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How can I become a yacht owner for under $5000.- and sail through the tropics on every holiday for the rest of my life?

For about the cost of a short sailing charter vacation you can become co-owner for perpetuity of a large off-shore sailing yacht in the tropics.This large (56'=18m), seaworthy, modern Trimaran sleeps more than 17 persons in real, full size beds (not "bunks”) and has often had over 50 people aboard when she cruised the Caribbean as a live-aboard diving charter vessel.

For just $5000.- US-Dollar you are in! Then you can have a two-week sailing vacation every year without the hassles, work, costs and worries of "regular" yacht ownership. How is this possible?

The yacht was purchased in 2003 by a partnership established as a non-profit foundation from the original owner who was retiring at 78 (a former Sea Captain).Part ownerships in the yacht can be sold in increments of 1/64 (“shares” according to International Admiralty Law). The minimum purchase is 2 shares of 1/64 for only US$4999,- . This 2/64 (of course same as = 1/32) ownership will be duly registered with the authorities and you will have the full use of the yacht for two weeks (14 days) of every year, in perpetuity, including a professional Skipper! You do not need any special captain's license or sailing permits! If you wish to practice for such licenses however, the skipper will gladly teach you and certify the nautical mileage traveled for your local licensing requirements, at no extra cost. Experienced sailors with proper documentation may sail the yacht on their own ("bareboat") with their own crew (minimum 3). -- In any case, you can bring your family, friends or expense-sharing guests in any number up to 14. There is plenty of room. -- Speaking of family: One wise yachtsman once said:

"If you wish to keep a woman on a boat, size does matter. It should be at least 50 feet (15 m), of length over deck that is!" Our yacht is 57 feet (18 m) long and 24 feet wide! Lots of room to sunbathe, exercise, meditate, do yoga, massage, make out....or hide.

There are seven cabins (a comfortable saloon with dining table for 16, and 6 staterooms ), two heads (= toilets), a bathroom with real bathtub and shower, a spacious, shady cockpit and that huge upper deck.

The shares and usage rights are owned by the purchaser "in perpetuity" (i e = forever) without any restrictions. They can be re-sold, rented out, pawned, even bequeathed.

The yacht will also be offered to third parties for charter and any profits will be credited to the share owners.

When and if the yacht is finally sold outright, hopefully with a profit, the returns will be distributed to the shareholders. If you are outside the US you might even make a tidy profit just from currency rate changes. The US$ is at a record low now and many financial wizards say it can only rise.

The income from sale of shares by statute of the foundation will be used only for the maintenance, refitting and refurbishing of the yacht. Those will eventually done at a low wage country somewhere in the tropics and will increase the value of the yacht substantially.

Multi-hull yachts in this size range are traded for some where between US$500.000,- to US$2,5 Millions (see www.yacht-search.com). Improvements have already been started in the saloon where a hardwood parquet floor has been installed, also a wind generator, solar panels, an outside cooking and grilling station and more (who would want hot cooking fumes in the saloon in the tropics?!).

Questions and answers:

May I inspect and "test drive" the yacht?

But of course! Viewing anytime. Sea trials by appointment with compensation for costs. Please e-mail to tropicyacht{at}yahoo.com {for spam protection: replace {at} with @ of course}.

E-mail: tropicyacht{at}yahoo.com (anti-spam: replace {at} with @ !)

Where might I sail the yacht?

She left Canada in August 2003 and sailed to the American South-East, even rode out Hurricane Isabel in North Carolina. Then she cruised the Caribbean where she is located now. The is no sailing schedule as yet. But the share owners' group is thinking about a slow circumnavigation, always via tropical and sub-tropical waters. The refurbishing is probably to be carried out in South-East Asia where a long and highly developed tradition of shipbuilding exists and wages and raw materials are low priced.

Share owners may come board and anytime and anywhere along the route and set the course according to their desires. This is a great advantage of our scheme, as you will have a different sailing venue for each new vacation holiday. Nobody will have a problem to meet the boat with the highly developed network of air routes and the low airfares of today. Seems that one can fly anywhere in the world for somewhere between $400 and $800 nowadays.

Some of the dream destinations we will sail at: Florida, Bahamas, Turks & Caicos, Dominican Republic, Antilles, Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Cura�ao, Trinidad, Recife, Rio, Montevideo, Cape Town, Mauritius, Seychelles, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Phuket, Lankawi, Christmas Islands, Bali, Lombok, Timor, Australia ect.

Or the other way around the globe: Belize, Mexico, Panama, Galapagos, Marquesas, Tahiti, Tonga, Yap, Micronesia, Samoa, New-Guinea, Philippines, China, Okinawa, Borneo, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Singapore, ect.

