The Impact of Your Donation

Where Donated Yachts Go to Work

Most donations are sold or leased — proceeds fund the SeaKeepers mission. A smaller number of vessels enter the DISCOVERY research program directly. Either way, the money goes to the same place: marine research, STEM education, and ocean conservation.

The Mission Your Donation Funds

The International SeaKeepers Society has been operating for twenty-five years. Since 2014, the organization has supported 1,140+ researchers, hosted 202+ scientist-led expeditions, and reached 89,000+ students with marine-science programming. Total projected research cost savings: $1.6 million annually.

Whether your specific vessel is sold, leased, or deployed, your contribution funds these outcomes. The IRS deduction is the same in all three cases — fair-market value at the time of donation.

Programs Funded

Four Pillars of the SeaKeepers Mission

Scientist-Led Research

Marine biologists, oceanographers, and graduate scientists conduct funded research aboard SeaKeepers platforms — shark tagging, coral monitoring, plastics research, bathymetric mapping, genome sequencing. 202+ expeditions completed since 2014.

STEM Education

Junior SeaKeepers programs bring students aboard for hands-on marine-science instruction. Schools, museums, and educational nonprofits use program vessels for at-sea learning. 89,000+ students, 140+ school groups, 400+ educators engaged.

Citizen Science

Crew-led research instruments deployed from owner-operated platforms — S.A.R.A.H. units, SOND receivers, Neuston nets — feeding global data programs including Seabed 2030. 441+ citizen-science sightings logged.

Coastal Conservation

Beach cleanups, coastal-community outreach, and marine-debris removal across the Atlantic and Pacific basins. 35,240+ pounds of debris collected across 290+ global cleanups.

Where the Money Goes

How Your Donation Translates to Mission Output

For a vessel sold through Boathouse Auctions, the net proceeds — after disposition costs — fund SeaKeepers' annual operating budget. SeaKeepers reports 35+ published scientific papers from 2012–2025 and $1.6M+ in projected annual research cost savings delivered to academic and government research partners.

Translation: your donation funds research that would otherwise not happen — because conventional research-vessel charters cost what they cost, and your vessel reduces that cost to zero for the qualifying expedition.

See Past Donations

SeaKeepers scientist conducting marine research aboard a donor vessel