Sail on Sail Pending

A lot of people have asked what it’s been like owning a charter boat, the risks involved, if the boat makes any money and why we chose CYOA.

First of all, the boat is fully insured through the charter company’s insurance. Are accidents going to happen when you rent a boat to a group of vacationers? Of course… But, they will also get fixed by some of the best people in the business.

Has the boat made any money? Well….for 10 years, before we purchased Sail Pending, we chartered many boats from almost every charter company in the British Virgin Islands. We’ve chartered both Power Boats and Sail Boats. So, I will admit that we have “saved” money on our vacations, but I can not say that the Boat has made any income over the past 2 years. As a disclaimer, we have used the boat quit a bit; about 10-12 weeks a year while she was in CYOA’s fleet. We may have “made” money if we used her less and she was able to be chartered more.

Here is a little history of why we chose CYOA:

In December 2012, we chartered with CYOA for the very first time. We choose CYOA because they were located near the airport in St. Thomas which is much more convenient than taking the ferry to Tortola. This also gave us the option to explore the USVI’s especially St. John.

A few pictures from our vacation aboard “Sara Sue” in 2012. The first time we used CYOA Yacht Charters.

CYOA did a very thorough check out and made us prove to them that we could function as a crew. We had to put the sails up and perform a couple of tacks. (This never happened when we chartered with other companies) The boat was about 10 years old and was one of the oldest boats that we had ever chartered, BUT… she was in MUCH better shape than charter boats that were half her age, at the other charter companies. We were so impressed with CYOA, that as soon as we returned home we started researching options on how to put a boat into CYOA’s fleet. Within 2.5 months we put a downpayment on a 41″ Fountaine Pajot, Lipari which was currently being built in France and was scheduled to be completed in May of that year.

Watch a video of “Sail Pending” going from the factory to the water by clicking here.

Boat shopping in Annapolis March 2013

“Sail Pending” proudly sporting her CYOA logo’s

One of the best perks of owning a charter boat was the amount of time we spent as a family, on “vacation”. We have really enjoyed getting the use “Sail Pending” in the Virgin Islands and CYOA has taken great care of her when we were not there. We could not have been happier and as we look back on the past two years, we would not change a thing.

It’s now time to turn the page to the next chapter where Sail Pending goes from being a Charter Boat to our Home.