Boat leasing

There are boat clubs that offer a similar experience. Google freedom boat club or carefree boat club and you will get the idea.


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I have friends that do it every season. I think it cost around 5-6 grand a season and they pick a different boat each week..If it's available. If it rains on that date..Oh well it's yours.

http://freedomboatclub.com/
 
Don't know of anyone who does long-term leases for boats. I think leasing of a boat would be problematic because lease payments need to be based on the value of the asset at the end of the lease period. All boats tend to depreciate quickly, but the value is largely dependent on the condition. Imagine two identical boats leased by different owners. One guy keeps his covered and on a lift, and only uses it in fresh water. He polishes the gelcoat every year and maintains the engines impeccably. The other guy keeps his in a slip in South Florida, never polishes it, does minimal maintenance, etc. If these were $300k boats when new, the difference in resale value after four years could exceed $75k. Much different situation than an automotive lease.

On Chesapeake Bay there is a business that does "bareboat" chartering of larger powerboats, which is similar to a short-term rental of a car. http://www.cccharters.com/

I looked into the boating clubs in my area but they mostly have sailboats or smaller powerboats (<24'). Probably ideal for some people.
 
All I have ever seen are either "club" or fractional ownership plans. These typically top out around 30 ft range. A lot of day boats. Never have run onto any discussions in advertising, boat shows, or discussions about leasing a boat.

Bare boat charters are still around for powerboats, though not nearly as prevalent as they were 5-10 years ago. We have used C&C charters mentioned above in the Chesapeake area. Rick and Lynn own the company, great people. If you were considering a bareboat charter in the Chesapeake, I would highly recommend them.

Mark
 
Nothing like a car or aircraft lease, unfortunately.

At the end of the day, pleasure boats are not a utility, so I don't think we'll ever see a "$0 down/$4,000/month payment for 36 months" offer on a $400k boat.

As was mentioned, the closest thing would be a time share arrangement, but if the few weekends you get each season result in rain/rough seas, well no boating for you.
 
10 or so years ago I saw partial shares in boats for sale. It was like a time share. No ideas as to cost. Program included all maintenance and storage.
 
There used to be a boating club in Miami that offered access to 20-30 ft boats. I think they had a couple of SR's in their fleet.

Mark.
 
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