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Preliminary Recommendations | Organization Stage | Phase-out Stage | Useful Survey Links
You're almost reaching the end of your Management
Contract with your Charter Company and you have decided
to keep your boat, either for your personal use or to place
her in the hands of a Yacht Broker to sell her. Incidentally,
this may imply you will have to move the boat to another location,
possibly pretty far from her present one. Let's face it: this
major event in your life of charter boat owner can be a monumental
headache. But help is on the way: Sailonline has assembled
a series of guidelines. Also, know that the majority of owners
who do this procedure properly are handed a boat in very decent
shape.
1. Preliminary Recommendations
- There is simply no substitute for your personal attention to
this. Some owners believe their Charter Company will properly
handle this on its own. It could very well be true, but don't
count on it. You will find everything, from companies that do
a good, honest job, to companies that just want you and your
5 or 6-year old boat out of their life, with minimum fuss and
cost to them. And ASAP, please!
Well...NO WAY. You definitely want your boat to be in good shape when
she is handed to you. So if you have negotiated adequate provisions in your
Management Contract, and if you follow our guidelines, you should be in good
shape.
-
- We have seen some owners insist the Charter Company must hand
them a boat that has been brought back to new condition. This
is simply unreasonable and unfair to the Charter Company. Think
about it: your boat has been chartered somewhere between 100
to 150 weeks or so during the life of your Management Contract.
That can be as high as 10 times more than a private boat is typically
used. This is where the concept of "fair wear and tear" comes
into play: You can't expect a new boat back at the end of your
5 or 6 years contract. Get used to it, it won't happen. Besides,
you have been already compensated for the use of the boat by
a cut on the income of the boat, remember?
What all this means: Although everything should be in properly inspected working
condition, you will not receive new upholstery and sails, a new engine,
unless they've all been destroyed. NOW, torn sails, non-working electronics,
thick black smoke out of the exhaust, cracks in the rigging, large blisters
in the hull, etc. are not fairly worn and torn items. Get the picture?
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- Owners will get much more out of the Charter Company and of
their relationship with the base personnel if they are friendly
and develop a personal rapport with the base manager and the
supervisors. In one word, be the owner celebrated by a round
of drinks after work!
2. The Organization Stage (Starts One Year Before
Phase-Out)
- Once you have established your exact phase-out date in agreement
with your Charter Company, schedule to take your boat on a 1-week
cruise if you can, or at least for 3 or 4 days. Schedule that
cruise to take place about 3 months before that phase-out date.
Not less, because if you find some significant problems, the
Charter Company will need time to fix them. But not more either:
if there is too big a time lapse between the last haul-out and
the Phase Out, you might have to haul the vessel again.
NOTE: If you know your boat has osmosis and blisters,
make sure to allow enough time for the drying process.
-
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- Be very organized about this. Make a detailed paper trail
of all the information below, properly sorted in folders.
- Get a list of useful addresses. Use your friends
and Internet resources.
- Get all you can about the typical problems your boat may
show after 5/6 years (For example, is your boat prone to
osmosis?) Sure, since you have been a dedicated owner, you
already know what they might be, right? Just kiddin'
- Ask your Charter Company to give you the updated maintenance
log of the boat. Among other things, check if there is any
repeating problem. If so, it has not been properly fixed,
otherwise why would it repeat, right?
-
 Tip:
Obtain and read the charterers' check-out or debriefing questionnaires
as far back as you can.
- Tip:
Are you already in possession of all the boat manuals?
They were given to you when the boat was delivered to you,
remember? If not, get a hold of them, presto.
- Try to establish contact with other owners in your Charter
Company (via personal contacts or Internet newsgroups) and
see if anybody is willing to share their phase-out experience
with you. You will get invaluable information.
- Get your Management Contract out of its dusty folder and
check all the phase-out clauses. We can only hope they are
well defined!
- Some companies provide owners with a "Phase-Out Manual".
Get your hands on it ASAP.
- Dig out the long inventory list you received at your boat
delivery. You know, all the boat equipment: Lines and sheets,
tools and spares, first aid kit, charts & navigation
tools, flags, fenders, life jackets, linen & galley equipment,
etc...You get the idea. You see, things tend to disappear
from boats at charter bases. Usually not because of theft,
but because of "cannibalization" from one boat
to another by the base personnel. Anyway, all items that
were on the boat when she was commissioned should be still
there, and in working order. If not, they should be replaced.
