Would You Join A Boat Club?

[coastalrichard]

I have owned boats individually for years...perhaps part of it is the feeling you get when you're draggin the wagon down the street past all the other "unfortunate" non-owners. A few years back, while travelling, I came across an ad in a local rag touting the advantages of a boat club: multiple styles of boats, no maintenance, no insurance, convenience...well we all know the time, effort and money that is boat ownership. As a golfer, I had memberships at the country clubs...couldn't afford to own the course though. What's the difference? (BTW, golfing is much cheaper than boating)

I investigated the "club" model pretty extensively, talked with managers and owners of clubs (large and small) and visited a number of different clubs and concluded that it made a lot of sense. Heck, most are priced at a point that brings your boating costs to about 1/2 of what it does to own the boat and you don't have all the issues with maintenance, repairs, insurance, transit, storage, etc. Call in and reserve your boat, show up at the dock, go have fun, return it to the fuel dock and go home. Man, that sounds like fun boating to me!

Despite the advice that there had to be a population of at least 1 million located within 20-30 minutes of your facility to make the numbers work, I tried earnestly for 6 months to create a club and promote it, only to fail to get it off the ground (didn't meet this criteria by a long shot). A couple of guys did get one going about 30 miles away but it didn't make it two years (one of the "franchises" that offered reciprocity).

So, what are your feelings on a boat club?

 

[haulnazz15]

Re: Would You Join A Boat Club?

I believe it to be 100% the same as many "flying clubs". While having a few aircraft to choose from is nice, there are few flying clubs/partnerships that work out well over the long haul due to differences in care, maintenance ideals, and even pure personality clashes.

People have different expectations of what they consider to be a "seaworthy" vessel, and scheduling could be a pain. Say the club has 10 members and 3 boats, who gets the boat for the big weekends? What about upgrades like fish-finders, camper enclosures, wakeboard towers? Is there going to be a reserve fund for engine/drive replacements? How does the club decide on the purchase/replacement of its fleet? What happens when a club members terminates their membership, because any loans on current fleet still have to be paid regardless of membership dues.

While I believe it is a great idea to have a club with access to several boats, from cruisers to center consoles, I just don't know how well it would work in practice.

 

[oldjeep]

Re: Would You Join A Boat Club?

These guys seem to do pretty well locally: http://yourboatclub.com/

I think the main draw is the number of locations, so that you can go to a few lakes and never have to move a boat.

 

[sickwilly]

Re: Would You Join A Boat Club?

I strongly considered it. However, in the end, I decided its like relying on a friend to boat with. You are boating on someone else's terms, not your own.

You want to bring the mutt -- nope
You want to camp overnight -- nope
You want to go to two different lakes in two days -- nope
You want to mod the boat -- nope
You want to name the boat -- nope
You want to spend all day Saturday tuning up the boat, or waxing it -- nope

Are you really a boater -- nope

 

[V153]

Re: Would You Join A Boat Club?

Wouldn't work for me but if you do your homework'n it appears to be a decent club why not. There are several in my area. Some with a better reputation than others. Having done canvas & cushion work for a couple of the clubs here in town I can tell you not all club members qualify as boaters. I've seen some purty good damage done. Biminis run into/under bridges, ever loving crap torn outa cushions, boats run aground, etc.

I dunno, mebbe one would be better off just renting a boat? Then again personally I've beaten the snot out of any boat or car I ever rented? Never wrecked one though ...

Sounds like a tough racket. Buy/lease the boats, store them somewhere, insure them, register them, keep em clean, fueled'n oiled, maintain em & then fix them when a member effs up? No thanks, I'd rather starve in the canvas business. That boat club crap is way too complicated ...?

But I digress ...

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Would You Join A Boat Club?

"You want to spend all day Saturday tuning up the boat, or waxing it -- nope"
--I don't see the problem here. And I'm sure their shop would love a volunteer.

The two reasons the boat clubs make a lot of sense are
(1) for people who use their own boat a whole lot less than they thought they would--which is most boaters. The "cost per ride" works out. and

(2) people who want reliability when they use the boat and who don't want to spend their free time (or who are mechanically incompetent) fixing stuff. You pay for recreation. Paying for reliability is part of the base cost.

Even here in this boating community, they make good sense--not for me, but for lots of people.

Also I have a friend who had a 35' sailboat; he sold the boat to the club and joined. he still gets to use it and uses it about as often as he did before; they maintain the boat. I don't know the details of the finances, but this guy is a banker who would do a deal that makes sense.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Would You Join A Boat Club?

I would never join a club that would have someone like me as a member!

 

[haulnazz15]

Re: Would You Join A Boat Club?

Well leasing a boat to a boat club is different from being a member of a boat club. No one said you couldn't make money at it, hell, a lot of rental aircraft are privately owned. It's much cheaper to let someone rent it and take up some of the cost of ownership. However, if you have any emotional attachment to the boat in question, it will likely end up bad for you if entered into a rental agreement.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Would You Join A Boat Club?

good point on emotional attachment. as you can see from many posts here, some people have a deep attachment; for others it's a piece of equipment. In that way, similar to cars and people's differing attitudes about them.

 

[coastalrichard]

Re: Would You Join A Boat Club?

Well, for me the strongest element of the club was the variety of boats available for use. Deck boat for a river trip with the wife and friends on Saturday; a 24' CC for grouper fishing on Sunday with the guys; that sort of thing.

There's a really nice club in Destin with some really nice boats (it's run by the owners of a boat dealership). They get good pricing on the boats and swap models every year. What's even nicer are the activities and excursions that they plan and promote to the members. It's very much like a golf club membership...with boating being the attraction.

Like lots of things...pros and cons to it.

 

[louiefl]

Re: Would You Join A Boat Club?

I own and my wife has several friends that belong to a club. Some of the complaints I hear is that the big weekends are booked way in advance, it is tough to decide on a whim to go boating the same day, some question about fuel use that they were billed, and some of the boats were older with some mechanical problems. One paid $20k for a lifetime unlimited membership and another $5k plus $300 per month. Yet another pair of couples split the membership so sometimes they go out together and others they pick and choose dates.

They scoff at me working on my boat in the driveway, but I enjoy tinkering so for me it is a bit of a hobby too. I was installing a couple strategically located rod holders last week and one of them came by and commented on me working on it again. My boat is paid for, has never left me stranded, I can fix almost anything on the fly because I know every wire, switch, and hose clamp.

On a whim yesterday morning, I woke up my son to go offshore fishing at dawn, and 30 minutes later we are watching the sun rise over the inlet. Try that on the 4th of July with a boat club. Kids want to go tubing Saturday morning and if the weather is good, we will go, if it looks ugly, another time. For me the deal killer is boating on someone else's schedule. I own and am happy, but it is not for everyone so if a club gets you on the water, then go for it!

 

[sickwilly]

Re: Would You Join A Boat Club?

"You want to spend all day Saturday tuning up the boat, or waxing it -- nope"
--I don't see the problem here. And I'm sure their shop would love a volunteer.

Waxing someon else's boat would be like massaging someone else's wife. No thank you!

 

[sickwilly]

Re: Would You Join A Boat Club?

I could see it being more appealing in a coastal area. My answer was based on being a lake boater.