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The Yacht Charter Business Plan – Now Available for Download –

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Planning to buy a yacht to start yacht/boat charter business can be very tricky. There is hardly a one-size-fits-all solution. For this reason we have created a Guide on how to choose your boat (Read this article) and if you want to crunch the numbers to charter your boat/s throughout the year we have developed a customisable Yacht Charter business plan [See Below] template on Excel (Click here to go to the product) which you can download and customise.

You could be choosing the yacht charter business as a lifestyle business or retirement plan or you maybe  you are planning to launch a new concept with innovative features to bring a breath of fresh air to the industry in any case we are here to help and always happy to hear from entrepreneurs and yachting enthusiasts.

Even with a fully developed excel model you can find it tricky to make it work, thus, we have decided to include in the price of the Yacht Charter Business Plan Template, a 30-minute consultation so that we can help you get started or check your plan once you have filled it in with your data. Once you purchased the Yacht Charter Business plan package that includes the consultation [See product description below] we will get in touch with you within 24hr from your purchase to make sure the consultation is on schedule at your most convenient time.

Take a look at the reviews on our Facebook business page

Rodriquez Consulting Facebook Page Reviews

Every area of the world is different and every boat has its own requirements, so among the many things we can check for you is the value of the vessel you have put your eyes on, your expectation as to how many weeks of charter you can expect to sell, the maintenance costs in the area you are planning to keep and/or operate the vessel, your crew costs and many other elements that can make your operations and business successful or not.]

Furthermore, we will point you in the right direction in terms of marketing tools, platforms that you can use to advertise your charter offering and tips on how to create a unique experience and stand out from all other boats offered in your area/s of choice. We will also be able to let you have discounted offer on marketing and advertising product that will enable you to get the word out fast.

Don’t miss the opportunity to have our experienced team check your business plan and advise you on a 1-1 basis on the best way to proceed, choose your boat, manage the vessel, and market your charter business efficiently.  A lot of yacht charter industry leaders have already used our services and have reached great results.

If instead you have quite a bit of experience in business planning and you feel you don’t need our support just now you can download our Yacht charter business plan Excel File-only version and get started. You can always get in touch with us later on in case you would like our help in one or more aspects of your yacht charter business.

 

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Why hiring a yacht buyer representative will save you money and time.

We should have written this article a long time ago,  because buying yachts or commercial vessels is something we are particularly good at (yes please let us brag for a moment). On the other hand, we are sellers’ worse nightmare because the more competent the buyer is the more it will give the seller a run for his money.  There are also a number of factors in buying a vessel that are not terribly obvious to most buyers and in this article we are going to try to explain some of them.

The following are some of the areas where we usually make the difference once appointed buyer representative:

What does a yacht buyer representative do?

1) Anonymity and Information during the buying negotiation:

When the vessel you are buying is already above £150k just the sheer level of anonymity that a buyer representative can provide for the actual buyer can be a very powerful weapon in negotiations.

If you want to know a reasonable price for acquiring a vessel for charter we actually built a whole sophisticated excel model you can download here

The yachting world can be a very small world. You would be surprised how easy it is for us as buyer representatives to figure out how ‘motivated’ a seller is but also it is relatively easy for the seller to figure out how much more money he/she/they can ask to the buyer during a negotiation by figuring out the source and nature of his/her/their wealth.  

When the price of the yacht or vessel is instead in the 7 figure and upward in 8 figure zone it becomes increasingly beneficial for the buying party to no be know for a number of reasons that can go from unwanted press exposure to the obvious leverage during the negotiation itself.

 The buyer representative oftentimes manages to cut off a potential battle of big egos and sail the transaction through faster and more efficiently. Anonymity also plays a financially advantageous  role for our buyers when the vessels need work .

Naval Engineering
Marine Structural Engineering

 2) Competence

When engaged in acquiring a vessel, whether we source it from one of our off-market opportunities or the vessel is sourced ad-hoc upon client specifications or has been already found by the client we usually go to visit the vessel with one of our trusted yacht/ship surveyors. In many cases, we would actually choose to inspect the vessel with a naval architect rather than a surveyor.

Depending on the material and type of vessel we do choose the best suitable professional for the job.

Our process delivers, peace of mind for the buyer and also financial savings. We will find out everything there is to know about the boat and more. In a recent yacht acquisition, we were able to track down the project manager who had overseen the construction [back in 1995] and the two captains who had sailed the vessels for most of its 3500+ engine hours . We did so within the 24 hours from when our client had communicated with us the name and model of the vessel he wanted to buy.

Furthermore, we had a complete history of the last 5 owners and able to access plans and go-to people to recover an hydraulic system plan that was missing in the paperwork of the vessel.

Rivamare Riva Interior Layout

3) Documentation

A lot of professionals focus on the status of the vessel but what about its paperwork and background checks? Having a team in place for every yacht purchase, we can carry on background checks on the legal title of the vessel and make sure that every bit of fundamental piece paperwork and documentation is present.

