Donate your Boat to the Sailing to Health Program.
Dec. 2008. Taipan, a Cheoy Lee 28' sailboat, sailing on the SF Bay after being donated to the Sailing to Healh program. Photography by Marshall Lombardo.
Donate your Boat to the Sailing to Health Program. Your donation is 100% tax deductable and will contribute to healthy people, healthy communities, healthy boats and healthy waterways.
Sailing Supports Healthy People
Our goal is to see your boat being sailed and cared for. Sailing is an activity that promotes the health and well being of all who participate.
Our Arts Programs Create Healthy Communities
Boat donations help us to fund programs that build positive social relationships in our community through the arts: Building Bridges programs provide music programs for our public schools and social dance programs for seniors and teens. We believe that the arts and local artists are a vital part of our communities. Our programs support our local professional artists and bring children, seniors and teens together in social activities that develop their skills in music and dance.
We Educate New Owners to Care for Healthy Boats
Boat donations help us supoort and promote organizations that educate new boat owners on the safe operation of their boats and environmentally safe disposal of waste.
We Preserve Healthy Waterways
Boat donations help us support organizations and private parties who reclaim abandoned boats so they can be sailed again by new owners who will care for and appreciate them. Our waterways provide beautiful scenery, transportation for vessels and sustenance for wildlife, fish, birds and marine mammals. Unfortunately many recreational boats end up as derelicts in our waterways, creating serious environmental hazards for the public and our environment.
The number of derelict boats is so extreme in the eastern reaches of the Bay that a recent Contra Costa County report indicated that the removal of 300 vessels in the past 20 years has hardly put a dent in the 'aquatic junkyards.' These boats, when left as derelicts are serious environmental hazards -- not to mention an unattractive addition to our beautiful Bay waters.
Building Bridges works with local marinas to identify the abandoned boats that can be restored to good sailing condition. These boats are then restored and sold to new owners will sail them and care for them, keeping our waterways clean.
How To Donate Your Boat
Ken Oswill signs donation papers to give his boat Taipan to the Sailing to Health Program. Photography by Kendall Ross Bean.
Contact Us with the Details on your Boat.
The more information you can give us initially the better. At the very minimum, we need to know the manufacturer of the boat, the model, the hull no., length overall, license number, current location and if you have any deadlines that the donation needs to be completed by. Email is the preferred way to contact us bb@buildingbridges.bbnonprofits.org. If you don't have computer access, you can call Karen Lile at 925-360-3527.
Paperwork
If Building Bridges is interested in accepting your boat donation, we will need the following paperwork on the day of donation:
- Title of Ownership: When the transaction is complete, you will sign the title and give it to us.
- Letter signed by you stating that you are donating the boat to Building Bridges, and that it is free and clear of all liens and encumbrances. We will give you the wording the State Board of Equalization requires.
- DMV registration.
- Proof of Insurance.
- Past paperwork. We would appreciate having maintenance and repair records, manuals, past titles and registrations and any other history you can give us about the boat.
Establishing a Fair Market Value:
Nov. 3, 2008. The donation process for Taipan was completed easily and without hassle. Alan Hugenot, surveyor, on left. Karen Lile, Building Bridges, in center. Ken Oswill, boat donor, on right. Photography by Kendall Ross Bean.
The IRS will give you a tax deduction equal to 100% of the fair market value of the boat. This is the price that a knowledgeable buyer would purchase it from a seller in the current market.
You will want to have a survey done on the boat by an independent third party appraiser, an accredited marine surveyor. Usually, you pay for the cost of the survey. But, in some cases, Building Bridges can find a sponsor who will pay for the survey. If the boat is worth more than $5,000, then the surveyor can sign the IRS 8283 form that is required for your tax deduction purposes. If the boat is worth less than $5,000, then the survey report itself will serve as evidence of its current market value.
After the surveyor has established the fair market value of the boat (usually 2-4 days after the physical inspection of the boat is done), then the paperwork is completed and Building Bridges will take possession of the boat.