Boat clubs (Freedom Boat club)?

ZXMustang

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Feb 19, 2019
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I know they are scarce up in the midwest, but I know freedom has boats in chicago you can take out.

But since we moved to Tampa, its boat city out here and we are feeling the itch. We were out on a friend's 34" SeaRay in the gulf a few weekends ago and it was a blast. We are thinking about not buying a money pit, but joining one of those boat clubs. They have several sites with tons of inventory of all shapes and sizes you can use 7 days a week. Only have to pay for gas. Here's how it works.

$3500 one time buy in, then $250ish a month for unlimited usage of any boat at any boat club location in the USA. Seems like a pretty sweet deal to use any type of boat no? They are available only from sun up to sun down though.

Or we can buy a decent boat for $15k and just own it and pay a marina to keep it at.

Opinions?
 

ZXMustang

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Feb 19, 2019
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To answer a few questions.

We would literally use it every weekend. The closest marina is about 35 minutes away, and they can have you in the water in like 15 minutes.

The boats are 20' and up. Deck boats, center consoles, bow riders and cuddy cabins. They are all 3 years old or newer.

Yeah as for the closed cooling, you are right. That 34' searay we were out on just recently had one of its engine cooling systems all clogged with seaweed. We had to stop and swim while the dude cleaned it out.

But yeah I can see us going just about every weekend and some days during the week when the kids are off. Renting a boat for the day is about $300 for 8 hours plus gas. Thats one outing. This pays for itself on the second trip lol. But Im leaning more toward buying one vs the boat club. That way you can stay out after dark, but then you have to maintain it and pay the slip fees.
 

1quick

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If you buy the right boat you can break even after a couple years of ownership if you decide to sell, if you can’t maintain it your self it will get expensive fast and storage can be expensive or a slip even more expensive, but I love boats just consult myself or kJ on perspective purchases if you go that route
 

OffshoreDrilling

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I think the boat clubs are a good option. $250/mo is nothing.

Both boats I owned I ended up with expenses in the neighborhood of $10-14k/yr when counting the cost of the boat payment, insurance, fuel, storage, boat slip, maintenance(doing it myself), upgrades. God knows how much more in food and booze I spent too.

It’s tough to beat that $250/mo. REALLY tough.

First, rent a boat a couple times. If you think you’ll use it more than a couple times a month after that, buy into the club. If your needs change and you want to own a boat or get out of it all together, that’s an easy transition to make.
 
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cap42

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I know this is old thread but wondering has anyone or someone they know tried this or the other Carefree boat club?
One of the owners of my company uses this, it's great for him since he doesn't have dock access at his house in FL, so he just drives over to their marina, calls them when he is in route and the boat he wants is ready when he gets there. I've been on a few of the rental pontoon's. Had one of the boats break down on us, they came with a new boat swapped us all over and we took off in the new boat while they were wrenchin on the first one.

Kinda cool since he can rent any type of boat he wants, doesn't have to pay for upkeep or storage maintenance etc.
 

rowekmr

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Yeah looking at the number for city it's minimum 3-4K park district mooring and winter indoor is 2500 so the 7-9K one would spend on member fees would only cover storage/mooring if owning not even boat payment/insurance or the maintenance fees. I am just wondering how availability is. One place said they keep the ratio of members to boats below a certain amount (14:1?) so that sounds like a good safe guard.

Yep. Have a friend in the city that does it. 100% worth it vs owning a boat.
 

rowekmr

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Yeah it looks like this is much more common in FL. Having a selection of boats at your disposal sounds great. One day a bow rider to have fun in and another time a cabin cruiser is a nice touch.

One of the owners of my company uses this, it's great for him since he doesn't have dock access at his house in FL, so he just drives over to their marina, calls them when he is in route and the boat he wants is ready when he gets there. I've been on a few of the rental pontoon's. Had one of the boats break down on us, they came with a new boat swapped us all over and we took off in the new boat while they were wrenchin on the first one.

