1.The purchase price of a yacht is just your ante into the game
It's really just the entry.
2. The cheaper you buy a boat in any size/class, the greater the raises into the pot will end up
3. Speed = money
The cost of yachting increases exponentially with the speed with another exponent outside the speed bracket for size.
4. Don't buy a yacht to make money
You cannot "buy a yacht and charter it out getting the charter income to pay for your usage costs". This is a common lie within the industry. You either have a charter yacht that pays for itself and possibly makes you some income as a business asset, or you have private yacht that you enjoy and spend time on. Due to the limited usage weeks per year, and higher maintenance costs of a charter boat, you cannot have both. If you want the boat to make money, it will not be available for you to use when you want.
5. Choose wisely when it comes to crew
Do not cheap out on crew, they are the highest value asset on the yacht; you, your family, and your guests, lives depend on them. While your yacht is for recreation, it is not a toy, improper operations can and will lead to injury and death.
6. Experience does not come cheap
But again there is an exponential factor with crew cost, only this time in vessel operational savings. Saving a few thousand in crew costs typically leads to adding tens if not hundreds of thousands in operational and repair costs.
7. Understand your usage requirements
Every yacht is a compromise in form and function, understand what your usage requirements are and choose a yacht which has a form that best meets the needs of those requirements.
8. Find your Captain before you find your yacht
The less you know about boats, the more experienced you want your captain to be, and you want them involved in the purchase process. Your captain is a much better advocate for you in the process than your broker. Your broker is only watching out for their commission, your captain is looking out for your future enjoyment, because your enjoyment is what will bring stability and enjoyment to them.
9. Make sure you love boating and being at sea
Seriously, make sure you love boating and being at sea. If you are buying a yacht simply as a status symbol to use in ports, you are making a very expensive mistake and would be much better off chartering, or buying hotels.
10. Bigger is not always the better
If you love boating and traveling/exploring, the bigger the yacht, the less practical it becomes as with greater size comes greater draft which limits the ability to explore inland waters, cross reefs and bars, and enter atolls, and that is where all really nice things to explore are.
About the Author : Henning Heinemann is a Super Yacht Captain of 30 years. Holds qualifications of 3000ton Ocean Master, 1600ton Sail, Unlimited Towing and Commercial Pilot.
Photo credit : From_All_Atmospheres https://www.instagram.com/from_all_atmospheres/
Crew Privilege membership is an exclusive Crew Membership Card that gets Crew global discounts and is a smart way of saving your pennies wisely and still enjoying your precious time on shore. sign up here: www.crewprivilege.com
