boat club thoughts?

[rayfes]

I am thinking about joining a boat club. Does anyone here have any experience with them? The three I know of are Freedom, Aquaventures, and Volente. I went to visit Freedom recently and they claim to have the best service and boats and are priced accordingly. But you do get reciprocal usage at other Freedom franchises across the country and they are on both Lake Austin and Travis.

I heard secondhand that Aquaventures wasn't good but didn't get any details as to why.

Volente is much cheaper than Freedom but I haven't been out to visit them yet.

I have no desire to own a boat even if would save me money. I see the hassles my friends go through with maintenance and breakdowns that occur on every boat from pontoons and cabin cruisers to Fountains and Bajas and I don't want to deal with that.

I just want to show up and go and not even bother with a cover.

Rayfes

 

[NCAAFBALLROX]

This would probably get more responses on Horn Depot. Either way, I want to see what folks have to say. I have always thought it might be a good idea to get about 4 or 5 friends & go into a used but great condition boat together, get all the insurance maxed out, some sort of a service plan & a slip on the water somewhere.

 

[Basketball Jones]

I've priced Volente before ($1000 down plus $200/mo). Boats seem fine. How much is Freedom?

 

[rayfes]

Freedom is ~$4k-$6k per year depending how long you commit (1, 3, or 5 years)

Their location on Lake Austin is at Steiner Ranch which is just as far from downtown as Carlos and Charlie's but they said they are considering a location upstream from the Hula Hut on that side of the lake. If they had that today I'd sign up immediately.