We signed the papers!

Boat owners

We signed for the boat today, and the previous owner has received the money transferred from HK. We are now officially boat owners! We bought the boat for 50,000 euros, though it’s worth 70,000 euros or more based on market value.
It was sold at a lower price because a LOT of things need fixing. So, we’re planning a 20,000-euro refit to bring it back to market value—or higher. There are only about 200 of this model ever produced, and some are now worth 100,000 euros.

We visited many boats in France and Croatia before deciding on this one because it fits our needs. It’s comfortable for living aboard!

However, there are issues—it wouldn’t be fun without them:

 Insurance

We don’t have proper insurance yet. I asked Nico to take care of it weeks, or even months, ago… but on the day of signing, we still didn’t have one. So, we grabbed one hastily without thinking it through or comparing options carefully.

Also, when you buy an older boat (over 20 years old), you need a boat expertise (survey). The expert charges per meter, so our survey will cost 1,000 euros—about the same as the insurance for a year. I’d initially budgeted 2,000 euros for insurance, but after talking to brokers, I revised it to 1,600 euros in the latest budget. Now, we’ll end up way over budget.

The boat won’t be fully insured until the expertise is complete. For now, we only have third-party liability insurance until the survey is done, meaning the boat itself isn’t insured yet.

I’ll write an extra blog post about insurance later, as we’re also planning to get medical insurance alongside the boat insurance.

 Boat Name 

We don’t have a boat name yet. It’s been a nightmare agreeing on something we both like. When we called the insurance company, we just gave them the name we’d been discussing that morning: *Vogue*.

 Registration 

We still need to register ("immatriculer") the boat, and neither of us wants to deal with it. I think the insurance will only be valid once we’ve officially completed the administrative change of ownership.

 Shared Ownership

One more thing: the ownership transfer template only had space for one owner. So far, the boat is in Nico’s name. It might be a headache to register it under both our names since the original papers only mention Nico.

 My Tips! 

Don’t do things like Nico—prepare your insurance in advance before the purchase!

If you buy an old boat, chances are the insurance company will require an expertise. Expect to pay 40 to 90 euros per meter, plus transportation costs.

The expertise will happen on dry dock to examine the hull and in the water to test the engine, so it requires serious planning! Also, register your boat right after signing the papers.