to do is just what you are doing. Ask alot of questions and see if you like the answers.

 

[Frugal Floater]

Re: Boating partnerships

What kind of boat are you looking for?
Conservatively, how many days total/year will you be out on the boat?
Price range?
Where are you keeping the boat?

You could rent a 200HP boat at most lakes for about $350/day. You could boat once every other weekend for 5 months during the warm months for $3,500. This might sound like a lot, but you don't have to worry about maintanance, towing, slip fees, insurance, etc....And you always have a new reliable boat and no post-boating scrub down....Depends on your answer to my 2nd quesion above whether this is a good option. You could buy a boat and rent it to your buddy on scheduled weekends established at the beginning of the year.

Anyway, I can argue both sides, but I still side on finding a boat you can comfortably afford even if that means you get something used/smaller. I have some buddies I know I could trust, but I like to be able to hitch up the boat and go whenever I want.

 

[dvan1901]

Re: Boating partnerships

Solittle, I haven't completely made up my mind, but pretty close. The purpose of the original post was to try and locate some online resources. Like an example contract or something like that. Again, one of the reasons he and are thinking of doing it is that we know the other won't do anything stupid as a result of being drunk or stupid. Yes, accidents do happen, but he is a very cautious guy. He's one of those guys who has gotten ahead in life by being a truely nice guy and doing the right thing. I have boated with he and his family a few times last year. True, we haven't sat down and gone through all the details at this point, but will do that before we make a final decision to go forward or not.

The type of boat we are looking at now is a deck boat that would hold 6+ people easily; more room than a bow rider, but still able to tube and ski out of. So, having said all that; are there online resources I'm not finding?

 

[vess]

Re: Boating partnerships

I am not sure about online resources, but I think you should probably consult an attorney to help draft a contract of sorts. When I read your post, all I could think of was the liability issues. As careful as anyone can be, there is always a possibility of catastrophic failure, even if it doesn't appear to be your fault. I am sure you will be able to work around schedules and make sharing the boat work, but you don't want your livelihood placed in jeopardy because of an accident. It can't cost more than a couple hundred to have a professional prepare something, and the money will be well spent for peace of mind, I think. As said earlier, this type of arrangement is common- in my area you can "lease" a boat from a company that timeshares it for the season with 3-4 other families. About $3000-$4000 per season, but it is docked at the marina, maintained, and new. Maybe you should look around your area for that option as well?

 

[Frugal Floater]

Re: Boating partnerships

You may find some language/terms in this I found on google:

http://www.sailboatpartners.com/Partnership Agreement/Partnership Agreement.pdf

Think about using Google Calender (a shared free online calender that you set who can view) to block off boating days you reserve....If you have a gmail account, you will see the link at the top.

 

[vess]

Re: Boating partnerships

Thanks for the heads-up on the calendar. I never pay attention to that stuff, but it looks like a great tool. I can't wait to try it out. Our family has a hard time sharing time in grandma's cottage, and an online calendar would be the ticket for scheduling. Were you successful in your search for your partnership?

 

[dvan1901]

Re: Boating partnerships

Vess, were you asking me about finding a partnership? My friend and I have been talking about it still, but haven't decided on anything yet. He is the only one that I would consider doing a partnership with though; he's the most responsible person I know. My other really good friend is still single and thinks he's in college still..sigh...