Renting out your boat.

[B0at1n]

I have searched on here. Found a few threads from a few years ago but no in depth conversations about it.

Here in DFW looks like you could rent your boat for $500 for an 8 hr day. Seen some posted for $700

I have spoke with a few people off craigslist who have posted their boats for rents.

One guy said he made about 25k this last season with his AR240 with only acquiring two scratches. He did a mix of rentals using the different peer to peer websites and did some on his own with out using the websites and Paying the 15-35% commission they take.

Another guy with a 22ft regal said he made about 12k but had issues with every rental, be it something small like a broken handle to one renter tied his boat to another without fenders and did about $5k in damage to the Fiberglass. He said that no matter the issue he kept the deposit and the boatsetter insurance fixed everything, every time.

Another guy I spoke with had an older wakesetter and he only captain for people and tonight then wakesports, he was charging $150 an hour. I’m not looking to do this idea personally but he said he did well and is buying a brand new wakesetter this year and plans to keep going at it next year.

All three said they put around 100 hrs on the boat for the season.

I also looked up the local marinas to see what they charge. For an 8 hr say most were charging 750+ and they were renting you a 19ft Bayliner with a 115 outboard on it. I spoke to the closest marina to me and they said they have a couple and they are always rented at that price.

Seems like our boats require little maintenance and are extremely reliable. So would make good rentals in my mind.

If I made 25k in one season my boat is now paid for and I have options to upgrade to a 212x or just keep the 190 and enjoy.

Just curious if anyone else on here has any experience with this?

 

[McMark]

No way in h3ll I would rent out my boat.

 

[d_coyne1984]

I seriously considered doing it, but I can't see parting with my boat during a weekend up here in Minnesota because we only get like 3 of them during the summer. I also considered chartering it but at only 19ft that doesn't leave much room for passengers so I figured very few people would go for it, plus I believe I need a licence to do that.

 

[2kwik4u]

I've always thought that being a wakeboat captain was a great idea as a second job. Get paid to spend my time on the water and teach people how to do watersports. Never thought I could make any money at it locally, so I never tried. Interesting to see that idea come to fruition at some level. This might be a potential retirement gig for me I think.

As for renting my own. Depends really. I use it most weekends, but could easily see it being rented out in an "AirBnB for the water" type setup. Not sure how insurance would work out. The 190's are so simple I can't imagine someone tearing something up so significantly that I couldn't repair it mechanically. Cosmetically I'm unsure how I would deal with that.

Interesting questions.

 

[OCMD]

Nope. No way. Same reason one should never purchase a car from a car rental agency. People f' up stuff, if they do not own it. However, if I didn't really care about my boat, it could be a moneymaker.

 

[Julian]

25K in one season at $500/day would mean you'd have to have 1) a really long season, and 2) rent it all weekend, every weekend. And that assumes you aren't paying any taxes, insurance, repairs, etc. I think $25k would be a long shot. Perhaps if you were out of work and had nothing else to do....but my weekends are for my family.

I could see buying an older 2005-2009 23' boat and renting it out....jetboat.....if you have a prop boat, then you are asking for damage. Also, would depend on the lake and the hazard potentials.

 

[2kwik4u]

Another thought......There is a local guy here that rents pontoons on a "subscription" basis. He has clients that pay a monthly fee, and can reserve a boat for as many as 4 days a month. Just have to call and schedule ahead of time. He has somewhere around 10 boats in the water every single time I've been at the lake. Even on weekdays. Not sure what the monthly is (I've heard rumors of $250 /mo + actual fuel usage), but I'm not certain that's a terrible idea either. Pontoons are obviously a bit more "fault tolerant" than our boats, and as such the damage is easier to deal with .

Here's his site --> http://gilligansboats.com/

Here's the "Yacht club" site--> http://gilligansboats.com/index.php/gilligan-s-boats-boat-rental/gilligan-s-boats-yacht-club

 

[Julian]

Another thought......There is a local guy here that rents pontoons on a "subscription" basis. He has clients that pay a monthly fee, and can reserve a boat for as many as 4 days a month. Just have to call and schedule ahead of time. He has somewhere around 10 boats in the water every single time I've been at the lake. Even on weekdays. Not sure what the monthly is (I've heard rumors of $250 /mo + actual fuel usage), but I'm not certain that's a terrible idea either. Pontoons are obviously a bit more "fault tolerant" than our boats, and as such the damage is easier to deal with .

