I would certainly consider the opportunity to share experiences and locations. It would be especially nice if it could be worked out to some tax advantage to absorb some of the travel costs.;) Would have to talk to the Admiral to get my official opinion but I'm sure she would be game for a trip your way.

I would not like to swap boats or let someone else use my boat. However, any member of the C36 association that comes to my area of Florida is welcome to come with me for a day sail on pristine Charlotte Harbor where we enjoy sunshine and the gentle breezes off the Gulf of Mexico. I know I appreciat day sails with other members of the C36 association on their boats for a day.

Robert,

Historically, boat swaps have not proven out to be popular or employed. For some reason, folks tend to cherish their boats, more than their houses. We've done "house exchanges" many, many times in the course of our European vacations. Swapping a house is easy, since it doesn't involve too many moving parts and people know how to use faucets and lock the front door, and also included car swaps as part of the house exchange.

In all my years sailing (30+), there was ONLY one person I felt comfortable in letting use my boat. He and I sailed together weekly for over five years. I went on vacation, he and his wife used our boat. He & I anchored, sailed in 0 to 35 knots, raced, cruised, did it all. I trusted him. There are maybe a handful of other C34 skippers I know who I'd loan my boat to, but not without going out with them first.

Someone on our Forum suggested this, and it never got off the ground.

Just FYI.

I grew up with our family boat (actually two, a Choate 40 and a Martin 242 race boat) co-owned between my parents and another family. It worked well for two sort of blue collar families with kids around the same age. We would take summer holidays with all 7, sometimes 8, of us together on the Choate which made it work well. That boat would have been a handful for my family of 3.

That said, there is no way I could ever handle having someone else use my boat without becoming a totally grouchy OCD type about the whole thing.

Prerequisites for the partnership to be successful based on my experience and observations:
- Similar income between partners - this forces everyone's spending expectations into somewhat similar areas. In our deal both men worked at the same pulp mill, wives worked part time, rarely encountered spending conflicts.
- If families are involved, kids should be within a 3 years of same age - again, boat will be set up appropriately and spending will be focused on same goals
- Either be really really close friends, or totally separate 'business partner' type of deal. Anything in between will lead to misunderstandings or unbalanced expectations.

Personally, I quite like this idea, I'd be game!

Perhaps we should start some kind of registry of folks that are interested in boat-sharing? Google calendar for scheduling? Some kind of personal boat pages, where you can show off sexy photos of your boat to entice others?

I'd also assume we could open this idea up to others (ie, the C34 and 380 forums as well)?

I think this is a great idea but the devil is in the details and the experience of the skipper.