Boat Timeshares - A Unique
Vacationing Experience
by
Dana Sanders
If you've dreamed of
sailing the seven seas, but don't necessarily have the bank
account to buy a luxury vessel, don't despair. There are
ways to make that dream happen without breaking your bank.
Boat timeshares offer a
unique vacationing experience for almost any budget. By
getting involved in a timeshare, you have the right to use
that luxury vessel to make your dreams come true, but you
alone are not solely responsible for all the expenses.
Timeshares provide an excellent way for someone not willing
or able to take on the expense of purchasing a great
vacationing boat themselves to still experience the
adventure of life on the water.
A variety of companies
offer would-be Captain Ahab's the ability to take to the sea
without shelling out a lot of cash. Boat timeshare companies
and programs are readily available and accessible across the
Internet. Boating timeshare companies are active all over
the world with even some finding their homes on America's
Great Lakes.
Basically, a boat
timeshare offers a sailor a chance to buy into a piece of a
boat for a season. Similar to a yacht club, but without all
the expenses of owning your own yacht, these programs lets
sailors sail minus the headaches. Some programs allow
members to purchase blocks of time over the course of a
sailing season to use a boat. Many programs work by giving
several "skippers" the same boat during the sailing season.
These skippers book multiple sail times, show up, sail, have
a blast and return the boat for the next skipper to take
over.
While boat timeshares
provide everything needed to sail, members still are
responsible for making sure the boat is in good condition
when it's returned. Swabbing the deck isn't out of the
question. However, many timeshare programs will even go as
far as to include maintenance, fuel and so on in the initial
price. This leaves the member responsible for simply safely
piloting the vessel, keeping it clean and enjoying their
high seas adventure with their family and friends for a
fraction of the price of owning a yacht themselves. The
insurance, boat licensing and other worries are generally
handled by the timeshare company itself.
For those who lack the
skills to man their own vessels, many boat timeshares will
provide a crew including a captain, instructor, and/or cook
at a small additional cost. One company in particular,
Trade Winds Cruise Club, offers all-inclusive cabin rentals
and is RCI's (Resorts Condominiums International) only
Caribbean yachting affiliate. As an RCI Member, you have
the option of exchanging your timeshare week for a cabin
space onboard crewed catamaran charters.
So, what is pricing like
for these nautical adventures? Not bad considering a luxury
boat can cost thousands and thousands of dollars. And even
better when you consider buying your own boat doesn't
include fuel, maintenance, licensing and insurance costs and
so on! A timeshare that covers an entire boating season can
cost upwards of $7,000, a reasonable expense considering the
headaches removed by taking part in such a venture.
To learn
more about boat timeshares and the unique vacation
opportunities they provide, just log on to the Internet and
visit locations such as
http://www.atimesharesz.com/boattimeshare to do a
thorough search. A variety of companies with different
programs and options are operating in a bevy of locations
around the world.
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