[think of Electrical plans, Hydraulic plans, manuals for all engine room systems,  registry compliance certifications etc.].

If some of those key documents have y hgone missing through the years we are often able to find an agile solution to replace them by sourcing them from the original builder or recreate them if necessary.

4) Purchase, legal, contracts and registration/flags

More often than not vessels of a certain size are titled to companies. Regardless of whether our buyer buys the holding company or the asset alone we do our due diligence to make sure that nothing is legally pending on either of them, from the most obvious mooring fees to more complex structured loans that can have the vessel holding company as collateral guarantees.  

Once everything clears, we go into the specifics of the sale and purchase contract with the appropriate jurisdiction that is accepted by both parties (often in two languages too).  

Lastly, we advice our clients and support them in re-registering the vessel under a different flag if our client has decided to do so or if its advantageous for the vessel new ownership depending on the circumstances. There are number of variables in re-registering and re-flagging a vessel that can range from fiscal advantages to political protection of the asset and even regulations on the nationality/ies the crew can hold if the vessel is going to be a charter vessel in some specific waters gathering to specific nationalities of guests.

Boat Inspection

5) Financing your yacht acquisition

Financing a yacht acquisition or new built for as big or small it can be, is still a farly complex process depending on the client requirements and on the type, size, and age of the vessel. As we have had worked with a variety of financial institution but yet are not associated to any of them we can help you pick and choose the best condition and at times renegotiate the financial terms offered by an existing lender, saving money and/or time but also getting our client on better side of a finance deal.

6) Logistic, Works, Crew and Charter Operations

Once the contract is sealed the vessel will need to be moved. Depending on the vessel condition (seaworthy or not) the logistic of moving a vessel can be more or less burdensome but in any event the operation requires proper care and a professional (insured) approach. Whether our client is buying a yacht in Florida to be used on the Mediterranean or is buying a half-built 40+ Meter yacht to finish somewhere else from where construction started nothing has scared us and we often have a cost-efficient word of advice that has proven to save our clients significant amounts.

For more info Contact us

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10 most common mistakes in the yacht charter business

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The yachting industry is changing significantly in the past 20-30 years. Boats and yachting holidays were predominantly something that was mostly considered by people who were exposed to a yachting culture of some kind. The internet, clearly changed this game and it keeps changing it at speed.

We recently wrote an article on the topic of how the ‘the airbnbs of yachting’ are going to chance and improve boat ownership, however, the game is changing for yacht charters and even smaller and local boat rentals (those hiring boats by the hour or day rather than the more standard charter week).

For over 15 years we have produced market research and analysis on the yachting industry observing how the demographic and the phsycographic of the yachting market was changing. On top of that we were always strongly involved in the more topographic analysis of users behaviour on a variety of websites and companies selling yachts, yacht charters, boat rentals, marine supplies etc..

The experience of these two combined analytical points of view enabled us to get to the point and write a simple list of the most common and most widespread mistakes done in the yacht charter business.

(The ones that follow are in no particular order of priority)

1) Underestimating the importance of the web

This is a common mistake for yacht charter companies that has been done and it is still done countless times. It goes from slow loading websites (See How to make it faster), to horrific user experience, all the way to terrible spelling or amateurish photography. Yachts and Yachting related services unlike many other products are simply not as easy to find in a physical shop the highest the internet penetration becomes and with the generational change this because a make or break element of a lot of yachting or boating related businesses both operating in B2C and in B2B. I can’t even being to tell you how many times we have heard the sentence, “my clients don’t buy a boat because they see it on the web“.  While this statement might have been somewhat true some time ago, it’s also true that when it comes to high ticket purchases no single source of information is the only one that makes a client purchase decision exclusively.

2) Assuming a certain degree of sailing knowledge for granted

Another very common mistake in the yacht charter business, we have made ourselves, is to assume that people that take an interest in yachting or boating have a certain degree of sailing or marine knowledge.  Everybody starts somewhere and in many countries more than others the last thing that you want to do is make a client feel dumb for not knowing something or worse assume and he/she/they will behave based on your assumption they know something that they might not. Simple example: You charter a big boat you can load 50 people on them.  No you don’t if it is a private yacht most likely you’ll be limited to 12 guests not matter how big it actually is. If you have worked with yacht charter I am sure you have answered this question hundreds of times.

Oyster Yachts in troubled waters

3) Selling the asset(boat) rental time instead of the experience of boating in the specific navigation area.

This is probably the most common mistake to date. Leisure boats are not cars people do not rent them to go from A to B and yet, there still are lots of sites out there that feature a list of boat and no mention of itinerary and the experience on board. Especially in the most commercial segment of the market.

4) Asking for large deposits

Nowadays insurance companies are very sophisticated and there is no reason why a deposit can’t be substituted by an insurance product. (Needless to say this point does not apply to crewed charter that won’t need a deposit bu only to bareboat charters). It surely will add to the overall cost but it will lower the barrier to purchase a week worth of charter especially in the mid/lower segment of the market of weekly charters in the £800-4500/week range.

