WHALE POINT

LETTERS

M A R I N E & H A R DWA R E C O.

A FAMILY OWNED & OPERATED BUSINESS FOR THREE GENERATIONS MARINE PARTS & ACCESSORIES, PLUS A COMPLETE HARDWARE STORE

"DISCOUNT PRICES WITHOUT THE ATTITUDE" WALKER 8'-10' Dinghy SILVER MARINE Inflatables Very affordable. Converts from row boat to sailboat to motorboat. Polypropylene hull. Comes with oars. Sail kit optional.

#8125000

$799

Rib

Sail

#8327

$1199500 10' Dinghy: $99500

FORESPAR NOW

8' Speci al $699 00

Mini-Galley

Model...Length ...Width.....Max......Floor 81250.... 8’2” ..... 4’3”......4hp....Roll-up 83275.... 9’1” ... 4’11”...9.9hp. Air floor

MAGMA BBQ

Mini-Galley comes with timble cocking frame, perfect for any boat and uses standard propane cylinders.

Perfect BBQ for a Sunday night dinner on your boat. Stainless steel. Mounts easily with optional mount to your boats rails. Charcoal: West $109 • Whale Pt. $9999 Propane: West $139 • Whale Pt. $12999 Rail Mount: West $49 • Whale Pt. $3999

SOSPENDERS

PORTA POTTI

Manual inflate

Model 135. Two piece fresh water toilet . 2.6 gal holding tank detaches for easy emptying. List 89.95 • NOW $79.95

95

$119

Inflatable Safety Harness

Portable Toilet

$16999 Auto inflate

$18999 Lanyards sold separate

Model 775MSD. Marine head with pumpout & 5.5 gallon holding tank. Adapts to through-hull & hooks up for dockside discharge. List 188.65 • NOW $149.95

Battery Charger

TEMPO FUEL TANK

Model... Amp . Bank ..... List............Now 2611......10......2 ... $179.....$14999 2613......15......3 ... $259.....$19999 2620......20......3 ... $289.....$26995

Easy view fuel gauge. Meets USCG & ABYC requirements. Positive grip hose barb for leak proof connection. Attached dipstick gauge. List $22.99 • NOW $16.99

Buy 2 • SAVE Buy 4 • SAVE

GUEST

$10 $20 EACH EACH

Atomic Battery Chargers, 3 stage

for Outboards • 6 Gallon

205 Cutting Blvd, Corner of 2nd, Richmond 510-233-1988 • FAX 233-1989 Mon-Sat: 8:30am - 5pm • Sun: 10am - 4pm Email: whalepoint@acehardware.com Page 88 •

Latitude 38

• April, 2007

salon seems like the way to go. The cat also seems like the way to go because I don't like heeling over for hours at a time. I just turned 52 and, having been in law and real estate for a while, want to get out of the biz. I'm very seriously considering retiring. Right now I own a powerboat that I berth opposite the Marina Green. I used to sail, but it was hard getting my wife to join me, as she was more comfortable on the powerboat. But once again, you made an extremely compelling argument to have fun while you're still able to. Anonymous Anonymous — Yacht management companies have very different policies. For example, The Moorings has a program that will guarantee you a certain amount of monthly income — even if your boat is never chartered. That's fairly low risk, so we suspect when all things are considered there is also a fairly low rate of return on the investment. We put our used Leopard 45 cat in an entirely different program at BVI Yacht Charters. We get to use our cat as much as we want whenever we want, and we get 70% of all charter income. However, we also have to pay for berthing, insurance, clean-up after charters, repairs and so forth. Our assumption is that, since we're taking a greater share of the risk — we're going to eat it big time if terrorists attack airlines or some drunk charterer puts the cat on a reef — we probably have the potential for a better return on our investment. Almost all yacht management companies will show you projected — not guaranteed — financials. We suggest that you contact them for a copy, and to find out if they want any more boats in their fleets. But as we said, we know boats and we know the Caribbean, so we're going to have to see a profit — beyond our substantial use of the boat — before we're convinced there is one. And because we always assume the worst, we've braced ourselves for the chance that we may have to replace an engine and the boat will be out of service for several months, really stunting income. Having said that, we can report that, despite not coming into service until very late in the season, 'ti Profligate is already booked through BVI Yacht Charters for two weeks a month for March, April, May and June, plus for another eight days in November. We certainly have no complaints with a start like that. And if they somehow manage to squeeze another week in both May and June, we might even dance a little jig. Late summer and fall are the low season, of course, when the prices drop and business falls off significantly. The bottom line is that we don't know how it's going to work out financially, but plan on letting you know a year from now. We can also tell you that if you suggest something like that as an 'investment' to a Suze Ormand or a Bob Brinker, you'd be booked for murder, because they'd die laughing. But we doubt you're modeling your life on theirs. When we mentioned that we intend to have the cat in the program for just three years, it's not because she'll necessarily be forced out, but rather because by that time we think we'd like to have a similar arrangement with a cat in the Med, the East Coast of Australia, or Thailand. But who knows, maybe we'll keep her in the Caribbean. According to our agreement with the charter company, we can cancel our arrangement with three month's notice, provided sisterships can be found to take care of the charters that had been booked for her. And, frankly, we don't know how long the company will allow our boat to be in their program. We assume it's as long as she's popular with customers which, in the case of Leopard 45s, Caribbean charter all-stars for years, is going to be quite a long time. There will be lots of charter outfits represented at the Strictly