islands50
2012-09-23 18:32:34
I had an idea I wanted to toss out there, it is fishing related maybe, my crazy idea is rental boats, equipped with all of the normal safety gear, and CG certified, You would leave the dock with full tanks of fuel, water, a leagel head, normal eletronics, clean and ready to put to sea, you supply what you need for a voyage, upon return to the dock, you would pay for what fuel you used and the rental of the vessel.
Ok that is the basics of my idea, I have found several boats, at a reasonable price, that need a little TLC, mostly a damned good clean up, and some minor maintance issues, all in the 32-36 ft range, with gen sets, radar, and water makers on a couple of them.
Now here is where I do a different approach, these are pleasure boats for the family weekend and or week vacation, I know that lots of folks have boating experience, love the water, but just can not justify the expense of owning their own boat.
Any feed back would be appreciated either good or bad, and ideas would also be helpful, the majority of these boats are mid to late 1980's models, twin screw, fiberglass from the major builders and are the upper class models.
SilverT
2012-09-23 20:02:31
Islands50,
We rented an aluminum boat when we were in Sitka the for the first time. It amazed me how few questions they asked us about our boating experience. One thing that struck me about their operation was how simple it was. Aluminum hull, outboard, gps, depth finder, radio & normal safety equipment and it was new, so it didn't have a bunch of strange quirks. Even so, I still marveled that they would send what must have appeared to be a general tourist out with no restriction and no advice on range, safety, etc. One fellow I met on the way up told me there were two types of boats in Sitka. Those that had been on the rocks and those that were going to be. I came away from that experience thinking that if I were in the business, I wouldn't do it in an area with so many potential hazards. A 10 acre lake with sandy beaches somewhere in the south would be ideal. That said, we paid them over $300 for a day of fishing and sure enjoyed the freedom to fish when and where we chose. I'd pay it again in a minute.
Lane
yak2you2
2012-09-24 15:27:38
A few obvious things that stick out. REALLY good insurance, a top end rpm governor, and a very well written disclaimer.
AKFISHER
2012-09-24 20:10:44
There is a company here in Juneau that rents out 30-42ft Nordic Tugs maybe you can check them out and get an idea how they do it!!!
Abundance
2012-09-26 21:26:07
I know a fisherman who went to the Virgin Islands and rented a boat to cruise around the islands for a week down there. He said it was about the most fun he had in years. All I think he had to do was sign some waivers and hand over money. They had some bays they didn't want him to go into, and he couldn't rent a sailboat without some kind of form that said he could sail. If you got something like that up and going, I might have to go check it out someday.
islands50
2012-09-26 21:54:22
Thank all of you for the great replies, sorry I have not posted back, but just got in from delivering a load to northern Colorado from Texas, got to stop these 1300 mile banzai runs home lol but I do so miss the gulf coast