Simple.
- If you intend to upgrade/add some items on your boat,
things like a spinnaker & gear, storm sails, inflatable
dinghy, life raft, EPIRB, radar, SSB, wind generator, etc.:
Ask your Charter Company if they would agree to buy and install
those on your boat during the phase-out reconditioning. This
would be done at your expense, of course, but perhaps at
a preferred cost? This could be a time and money saver.
- If your boat is in the Caribbean and you are bringing
her home in the USA, make a list of the compliance items
requested by the USCG and the US Authorities (Customs, taxes,
etc.) in general. One of the main requirements is the connection
of the holding tanks.
- Check up on insurance needs and options well in advance
(6 months).
- Lastly and importantly, obtain the name of a good surveyor
in your boat's geographical area. Again, a recommendation
by another owner is the best way for this.
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- Say, 6/8 months before phase-out, work on booking a haul-out
schedule. Although precise dates for a haul-out are difficult
to schedule, a rough plan will help. For example, a bottom
survey 6 months ahead of phase-out is not a good idea—too
early—so get one organized about 3 months before phase-out,
at the end of your cruise (see 2.1.)
- Choose and line up the surveyor. If your boat is in the
Caribbean, simply finding one (let alone a good one) in some
areas can be a little bit problematic.
- Obviously, we highly recommend you make the haul-out and
survey happen at the end of your sea trial cruise and in
your presence.
- If you intend to keep your boat for personal use and will
bring her back home, you will need to shop for a delivery
company—unless you intend to sail her home yourself.
- If your boat is in the Caribbean, and you intend to ship
out some extra equipment onto her, allow plenty of time.
Caribbean Customs are not necessarily efficient or helpful.
For example, getting stuff to St. Lucia one month ahead of
the time it is needed is not too soon.
3. The Phase-Out Stage
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- As suggested above, spend at least 3 or 4 days (1 week
is best) cruising on your boat and go over everything yourself.
We mean everything. Why do this, you might say, since
the boat is going to be surveyed anyway? Well, it is always
good and informative to conduct your own inspection for cosmetic
and usability items. More if you have the necessary knowledge.
And it can usefully complement the surveyor's work.
- Even if you are not an expert (don't be embarrassed, most
of us are not), you still probably know your boat pretty
well by now, so check everything you know and use your common
sense. Do this in a systematic way, for example starting
on deck first, from the bow working your way back to the
stern. Then go down below and do the same. Lastly, go snorkeling
along and under the hull and note everything that looks suspect
to you.
- Of course, take abundant notes. It would be helpful to
use a laptop computer to sort the records and generate a "punch
list" printout, (you can use our suggested
punch list) which the surveyor and the base/maintenance
manager will be able to work out of. That list, added to
the survey, will become your main working document. You will
check off the items that are completed as the phase-out goes
along. Personally, I use a Palm Pilot™ on my boat to
take notes, which I download later on my computer back home.
- Inventory the boat. You may want to mark
your sails and photography the inventory. Write down model
and serial numbers of significant equipment, especially if
that equipment is not attached to the boat. Start this process
as early as possible.
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- If you have correctly programmed your phase-out procedure,
you have scheduled the haul-out and survey at the end of your
cruise or shortly thereafter. Needless to say, make your best
efforts to be present for this. If you cannot, good surveyors
use digital cameras so photos of problem areas can easily be
sent to you for your own inspection. A thorough survey takes
the whole day and is composed of the following:
- Complete hull inspection during haul-out, with detection
of possible blisters, delamination and cracks if the boat
went aground.
- Complete exterior inspection including deck flex, leaks,
mast, rigging (the surveyor has to go aloft for this purpose)
and sails, etc.
- Complete interior inspection with test of all electric
panels and systems, refrigeration system, detection of
potential leaks, etc.
- Complete engine run-up and check-up (starting with a
cold engine) with sea trial for verification of gear engagement,
misalignment or vibration of the propeller shaft, etc.