Yacht Charter contract

5) Relying on non-digitalised legal contracts

Again we are in 2018 and a lot of yacht charter companies and operators already have this process in place. Digital legal charter contracts that is, it easier it is faster and it is very efficient if your clients are not sitting at their desk most of the time.

Yacht Charter Credit Card

6) Not accepting credit cards or using advanced consumer financing options

Accepting credit cards has a cost attached to it but it also makes it faster and easier for a client to book and deposit initial sums. Nowadays, credit card processing devices are mobile and incredibly inexpensive to acquire and set-up, and yet a lot of charter operators still do not accept them and make their sale process much longer and more difficult.

7) Choosing the wrong crew or skipper

On a crewed charter the crew makes a very significant part of the experience. Regardless, of whether it is only 1 skipper or a crew of 3 or more even the most discreet crew will always interact with the guests a great deal during any given charter period. The captain/skipper and his/her crew have a very delicate job as they have to reassure the guests about navigation even when the seas are rough but at the same time provide for all reasonable (and sometimes unconventional) requests. Languages are a big plus because a good knowledge of the guest language will assure nothing is lost in translation, but character is even more important especially for the crew members that are in charge and might have to take unpopular decision to avoid unnecessary risks when needed.

Boat Inspection

8) Little attention to details

It can be about things as small as a car charger (12 Volt lighter plug) for the iPhones to be available onboard so that guests don’t have to run the engine or the generator to charge their phones/mobile devices which costs virtually nothing but says a lot about the company’s attention to details. It can also be about the smaller maintenance issue like making sure the show filters are cleaned between a charter and the other, or even a first (food) provision that takes care of the vegetarian dietary needs of the guests. Small things add up like little gold coins to gain great feedback and happy guests which are without a doubt the best way to grow your yacht charter business.

Yacht Charter Guests

9) Not establishing guests priorities and preferences

The same navigation area can offer completely different experiences depending on what your preferences are. You can prefer to lay in the sun and swim to clubbing and fancy dining, or you might be more interested in discovering historical treasures and hidden spots. A yacht charter should always be a personalised experience (unless of course the route is pre-set) and the crew and the charter company should always take into consideration the specific interests of the people on board, all of them, not just the one signing the checks.

Yachting Images and Video production

10) Underestimating the power of videos

One specific yacht charter company’s marketing success is almost entirely based on videos and it proves this point exactly. The Yacht Week’s indeed is one

 

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The Yacht Market Analysis 2017-2018 and forecasts to 2020 – Exclusive pre-order available

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As every year we are preparing a 40 page comprehensive Yacht Market Analysis document on current status of the yachting industry as a whole and its outlook for the years to come.

The scope of this yacht market research paper is to enable companies operating in this industry, investors and entrepreneurs to have a comprehensive and detailed view of the industry and its trends.

The Yacht Market Analysis 2017-2018

Click on the image to go to pre-order

 

A brief outline of this Yacht Market Analysis and Report:

  1. ) Yachting Industry International Market Analysis 

1.1.) Introduction and general points

1.2) Current status of the global market

1.3) Composition of the value chain of global yachting industry

1.4) The top luxury industry and its trends, outlook and results

1.5) The market of large and super yachts

1.6) The refit and repair industry

2. ) Special Focus on: The U.S. market, and the northern European Market 

2.1) The growth of the U.S. market its drivers and its segmentation

2.2) An outlook of Europe vs the U.S. and their future trends

2.3) Market trends: Explorer Yachts and Large Sailing Yachts

3 ) Special Focus: Small Boats Industry in Italy

3.1) Definition of the value chain of the small yachts industry

3.2) The value chain and its structure

3.3) The main characteristics of the small yachts and small boats industry players

3.4) The geographic distribution of the players of the small boats industry

4) Special Focus: Flags, Brexit on Yachts, The Mediterranean Sea Economy, Legal Aspects of the yachting industry

Who is this document for:

This yacht market analysis is particularly useful to yacht builders, yacht brokers, design and engineering firms and service companies  component manufacturers and financial investors. 

We will be making this document ready for purchase and download in the next 3 weeks. However we are offering to the first 20 customers and only through a pre-order a discount of 40% off the full price of £900 – discounted to £540  so if you would like to pre-order all we you need to do is use the product below and complete a £102 pre-order payment for the pre-order please click on the image below. An email will notify you when your copy will be ready for download. PLEASE NOTE: To give a further advantage to all pre-order clients we will only make the document available for download to the general public 2 months later.

If you would like to contact us and receive a customised Yacht Market Analysis tailored to your business segment of interest or with a focus on your geographical area please contact us for a quote writing at Market@RodriquezConsulting.com or by calling

If you are considering investment in the yacht charter market you might be interested in this analytical article 

Pre-order The Yacht Market Analysis 2017-2018

PRE-ORDER NOW

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New Tech: How many more boats, parts or charters could you sell if your clients could finance their purchases online?

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A new wave of technology in the financial industry (fintech) could truly bring a breath of fresh air to the yachting industry in segment under the £50.000 price mark.

