If you are looking to buy a boat, there are different mortgage options available to you depending on a variety of factors. It’s not just the type even the size of the boat that determines the mortgage options, so here’s a quick breakdown of the different factors that determine the marine mortgage options that are available for the many different kinds of boats.
What Determines Marine Mortgage Options
Firstly, the financing options can depend on what you are planning on doing with your boat. For example, it might be for recreation purposes only, or it might be the type of boat you can live on and this is your intention, or it could be a business venture such as ferrying tourists or providing tours along a coastline.
Additional factors could also include whereabouts in the world you live and how long you have lived there. Plus, there will be the usual checks required for important information such as what you do for a living and approximately how much you are earning.
There are also many different kinds of boats out there so let’s quickly run through the different designs for which there are multiple mortgage options available.
Boats Used Inland
There are various kinds of boat that can be used inland on rivers and canals that wind their way through the country. Typically, these will include river boats, motor boats, narrow boats, widebeam boats and Dutch Barges. There are flexible financing options available for those who either want to buy one of these boats for recreational purposes, or with the purpose of using it as a home.
Sea Going Vessels
There are four main categories of sea going vessel, which are not all boats (technically) when you include the likes of jet skis and hovercraft. The main factors that determine a boat’s category are the wave height and wind speed that it is designed to encounter and handle. Another important factor is the number of people expected to be onboard which also impacts a boat’s seaworthiness. Adding more people to a boat can change its normal category to one that must be able to handle a much greater weight with less stability.
The four main categories are:
Category A – Ocean: covers largely self-sufficient boats designed for extended voyages with winds of over Beaufort Force 8 (over 40 knots), and significant wave heights above 13 feet, but excluding abnormal conditions such as hurricanes.
Category B – Offshore: includes boats operating offshore with winds to 40 knots and significant seas to 13 feet.
Category C – Inshore: is for boats operating in coastal waters and large bays and lakes with winds to Force 6, up to 27 knots, and significant seas 7 feet high.
Category D – Inland or sheltered coastal waters: is for boats in small lakes and rivers with winds to Force 4 and significant wave heights to 18 inches.
Some of the seaworthiness criteria that come into play the further offshore the vessel is expected to venture include boat construction strength, stability, freeboard, reserve buoyancy, resistance to flooding and deck drainage.
The European standards do not guarantee that an individual boat will be able to handle all the conditions mentioned in its designated category, but they do provide a guideline to help to identify purely inshore vessels from those capable of venturing further away from the shore and thus operating safely in more demanding conditions.
To explore your financing options for buying a boat, contact Promarine Finance who can talk you through the process and arrange a quick chat to discuss the marine mortgage options available to you.