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Better VALUE- Owning a boat or joining a boat club?

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I'm moving to Florida within the next year (hopefully) and intend to do a lot of fishing on the weekends and maybe weeknights after work, depending on my schedule and location. 

 

I am torn between the idea of owning a boat myself, or joining a boat club like Freedom or Carefree, where I pay a $5K initiation fee and a $350 or so monthly. 

I would be living in a condo, so trailer storage and a place to clean, maintain a boat, etc., would also be a concern.

Edited by Jay in the Bay
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All depends on how often you plan to be using it.  Do you plan on fishing or just playing around?  If you are a fisherman as I suspect you are, you are going to want to your own rig. FL is a boaters state,all sorts of facilities to store boats,in the water or rack storage with on demand launching. If you are talking money, join the club,it will be much cheaper than owning. I spend 7mos a yr in FL

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the word investment should never be used when describing anything “boat” unless you’re talking about time and effort to restore something special etc. :)

 

i would think that most people in a boat club are gonna want to use a boat after work weekdays and weekends.  i’d be concerned about availability.  gonna have to call around down there.

 

i have a couple friends - similarly in a condo with very limited space that chose the boat club route and like it - but they are mostly weekday fisherman.  i know they all more or less stayed clear of it last year w/ everyone more flexible.  availability was tough.

 

one buddy put a wanted style ad out there on some forums and made a couple friends sharing expenses.  i think he mostly goes out with them.

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Wait, you said investment? Like with a monetary upside???? I can count on one hand the number of people I know who have made money in boat ownership. Seriously.

Get located there and then see what the lay of the land is. A lot could change in a year. Especially in what is available to buy. Club is definitely going to be less outlay.... A neighbor's sister and husband own a Freedom franchise down there somewhere.

Edited by nightfighter
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5 mins ago, John P said:

All depends on how often you plan to be using it.  Do you plan on fishing or just playing around?  If you are a fisherman as I suspect you are, you are going to want to your own rig. FL is a boaters state,all sorts of facilities to store boats,in the water or rack storage with on demand launching. If you are talking money, join the club,it will be much cheaper than owning. I spend 7mos a yr in FL

Thanks John.  At this point I won't be sure how often until I get there.  My question was both about money and general maintenance responsibilities.  I'm not mechanically skilled, and being in a condo I don't think I would have much available space to work on it on land if necessary. 

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Like others said, depends what you want to do, what kind of fisherman you are etc

 

I know I could never even consider it.  I am very particular with my setup, layout, etc.  Not to mention all the stuff I keep on the boat - I'd never be able to have it all.

 

My uncle does the Freedom boat club down in Fl.  My father says he is very unimpressed.  While availability is usually pretty good, you get a boat with bare bones electronics if any.  He decided to get one to the south to fish a different area, had my father go with him.  They picked up the boat and a trim tab was broken, ended up running 10 or so miles with a tab stuck down before my father had enough and took fishing pliers to the hydraulic line to make it someone elses problem.  You see where I'm going.....

 

Not for me.  I'm sure some people, like jet ski people, love it

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There's a freedom boat club in my marina.  Pretty basic cruiser type boats.  I think they were bought by Brunswick marine recently.

 

From what I have witnessed of their clients coming into fuel dock while waiting for launch, NFW could I deal with that.

 

Esp the hours, I rarely fish during the day and I'm pretty sure you are severely restricted about early/night time fishing etc.

 

Personally I'd rather take the $5k initiation fee, buy a $5000 aluminum or cheap bay boat, spend the $350/month (or way less) on storage and do whatever I want with my boat than rent someone elses junk.  At least you have equity in something.

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At a condo, boat club is definitely worth it. You will save thousands on maintenance and slip fees. Electronics won’t be top of the line, but they will do for finding structure. Can always bring your own VHF and tablet with navionics. 

Edited by C.Robin
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With interest rate so low and you can get long term loans versus anything right now on a boat. Its time to buy if you can find what you want. 350 a month plus 5k is almost 9k for a year. That's could pay half of a used 20ft boat right now with a 4 stroke. Being in Fl.you don't need to go far to get offshore fish. Where I am located most boat clubs are not fishing boats. Mainly family cruiser ,bow riders, ski boats. Fishing boats are more to clean and maintain  to them vs a go fast boat family boat.  Could you image how beat up and messy a rented fishing boat would be vs a bow rider etc. 

 

I have personally made money on every boat I have owned and sold .but I have built every boat I have owned also. 

 

 

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Like Makorider my boats are set up for the way I want to fish, which can change at anytime.  Because it's my boat I just make the changes I want, wheter its adding rode holders, electronics presets, where I keep my pliers etc...  Yes, they also go to the beach and occasionally pull a tube, but, the reason I have them is to fish.

 

Owning a boat in a FL condo can be tough, especially if you need to pay for a boat, offsite storage, etc...  Based on this a club boat may work well for you.  If you find out it doesn't you will be a little ahead of the game in terms of know what you are looking for when you do buy a boat.  It might be a good option, at least to get your feet wet in a new area.

 

sam

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My family considered doing the Freedom Club to try out new boats before we bought ours but quickly noticed that there was little variety and selection to try. If you know what you want, then go buy your own. Florida is a boater state, so there is plenty of facilities for storage and maintenance. In terms of work you can do yourself, the basic things you need to do every time you take it out is to flush out the engine and rinse off the salt on the hull and deck. These two things will save you problems later on and prolong the life. Definitely start doing your homework on what dealerships are going to be around you and scout out the local scene once you get there. Don't buy too much boat if you don't need it. You have to think about how you're gonna use it outside of fishing too.

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