Free Yacht Chapter 6: How to Give Away a Free Yacht

continues the Free Yacht saga begun at How to Get a Free Yacht

One day I was offered a 32 foot trimaran for a very low price. We freeboat captains conferred and decided to get it. We now needed to give away our beloved Frieboot a.k.a "Free Boat One".

I happened to know just the person to give it to. Shannon O'Hare, creator of the "Neverwas Haul", a self-propelled victorian house. I invited him to come look at a free boat with a working diesel engine. I gave him a beer and left him aboard the boat alone for a few minutes while I lugged some junk back to my truck. When I came back he was hooked. His mind was racing with the adventures and projects he would have with his new boat.

Shannon recruited a crew of stalwart pals to share it with him.
Here he and Captain Kimrick take their new boat out for a spin.

P.S. Update august 2007 I gave away another free boat. It's gone:
yet another free boat: in Alameda CA
It's a small 24ft trimaran, or you could use the center hull as half of a Wharram-type catamaran. The shape is compatible with the small Wharrams.
You'll need a trailer to transport it, or a truck with a beefy roof rack and some strong friends.

Here's the table of contents of the whole saga:
Chapter 1: How to Get a Free Yacht
Chapter 2: Maiden Voyage of the Free Yacht
Chapter 3: Fix Broken Stix and other Trix
Chapter 4: Outboard Motor Mutilates Foot
Chapter 5: It's sinking and it's on Fire.
Chapter 6: How To Give Away a Free Yacht
Chapter 7: Get an Even Better One and Fabulize it.
Chapter 8: Celebrate Freedom
Chapter 9: Technicolor Dreamboat
Chapter 10: Privateer Knot
Chapter 11: Dismasted!
Chapter 12: Kiteboat!
Chapter 13: Mast Raising

Step 1: Catch-22. All the Steps Have to Happen Before Any of the Others.

Giving away a boat is easy.
Getting the dock slip etc taken care of is not easy. It's different every time.
Every step has to happen before any other step can take place.
Kind of like a hostage/guns/drug deal in the movies but slower and with more paperwork, and not happening in a parking lot at night with machineguns and cursing:

YOU LOAN THE NEW OWNER YOUR KEY
Otherwise they'll have a boat but no way to get to it till the rest of the process is completed.

YOU GIVE UP THE DOCK SPACE:
The marina slip where the boat is parked is rented for a specific boat.
You can't park a different boat there and you can't transfer the slip to someone else.
So you give the marina notice you're moving out by signing a "letter of evacuation". If it's after the first of the month you have to pay for that month and give them letter for the next month.
It costs money to give away a boat. If the new owner disappears and leaves the boat there while the slip is in your name you're stuck with having to deal with it.

NEW OWNER APPLIES FOR DOCK SPACE:
To do that they need to have the boat registered to them and insured. To do that they need the address of where the boat will be kept. Fortunately the insurance company and registry don't ask for proof of address, so the new owner fills out the form with the address he HOPES the boat will be allowed. If the new owners are a group of people they'll need to figure out whose name(s) to use all these forms.

NEW OWNER SUPPLIES PROOF OF INCOME TO THE MARINA:
They like to grope around in your butthole when you apply just to make sure it's clean and tidy up there. You are outraged of course because boats are supposed to be fun and this isn't. Don't worry. They just like it if your application is really thick and took a lot of trouble to prepare. You'll have to make several trips to the office to get it all straight. They just want to see if you'll do what they ask and be the sort of person who pays rent. Don't worry.
After you get in there are they won't have time to keep track of you. There are 400 boats in this marina and one harbormaster.

NEW OWNER SUBMITS TO RANDOM DEMAND BY THE MARINA:
Every time they dream up new requirements that didn't exist before. The application process can never be the same.
Maybe you'll have to submit a "survey" which means paying $500+ to a marine surveyor to crawl around your boat stabbing it with a screwdriver, then write an elaborate report listing everything about your boat. Kind of nice to have in your files, but jeez. It's a fricking free boat!

NEW OWNER INSURES THE BOAT
If it's a weird boat this might be difficult. Lots of insurance websites lure you to fill out tons of forms online only to decline to cover your type of boat.
I've had good luck with progressivedirect.com
The marina will ask to be named as "additional insured" and their parent company as well.

OLD OWNER CANCELS INSURANCE;
If the new owner doesn't actually get registration and insurance you might be liable for accidents.

OLD OWNER SIGNS TITLE OVER TO NEW OWNER:
If they vanish now you're in title limbo and stuck with a hassle. Write up bills of sale and exchange solemn vows of squareness and mormonism.

NEW OWNER REGISTERS THE BOAT
We hope. The state doesn't care if you have a driver's license! They don't care where you actually live! But the DMV will make mistakes and earn their reputation again and again.

Shannon somehow got it all straightened out and legal and it's smooth sailing now....

What happens next? Continued at Get an Even Better One and Fabulize it.

Here's the table of contents of the whole saga:
Chapter 1: How to Get a Free Yacht
Chapter 2: Maiden Voyage of the Free Yacht
Chapter 3: Fix Broken Stix and other Trix
Chapter 4: Outboard Motor Mutilates Foot
Chapter 5: It's sinking and it's on Fire.
Chapter 6: How To Give Away a Free Yacht
Chapter 7: Get an Even Better One and Fabulize it.
Chapter 8: Celebrate Freedom
Chapter 9: Technicolor Dreamboat
Chapter 10: Privateer Knot
Chapter 11: Dismasted!
Chapter 12: Kiteboat!
Chapter 13: Mast Raising