One of the primary questions we get asked when people are thinking of sharing a boat is how many partners they should have. Most people can get their mind around two people sharing a boat. Communication and scheduling aren’t too difficult with two people and if something happened to the boat and you didn’t do […]
We have seen a myriad of different partnership arraignments work. Family partnerships, business partners or friends who purchase a boat together, relative strangers who become a member on a boat and remain for years – there really doesn’t seem to be a single defining characteristic that insures success in a boat sharing relationship. There are, […]
First, for clarification’s sake, an LLC (Limited Liability Company) is a type of corporation. However, for ease of discussion I’ll use the term “corporation” to refer to a Subchapter S Corporation (we will leave C Corporations out of this discussion as impractical for putting a boat into). In the world of boat sharing, there is […]
A few months ago one of my boat sharing partners left the following message on my cell phone. “John, can you call me back? I really need to talk to you.” I was having dinner and figured I would call him back later that night. During dinner he called again and left another message. “John, […]
It could be as simple as a new coffee pot or it could be the latest in boating technology such as Satellite TV, FLIR or Underwater lights but at some point one partner will want to add something to the boat that another may not want to? So how do you handle it? The first […]
There are more than 70 million Americans enjoying boating, and approximately 17 million registered recreational vessels in the United States; however, on average, a boat is only used 14 days per year! What if you could have the watercraft of your dreams, pay for only ½ or ¼ of it, and still use it the […]
Sharing a boat seems like such a great idea.After all, there are approximately 17 million registered recreational vessels in the United States, but on average a boat is only used a total of 14 days per year. With that amount of usage, sharing only makes sense, right? But purchasing any asset with people you know can create the kind of problems that can end those valued relationships.Dreams of weekends at the boat club and watching everyone's kids grow up together can be replaced with large maintenance expenses, angry calls about who gets which holiday weekend and even possible lawsuits.
An important part of any boating partnership is to be able to accurately determine individual usage and a cost for that usage. After all, if you’re the one who always gets stuck filling her up, I can guarantee you that the partnership will not last. How can you accurately determine fuel usage? Let me start […]