It sounds like a small price tag for a boat purchase but it’s not if you take into account the number of transactions or look at the yacht charter market and in yacht supplies/components. On the contrary it is a very large segment of the yachting industry in terms of number of transactions and many traditional Marine finance companies barely look at anything below £25.000-50.000 not to mention oftentimes they don’t look at vessels that are older than 30 years.

What does £50K buys these days in the boating and yachting industry ?

  1. Jet skies and personal water-crafts
  2. Ribs with outboards up to 6-7 meters
  3. Sailing Dinghies
  4. Sport Catamarans
  5. Yacht Charter Holidays with vessels up to 25-35 meters (depending on the vessels sail or motor)
  6. Outboard engines
  7. Superyacht toys (Sea Bobs, Jetsurf)
  8. Sails and rigging
  9. Small-medium inboard engines
  10. Generators
  11. Electronics (Radars, Chart plotters, SSBs , Sat phones etc..)

What is it and how does it work ?

It’s a fintech solution called DIVIDO we have partnered with that operates on websites that have enabled ecommerce modules. It allows a prospective client (user) that is –  for example –  interested in buying a dinghy or a yacht charter holiday costing £5000 to finance that payment and pay instalments instead of the full amount on their credit card right from the website. This process is enabled by multiple lenders competing for that client in real time and right through the website of the seller itself (the Dinghy seller or the Yacht Charter company in our example).

What are the benefits ?

Web users can spread the costs of for example yacht charter holiday through the year, or a high ticket purchase, get better offers booking in advance or during sales even if they don’t have the full amount in cash available. Ultimately, it is also a great way to attract new generations who are accustomed to use online tools to complete the purchases instead of going through a lengthy financing process which in most cases would actually contribute to a lost sale.

It also goes without saying that a Yacht charter holiday or any other a small boat becomes much more affordable if the client is able to spread that cost in time and yet have an immediate response on whether he can get that very purchase financed or not and at what rate.

What companies (sellers ) qualify for this solution ?

Sellers (Companies) that can benefit from this solution will need to meet some basic requirements.

  • At least £250.000 or other currency equivalent in yearly turnover
  • At least 1 year of trading/business history
  • A minimum online cart/purchase value of £250

Geographic Reach

This solutions is available currently in

  • Denmark
  • Finland
  • Germany
  • Norway
  • Sweden
  • United Kingdom

It will be soon available in the following countries so please sign-up and get notified when it will be available in your country.

  • Austria
  • Belgium
  • Canada
  • France
  • Ireland
  • Italy
  • Netherlands
  • Poland
  • Spain
  • United States

How much does it cost ?

The set-up fee to install and test the multi-lender financed payment solution provided by DIVIDO can vary from merchant to merchant. However, plug-ins are available for the most common Content Management Systems such as WordPress, Shopify, Magento and Open Cart. Please Enquire and let us know your website set-up so that an accurate quote can be proposed.

Divido charges a small transaction fee for every purchase made with their finance solution

furthermore a monthly maintenance fee is required for their technical support and to make sure that your website Trust Pilot rating keeps as high as possible with smooth transactions and outstanding customer service.

How much more business can I expect to generate ?

A survey carried out by DIVIDO itself on a variety of industries shows that 39% of prospective clients would have NOT gone through with a purchase if a financed payment option was not available and they had to pay in one single transaction for the full amount. Although it is hard to estimate how much more business you can generate, many of Divido‘s merchants have seen a sales increase of 30% to 40% since offering Divido to their customers.

We really look forward to see what this solution could do in the industry of yachting as we believe it has truly great potential.

What companies are already using it?

Nobody in the yachting industry yet. We are the first to propose it to the industry. However brands like BMW, HTC and BNP Paribas have already adopted this technology.

Who are the investors behind this fintech company?

The same investors of Skype, TrasferWise and WordlPay. Their last round of financing was £2.9M. It is one of the ‘hottest’ tech companies in Europe.

How do I get a quote and check if my company qualifies for Divido payment solution?

click this botton below or get in touch with us.

Go to Divido

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Why will the Airbnbs of yachting improve boat ownership as well?

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We live in the sharing economy. Aside from the famous Airbnb, sharing vehicles and much more has become an everyday reality especially for those of you who live in big cities such as London, New York, Paris and Rome. We are sure you are getting accustomed to use services like Barclays’ Bikes, (now Santader), Zipcar, Car2Go, Ubequoo, to ‘rent’ bicycles or cars.

In the UK even big players are venturing into peer-to-peer services like EasyCarClub (the logo will remind of EasyJet), BlaBlaCar and others that are based on the ownership or cars being on a private basis instead of being owned and managed by fleet operators like in the case of Zipcar.

In the boating industry things are a little more complicated but chartering or sharing a boat has been practiced for quite some time even if with much less technology involved in the process. After more than 50.000 people read our our article on Investing in Yachts to Charter we had to dig into a number of platforms that are slowly but steadily changing the game.

