Not into Yacht Clubs

45Gunner

Active Member
Sep 22, 2019
191
Boynton Beach, FL
Boat Info
2000 460 Sundancer. Garmin 8612 XSV, GHC 20 Autopilot, GMI 20, 215 VHF, GC 12, Fantom Radar.
Engines
Twin 450 Diamond Series 6CTA 8.3M Cummins.
As the old line goes: I wouldn't join any club that would have me as a member. The reality of the situation is that my wife and I are both retired and we try (try being the operative word) to live within our budget. Yeah, very funny. A boat owner trying to live within a budget. Being what it may, I do not feel its necessary to throw money at an organization for the purpose of being social and attend expensive events. I am not very thrilled with these organizations that require you have a certain size boat. A boat is a boat and regardless of its size, we all have the same purpose and that is to have fun, enjoy the water, and tell "war stories" with other boaters.

We expect to take delivery of our newest (to us) SeaRay by the end of the month. During the winter months in SE Florida, we will be doing lots of day cruising along with weekend cruising. Our summer months will be filled with long range cruising up to Cape Cod and the Islands with the long range plan of living aboard the boat for three to four months.

Since we are just getting back into boating after a few years sabbatical, I was wondering if there are other SeaRay owners that would like to do group cruising, either locally or longer distances? I used to do that years ago and found it to be a lot of great fun and what better way to make new friends as we already share a common interest. If you might have an interest in doing this, chime in on the thread. This could be a lot of fun. BTW, my boat will be located near Two Georges Restaurant in Boynton Beach.
 
Some people have the impression that yacht clubs are for rich people. As a rule that is not true. The vast majority of yacht clubs cost a fraction of what public commercial marinas charge and also allow you do the type of work on your boat that is now forbidden at the commercial marinas. As far as boat size of course seniority is the main factor in what slip would be made available for you vs. first one to write the check at a commercial marina. If you have and don't mind spending the $$$ there is nothing wrong with commercial marinas.
 
As the old line goes: I wouldn't join any club that would have me as a member. The reality of the situation is that my wife and I are both retired and we try (try being the operative word) to live within our budget. Yeah, very funny. A boat owner trying to live within a budget. Being what it may, I do not feel its necessary to throw money at an organization for the purpose of being social and attend expensive events. I am not very thrilled with these organizations that require you have a certain size boat. A boat is a boat and regardless of its size, we all have the same purpose and that is to have fun, enjoy the water, and tell "war stories" with other boaters.

We expect to take delivery of our newest (to us) SeaRay by the end of the month. During the winter months in SE Florida, we will be doing lots of day cruising along with weekend cruising. Our summer months will be filled with long range cruising up to Cape Cod and the Islands with the long range plan of living aboard the boat for three to four months.

Since we are just getting back into boating after a few years sabbatical, I was wondering if there are other SeaRay owners that would like to do group cruising, either locally or longer distances? I used to do that years ago and found it to be a lot of great fun and what better way to make new friends as we already share a common interest. If you might have an interest in doing this, chime in on the thread. This could be a lot of fun. BTW, my boat will be located near Two Georges Restaurant in Boynton Beach.

Not a big supporter of "clubs". Spent a few evenings tied up at a yacht club in St Pete. Impressive boats and all but that's about it. No extravagant events or aminites over commercial marinas. In my neck of the woods, the Emerald Coast, the boating community is more of a lose collection of folks that just go. So grab your float, study a chart or two and just cast off.
 
As the old line goes: I wouldn't join any club that would have me as a member. The reality of the situation is that my wife and I are both retired and we try (try being the operative word) to live within our budget. Yeah, very funny. A boat owner trying to live within a budget. Being what it may, I do not feel its necessary to throw money at an organization for the purpose of being social and attend expensive events. I am not very thrilled with these organizations that require you have a certain size boat. A boat is a boat and regardless of its size, we all have the same purpose and that is to have fun, enjoy the water, and tell "war stories" with other boaters.

We expect to take delivery of our newest (to us) SeaRay by the end of the month. During the winter months in SE Florida, we will be doing lots of day cruising along with weekend cruising. Our summer months will be filled with long range cruising up to Cape Cod and the Islands with the long range plan of living aboard the boat for three to four months.

