Hello Rob;

As you know, we now have a boat in the Barefoot Yacht Charters fleet.  I thought a ‘report’ might be interesting to you, so here it is.

What a long strange trip it’s been! We started over 3 years ago (Dec. 1999) after an email conversation with Seth at Barefoot regarding long term charters.  That discussion evolved into questions about how much it would cost to own a charter boat and how lucrative that ownership might be, which led to 4 great charters with Barefoot and our recent successful efforts to become ‘Barefooters’.  We now have a Beneteau 445 in Seth’s fleet, and her new name is Silk Pajamas.

Before I describe the experience, I want to thank you for all your help and encouragement.  The information on your website was very useful to us and your emails and our conversations on the phone helped to make this boat purchase a reality.  When we and others were questioning our sanity, you didn’t.

During our search for a boat, we made what we thought were reasonable offers on 6 boats, and Seth was with us on every one.  We discussed our offers and the relative merits of each boat with him, and his knowledge and encouragement were critical to our success.  I feel our discussions with Seth prepared us well for the task at hand.

Our first try was for a 42 foot Jeanneau in a charter fleet.  A somewhat older boat, we offered what we thought was a reasonable amount, but we made our offer just prior to the high season, at the end of 2001.  The owner held firm to what we felt was a high price.  The owner was looking at several months of solid bookings and we would have to pay for those charters if we wanted his boat.  He still liked the boat and that was that.  We decided the cost was too high, we really couldn’t afford that many charters.  Lesson number one; boat owners don’t negotiate much if their boat is in a fleet and it is the beginning of high season.

Our next offer (boat 2) was about 7 months later, in the off-season.  We were looking at a Jeanneau 44 that had been part of a charter fleet and was damaged in a hurricane some years ago.  This 44 had been used for day charters for the past few years, she looked good, and a surveyor thought he remembered that this boat had suffered only minor hurricane damage that was repaired in a quality yard.  Seth made the offer for us. Our plan was to take a look at the boat while we were in St. Vincent for our charter, a couple of weeks away.  Meanwhile, we learned that the boat had significant problems including extensive osmosis and water in the rudder.   However, the interior and exterior were clean, and blisters and rudders can be fixed. We had made an offer that we thought was consistent with the repairs required, but the owner wasn’t willing to reduce his price much.  While we were discussing our next step, some one else came in and bought the boat.

During the next couple of months, we searched the Internet, re-read sailonline.com  and gave this whole thing more thought.  At the Long Beach boat show, I saw a 3 cabin Beneteau 440 with a centerline queen berth in the owners front cabin.  I liked the boat for what we do, and it was clear that this one would appeal to Kristin, whose biggest headache on a boat is a pointy, short v-berth with walls that are too close on those warm nights in the islands.  The Beneteau 440 also had a good cockpit for laying back and watching stars at night. Kristin went to see the boat, and she decided that the 3 cabin 440, or a version of it, was her preferred boat.  At YachtWorld.com, we found a few Beneteau 445s that were available and seemed in good condition, just what we were looking for.  A flurry of activity over a period of about 4 months followed.  We were about to become members of the boat-of-the-month club.

Our boat number 3 was a 445 Kristin found for sale in St. Vincent that was already in a charter fleet at the Blue Lagoon.  The situation seemed perfect.  We contacted Seth and, under the heading of it’s a small world,  he was very familiar with that particular boat.  After some discussion, Seth made an offer on the boat for us.  The owner agreed that while our offer was not too good, it wasn’t too bad when everything was considered.  The owner thought about our offer for a while but was having difficulty letting go of his boat.  There was something about not having a boat in the islands I suppose, so he decided he was not going to sell his boat at this time.  The owner didn’t ask for more money, but instead sailed his boat down-island where it is, I believe, still being used by him.  The boat was removed from the for sale list on the internet.  Lesson number two, boat owners might not want to give up their boats even though the boat is listed for sale.

Offer number 4 was on another Beneteau 445 for sale in Grenada.  The boat seemed to be in reasonable shape and it had that centerline queen berth that Kristin wanted, so Seth contacted the sellers and we negotiated.  We arrived at what everybody involved thought was a reasonable price so we were off and running again.  Unfortunately, one of the negotiators was not the actual owner but rather an agent working on behalf of the owner.  Just when all of us were sure we had a deal, the owner stepped in and said no, she wouldn’t sell at that price.  There was no counteroffer, just a statement of no thanks.  I still remember Seth’s email which started with ‘you aren’t going to believe this but’.  Say WHAT? The broker involved then said they had another 445 for sale up in the BVI that was supposed to be in very good condition.  The boat was part of a fleet with a charter company known for good maintenance, and could probably be had for the same offer.  In addition, the broker was willing to pick up a chunk of the delivery costs involved with moving the boat from Tortola to St. Vincent.  Therefore, we made an offer on Boat 5, another Beneteau 445, and the offer was accepted.