Today in the Yachting industry we have quite a few new web-based companies putting effort and resources into making the boating and yachting experienced more accessible to more people.

There are essentially:

  1. Yacht charter aggregators
  2. Peer-to-Peer boating and yachting platforms
  3. Traditional yacht charter firms
  4. Boating and yachting companies providing curated yachting experiences
  5. Hybrid platforms that work primarily with single yacht/boat owners and small fleets
  6. Yacht managers with big branded fleet

We have tried to create 6 macro categories, however not all companies do fall strictly in one of the above and some of them embrace traits of more than one of the above or have pivoted along the way from a business model to the other.

We refer broadly to the Airbnbs of yachting when considering mainly those platforms that are not too selective on the of new boat listings and welcome new boats  right from the front end of their website (have a list your boat option) and focus primarily on entry prices as low as €100/day or even less.

We have asked some of the founders to help us and comment on this article main point.

BoatSetter.com

BoatSetter.com Formerly Cruzin.com

Former Cruzin.com founded in 2012, a U.S. based peer-to-peer platform now merged becoming BoatSetter.com

It was started by Jaclyn Baumgarten and it is now based in Miami Florida.

We have asked Jaclyn to give us her comments on  boat ownership vs easy access and she replied with a few meaningful lines:

BOATSETTER, often receives inquiries from perspective owners asking us what types of boats they should consider purchasing because they want to offset the cost of ownership through the Boatsetter program.

It’s a U.K. based counterpart of the aforementioned, focusing mainly on peer-to-peer and small fleet owners and it is called BorrowaBoat.com founded by Matt Ovenden. 

BorrowABoat.com

BorrowABoat.com

We asked Matt to give us his comments on whether new platforms could actually bring innovation to the industry and his words were very clear to us.

” ..bringing the sharing economy to boating, with a wider choice of boats than in the current market, and wider choice of locations and better prices, will bring real change and benefits for the customer, and boat owner”

Another case of peer-to-peer that started in the U.K with a very different take from the previous ones but much more similar to Airbnb is BedsOnBoard.com

 


BedsonBoard.com

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Cryptocurrency vs Sailing yachts: Are you future-proofing yourself from financial doomsday?

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Have you heard of Bitcoins and the cryptocurrencies hype?

If you haven’t, you have been sailing solo with no means of communication for too long, so we are happy you are back (if you are reading this that is).

Markets go up and down just like waves, then it comes a storm, then maybe rain and back to calm seas. Ultimately, most sailors do experience the same at sea and those that don’t get hurt are those that don’t panic and pay the oceans some due respect.  When it comes to market data in the yachting industry these are mostly driven by  motor yachts with roughly a 1 – 7 ratio vs sail yachts globally. 

We enjoy looking at the world as a whole as all good sailors do and a fact, we should not forget, is that the world is mostly made by oceans. While discussing some crucial points of our recent Yacht Market Analysis forecasts we pushed macro-economic scenarios to extremes. In doing so, we have elaborated a scenario (admittedly somewhat catastrophic) whereby sail yachts could actually play a vital role in the survival of humanity as they did in ancient times.

What is “real tangible value” for human beings? Can it be destroyed or created?

It’s not necessarily a scene from the movie Waterworld with Kevin Kostner we inspired ourselves to but a brief logical dissertation and some macro economic considerations on what is real value on how it can be destroyed or created.Waterworld Kevin Kostner

When we say value we mean satisfying real human needs like those for shelter, food and transport where boats are very well placed.

Let’s make it clear: In our opinion, Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoins, Litecoins, Ethereum and all of the others that are by nature de-centralised and NOT controlled or backed by any government are just symptoms of the state in which the world populations really is. 

Symptoms for what you may ask?

The focal point of Bitcoins as with many other non-government backed crypto currencies is that the owner of such currency is the ultimate and only custodian of its value. Even though the concept of value here is less “primitive” and refers to currency-based economies. Cryptocurrencies value is theoretically non inflationary as the number of Bitcoin is supposed to be finite in 2040 and is entirely based on confidence and trust. However, the confidence and trust is somewhat peer-to-peer rather than state-to-citizens (banks to account holders) or state-to-state central banks and treasury bonds).

As result we believe that the Bitcoin phenomenon is actually a symptom of the mistrust and lack of confidence the world has started to breed towards banks and central governments and if you were raised in Greece or Argentina or many other countries that have experienced serious financial meltdowns, it’s hard to blame you for such growing mistrust.

The major banks are calling it a bubble and governments are starting to ban crypto currencies, especially those governments that have the security of gold such as China that stands in pole position as the U.S. biggest foreign creditor. (See: https://www.thebalance.com/who-owns-the-u-s-national-debt-3306124).

Bitcoin and Sailboats

How will the banks and governments react to crypto currencies in the mid-long term and in the short term?