Since we are just getting back into boating after a few years sabbatical, I was wondering if there are other SeaRay owners that would like to do group cruising, either locally or longer distances? I used to do that years ago and found it to be a lot of great fun and what better way to make new friends as we already share a common interest. If you might have an interest in doing this, chime in on the thread. This could be a lot of fun. BTW, my boat will be located near Two Georges Restaurant in Boynton Beach.

An alternative might be a cruising club or an organization like the Power Squadron. Not sure about Florida, but here we have the "Great Lakes Cruising Club" which is a non facility based organization. One of the features is the ability to find like minded boaters.

Also note not all yacht clubs are stuffy and boat size oriented. At our club our 280 is as welcomed as the 58'.
 
We are members of the Tacoma Yacht Club founded 1889. The Seattle YC & Tacoma YC are the only two clubs north of San Francisco with a fulltime bar & restaurant. We joined 13 years ago for a very a reasonable initiation fee and monthly dues are that if we stay on any of the club docks 2-3 nights per month average we have just saved $$ compared to paying commercial marina rates. The club has 8 outstations from south Puget Sound (Olympia) to Deer Harbor in the San Juans (by the Canadian border). We have a lot of boater friends we have enjoyed over the years that we have met through the club. The largest majority are very grounded hard-working people...
 
Not sure about Florida, but here we have the "Great Lakes Cruising Club" which is a non facility based organization. One of the features is the ability to find like minded boaters

Do you have a web site or Facebook page for this GLCC?... I did a quick search and didn't find anything
 
The club I belong to is mostly comprised of people in their 40's and younger, many with small kids, and I'd say the average boat size runs around 28-30'.

We have a few organized and many impromptu cruises throughout the year, several parties a year, and an every-Friday night potluck.

No bar (it's BYO) but a great commercial kitchen we some wonderful meals have been created.

If the club as snooty, we wouldn't belong. It ain't, so we joined.
 
As the old line goes: I wouldn't join any club that would have me as a member. The reality of the situation is that my wife and I are both retired and we try (try being the operative word) to live within our budget. Yeah, very funny. A boat owner trying to live within a budget. Being what it may, I do not feel its necessary to throw money at an organization for the purpose of being social and attend expensive events. I am not very thrilled with these organizations that require you have a certain size boat. A boat is a boat and regardless of its size, we all have the same purpose and that is to have fun, enjoy the water, and tell "war stories" with other boaters.

We expect to take delivery of our newest (to us) SeaRay by the end of the month. During the winter months in SE Florida, we will be doing lots of day cruising along with weekend cruising. Our summer months will be filled with long range cruising up to Cape Cod and the Islands with the long range plan of living aboard the boat for three to four months.

Since we are just getting back into boating after a few years sabbatical, I was wondering if there are other SeaRay owners that would like to do group cruising, either locally or longer distances? I used to do that years ago and found it to be a lot of great fun and what better way to make new friends as we already share a common interest. If you might have an interest in doing this, chime in on the thread. This could be a lot of fun. BTW, my boat will be located near Two Georges Restaurant in Boynton Beach.

I'm sure the clubs you describe are glad you are not trying to join them. There are many yacht clubs that are as you describe and many that are not, some that have slips etc. and some do not. You did yourself a disservice in your post by making it about yacht clubs rather than what you really wanted to know about.

MM
 
We were in an active Yacht Club years ago and at first is was cool then it became a royal pain in the A**
It became so political and most officers thought they were KINGS. It ruined it for so many and now the 2nd oldest club in the USA is barely hanging on by a thread.
 
We have a great little yacht club...cheap dues $130/year, $2.00 beers, $3.00 mixed drinks. Free popcorn and ice-cream. All member run non-profit. No volunteering or mandatory work. And great people...have made a lot of friends in a short period of time in a marina I knew no one.
 
We belong to a yacht club and our total expenses (dues + storage + dock space) are about 1/3 what it would cost us to keep our boat at a commercial marina. Our club requires members to contribute 5 hours per year of work plus all members who have dock space must help put the docks in in the Spring and take the docks out in the Fall. A small price to pay compared to the money we're saving. Add to that the various club events plus we can tie up at any other DRYL yacht club for free and you can't beat it. Not all yacht clubs are snooty. Ours is very much a beer and hot dogs kind of club, and we like it that way!
 
