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Year 7?
There was no 7th Year
Anniversary Report
because there was really nothing to report. I basically stopped
recording and tracking repair costs and income. I did
audit the monthly repair details and continued to find nothing
extraordinary. Barefoot was still playing
catch-up with my account from a rough couple of post-911
years, and finally did succeed in bringing it back from a
negative balance. A small income check meant that the
boat was not costing me anything major. Other family
priorities resulted in another year that I did not go down to use the boat. I got real lazy and did not update the
website either. Not once. I basically forgot I had
a boat in the Caribbean.
With the boat fast approaching its
end-of-life in the charter business, a decision was made in
the spring of 2006 to put her up for sale. It was my
understanding that this could take a whole year, so it was
important to get a jump on it. It was always agreed that
Barefoot would keep the boat in their fleet until she
was 12 years old.
How I Sold the Boat Over the
Internet
Anybody familiar with my story How
I Bought the Boat Over the Internet will appreciate this
one. Fortunately selling was significantly less painful,
so a Reader’s Digest version of the story will suffice.
Basically, it went down like this.
E-mail to Seth at Barefoot
in late spring 2006: “OK, boat is near charter end-of-life.
Need to sell.”
E-mail from Seth: “OK, I'll arrange
everything. Here’s the
description for the ad.”
E-mail to Seth: “OK”
Do nothing. 6
months pass. Do nothing. 2 more months pass.
E-Mail from Seth: “OK, we have an offer.
Buyer conducting sea trials and survey Tuesday.”
E-mail to Seth:
“OK”
E-mail from Seth
Wednesday afternoon: “OK, buyer accepts, we have his
money. Please sign transfer section on
Certificate of Title and courier that to us. Also send
bank account information for wire
transfer.”
E-mail from Seth noon
Thursday: “OK, we got the Certificate. Wiring
money now.”
E-mail to Seth later
that day: “OK money in bank account. Over
and out.”
That was it.
I cannot thank Seth at Barefoot
enough for making this one a non-event, especially given that
there really was nothing in it for them.
Wear and Tear and Other Perils
I did not use the boat in the
final two years so I cannot assess first-hand, its state of
repair (or disrepair) at the time of sale. I did loan the
boat to Suspect Gord Burt and my J35 friends in the
winter of 2006 who conducted a complete inspection. Their
thoroughly professional report, with photos, showed nothing that
I did not already know, except that the new stove I had
installed in 2001 was no longer new. Five years of water
dripping from that useless side window had rusted the stove
again, the end result was a small fire in the galley area.
For the most part, there were no
extraordinary client complaints about its condition, except one
in the summer of 2006. It seems that this client
experienced the “perfect storm” of things that went
wrong. It had been particularly dry in the months leading
up to that charter, causing the silicone seals in the hatches to
shrink, resulting in wet cabins once the summer rains kicked in
- a few days into their charter as it would turn out. I have personally
repaired those a few times myself (and properly I might add), only to find
them fail six months later. I continue to be amazed at the
extreme affects of heat, humidity, and UV on boats in the
Caribbean.
That client also experienced an
unusual failure of the anchor/windlass system. While I
have documented difficulties with this in the past, I have had
the entire chain, windlass, and gypsy replaced more than once,
and at great expense. Neither I nor any other client has ever reported a
failure where the chain jumped the gypsy and ran free.
While I have no reason to doubt the claim, I am still scratching
my head on how this could happen.
There were a number of other
complaints that left that client claiming that the boat was “unfit
for charter as a result of extreme negligence.” While I
am very sympathetic to the difficulties this client experienced,
I take great offence to the claim of extreme negligence.
In partnership with Barefoot, we have taken proactive
steps in making certain that failing parts are replaced before
they fail. Despite our best efforts, this client did
experience an abnormal number of problems that may have
evoked more sympathy had the issue not deteriorated into claims
of extreme negligence. The client turned down Barefoot’s
offer to swap boats midway through the charter, yet continued to
complain about the same problems. This is certainly a tough business at times.
So that was it. Eight years
and only one charter from hell.
Financials
Let’s cut to the
chase.
I bought the boat in 1999 for
$85K US and added another $8.7K worth of upgrades to put her into charter - total
capital outlay of $93.7K US. Eight years later, I received
$66K after all accounts were settled - a capital cost write-down
of $31.8K
US, or 30%.
That would have been spectacular
if it were not for the gradual strengthening of the Canadian dollar. I
bought the boat in 1999 when the Canadian dollar was 63 cents
US, and sold her in 2007 when the dollar was 86 cents US.
