Date: 22 July 2014. Boat Buying with your New Partner.
© janice142
All too often I hear couples
consider pooling their funds to buy the boat of their dreams.
Both often younger and neither partner has the funds to buy
outright. But together they can "swing it". It is the ticket
to boat ownership today versus at some point way down the line. And
does that not sound just splendid?
This article specifically speaks to
unmarried folks or those
who do not have a long term commitment and partnership.
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First of course is finding the
boat. The dream boat might be a little higher priced, but with the two working
together that is doable. And of course a bit of sweat equity is
required too. No boat, not even a brand new one is "finished" upon
purchase.
All boaters put time and money
into making their dreams a reality.
What is absolutely NOT OKAY by any
stretch of the imagination is when just one name is on the title of
the boat. This is especially true when we are talking about a
fixer-upper worth very little at purchase and potentially valued at
thousands after refurbishing. If two are pulling together to make
this boat fabulous you need to be joint owners.

Play the "What If?" scenario and
think about what would happen if you have dumped thousands of
dollars and hours into fixing up a dream boat. If the partnership
falls apart, how will the spoils be divided? If both names are not
on that title... well, it can get ugly.
For those of us watching from the
sidelines, it's simply sad.
Far too often I have seen a couple
at a boatyard bust their everything to make a boat spectacular (or
nice enough) but then, as launch looms, the bickering and fights
begin. Gradually the dreams fade. The future becomes a victim to
unresolved arguments and a split occurs. If both names are not on
the title, then one can be forced o-u-t.

The reason I suspect is all those
expectations the twosome have spoken of so often... well, now it is
down to
"Put up or shut up" and suddenly there is a lot at stake.
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Courage is
resistance to fear, mastery of fear -- not absence of fear. Mark
Twain. |
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It's easy to be brave when you do not have to prove
anything. But dropping the lines and actually leaving?
That can be a problem. It can be a huge issue though neither
individual is willing to admit the fear that happens to
*ALL of
us.
*ALL certainly does include me. I worry too. It
is
the nature of the beast, especially as a soloist. The fun
outstrips the nervousness and I do enjoy boating immensely.
Though I feel anxious before hauling the anchor I refuse to let temporary concerns prevent
me from being a cruiser.
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The fellow can become fearful when
all those dreams are about to be realized. She wants to go and
suddenly he has to be the captain. Taking responsibility for the
boat, the safety of the duo, and, well, it is always easier to be
courageous when the event is scheduled for next week.
She can get afraid too and
that is not pretty either. The female half become querulous,
argumentative, questioning every decision made regarding equipment,
etc. All at once the judgment she had trusted is deemed
unreliable. Someone else had a different experience and XYZ is
better than ABC and why is there no money for JKL? They need that
too.
Throwing in liberal amounts of
alcohol does not help one iota.
Anyway, the fights begin and reach
a summit. Neither party is willing to give an inch so the couple
split.
Suddenly the man has this boat,
fairly nicely fixed and he has no expectations to fulfill with any woman.
But he is lonesome and wants a gal to share the journey he has been
talking about all that time with Worker Woman.

And around the waterfront there
are sweet things who see a beautiful boat, not realizing the hours it took
to sand down the bottom and add two coats of barrier paint to the
hull. The Princess Babe sees herself on the back deck, wine glass in
hand while Macho Man neatly steers the boat through a cut into a
deserted cove.
She is the nymph swimming naked. He
is her
hero.

But then Princess discovers that
boating is not all about sipping cold drinks after a lovely two hour
sail. It is raining cats and dogs. There is a drip over the bunk.
The freezer
needs to be defrosted. The oil lanterns left black sooty residue all
over the overhead and someone has to clean it all. Pulling in the
line on the dinghy broke a fingernail, the sunburn is peeling, and her favorite outfit has
mildew.
Plus Macho Man smells bad after
three hours in the bilge trying to track down an intermittent oil
leak. And there is no power because, well, we don't know why yet.
Nothing is the way it is supposed to be. Tools are
strewn about. ARGH!

It doesn't take much adversity for
Princess to discover boating is not for her. Macho Man is a grumpy
old fart who cannot fix it all RIGHT NOW. Thus Princess hops a
plane and heads for home.

Now Macho Man is in paradise,
alone. He's wishing perhaps that the original girl -- the one who
worked with him instead of against him -- was there. Finding a gal
who will pull her own weight, help and who actually knows what a
ratchet is and how to use it? Well, that is not so easy.
And Worker Woman? She
has
moved on.

So my advice is to be VERY careful
if you are considering a partnership not documented on paper.
Of course I hope your experience is wonderful. Just be aware that
statistically, you are in a precarious position. I would not do it.
Seaweed is small -- just 23', but
she is affordable (almost!) and she is mine. All mine.
Have you ever owed a boat in a formal or informal
partnership?
Did it work for you? And what were you secrets of success?
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