Scenario a) They’ll let them run, trying not to interfere and potentially risk to have a sizeable amount of their current accounts moved outside of the traditional banking system

Scenario b)They’ll try to fight back, buy as much as they can and engage in a massive pump and dump action/plan which would initially increase the value of all of these (or all the major cryptocurrencies) to harm the confidence in the market, cause panic and destroy any residual credibility of cryptocurrency in the attenpt to force people to take a complete loss and abandon the non-government-backed currency in favour of centralised government-backed currency.

Scenario c) The crypto currencies don’t gain enough traction to subtract significant value from the traditional banking system and therefore do not constitute a threat per-se but only in the potential illegal implication of the anonymity they provide, thus governments built exchanges in an attempt to regulate cryptocurrencies and exercise sufficient control to be able to ‘handle them’ via banks.

What other scenarios do you see?

(it’s not a rhetorical question au contrarie we are very interested to hear your opinion.)

When a bank gets in trouble as happened in Greece in 2015, it may resort to drastic action to deter the population from ‘assaulting’ their ATMs/cash machines and bank branches and withdraw the whole or most of their liquidity.

Why is that ?

Because over 90% of the circulating currencies at the global level never physcially existed in the first place, in other words, bills/notes, or coins have never been physically created. It is indeed estimated that only between 3%-8% of currencies actually has a ‘touchable‘ form (note/bill or coin).

To make the long story short and simplify the matter at hand if 10% of the world currency holders (or even only the 1% Ultra High Net worth individuals) were to ask for all of their money (assuming 10% of the total circulating)  in cash these could not be possible and it probably would cause the crash of several major banks or alternatively it would call for several major bailouts financed by governments which ultimately (again) would reflect on inflation and national debt once again.

How does bitcoin fit in the picture and how do sailboats fit in this catastrophic scenario ?

A bank can try to reduce or make it more difficult for their clients to withdraw all of their cash and also make it very inconvenient to do so, but it cannot prevent people in the digital age to transfer (BUY) a valuable that is outside the banking system (in our case Bitcoin). Effectively, banks can’t prevent people from moving their money outside their accounts and into NO other bank through the use of a cryptocurrency. Thus, a bank would effectively lose its main role if the owner of the valuable becomes de-facto the custodian as in the case of Bitcoin (the modern version of the cash in the mattress).

Banks Shut DOWN in Greece

People assaulting a bank in Greece during the recent financial crisis.

When entire national economies have a liquidity problems the housing market has a problem too.

Think of the subprime mortgage crisis that sent Lehman Brothers belly up, which was the natural explosion of a bubble created by excessive/predatory lending, insanely leveraged debts and a typical (READ: post gold standard) thin-air money creation process perpetrated by several banks and ultimately (willingly or unwillingly) backed by the Federal Reserve.

Bottom line: People lost their homes, their wealth, and some unfortunately took their lives too.

What if a sailboat could actually be the ultimate safety net ?

Boats are typically considered a depreciating asset as opposed to real estate BUT they have a few very major advantages even compared with those that are considered the most secure forms of investment such as gold, houses and land.

Sail boats can be moved and thanks to the winds and the generosity of the oceans they are not much dependent on fuel (if at all) and are themselves means to provide humans with food (through fishing).

Ergo: in a slightly primitive sense of value, sailboats represent a safer value than homes, cash or even gold in terms of being instrumental to humans’ survival (think independent shelter, fishing, transport).

Lastly, boat ownership in some jurisdictions ( SEE: http://nomadcapitalist.com/2017/07/17/ultimate-guide-yacht-registration/)  is not even taxed.

Please take into account that this article is merely a dissertation and we are not suggesting that a financial doomsday of global proportion is actually going to manifests soon. We are using such hypothetical scenario to prove a point and incentive critical thinking in these interesting times of change.

Budget Sailboat

A long range 37 feet classic sailboat sold recently for less than £2800

How does bitcoin and crypto fit in the picture and how do sailboats fit in this catastrophic scenario ?

Our point is that sailboats if bought at a reasonable price, well maintained and used properly can actually represent a valid way to keep a certain “value” safe from world’s events and, theoretically safe from any government or tax authority. A sailing yacht can, indeed, be re-registered under a different flag much more easily than you can sell some property and land and buy it somewhere else. A sailing yacht travels on its own hull almost limitlessly and unlike gold or other precious materials or stones is not subject to regulatory limits on planes (E.g.: Declaring valuables in excess of €10K to travel outside the EU).

In the unlikely financial doomsday event where the peoples of the world would have lost all trust in their currencies and their governments, the ability to move, fish and have shelter that is not directly controlled and directly at the mercy of any given ‘rule maker’ would actually be the ultimate safety net.

Interesting Yachting Industry Insight: 

When Greece experienced the financial problems and turmoil,we were conducting a research on yacht paints. While speaking with several marina managers and operators we were told they were oddly receiving more frequent calls from their yacht owners asking about the ‘well being’ of their vessels. 

Are we biased and would like to see more happy sailors around the world than stressed Cryptocurrency traders ? Oh YES !

We are 100% biased! We surely are not hiding our passion for boats and we’ll keep dealing with boats till will have to use them to survive. Maybe in those days we’ll get bored of sailing and try to invent something new to move around the world over water. We are always up for a technical challenge.