Here's his site --> http://gilligansboats.com/

Here's the "Yacht club" site--> http://gilligansboats.com/index.php/gilligan-s-boats-boat-rental/gilligan-s-boats-yacht-club

Yeah....pontoons and other metal boats would seem to be the best bet....but you still have a skeg with a prop that costs a lot when it hits a rock. On a deep/non-rocky boat with no surprise shallows...probably not a bad idea.

 

[Evil Sports]

If you reached the point where you dont use yer boat that much any more for what ever reason then I say what the hell. Many people on here covet there boats way too much so the thought of someone else banging it up is far too painful to even consider. We have considered offering a 4 hour fish or tube cruise on my local river, going rates are around $400 and I would be in charge of the boat, that sounds more like something people here would do. I though it would be a cool job for my son showing people around the river and putting them on fish or hanging on the sand bars.

 

[2kwik4u]

Yeah....pontoons and other metal boats would seem to be the best bet....but you still have a skeg with a prop that costs a lot when it hits a rock. On a deep/non-rocky boat with no surprise shallows...probably not a bad idea.

Most all of the boating around here is deep to very deep, and the only shallow places are VERY (within a boat length) of shore. We typically anchor in 30+ feet and there are only a handful of places to beach, of those, most are just mud and underbrush.

You gotta be doing something seriously wrong to get a boat on ground at any of the lakes I know of in a 100+ mile radius.

 

[B0at1n]

I seriously considered doing it, but I can't see parting with my boat during a weekend up here in Minnesota because we only get like 3 of them during the summer. I also considered chartering it but at only 19ft that doesn't leave much room for passengers so I figured very few people would go for it, plus I believe I need a licence to do that.

Fortunately for me in Texas, our boating season is May to August, sometimes April and September depending how it goes. that leaves 16 weekends or 120 days of prime rental time.

25K in one season at $500/day would mean you'd have to have 1) a really long season, and 2) rent it all weekend, every weekend. And that assumes you aren't paying any taxes, insurance, repairs, etc. I think $25k would be a long shot. Perhaps if you were out of work and had nothing else to do....but my weekends are for my family.

I could see buying an older 2005-2009 23' boat and renting it out....jetboat.....if you have a prop boat, then you are asking for damage. Also, would depend on the lake and the hazard potentials.

I did some pretty in depth number crunching. (would gladly share my spread sheet if someone is interested.)

I need to do a little more research on an insurance company that said they would insure me for Renting the boat out, they estimated the cost at $1,500 for the year, and this covered my personal use as well.
The unknown here is the Claim process and If I had to make 5 claims in a year how would that affect my policy.
Boatsetter offers the insurance with each rental, however they charge a hefty 35% commission if you take their insurance.

I was estimating on a 120 day season that I would be able to rent it out 20-40 days total (Leaves me 80-100 days to use myself plus all winter since its Texas). the guy with the AR240 said he rented his boat 23 days in July alone. he even had days were he did an 8hr rental from 9-5 and then was able to squeeze a 4hr from 5-9 since it gets dark at 930 in July.

at $500 per rental you are going to make between $10k (20 rents) and $20k (40 rents) this does not include September or April months. he also said he had every weekend in September rented then it rained the whole month so that killed those.

also, on top of the rental charge everyone charges a fuel charge of roughly $75 so that covers fuel.

so if my only expense is $1,500 for insurance for the year, throw in $1000 in random Damages that I don't claim on insurance or whatever.

I should be able to profit between $7,500 and $17,500. Of course id have to pay uncle Sam too, but I am sure I will have plenty of additional expenses that will be "Business related" that I can write off to lower that significantly.

 

[mrmeaniemeateaterman]

I have a 32ft Class A diesel RV (my wife named it "Big Brown Bessie"). I only use it a handful of times each year and I often I debate renting it out. But given you have to have a Class B license to legally drive it and it is a very complicated machine I just don't think I could turn it over to someone who's "green". I have debated trying to rent it out, I drive it to location (within reason), set it all up, hook up all the stuff then leave the renters. Then when they are done, I come break it down, I drive it back home, clean it and they are on their marry way. But my guess is that people that rent an RV, like people that rent a boat, want to drive it. That's half the fun right? (That is until you got a crosswind and passing semi's then your mind might change a little.) And honestly I think after a few weeks of that I would pull ad as would likely be more hassle than it's worth. The only people I really see my possible scenario benefiting are people that are on the fence about buying an RV and just want to take an "extended test drive" before they blow some major coin.