We belong to a yacht club. The slip sizes range from 20' to 50'. Not snooty at all. Great facility with a pool, restaurant, banquet facilities and bar. The slip fees are competitive. The club dues is only $120 per month. They plan a lot of great activities. It works very well for us.
 
We joined a yacht club with another couple about a dozen years ago and found out it wasn’t for us.
A friend of ours (Both couple’s) was a member at the time and convinced us to give it a shot.
It was expensive, but we had young kids at the time (so did the other couple) and we figured it would be good for them because there was a beautiful pool and lots of kids activities.
They had a boat basin at the club where you had to get on a list for a slip. Turned out to be BS. Several people had multiple slips and they wouldn’t tell you how many were ahead of you. Nonsense.
There was a heading on the bay side of the barrier beach where you could go, tie up free of charge and stay several nights as long as you were spending the nights on your boat.
Really nice place with electric, water, bathrooms, etc., and steps to the ocean side.
We found that there were a lot of clicks. Lots of members had grown up together and were there as kids because their parents were members. Tough to break in to the groups. Even tougher for our kids.
You had to spend a minimum amount in the clubhouse every month. A couple of family dinners with a few cocktails would cover it, so no problem. Except the food was bad and the service even worse.
We paid initial fee, annual dues for the year and spent what we had to in the club but quit at the end of the year.
Wound up costing a fortune because of the initiation fee, but we cut our losses and never looked back.
We may have considered staying if we could find out where we were on the list for a slip in the basin, but our kids really hated it.
 
We are non-moorage members monthly dues are $120/mo and the food/bar minimum is $25/mo food or liquor. We take advantage of the outstations all season long and the numbers are in our favor. Plus a lot of great people.
 
I'd be willing to try a club for the social aspect of it. Our marina is entirely non-social, which I guess has its advantages, but geeze, it's like people try to be non-social. A local weather forecaster is 3 slips down and she shoots dirty looks at you if you even try to say hi as you walk past.

The guy across from me joined the lake's Power Squadron but griped about the "work" commitments running interference for early morning sailing races and I think some other "volunteer" commitments at the picnic/clubhouse setup on an island. Access to the island slips would be kind of interesting, but I figure my boat is my own island and it's got its own work commitments.

I've done a fair amount of consulting at high-end country clubs and I'm not sure I'd want into anything with a food and beverage operation. Those are huge money sinks unless you're open to the public, plus a ton of politics on top of it.

I guess what I want is a commune marina with cut-rate slips and friendly people..
 
I believe you have taken a bad experience and generalized all yacht clubs in that group. I have belonged to a yacht club for 12 years now and we have a full time bar and a resturaunt that operates quite a bit. We have gas docks and our members pay 10 cents over the drop price as part of our package. Non-members are welcome to fuel up too but they pay competitive rates (usually a dollar over drop price). The savings on fuel per year basically pays for my dues. We don't have docks but provide a tender operator for the boats in the mooring fields.

My son even had his wedding on the grounds overlooking the water and believe me the cost to rent this place was peanuts.

I could go on about the benifits, but I'll stop here. Obviously I love the club and the people who vary from all walks. I have seen the type of club you referred to but from my experience as the dock master visiting many clubs, they are the exception and not the rule.

Mark
 
In reading the responses, it seems like Yacht Clubs can vary as much as their membership. We've belonged to our Yacht Club since we moved here, and it's a lot of fun. It's very inexpensive at $250/year. They do a wide variety of events, and they're all very laid back. A bunch of their events are of the charitable nature, and we enjoy contributing to those. They do some events, like renting a big paddle wheel dinner boat, that you pay something like $25/person as a member and it's all the food and booze you can consume - I always come out ahead on that one.

We do the events we feel like doing, skip the events we don't feel like doing - or are otherwise busy doing something else. It's a very low key environment, with boats ranging from probably 20' to 55' - boat size is not a qualification to be a member. Wanting to hang out and have a good time is, and we qualify for that.
 

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