1950s Hydrofoil with Carlo Rodriquez

Carlo Rodriquez and Baron Von Shertel 1950s trying a prototype of hydrofoil

Share this article and let’s see how wild can your friends’ imagination run!

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How to find a really inexpensive boat deal on auction on EBAY

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It’s 2017 and the world wide web has evolved quite a bit but eBay has been around for over 30 years and it became famous precisely for auctions. Auctions are particularly suitable for boats because unlike cars boats are much harder to price and at times there is a significant difference between a boat theoretical value and the price that a cash-strained owner is ready to accept to part with his/her boat and get rid of the costs that come with owning a vessel.

I know a lot of yachting industry professionals will raise more than a few eyebrows for what we are about to write but here it is:

How to find very good deals for small and medium size boats on eBay and what should you look out for.

First and foremost decide what your actual goal is. If you are not a professional and you think you can buy low and sell high, please make sure you have experience in budgeting and refitting boats because, rest assured, even the most seasoned professionals (and I am not going to mention any major shipyard here to avoid a lawsuit) happens to go wildly out of budget during a new built or a major refit. If you are planning to buy a vessel that you can charter, we have available a Yacht Charter Business plan template you can download

Mostly you will be able to find day cruisers, cuddy cabin cruisers, sky boats and walk around boats, sports fishing boats a few RIBs and quite a few sailboats too.

On Ebay uk you will actually find very interesting boats if you are into classic lines and wooden sailboats with the occasional pearl such as this Sparkman and Stephens we just noticed 

Sparkman & Stephens for sale

In our little guide on how to find a good deal for a boat on Ebay, we would like to help if letting you know what to look at so here is a list of things you want to consider:

Before we get into to technical stuff, think about the location:

The Location

It’s a very important element because it can determine both your travel cost and time it will take to actually go and see the boat but also it can have a major impact on the cost of mooring in the water before you can actually sail the boat to your chosen home port. Furthermore, if you need to do some work before the vessel is seaworthy the current location of the vessel could have a major impact on those costs. Parts for the engine or rigging might be coming from far away and add quite a bit to your budget, as well as you might not have good enough facilities to carry out some specific works to your desired standard of quality or safety.  Budget very carefully if you are purchasing a vessel that can’t really be put on a trailer because moving a yacht on land can be a major expense and might end up costing more than the boat itself.

The Design and the Designer Name 

If you are buying very cheap you might not be able to be to fuzzy about it, however if you are buying a Sparkman & Stephens for example you can rest assured the vessel will retain a certain value among those who appreciate classic yachts or you might even get lucky and find some VIP owners in the history of the boat which might influence the buyer’s decision later on, whenever you’ll decide to sell the vessel.

The Model and the Shipyard

If you are buying a vessel from a very well known shipyard and a very common model you might be able to find forums or small group of owners that might point you in the right direction on common faults or problems that particular model has or that other owners of similar units have experienced, a bit like classic cars. The shipyard instead might have a reputation for solid boats that are good for sailing around the world – some examples; Hallberg-Rassy or Oyster.

Spirit Yacht Wood Boat

Spirit Yacht

The Construction Material/s 

Some construction materials we would just simply reccomend  to stay away from, for instance, Ferro-Cement. I am not going to bore you and explain why in this article. Some mixed constructions are tricky for example steel and aluminium are particularly complicated to join when welding so we would recommend you do your research in terms of what shipyard did it and how those stress points (joints) have put up with time and physical stress.  Let’s also bust a bit of a myth, fiberglass is a safer purchase then wood – we respectfully disagree with those who believe so. Wood is much easier to inspect without the help of a professional surveyor whereas a fibreglass hull with minor signs or initial osmosis can be much harder to detect than a rotten spot of wood. Also, if you plan to go sailing to the west coast of Africa it’s much more likely to find somebody who can repair wood and the supply of such material rather than fibreglass in general.  Carbon and Kevlar are very expensive and tricky to repair  but if you are looking at those you probably already know this. Steel is a great material but it can be subject to a lot more corrosion than you would expect in certain climates, so it’s often a good idea to call in a professional to measure the thickness in several spots of the vessel.  With aluminium you have similar issues as with steel however alluminium requires professionals that are generally harder to find to be fixed properly if need be. One trick is to consider that if you are looking at a fibreglass hull built in 1970 back in those years builders were just starting with fibreglass so your hull could be much more robust than you may think of course this ‘advantage’ would come with a bit more weight so you might need a little more HP on the engine to make up for it, compared to a modern vessel in the same size range and ‘style’.

Read more

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12 Tips to sail the world on a budget – and REALLY travel

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We live in the world of quick city escapes and instagram pictures posted but the most exotic destinations ‘consumed’ just like they were a McDonald’s happy meal. All of us who have experienced sailing do know that there is another way to travel. Yes, because there is a significant difference between being a tourist and being a traveller. A sailor is generally a lot more than a traveller rather than a tourist.