I never thought about renting boat but as anal as I am about it I don't think I could do it. Would maybe consider it like scenario above, but again I'm not sure the hassle is worth the $ (for me). If I was retired or single or needed the $, then maybe. Although the waters around here are shallow and if you don't know what you are doing you can get in trouble fast.

 

[swatski]

To charter captain - one would need at least the "six pack" license. I always wanted to get it - just for my own education and fun, not necessarily to work in that capacity. But it's hard to find the time to commit.

Lake Mead in LV, NV rents 190s.

--

 

[mrmeaniemeateaterman]

the guy with the AR240 said he rented his boat 23 days in July alone.

That sounds like it is his full time job.

 

[djetok]

25K in one season at $500/day would mean you'd have to have 1) a really long season, and 2) rent it all weekend, every weekend. And that assumes you aren't paying any taxes, insurance, repairs, etc. I think $25k would be a long shot. Perhaps if you were out of work and had nothing else to do....but my weekends are for my family.

I could see buying an older 2005-2009 23' boat and renting it out....jetboat.....if you have a prop boat, then you are asking for damage. Also, would depend on the lake and the hazard potentials.

Hey it is Dallas and there are A LOT of 30 thousand dollar millionaires there. They spend it as quick as they get it down there.

 

[B0at1n]

That sounds like it is his full time job.

I live one mile from the boat ramp, and I estimate it would take 45-60 minutes for drop and set up and probably another 45-60 for clean up.

so just round up 2 hrs per rental, 40 rentals is 80 hours, so before paying taxes I am making $218.75 per hour and I think that is over shooting actual time commitment.

we went out on Saturday for about an hour and half on the water. we left the house at 4:30 dropped the boat in the water and we pulled out loaded from the launch at 6:35 headed home.
this was our first time launching the boat and my wife spent a good ten minutes trying to back the trailer down the ramp (I had to dock and go help)

so id say without any obstacles, actual launch and retrieval times should be maybe 15 minutes or so, plus what ever clean up and paperwork/conversations needed with renter.

My "Why" behind this whole concept is even an AR190, I'm projecting cost to own for 5 years including depreciation is $32k so if I can trade 80 or even 160 hours(two seasons) of work to pay for that $32k that makes my boat a 0$ expense up front and if I decide to continue doing it then it turns in to profit, or maybe it just gives me a 30k head start on upgrading to a 212x or something else.

It also helps that I have a job were I make my own schedule and can be extremely flexible, as well as my wife stays at home so I have a second person almost always available to help if needed (once fully trained on operations)

 

[B0at1n]

Hey it is Dallas and there are A LOT of 30 thousand dollar millionaires there. They spend it as quick as they get it down there.

you are 100% correct on that buddy!

 

[boudin]

I've never crunched the numbers but think there is money in a club model, based on most people not using the boats nearly as often as they intend. But you'd need to have scale, a booking system, and marina, in addition to all the other overhead (insurance, repairs, someone managing rentals).

-Greg

 

[B0at1n]

I've never crunched the numbers but think there is money in a club model, based on most people not using the boats nearly as often as they intend. But you'd need to have scale, a booking system, and marina, in addition to all the other overhead (insurance, repairs, someone managing rentals).

-Greg

I crunched the numbers for 3 boats (2 ar190 and one 212x) and paying for slips for the whole year (only using for the 4 months) I projected we could earn $30k per season with I think 30 rents per boat average.
Thought it be a great idea for the wife as a part time job during the summer.

Problem with this plan is all the Marinas in the area do not allow you to use their slips for commercial use, only for personal. so that killed that plan.

 

[Shuck Water]

Would you be launching from the Little Elm boat ramp? If so, you might want to consider a decal since you would be just across from the beach/volley ball area. Could be good marketing.

My only real concern, aside from damage and abuse to the boat, is liability. I know they will sign a waiver (which doesn't mean much), but should someone get injured, have an accident, or god forbid drown. You are highly exposed to legal action. You need to consult your insurance provider and if you have a loan on the boat, double check that renting isn't expressly prohibited.

If you are still a go, then first thing I would do is if you own the boat free and clear, create a SPE, most likely a LLC and transfer title to that entity. Don't do any business in your direct name. Business checking accounts/business insurance/etc. Create as much legal separation as possible. We live in a litigious society and you don't want to get wiped out trying to make an extra $10k.