Kinda cool since he can rent any type of boat he wants, doesn't have to pay for upkeep or storage maintenance etc.
 

frank

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So have been looking into this more and more lately with freedom boat club, have a few friends who are current members and good feedback from them.

down here by me the buy in is 5k then $350 a month, plus fuel. All boats need to be back by sundown, boat pick up times are morning and afternoon. Have three weekly credits to use to make reservations. Can cancel your reservation at any time and not be penalized and you get your credit back.

Boat options are
pontoon boats ( inter coastal boating only ) bay rider ( inter coastal only )
Center console ( inter coastal )
Center console ( off shore )

have two locations to rent from in town by me with a total of about 20+ boats.

to buy a boat down here the market is crazy and I know people who are selling boats and making 10-15k over what they paid for them a year ago. Storage at a marina in dry dock is about $450 a month. Trailer storage is as cheap as $50.00 a month.

what we like about freedom is that I can make a reservation in a different city, drive their get on the boat and go, no worries on trailering the boat, as I’m not al that experienced with trailering.

with the buy in and monthly fee and fuel equals out to 10k give or take for the first year, for me it’s the how many times do I need to go out to get my money back. And will we use it often enough.

by me if you are not offshore fishing you are crusing the inter coastal going to the same places you can get by car to go eat and drink at.
 

PANDA

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A buddy was a member of the Carefree (Careless they all called it) boat club out of 31st Harbor a few years ago. I think it worked out well for him because he was a city bro and had a IT job that really only required him to actually work late at night. So he had the availability to take the boat out during the odd times it was available. He really just wanted to cruise the river during the evening or hit up the playpen on the weekend when he could. I went out with him numerous times and the boats were high hour piles of shit. They had boats from 20-27ft I believe. Bowriders, center consoles, toons, biggest was a sea ray 270 that he liked to take out the most. They also had a brand new at the time Yamaha jetboat but most everyone wanted to take it out so it was rarely available. The boats most always were missing lines, fenders, and anchors and were very dirty and smelling like poop from not being pumped out properly. I think he had to get towed in a few times because of issues and one boat sank one of the years he was in the club. It worked out well for him because he didn't know much about boats and didn't want to deal with all the bullshit. He just wanted to take out and boat and party. I think he eventually stopped doing it because of availability. It seemed like half the boats were broken and getting worked on and he could rarely get one on a weekend. He would also be stuck taking one out in the rain alot because that was the only time slot he could get. I forgot the stipulations on booking times. They had morning and afternoon slots and you couldn't keep it out in the afternoon unless someone else didnt book the boat. Weekends, holidays, fireworks had restrictions on booking times.

I am not sure if Carefree improved over the past few years or other clubs are like this but that was his experience.
 

PANDA

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with that said if you are someone without mechanical ability to maintain a boat yourself, you are flexible in regards to time, or you don't have a unlimited budget I 100% think a boat club is for you. Would be great for a new boater to see what its all about or a bro like my buddy or just wanted to party and wipe his hands clean at the end of the day/season.

If you want to live the harbor lifestyle, go on trips, spend entire weekends on your boat, and go boating whenever you want. I feel buying is a better choice if you can swing it.
 
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frank

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I think the biggest part of a boat club is walk away when done for the day and don’t need to wash it down or flush the motor, and the maintenance side.

friend paid like 2k for two new battery installs, oil change / maintenance, and a trim tab re-align. Was like that was maybe about $500.00 in parts and we could have done that in the drive way.
 

PANDA

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The missing gear is a issue here also, friends bring their own bumpers, a second anchor, and lines. They went out once and had no anchor on the boat.

I rented boats that had that same issue. I mean I get it inexperienced boaters renting loose stuff and the owners do not want to keep replacing it. I would assume each boat had a inventory of stuff and if you didnt bring it back with all the equipment you could get charged. But having good fenders and dock lines would help keep the boats in better shape. Anchor is a safety thing especially with unreliable boats. Could be the difference between slamming into the shore or a break wall or safely waiting for a tow.
 
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