There were a few more complications related to buying a boat some distance from St. Vincent.  The primary problem was that we wouldn’t be looking at a boat close to Barefoot. However, Seth had a contact in the BVI, a surveyor who agreed to fit our survey into his schedule.  We talked about accepting the surveyor’s assessment as our sole evaluation of the boat, but I couldn’t resist the chance to go to the BVI, even if it was only a short trip.  Having chartered there several times, I looked forward to visiting favorite places (a burger and beer at Peg Legs, a roti at de Loose Mongoose) and to sailing again on the Drake Channel.  I would also see, first hand, the new stop lights in Road Town!  Seth and I discussed my strategy and off I went to participate in a survey of a boat all of us hoped would pass.  At this point, we felt like we had been looking for a long time.  We no longer felt like virgins.

I met Robert, the surveyor, and we took the boat out on Drake Channel and down to Nanny Cay for a lunch time haul and hold.  On the way, Robert showed me several significant problems on the boat but when we got to Nanny Cay, I still considered the boat a possible purchase.  I was almost unwilling to walk away empty-handed.  We wanted a boat. Eventually, the surveyor uncovered enough serious problems that I was forced to decide the boat was out of the running and we cancelled the rest of the survey.  It was all pretty disappointing, my call to Kristin that evening not very pleasant.  The boat in ‘very good condition’ turned out to have more problems than we needed.

Well, on to Plan B.  I would see as many boats of interest as possible during the remaining time I was there.  I sent Seth an email telling him that the boat we surveyed hadn’t survived and went off looking.  I headed toward BVI Yacht Sales.  We had discussed this starting point for Plan B prior to my trip to the BVI because I knew Nanny Cay, and more importantly, BVI Yacht Sales had three 445s for sale.  At BVI YS, I met Karen and she spent much of the afternoon with me looking at the 445s she had available.  We both sweated up and down ladders and she let me crawl around inside the boat that seemed the best to me.  I liked that particular 445 enough to consider making an offer.

After returning to Long Beach, I discussed boat 6 with Seth and Kristin.  Both were cautiously enthusiastic and willing to proceed so Seth forwarded our offer for the boat and the owner accepted.  We were off and running, again.  We wired a deposit to a bank in Tortola while Karen and Seth made arrangements with Robert to do another survey.  Just our luck, this boat wasn’t quite as clean as it appeared.  Several problems turned up in the survey, including a pair of bad motor mounts, a slipping transmission, shot batteries, wear at the gooseneck, a few blisters and more.  None of these problems alone would have killed a deal, and all were repairable.  It was just a question of price.  The surveyor had come up with a number he thought was a reasonable approximation of repair cost, but we needed to obtain an ‘official estimate’ in order to establish a firm price.

Karen found a reliable person to help us and Phil, the new project manager, worked with Seth to get that real estimate.  Phil’s official estimate was close to that of the surveyor.   Since the repair bill was a fairly large number, we renegotiated price with the owner.  His absolutely final reduction was just enough to bring the price into the not too good, but not too bad category.  We put our heads together and agreed that while this buy was marginal as a ‘deal’, it was worth going ahead since we liked the boat and a fair bit of the charter season was still ahead of us.  Seth gave Karen our ‘yes’, the purchase agreement was signed by all, and we were off and running, yet again.  We started the repairs right away so we could get the boat to St. Vincent for the rest of the charter season and have some chance of making a few dollars.

Then, while repairs were underway, the Catch-22 reared it’s head.  We were a couple of days past the closing date and BVI Yacht Sales still hadn’t received the original, notarized copy of the Bill of Sale.  An exchange of emails revealed that the owner didn’t like the idea of sending the original to BVI Yacht Sales until our money was deposited into his account.  He didn’t want to give up his interest in the boat without having that cash. It was a strange spot to be in.  Because we had the owner’s signature on a purchase agreement, and also on a copy of the original signed bill of sale, we had wired a big chunk of money into the BVI YS escrow account.  In addition, many of the repairs necessary on the boat had been completed and were paid for by us.  Now, the owner was unwilling to go that last step unless we released our money directly to him.  Did this guy want to sell his boat or not?

Although frustrated, I understood what the owner was going through.  We had also worried about sending money to a bank in the Caribbean. However, BVI Yacht Sales was acting as escrow agents and everything they had done was thoroughly professional.  We trusted them and had sent off the money.   However, we were unwilling to let the owner have both our money and the original bill of sale.  We insisted on using escrow.  Who knew what the owner was thinking?  Unless something changed, we and others involved with this sale were facing the possibility of putting liens on the boat to recover costs and to prevent the owner from selling his partially repaired boat to someone else.  Well, after a couple of nervous days and a series of emails from the broker, the owner reconsidered and sent the original, signed copy of his bill of sale to the BVI. It was received by the brokers on January 27, a week late, but very welcome.