If you aren’t following me here, I am Canadian, and we use the
Canadian dollar here in Canada, despite what CNN
thinks. That represented a further real loss of 23% on the
currency hedge, so it did not work out as well as I hoped.
Good thing I got out when I did, as the Canadian dollar is now
trading at par. Now if I were buying . . . that
would be another story . . .
From a cash flow perspective, it
always seemed that we were playing catch-up with the account
balance as a result of 9/11. You go into a negative
balance during the slow summer months, break even by February,
and maybe receive a check in April in a good
year.
Thankfully, Quickbooks
was able to put this into perspective, and it clearly
showed that I took in $11,311 CAD more than I paid out over 7
years. Fortunately, I received a whack of that money in
the first three years that I could draw on, so I was able to
have a boat in the Caribbean without it costing me any cash
out-of-pocket.
I have always been pleased with
the way Barefoot maintained the boat and their careful
management of costs. We were always able to overcome a
shortfall in bookings by staying under budget on expenses,
without compromising the condition of the boat.
Bookings were always the sore
point - we were never able hit our target of 20 weeks. If it was not 9/11, it was the gradual switch in
client preferences towards catamarans. When US clients
stayed home, Barefoot was able to make up some of the
shortfall with Europeans, and they wanted cats. While the Oceanis
400 was the workhorse of the Caribbean monohull charter business,
monohull clients in The Grenadines wanted the 50-footers.
Fortunately when I bought the boat, I did not know all this,
otherwise I might have given it a pass.
After eight years, I have
concluded that charter boat ownership should never be solely
about numbers. Anybody hoping that this program will
facilitate a free boat or measurable income should look
elsewhere. There is no question, however, that I would not
have made anywhere near the number of trips had I not owned
the boat. On the fun scale, this ride was well off the
charts!
www.usual-suspects-sailing.com
Not using the boat cut heavily into the availability of new
material, and as such, the last update before this one was
summer 2006. There will be no further updates, but I will
keep the website online until such a time that the material is
too dated to be of value.
I continue to receive a few e-mails each month from people planning charters
in the region, as well as reports from those who had a wonderful
time. The volume has tapered off since the site went
dormant.
Many Thanks
I could not have done this
alone.
First off, there were the
initial Prime Suspects, Gord
Burt, Tiny,
and Keeth Stone, who
successfully tricked me into this whole adventure. They
were there when this was just a whacky idea at the Yacht Club
bar. They were
there when I handed over the money and took delivery of the
boat. They were on every mission during the first 3 years.
 The team at Barefoot Yacht
Charters, lead by owner Mary Barnard (left), were instrumental in
making my adventure a reality. They looked after my boat for
eight years as if it were their own. I never really
worried about it as a result, and because of that trust, really
made it possible to have a boat in the Caribbean without
worry. I cannot thank these dedicated people enough.
To the Barefoot team -
one great big THANK YOU!
Far left – Brent (dock hand),
Monty (refrigeration), Vergil (Chief Engineer), Seth; At rear – Philmore
(electrician); At front with hands close to hips – Bernard
(dock hand), Rose (housekeeping), Jasmine (customer service); in dark glasses – Steve
(second engineer), Cornelia (housekeeping), right at rear, tall guy –
Garth (dock hand), in dark glasses – Kemuel (rigging);
in white t-shirt at rear – Rondell (dinghies & outboards);
kneeling in red t-shirt – Emroy (dock hand); in Rasta hat – “Chalkie”
(dockmaster); in blue t-shirt at right – Trevita
(housekeeping)
 And finally, there is Seth at Barefoot,
who was may partner in this whole adventure, through a keyboard
on the other end of a wire known as the Internet. It was
Seth who tolerated my endless questions, put the purchase deal
together, brought the boat into the fleet, put up with more
endless questions, suggestions, blathering, stories, and
concerns,
and was there to facilitate the final sale of the boat. Without his
steadfast dedication and skill, my cruising career in the
Caribbean might have been limited to one experience in St.
Martin. He is most responsible for making my dream of
cruising the Caribbean a reality.
So, Was It Worth It?
Absolutely.
It was a dream come true to own a yacht in the Caribbean at
the age of 40. There was always a fun-ticket to my
next adventure on the dresser, a necessary tool for maintaining
sanity during long cold Canadian winters. For eight years,
it was the focus of my entertainment, and I enjoyed every minute
of it.
This photo sums up the way I want to remember my
experience with The Usual Suspects.
’Nuff said.
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