What's with all the boat rental ads???

B

BayAreaBoater

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I see them everywhere!

In the newspapers. On Craigslist and even eBay!

Private parties offering up their own boats as daily rentals. Tournament boats. Bowriders. Fishing boats. Heck, even cruisers!

A sign of the times maybe?

Some of the ads even say that they will deliver the boat to the water and launch them for you. Prices avg from $250 up to $350 a day plus fuel.

I find that practice way too scary! Not only can the renter damage the boat, but God forbid if the renter gets into a collision or worse, causes a fatality! The owner would be hung out to dry!

Are people that desperate to make a few bucks???

Or are they just trying to cover their monthly payment?

I just don't get it... [:-?help]
 
That is a VERY dangerous way to do it...

Plus, at least with me, my boats are MY boats. I don't want them used/abused by others.

But hey, that is just me...

Yikes!
 
There is a boat rental operation at Tower Park. It seems to work out pretty well for them. A few years ago, they rented out the whole fleet every summer day. These days, that is just not the case. Even if you are just renting them for the day, boating is an expensive hobby these days.
My boating days started with renting a houseboat and outboard "skiboat" in Shasta in the 80's. We trashed a houseboat prop before leaving the marina, that was $75.00. But that was our only mishap. But in the aftermath, that week has cost me plenty. When we got back, the ex bought a Mastercraft, then moved up to a Correct Craft, and I've bought a few of my own. It might have money in the bank if we hadn't rented those two boats.
 
While reading the old books from Earl Stanley Gardner, I was surprised to see that renting boats was big business in the Delta. Everyone was doing it. Many people owned motors which they would take to the marinas and put on the rented boats. This practice seemed to have gone away sometime in the late 70's as more and more people started buying their own boats.
 
As I recall, boat rentals quickly became a thing of the past after a terrible tragedy when a family of six drowned while renting a small houseboat. It was springtime and the current was very strong. The little houseboat had a small Johnson OB which could not handle the strong currents. The houseboat was slammed into the cement support of a bridge and capsized. All six [father, mother and four young children] were dumped into the cold swift water and drowned.

Lots of blame here to go around, but bottom line was that liability insurance for boat rentals went sky high and only a couple of corporate giants could afford to rent boats after that.
 
Yeah, when my family first got started boating in the Delta in the late 60's, we rented a few houseboats from local rental firms.

Our first one was from King's Island rentals. It was a Kayot houseboat. What a blast! My parents liked it so much that they went out and purchased a Kayot pontoon boat (20' with a basic flat plywood deck and aluminum railings). Heck, back then hardly anyone knew what a pontoon boat was! And when they saw it on the trailer, they couldn't figure out what it was suppose to be used for! LOL

We then rented houseboats from Gary Carter at B.I. (who later became one of the world's best selling Bayliner dealers- I later purchased two from Sherry Cameron myself) and S&H boat yard (those unique looking green and white houseboats with the pilothouse on the roof).

Back in the mid 80's, I rented a Jet Ski from Herman & Helens (gosh I miss their place!) and I was hooked! Six PWC's later, I wonder how much of a kick-back H&H got out of me! LOL

Today, despite owning my own small flotilla (LOL), I still rent an occassional boat or two.

When we take the motorhome down to Bass Lake, I would much rather rent either a pontoon or a tournament boat from them than tow one of my own there. By the time you account for the extra fuel burned, the lake use permit, the launching, the berthing plus the time involved with all that, it is much better to just pay the Pines Resort a hundred bucks for a pontoon boat for a few hours and walk away from it when we're finished!

The same goes for Lake Tahoe when we take a short trip up there. Camp Richardson and north shore rent out decent boats for a few hours.

My original post here on this thread was in response to the PERSONAL PARTY ads that are appearing on craigslist and such. People renting their own PERSONAL boats versus legitimate rental firms.

I just found it odd that people would resort to such financial (not to mention emotional)liability...

Their necks are stretched out way beyond my "comfort zone"...
 
quote:
Originally posted by Flutterby

Lots of blame here to go around, but bottom line was that liability insurance for boat rentals went sky high and only a couple of corporate giants could afford to rent boats after that.

Click to expand...


Yeah, I've heard some of the tragedy's that surrounded Delta Destroyers. Very sad...

I would add from personal observation that the huge rental fleets from the 60's and 70's slowly disappeared as the "mom and pop" founders were leaving the businesses as well. Back then, a guy could either build (as in Ladd's) or buy a fleet of them for a realistic price and then be able to rent them for a profit.

Once the founders started folding their tents, a lot of other changes took place here in the Delta.

Boat ownership became much more prevalent than renting. Pocket cruisers and even mid size houseboats were becoming more prevalent. Those rental boats usually had those antique Homelite/Bearcat 55HP O/B's on them and they were slow. To say the least.

Folks wanted to go faster!

Newer, faster and bigger rental houseboats hit the market along with higher prices. "Outside mega-rental companies" saw a potential market here and moved in on the "little" guys (that started it all) and sealed their fate by blowing them out of the business. Then as mentioned, people started getting injured and the lawyers found a new source of income...

The bottom line is that with the combination of fewer folks having to rent them, a proper facility for them, the costs involved and the risks involved, rental houseboats proved to be a pink elephant for this market.

At least for now...
 
Hopefully those renting their personal boat have read their insurance policy. I would suspect they will not have coverage if anything happens, but I have been wrong many times...
 
Does anybody on the Delta other than Paradise Point rent houseboats now?
 
Sugar Barge rents some---mostly fishing boats. And I just heard a commercial on the radio that Windmill Cove has a new business renting boats. Give Windmill a call: www.windmillcove.com
 
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