BENIFITS OF BOAT RENTAL / THE CHICKEN OR THE EGG QUESTION

 

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Boat Ownership Options / Should You Buy, When to Buy

 

 

 

There are some of us that fall in love with boats immediately! For many new boaters the introduction to boating starts when visiting a friend or relative who has already made the commitment to boating. A visit to a boat, and they start to think about having a boat for themselves (and their family). Right away other boaters start to inform them of the perfect boat to buy. Or potential boat buyers contact a broker or dealer and utter those fatal words "I am looking for a boat". Most boat sales persons will sell you what they have not what you want or need. Unless you boat for at least a season you really don't know what your needs are. Some sales people will try to weed out of you what you plan to use your boat for, how many people are in your family and were you plan to boat. All valid questions however until you have been out with your family several times a new boater can only make an educated guess.

So how do you get the time on the water on your own without breaking the bank. You need to know that a lot of new boaters buy the wrong boat the first time around. This is even more true when buying a used boat. A new boat has a longer honey moon period with the new owner. This is because well:  A- The boat is new and every one loves new toys    B- You are not going to be out of pocket immediately for broken items. All used boats require an investment almost right away to make it yours.                 So lets talk options other than diving in blind to the boating world!

1. You really sell yourself on the idea that you can pick the ideal first boat. Sometimes buyers do get lucky and strike gold. The buyer finds the boat of there dreams that makes themselves and their family happy
2. You get informed about the boats that interest you. The buyer places his trust in a seller and hopefully a marine surveyor and jumps in with both feet.
3. Attend a multitude of dealers and brokers tour as many boats as you can, this can mean driving or flying all over and becoming a shopaholic until you make your purchase.
4. Go out with, or borrow a boat from a friend who owns a boat and see how boating fits you and your family. Take advantage of being in the marina and visit many other boats to see what will work for you
5. And this one makes the most amount of sense- Rent a boat or several if you can try them out with you and your family and see which type of boat seems to suite you best and make an informed decision based on personal experience.
6. Don't buy a boat at all rent when you have the time to get out.
7. Co ownership of a boat, this works for some people who do not want the burden of all the maintenance and cost of ownership.

If you are the kind of person who has several other commitments that take away weekends and seasonal time that would affect your boating time then consider other options. A boat will die waiting for you to come back and I mean that literally. I know a lot of boaters who are boating fanatics they practically move onto their boats at launch and stay on board until haul out. These are boat owners who truly get their moneys worth out of the investment a boat requires. Remember its not just the boat purchase you need to invest in mooring, insurance -which is currently not to bad but expect increases, (I spoke to the tech from one of the major repair providers in Ontario and claims on new boats are easily exceeding 70,000 dollars on average). If you make the mistake of adding your boat to your house policy hold on! There is also the expense of new safety gear and repairs and maintenance. This is not for the faint of heart.

If you only use your boat a couple of weekends a year, and do not have buckets of money to throw away on an investment you never see or use. Look at other options, Boat rental in Canada and in other communities is a relatively new idea. There are companies now established to walk you through all aspects of boating, including safe boat operation. A real plus if you have never been a captain before.

 

At Boat Nut we consider ourselves industry critical, in this case we genuinely feel that boat rental is an area of our industry which needs support. Boat Nut ran into Carefree Boat Club an organization we know from Florida. They have made the decision to bring their program to  Ontario Canada. So we invited Care Free Boat Club to join this discussion with us!

Membership Benefits

Carefree Boat Club has revolutionized the way people enjoy boating. With us, the expense and hassle of boat ownership is a thing of the past.
With a Carefree Boat Club membership you get:

AFFORDABILITY

• In most cases, the cost of membership is about 1/3 the cost of owning a boat.
• We cover the cost of boat purchase, slip fees, insurance, maintenance, repair, taxes, towing coverage, winterization and depreciation.

UNLIMITED USAGE

• Use the boats as often as you would like with no additional cost.
• Boats are reserved using an on-line reservation system that allows you to pick the day, time, boat and Carefree location so you can design your perfect outing…easily.

LARGE VARIETY OF BOATS

• Variety includes but not limited to 18’-27’ Cruiser, Deck, Bowrider, Pontoon, Fishing, Ski and Sail Boats.
• As a member you’re not stuck with one kind of boating. You can take your family on a nice cruise this weekend and next week go fishing. The possibilities are endless!

 

 

GREAT AVAILABILITY

• We have been making boats available for our members for over a decade and the key to our success is the ratios of boats to members, an easy to use on line reservation system and spur of the moment walk on access.
• Members predict and control their own availability same day up to 6 months in advance.

LOCATION OPTIONS

• Members have access to all US and Canada locations.

ON THE WATER INSTRUCTION

• Instructors at each location provide Boat Safety training and handling skills.
• We teach you to operate a boat in tight quarters, navigate channels, practice emergencies, dock, rules of the road, radio operation, and how to use the many amenities that you will find on most boats.

We await their reply.

This is not a new idea, or is it a bad idea. The Pleasure Boat International Resource Guide names several countries that have embraced this idea.

Author BW

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