The boat went in the water partially repaired on January 28, still needing work on the transmission, refrigeration system and more.  A new transmission was a better deal than a rebuilt so Phil ordered the replacement, and a version with a different gear reduction formula showed up.  The factory insisted that the one they sent should have been on the boat, so we went with it hoping we weren’t looking at buying a different propeller down the line.  The transmission went in the boat on February 5, the refrigeration was fully repaired on February 6, Phil tested all of the repairs, did a flurry of last minute changes, and declared the boat ready to leave.  Meanwhile, Seth had arranged for a delivery crew to go to the BVI where they tested equipment and inventoried the stuff on board, expecting to leave on about Feb 4.  On Feb 2 Seth sent an email indicating our first charter was in the works.  The boat actually left the BVI on Feb 7, heading for a stop in St. Maarten to pick up a dinghy and another anchor, and Silk Pajamas arrived in St. Vincent late evening on Feb 15.  The trip to St. Vincent required extra days due to stiff trade winds and rough seas.  During this time it was useful to remind ourselves frequently that it’s best to not worry about things over which we have no control.

Well, we have to admit the last part of this ‘trip’ was trying.  In addition to the nervous wait while the boat was being delivered to St. Vincent, on arrival in St. Vincent we still had some work to do.  There were more small things to repair. These were not items you would necessarily fret about on your own boat at home, but they were things that must be working well for a charter operation.  Charterers joke and complain about charter boats but Barefoot wouldn’t send Silk Pajamas out on that first charter unless all equipment was working well.  It’s their business and we are pleased with their diligence.  However, the last few days were busy as engineers and boat maintenance people at Barefoot worked to make sure all was in order for the first charter that started only 6 days after arrival at the Blue Lagoon. 

We chewed our lips as chain was marked, 12V outlets were checked and repaired, anchors were swapped, electrical problems were traced, CD players were repaired, latches were adjusted, rigging was tuned, and more.  Barefoot was patient and supportive through it all, always sympathetic to the financial limits of their new ‘Barefooters’.  A bit more tension was generated when we received our final bills from the BVI.  Although we had planned to spend about 20%  more than the original repair estimate, we had somehow overlooked other costs such as preparing the boat for travel, final slip fees, final electrical costs, water, oil filters, and others.  These things just slipped our minds.  These final costs added about 1500 dollars to the bill and 1500 dollars looks much bigger at the end, when all of your bank accounts are depleted, than it does earlier when you are feeling financially well off.  The costs which we had conveniently put out of our minds were now inconvenient.  When our brains started working again, we realized that all of the unanticipated costs added up to less than the price of a week of charter.

Well Rob, the long strange trip has been interesting.  I suppose it wasn’t really particularly long, since most of the action occurred in the past few months.  However, it was certainly exciting and sometimes a real nail-biter. It was especially enjoyable if you like your adrenaline in surges and don’t mind a few bad days.  Over the past several months, since about mid October, I had received more than 100 emails from Seth dealing just with our various boat offers and I think I sent him about the same number.  I got to the point where I looked forward to starting my day with an email from Seth.  We hope our boat charters well and trouble-free so Seth and Barefoot benefit from all the help they gave us.  In addition, we met other fine people along the way.  I think you get to know people better when things don’t go perfectly and our final somewhat rocky road certainly helped there.

Karen, at BVI Yacht Sales was enthusiastic and helpful throughout our negotiations on our boat. She was professional in handling this sale and in her interactions with Phil and the boat yard at Nanny Cay. I wouldn’t hesitate to buy another boat through BVI YS.  Phil managed to get all of our repairs completed in a timely and competent manner in spite of having us breathing down his neck and it being the height of the yacht season.  Any sizable delays were imposed upon him, and his final repair bill was within about 20% of the original estimate in spite of frozen bolts, necessary welds, electrical shorts and previous questionable repairs that drove up the cost.  We did have those ‘unexpected’ costs at the very end but they were only unexpected because of our own brain failure.  Phil was trusting enough to complete the necessary work and pay some bills for us so the boat could leave.  Robert, the surveyor, was excellent and didn’t hesitate to give me his opinion even if I didn’t like it.  His knowledge of yachts, and in particular this type of boat, was impressive and I have no doubt that Robert was our best choice for a surveyor.

So, how does it feel to own this boat?  To put this into context, we are actually owners of two boats now.  Going into this we already had a Ranger 33 that we have sailed for some time in the Channel Islands National Park off Ventura, California.  We bought the 445 to get ‘another boat’ so that we would have better access to those islands with warm water, trade winds and friendly islanders.  To answer the question, right now it feels good to own the 445 and we would do it again.  We are exhausted but happy.  All things considered, it was a very positive experience.  Members of our immediate family and the few friends we were willing to admit our insanity to, had an amusing time finding out on a nearly daily basis what was happening with our boat-buying ups and downs.  Now, we will see how it all works out being charter boat owners.

Well that’s about it. When we are in ‘de ilons’ at the same time, we will buy you that very big Rummer.

All the best,
Terry