The cruising routes will always be dictated by wind, currents and weather, but also by political and security situations, as well as the wishes of the share owners.

How about maintenance and other costs?

The yacht is managed and maintained by a full-time professional captain who lives aboard. His philosophy is: zero costs: get it for free or at low budget prices whenever possible. This is why the yacht is lying at anchor instead of in an expensive marina (thusly also preventing mice and rats coming aboard!). He does not get a salary, since he lives aboard for free. Only when skippering charter and delivery trips he charges the foundation for his and the two-person crew's time and labour. Outside work and material are charged at cost. A monthly accounting of the yacht's finances will be accessible to the share holders on the internet.-- Delivery passages to any location a share owner might wish can be arranged and will be charged at cost.

The yacht's specifications please?

Trimaran (three hulls) design by Piver. Builder: Crowe Navigation, Canada. Purpose-built for live-board dive charter trips in the Caribbean. Fibreglass composite with 3 water-tight bulkheads per hull. Built in 1974, last haul-out and refit: 2003.

>7 Cabins (see diagram).

Length overall: ~57' = 18 m

Beam (width): ~24'= 8 m

Draft: ~ 6' = 2,4 m

Net displacement: 53 t

Mast height above water: ~78' = 24m

Sail area: ~ 2200 sq ft = 240 qm (Cutter rig, running backstays, 13 winches)

Engine: 1 Perkins-6cyl-Diesel 135 hp (ca 150 kw), 1998, ca 2000 hrs

Watermaker (engine-driven, reverse osmosis) ~ 20 Gal/hr = 80L/h

Refrigeration: Chest freezer, 2 refrigerators, air conditioning

Anchors: 4 and anchor windlass, electric, ~900' = 300 m of rode

Electrical Systems: 220/110VAC; 12VDC

Electrical Machinery: (2) Wind generators, (4) solar cells; 130 Amp alternator on engine;

Genset, 110/220 VAC; 110 VAC Inverters (2); Transformer 220VAC

Radio Transceivers: Icom 707 SSB/Ham; (3) VHF marine radio telephones; (4) Walkie-Talkies; Mobile telephone

Navigation: (2) GPS-Navigation computers; radar; sonar/fishfinder; weather fax; sextant; ~1000 charts on paper and CD-Rom; Compasses (3)

Galley, inside : Propane stove/oven, 3 burners; refrigerator, freezer chest, microwave oven, double sink.

Galley,outside: Propane stove, 3 burners, refrigerator, charcoal grill

Toilets: (1) marine head; (2) chemical toilets with tanks.

Bathroom: bathtub with shower and wash basin. Solar hot water heater.

Fishing gear: ~ 8 deep sea rods/reels with lures

Diving gear: complete outfit with 2 Tanks; extra-wide boarding ladder.

Emergency raft for 8 persons, Zodiac off-shore.

Tanks: ~160 Gal = 640 L Diesel; ~250 Gal = 1000 L Water; 200 L Propane; 100 L Petrol/Gasoline

Boats: (3) 10'/3m- with 8hp Motors; Skiff with 30hp-Motor and swim ladder

Bicycles: (2)

Condition:

In June 2003 the yacht sailed from the Bahamas to Canada with 16 paying passengers who paid $1600 for the experience. Then she was hauled out, the exterior refurbished and painted -- Motor, gear box, drive shaft, propeller and most other machinery was overhauled. -- Presently the decks are being re-sealed with epoxy resin. The saloon and galley have been fitted with a new hardwood parquet floor glued down with epoxy resin. Walls and ceilings were freshly painted with alkyd enamel lacquer. The staterooms (= sleeping cabins) are next on the to-do list but are clean and in good repair as is. The yacht is gradually put into a like-new condition and will greatly appreciate in re-sale value. So it is still "investment grade".

Can I buy more than 2/64 shares?

Yes! In 1/64 units and you will get a 5% discount (at $1899/each) and also save on documentation fees.

How is the deal and the payments transacted?

You will get a contract by airmail or e-mail. You fill it out and sign it, then return it with your payment (US$- bank cheque, international money order, traveler's' cheques or wire transfer receipt) After the funds clear the bank you can immediately take your sailing cruise, or you may arrive in person for your cruise with cash in hand(conditional on no previous reservations). We register your share and you receive the proper ownership documents and share certificate in original form by air courier (allow 4-6 weeks for official processing).

The names of all share owners are kept in strict confidentiality. Upon request the share certificate can be issued in the name of a company or alias, or anonymously to "bearer".