The difference is simply in the depth of the experience. A lot of sailors have the dream to sail the world on a budget or to be more accurate sail the world in a financially sustainable way.

Sailing and travelling by sea is a whole different experience compared to taking a plane and checking in in a hotel, it certainly more difficult and it is not for everybody but on the other hand it is life-changing to an extent that a plane trip will hardly ever be [with some exceptions ]. Sailing the world can actually be done on a budget, but how?

Nowadays, technology has allowed people that are not just infinitely wealthy by birth to actually put together a plan to sail around the world and keep doing it extensively for years maintaining a financially sustainable lifestyle.

Until some year ago travelling around the world (comfortably) extensively was something that most people could do after 10,20 or even 30 years of work and savings to be able to afford it, but now, there are several ways to work remotely, monetise content and learn on the go.  Surely, if you have enough accumulated wealth to not worry for rest of your life you won’t need these tips but that’s 1% of the population of the world. Lastly, the age factor, what if you could afford it at 30 years old or earlier rather than at 60 or older, would you not have a little more energy and good health to enjoy the trip and the world?

sailing the world on a budget

These two 20-something Australians have been onboard for years now sailing by more than 30 countries and from the looks of it, we don’t believe they’re going to stop anytime soon.

We really liked Sailing La Vagabonde adventure and their protagonists spontaneity, we are certainly inspired by their work and their adventures and  would recommend our readers to have a look at Sailing La Vagabonde, we are sure there is a bit of inspiration for a lot of us and quite a few practical things to learn about sailing and boating in general.

sailing the world on a budget

Also, because we do know a thing or two about buying, refitting, and managing vessels we would like to add a few of our tips so that you get 8 tips from Riley and Elayna (The couple from the video above)

  1. If you are buying a boat and it is your first one we have a full dedicated guide to buying your first boat , just click this link
  2. Yes, Riley and Elayna are right. Boats are generally less expensive in EU or in the U.S. compared to Australia and one trick to find very very good deal is to scout for auctions (we just published an article about one boat auction ) so don’t forget to sign up to our newsletter.
  3. If you need to do some work to your boat in the U.S. the South of Florida is a great place and in Europe the South of Italy, Turkey and Greece have a long standing marine tradition but also the U.K. and the northern european country are very well skills (might be a little colder)
  4. If you are considering to work remotely as a freelancer regardless of your skills (you could be an engineer and architect or a web developer or graphic designer, writer, video maker or voiceover talent) there are plenty of platforms such as Upwork, PeoplePerHour, and many other to monetise your skills and work remotely
  5. Compared to a few years ago, now there are also a plethora of platforms that will allow you to charter your boat throughout your travels and make money as and when you need them throughout your around-the-world journey. Some examples are Boardaboat.com, BoatSetter.com, BoatBookings.com TheYachtMarket.co.uk YourBoatHoliday.com and many other.



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Are there sharks in the Med? The truth about sharks in the Mediterranean sea.

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Unlike most people seem to think there are sharks in the mediterranean sea. To be precise there are a plethora of species, exactly 47 . It is therefore fair to say we have some representatives of a lot of the existing sharks although not all of them.

Don’t panic there have been statically 0.42 shark attacks per year for approximately the last 150 years and it is far more likely indeed that you were on holiday in the south of Italy and you have been eating shark thinking that it was swordfish than any shark will ever having you for dinner. It is more common than not that fishermen with a little street kiosk re-use the chopped head of a swordfish and sell you shark in disguise, don’t panic there either, some sharks are very good to eat and you probably won’t notice the difference either.

Having said the above, some of our friends were out there fishing on a quite small boat just a few weeks ago and they did send a video and their geographic position as our team was very close. Thus, we are going to share this video with you which was shot south of the Island of Ponza.

FACT: Up until the 2016, 60 cases of shark attacks on people or against boats (including canoes) have been registered with the MEDAF in the Mediterranean since 1899. The individual cases can be divided into the following described subcategories (go to the source of this figures)

We are not going to lie, the reason why we even wrote this article and we were so fascinated by this very finding has its roots in the fact that this is not just a shark it’s a Mako Shark, the fastest of all sharks reaching speeds of 68km/h. At Rodriquez Consulting speed technology is a big theme and we can’t do anything but admire the perfect engineering of these creatures.

Again don’t panic: The mako sharks eat bony fishes like tunas, mackerel, swordfish or bonito and it may eat other sharks, sea turtles, sea birds or porpoises. Mako sharks swim beneath their prey,  then they eat it before the prey notices that.

If you are one of those people who likes to be extra safe even if the statistic are clearly in your favour (0.42 shark attacks a year for over 100 years consistently):

Here are some shark repellent solutions – We can’t quite say if they work and surely not recommend any specific one as we never actually used any, we believe sharks have more right than us to be in the oceans. The only things shark can sense and get away from that has been scientifically proven is the scent of dead sharks which clearly triggers their survival instinct.

2016 Sharkbanz – Magnetic Shark Repellent Band Azure

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