NOTE: Your boat surveyor may not necessarily
be an engine/diesel surveyor. If so, it is a good idea
to hire a specialized engine surveyor. The reports
we have show that it is well worth the cost.
- Expected costs: boat survey $15/18 per foot (includes
a short sea trial); haul out/pressure wash about $175 to
$250, or $7 a foot; engine survey $125 to $225, depending
on the time involved and includes checking the transmission.
A good surveyor should be very methodical, and inspect the
boat from aloft, then from bow to stern. He should make sure
you observe and understand all the problematic items he discovers.
Do not hesitate to ask him all the questions you'd like.
However, try not to constantly interrupt his work as this
could add a considerable amount of time to the survey.
He should make his Preliminary Findings available in about 2 days, and
give you a Final Report about a week later.
Lastly, you should ask him to make a couple of follow-up visits to determine
the progress in correcting the faults that will be found. The small extra-cost
is well worth it, especially if you are not on site yourself.
You can see an authentic Survey Report performed in September 2000
by Marine Consultants & Surveyors in the British Virgin Islands, so
you can understand better what to expect. Download
the survey document (available both in .doc and Acrobat PDF formats.)
Note about hull delamination: Quick bottom inspections
can be done at the haul-out while the vessel is in the slings.
However, moisture tests of the bottom laminates cannot be done
as the hull will not be dry enough. So if you suspect your boat
has this problem, you will have to let the boat dry long enough
on the hard.
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- At this stage, armed with the Survey and your own list,
you probably will have to negotiate with your Charter Company
to determine the items that will be fixed at their expense,
and those which won't.
This is where your Management Contract and the concept of "fair
wear and tear" come into play. If your contract is well defined
in this area, part of this will be a no-brainer and the Charter Company
should fix obvious items without arguing: Hull delamination, torn sails
or bimini, cracks in the rigging, broken electronics, leaks, malfunctioning
refrigeration, missing inventory items, etc.
- However, some other items will be in a gray area. For example,
how do you define "fair wear and tear" on upholstery,
cushions, sails, sheets and halyards, woodwork, and more
generally in all cosmetic items? You guessed it, it's not
easy thus becomes a matter of negotiation and fairness on
behalf of the Charter Company and its representative, the
Base Manager. If the Charter Company wants you to feel good
about your ownership experience, chances are they will be
gracious and give you new(er) sails when yours still have
a year to go; or a new bimini; or new cushions; fix all the
scratches, etc. You get the idea.
If not, and if you feel the Charter Company is attempting to escape its
contractual obligations, or simply to give you the runaround, you will
have to decide how far you want to push to obtain satisfaction. We know
of instances where owners have sued Charter Companies over a phase-out,
but it is relatively rare. Which means, and that's the good news, in
the majority of cases, departing owners are satisfied.
- After both parties finally agree upon the "Big List",
the idea is for you to do a lot of follow-up. For
example, call the Base Manager (or whoever is in charge of
your phase-out) once a week and discuss the progress in crossing
off the list items. Be adamant to the respect of the work
advancement schedule. However, bear in mind that, short of
being there yourself (or a trusted representative) you can
never be 100% sure of what is really going on!
Once the majority of the List and/or major items have been completed,
you may, for instance, contract again with the surveyor to visit your
boat and check those items himself.
- Finally, go back to the boat. Go out on an another sea
trial and re-check every item on the List yourself. Especially
if you have decided to bring the boat back home yourself.
Look over every agreed upon item—big and small—on
the boat before accepting her. We recommend that you plan
at least a week to "accept" the boat since, we
guarantee it, some items will probably need to be revisited.
This takes time. Do not feel pressured because your phase-out
date is getting awfully close: You will not get another
shot at this after you sign off for the boat release!
Insist that this GPS work correctly. Where is this downwind
spinnaker which was part of your initial inventory? Why
is this latch still leaking? Etc. If you are not satisfied,
do not give up and insist for a release date postponement
until you are.
Finally, D-Day has arrived and you are ready to accept the release
of your boat in your own hands. If you have followed our (modest)
recommendations, there is a good chance your prized possession
is now in better shape than most 4 or 5 year-old, owners maintained
sailboats.
Congratulations! This was one of the most dreaded moments in a
charter boat owner life, and you did very well!
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