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Charter Boat Ownership

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Charter Boat Ownership / Charter Investment

Whether you plan to go cruising in your retirement, take a mid-career SEAbbatical, or simply like the idea of a floating holiday house in paradise, Charter Boat Ownership (or Charter Investment as its otherwise known) can help fund the dream of owning a luxury catamaran by significantly reducing the cost of ownership and offering a full concierge service for your convenience and pleasure.

What is a Charter Boat?

Charter boats are boats that have undergone compliance measures to meet strict safety and construction standards (National Standards for Commercial Vessels) enforced by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) to allow their owners to legally charge passengers a fee for a cruise either with a qualified skipper, or self operated by the charterer as a ‘bareboat’.

Bareboating is a popular holiday option for boating enthusiasts around the world, with large fleets located in Australia’s Whitsunday Islands and smaller fleets on Sydney’s Pittwater, Queensland’s Hervey Bay and Victoria’s Gippsland Lakes to name a few.

There are dozens of skippered charter boats offering half day cruises or longer excursions on Sydney Harbour, the Gold Coast and many other locations around Australia.

Catamarans have become the world’s most popular choice of charter boat due to their space, stability and ease of operation. As a result they offer the strongest returns and have the widest application.

Why a charter boat?

There are four key reasons why charter boats are a popular choice of ownership:

Charter boat ownership helps accelerate getting you on the water now, rather than waiting until retirement. This means you start gaining experience on your own boat and brings you a step closer to going cruising to new destinations sooner.
By default, charter boats are located in superb destinations, be it the 74 islands of the Whitsundays, or the world’s best natural harbour, Sydney. They are also locations that are easy to access by tourists and boat owners alike, with direct flights from Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne to the Whitsundays, or connecting flights from the USA, New Zealand and Europe. But as a boat owner, you are not restricted to the same limited cruising areas that charterers need to comply to on your own boat, meaning you can explore further in your own time.
We all know how little time we get to spend on holidays with our friends and family, so it makes a big difference when your boat has been professionally maintained by a charter company ready for you to step onboard and enjoy. There is no need to spend hours doing maintenance before you go out boating. The hard work has already been done.
A charter boat has the potential to generate sufficient revenue to not only cover holding costs (such as insurance, registration, marina fees and yearly servicing) and running costs (such as wear and tear, fuel, cleaning and management) and still provide a profit. When compared to private ownership where the costs of ownership and natural decline in value of a boat are entirely at the expense of the owner, the contrast in outcomes is significant.

Because a charter boat has the ability to cover all costs and generate a profit, this builds up over time and has a considerable accumulative affect to the overall outcome. Combined with depreciation to neutralise the natural market decline in value, a charter boat has the potential to pay for itself. This helps fund the dream of cruising before retirement and make a SEAbbatical a reality.

The Margett’s story of having their boat in Charter for 5 years, then taking it to sail around Australia

Craig and Kerry Margetts, a doctor and nurse, with their two young sons and dog, went on a year long Seabbatical to circumnavigate Australia on a Seawind 1160. Before setting out they had their boat in charter for a number of years while they taught their boys to sail her and prepared for the adventure. It was an amazing experience which expanded their horizons and taught their boys lessons which they would have never learned in school. Watch their interview with the team on Channel Nines Mornings program, to the right.

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Download Charter brochure

If you would like to see if a Charter Boat program could work for you, complete the form below to download
our Charter Boat Ownership Guide.


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Charter boat ownership is an important step in our ‘SEAbbatical’ program aiming to help get people cruising sooner.
You can review SEAbbatical Charter Boat packages here: www.seabbaticals.com.au

Or if you would like the full story on how to use Charter Boat Ownership to help fund cruising before you retire,
consider purchasing the book ‘SEAbbaticals’.

To learn why now is an ideal time to invest in a new Charter Boat, read here.

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