Yacht charters vs ownership

Yacht Charters vs Ownership I have some uncles who have a little mini-fleet of fairly nice yachts, floating on Lake Powell in Southern Utah. It’s a great area. The Grand Canyon, Arches, and Canyonlands national parks are nearby, not to mention a string of equally amazing state parks in both Arizona and Utah. The lake itself is unbelievably beautiful. The contrast of red and orange sandstone rising from deep blue waters, often seen while wriggling through steep desert canyons, is breathtaking.

But when my uncles’ families talk about where they plan on going for their “big annual vacation,” where do you think they go? Yep. They head to Lake Powell. Their boats are there … And they are not just ANY fleet of boats. They are the boats they service in the winter. They are the boats they repair when a propeller that scraped against submerged sandstone needs to be replaced. … They are the vacation getaway that has laid claim upon the lives of my relatives. It’s hard to figure out if the people own the yachts, or if the yachts own their masters.

The last time I went to Lake Powell with these wonderful people they looked at me like I had lost my mind. My family and I spent a few thousand dollars to charter a yacht and a houseboat. With the boats’ owner as our new friend, we rented some recreational watercraft, and joined the family reunion. We all explored the lake together. We played. We fished. We hiked and ventured through sand, rock, and wave. It was amazing.

Toward the end of the vacation one of my uncles asked, in a subtle, condescending tone, if I ever thought I might actually purchase a yacht of my own, rather than line the pockets of a yacht’s owner.

My charter owner smiled uncomfortably.

I responded in a mockingly zealous tone, “When I’m ready to be enslaved to one location for my annual adventure … When I’m ready to pay for the upkeep of continually depreciating watercraft … When I no longer want to motor around on the newest yacht in the little fleet … Then, and only then will I waste my money, my time, and my annual retreat on an investment that may as well be an anchor at the bottom of the lake.”

Like I said, that was the last time I went with my uncles to Lake Powell. But while they are there each year, I’m wherever I want to be, doing whatever I want to do.

Of course, yacht ownership has its advantages. I was simply making some points that every boat owner knows well (and ought to understand before making the purchase): ownership is work; it is an investment; and like it or not, if you’re going to own it, you may as well use it, wherever it is.

As far as chartering is concerned, Lake Powell is a little strip of land-locked blue in the western United States. You can charter yachts throughout the world, employ professional crews to take you wherever you want to go, and be wined and dined … Or, provide you know what you’re doing, you can rough it, rent the craft yourself, save a little money, and make the adventure truly personal.

As for me, I will someday purchase a yacht. I want one. They are awesome. But it won’t keep me from chartering here and there, wherever I want to go, whenever I want to be there.

About the author: This article has been written by Mohit Jain who is a self confessed traveling and trekking enthusiast. He has written various travel articles for online boating and cruise magazines.

Mohit has spent 2 years working with VEEM Propellers Australia’s best known marine propeller manufacturers. VEEM are makers of yacht propeller and other Michigan propeller and are known the world over for their patented Interceptor Propeller Technology.