We understand that the share owners have strong interest in the confidentiality, security and efficiency of the transaction. Therefore the finances of the share holders' group are handled by a trustee in a tax-free off-shore country with strict bank-secrecy laws. There the funds are deposited in an interest-bearing, secure account with a prestigious bank. USD-$ is the official currency, but we can accept payments in Euros or any other hard currency at official bank exchange rates.

How about environmental issues?

Yachting probably is the most environmentally friendly form of vacationing. No hotel compounds need to be built, destroying local nature and culture. No energy wasting and fossil fuel burning propulsion. We are not about consumer tourism, especially not of the wasteful "all-inclusive" style. Cruising under sail is minimalism with style and class! Where we sail and land leave nothing behind, not even tire tracks.Wind power provides our propulsion as much as possible, we even make electricity with it. The sun heats our bath water and solar cells make more power. We fill our tanks with bio-diesel wherever possible.--We cook with emissions-free propane gas and charcoal.--Trash is disposed of on land.-- We respect and nurture the lives, habitats and cultures of humans and other creatures wherever we go.-- The skipper is an active environmentalist, vegetarian and tee-totaler (no alcohol, no tobacco).

How's the on-board ambience?

The share owners are a colorful group from all walks of life: amateur sailors, some with experience in smaller boats, but also novices. Philosophically they can be progressive, alternative, or conservative, intellectuals or blue-collar. But no snobs, prudes or "rednecks". -- We behave casually and respectful and tolerant in our social exchanges. “Live and let live” is the motto. All life-styles, cultures, races and nationalities are welcomed and appreciated. Clothing is optional outside of harbours and marinas. -- Smoking is only allowed on deck and we adhere to the coast guard regulation that allows no more than 0.08 % blood alcohol content in anybody on a boat or ship.

E-mail: tropicyacht{at}yahoo.com (anti-spam: replace {at} with @ !)

What's best: Trimaran, Catamaran or Monohull?

All three designs have been around for millennia in different parts of the world. Experts are, as usual, divided about their respective advantages and drawbacks. Meanwhile every mariner will choose the design appropriate for the intended use. Multi-hulls will point 5-10 degrees "lower" off the wind, but do it faster and more comfortably, so in the final accounting there will be more mileage of headway made good at the end of the day.

Monohulls are still the most prevalent design for ships, yachts and boats. This shape is inexpensive to build and to berth in a harbor or marina. They will "point" higher into the wind multi-hulls. But spray, heeling to lee and lots of motion when "beating" to windward must be ok with the crew.

Catamarans became very popular in the Mediterranean and Caribbean charter fleets. The obvious reason: just like pontoon houseboats they all have large deck saloons with marvelous views through big windows, which endears them to the charter customers' wives. Just as the fact that two couples or families can retreat into separate "wings" in the two hulls for privacy. The trade-off for that perceived advantage is all catamarans' inherent "final instability" i e they tend to capsize quite easily and suddenly in extreme situations. Under more moderate conditions they are quick and nimble but tend to "hobby-horse", a pendulum effect along the transverse axis caused by the masses spread out far apart into the two hulls.

Trimarans are rarely seen in charter fleets, but have proven themselves as fastest and most stable by many record setting passages and circumnavigations. In fact both the transatlantic and around-the-world records are presently held by trimarans. The masses are concentrated closer to the centers of gravity and effect, resulting in better handling in a seaway. Our yacht has a large center hull with a shallow and long keel shoe (almost like a "full keel" monohull, but without the lead ballast). All the water and fuel tanks are grouped around the mast, close to the center of gravity and thus act like the ballast of. The outriggers ("amas") contain only beds and storage spaces. -- The composite building materials are naturally buoyant. Only the engine and machinery, the mast and standing rigging are metal. The double-walled decks are filled with plastic insulation foam. Unlike metal ships and ballasted monohulls our trimaran has "positive floatation" i e is unsinkable, even if completely filled with water. Actually, she can only be flooded to just below the cabin floors. -- Many trimarans have survived extreme situations. Recently one pitchpoled in high winds and rough seas off Cape Horn. While the crew huddled in the capsized center hull waiting for the Chilean navy, another wave flipped her upright again and they could continue their voyage after minor repairs! A few years ago a 50' tri capsized on a trans-Pacific passage, west of Hawaii. She drifted with the prevailing winds and currents for six weeks and made landfall on a South Pacific island beach with all hands healthy and well rested.

E-mail: tropicyacht{at}yahoo.com (anti-spam: replace {at} with @ !)

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