Consultation services in the field of financial management of yacht operations, offered by Spencer Christopher Yacht and Ship alongside brokerage.
Above a certain length a yacht is a business as much as a boat. Crew, class, flag, refit history and running cost all sit inside the transaction — and none of them stops mattering the day the deal closes.
Spencer Christopher Yacht and Ship consults with owners and buyers on that side of a vessel: what she costs to run, what a refit is likely to carry, how a purchase or a sale is structured, escrowed and closed, and which lender, underwriter, surveyor, yard or documentation agent fits the situation in front of you.
The people who do that work are the people who ran these vessels — former professional yacht crew, seasoned captains and certified marine engineers — alongside the firm's own finance, closing and operations staff.
A call returned the same day, and a broker who knows the vessel and the transaction well enough to answer any question at any point. That standard applies from the first conversation regardless of the size of the deal.
Crew, class, flag, refit history and running cost sit inside a transaction as much as the purchase price does. A broker who has run a vessel of the kind you are considering can tell you firsthand what she costs to keep, not only what she costs to buy — which is the difference between the listing and the boat.
Timing a sale, planning a refit, settling an insurance or estate question, or simply knowing where you stand. Prepared from comparable vessels that actually sold rather than asking prices, condition, hours and refit history, the yard that built her, and where she lies against current demand — read by a broker, not generated from a form. A valuation is not a listing agreement.
Engine hours, service records, electronics, canvas, paint and what has been done to the boat since it left the yard. Two identical hulls of the same year can sit a long way apart on this one factor alone, and an owner deciding what to spend before a sale is deciding against that spread. Subcontractors and in-house crew for mechanical, electrical and shipwright work are managed by the firm's own operations manager for the management division.
Sea trials, marine survey scheduling, escrow management, lien searches, documentation and closing, coordinated on either side of the transaction: IYBA-standard documentation, licensed escrow agent coordination, title research, USCG documentation and closing statement preparation. It is an in-house closing department rather than work handed to somebody else, and a client's money is treated accordingly.
Marine lenders, underwriters, maritime attorneys, surveyors, wooden-vessel surveyors, yards, transport and documentation agents. The firms this house points to first are published openly on the site, one name per discipline — and the choice of provider is always the client's.
An owner who no longer wants the vessel has more than one exit. Through Block Island Maritime Funding, a donor can deduct the appraised value of the boat as a charitable deduction, with the balance carried forward under IRS rules where it cannot all be used in the first year. State rules vary, and nothing on this site is tax advice — that conversation belongs with a tax professional.
Consultation services in the field of financial management of yacht operations: what a vessel costs to run, refit and yard spend, valuation for a decision other than a sale, escrow, closing and documentation, and the lenders, underwriters, maritime attorneys, surveyors, yards, transport and documentation agents a vessel needs around it.
The firm's own finance and operations staff, alongside the broker carrying the transaction. A Chief Financial Officer oversees financial operations across both Spencer Christopher entities — vendor relationships, payroll and portfolio accounting — and an operations manager runs subcontractors and in-house crew for the management division. The brokers themselves are former professional yacht crew, seasoned captains and certified marine engineers.
No. Nothing on this site is tax or legal advice. Where a question belongs with a tax professional, a maritime attorney or a marine underwriter we say so, and the site publishes a directory of the firms this house points to first — the choice of provider is always yours.
No. An enquiry is a conversation, not a listing agreement, and a valuation is not one either. Owners ask to time a sale, plan a refit, settle an insurance or estate question, or simply to know where they stand.
The brokerage operates across the Eastern Seaboard and the Bahamas out of Stuart, Florida. Neither our clients nor their vessels are confined to a single market, and neither are we.
Whether you are looking at a vessel, deciding what to put into one, or working out whether to sell her at all — the conversation costs nothing and a broker will answer plainly.
