Gents,

I'm looking for some information on leasing a boat for commercial usage (guess the subject line already said that. [img]smile.gif[/img] )

The plan is to run a small hunting/fishing charter operation up here in S.E. Alaska. Both activities will require accommodating the clients onboard for 3-7 days, so I'll need a large boat.

The down payment requirements these days seem to run around 25% for getting a loan. We're talking about boats that run from $100,000 to $200,000 dollars, so that a lot of cash. I was thinking that perhaps it would be better to lease a boat for a couple years, then if things work out, I could buy one. Or maybe a 'lease to own' sort of deal.

There is a boat in town (this ones not wood, sorry) that would do the job perfectly. Plus, it's set up for power trolling. I could buy a permit and work the winter King salmon fishery in the off-season. Anyhow, it's a classic story of an older fisherman setting up his boat with all the proper gear and equipment, then getting too old to use it after he's done. There's a lot of very nice aluminum and stainless steel rigging, the non-skid decks look barely worn, etc. It's hard to put in words, when a boat looks 'right', but I'm sure you folks know what I mean. Such a shame the owner didn't get to use it more. It's been sitting in the harbor for what seems like 5 years. The bottom has a ton of growth, but somebody is taking care of the top, because it's clean and there's no moss growing in the little seams which is common around here.

The 'grapevine' says the boat owner is looking to sell, but there's no 'for sale' sign on the boat. My thinking is that I could lease the boat from him for two years, at approximately $1,000 a month (just a guess.) In two years the owner has made $24,000 from his boat which was just sitting at the dock before, and I get to test the charter business waters without the debt load of a $150,000 boat. If things don't work out, I'm not stuck trying to sell the boat.

That's the basic deal, but I have some questions...

I'm guessing the boat would survey at somewhere between $100,000 to $150,000. How is the cost of the lease determined? By the value of the vessel, or the amount of income the lessee makes from operating the vessel, or the lessors payment, plus some profit? Is there an industry standard for this?

Who pays for major repairs? Naturally I would pay for and perform normal maintenance. But say one of those diesels that's been sitting for way too long throws a connecting rod halfway through the lease agreement? My guess is the owner pays for that repair. If I hit a rock, then obviously it's my responsibility.

When I ran a search on the internet for 'boat lease contracts' not much came up. Lot's of stuff for leasing houses and cars though. How standardized is this sort of thing in the marine community?

There's more questions, but I'm betting that the replies will lead to stuff I haven't even considered yet. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Thanks