Donated a sunset cruise last night

JV II

JV II

Active Member
Nov 17, 2007
2,655
RI
Boat Info
Flybridge
Engines
Volvo V-Drive
I donated a 3 hour sunset cruise for 4 for a local charity live auction. It fetched $450 at auction.

We had 4 really nice people on board for a nice crisp autumn cruise of Boston Harbor. I burned about 15-20 gallons. We putted around at 4-8 mph on the clear, cold night.

They had a great time. I and the admiral enjoyed the cruise equally. We met some nice people. The charity got $450 bucks. I can't remember when we got so many thank you's for anything I've done.

What an easy way to make a difference with your boat.
 
sounds an excellent way to spend an evening... did you provide any "sundowners"???
 
Excellent! I did a similar thing last year for a charity auction. I don't know who enjoyed it more, the couple we took out or my wife and I. Great way to share boating. I encourage anyone who has the opportunity to do it.
 
JuliaValentine said:
I donated a 3 hour sunset cruise for 4 for a local charity live auction. It fetched $450 at auction.

We had 4 really nice people on board for a nice crisp autumn cruise of Boston Harbor. I burned about 15-20 gallons. We putted around at 4-8 mph on the clear, cold night.

They had a great time. I and the admiral enjoyed the cruise equally. We met some nice people. The charity got $450 bucks. I can't remember when we got so many thank you's for anything I've done.

What an easy way to make a difference with your boat.
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What a GREAT idea! Nice job!

btw... were you armed just in case? haha
 
I was not armed in this case. I don't have a captain's license. The attendees did not pay me anything for the cruise, so they were only guests.
 
Somebody paid $450 for the dinner, so definitely a commercial activity.

There have been several instances of the FAA violating private pilots for exactly this situation (donated airplane rides, operating without a commercial license or operating certificate). Buy hey, nothing happened so nobody cares.
 
Kameroo said:
Somebody paid $450 for the dinner, so definitely a commercial activity.

There have been several instances of the FAA violating private pilots for exactly this situation (donated airplane rides, operating without a commercial license or operating certificate). Buy hey, nothing happened so nobody cares.
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Hmm. Never even considered that. It sure would be hazy in a court of law. No written contracts or other paper trail, a tax deductable donation to an unrelated charity, no payment to me. I guess swim at your own risk.
 
We did the samething this year... "A three hour tour" Think they only paid $300 to the charity. The hard part was scheduling the trip... Nice people, even sent us a thank you note... We also autioned off a day of water skiing on our smaller boat... Still waiting on the water skiing people to call us...
 
JuliaValentine said:
Hmm. Never even considered that. It sure would be hazy in a court of law. No written contracts or other paper trail, a tax deductable donation to an unrelated charity, no payment to me. I guess swim at your own risk.
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Wow, I was thinking about doing this, but would really want to get the "liability question" out of the way. It sounds to me as really the main task would be to get a written ok from your insurance/umbrella coverage to make sure everything is in order. Because they could "rethink" especially if one of your guests hurt themselves and claim it was a commercial "for hire" situation which potentially could release your insurance from any liability.

Question is the following: Are you a "service for hire" if you are donating the time on your boat to charity?

But even more interesting ---- Arguably, could you also claim the expense as a donation? Let's say.... $200.00 actual cost for gas, drinks, food deduction goes to boat owner + $400.00 - the cost of the auction item by the buyer? Would the non-profit have to itemize the $600.00?

This could potentially be a way to use your boat and as a boat owner, deduct some expenses as a charitable contribution????

It would be great if there are any lawyers on the board to jump in and give us their opinion.

Good stuff to think about,

Mike
 
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:smt119 NO!!! Don't invite the lawyers to chime in!!! Why ruin a good thing? :smt021
 
I thought about the "write off" angle, but I think that would be a red flag for an audit. If you do not have any income to prove it was a business, how could you claim a write off? Also, as far a liablity, it was understood that my trip was not a for hire cruise. We also went no wake most of the time to save on gas...
 
rcknecht said:
I thought about the "write off" angle, but I think that would be a red flag for an audit. If you do not have any income to prove it was a business, how could you claim a write off? Also, as far a liablity, it was understood that my trip was not a for hire cruise. We also went no wake most of the time to save on gas...
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The only expense was the gas, which I suppose could be claimed as a charitable contribution, but for a $60 write off, why risk it.
 
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