Who you're talking to

I know which questions a seller doesn't enjoy.

I'm Luciano. I was on the operating side of one of the largest boat co-ownership operations in the world when it opened in the United States, close enough to the paperwork to know what the contract really says. Everything on this site is what I learned there, published.

What the dock taught me

Luciano on the stern of a yacht off Salvador, Brazil

The best part of the job was the dock. Families coming back from a day out and booking the next one before they'd rinsed the salt off, in a boat none of them could have justified buying alone.

The part that stayed with me was everyone else. Men who had the money and asked exactly the right questions, and got a salesman's answer to every one of them. Some had a boat already and knew to the dollar what it was costing them. They didn't walk away because it was expensive. They walked away because nobody would show them the deal.

I had read the paperwork. The answers existed the whole time. So here they are.

The real obstacle

This industry sells the dream and hides the deal.

Everyone in the business will talk to you about the sunset. Ask what it costs and you get a form, a rep in your zip code, and a number that shows up after an hour on the phone. The biggest boat club in the country doesn't publish one single price. That isn't sloppiness, it's the model: the less clearly you see the deal, the easier you are to sell to.

What they don't advertise is that you never had to buy a whole boat to own one. Eight owners, one factory-new yacht, a real title in your name and a captain included. I publish what that costs, and what it costs to walk away from it later, because the man who can see the whole thing is the one I want on the call.

My angle, since you're going to ask.

The operator pays me a commission when somebody buys a share. That's how this works, and you should hear it from me rather than find it out later.

It's also exactly why you get every number. I don't need to hide the math to get paid, and I'd rather you buy this knowing exactly what it is.

The ground rules

What you'll find here

  • The four ways onto the water, owning outright, a share, a club, a charter, and which one fits the number of days you'd really use a boat.
  • What each one costs, published, with the sources. No form and no rep in your zip code.
  • The fine print read out loud before it's your fine print: how you get out, what your share is worth then, who's covered when somebody else is at the helm.

What you won't find

  • A countdown timer or a “last spots” banner.
  • Any promise that a shared boat is open every time you want it. It's shared, so some dates are taken. Better you hear that here than discover it in July.

Fifteen minutes, every number on the table.

Tell me the day you want. If a boat is already yours, bring last season's bills and we'll put the two side by side. You leave with one sheet, your numbers on it, yours to keep.

Show me the real numbers