Precision

I've been working on this on this rental opportunity for a while and thought I'd explore opening it up to the community.

Location: 27.5MM Close to Millers Landing

Accommodations: The house is a 2bd, one bath, lots of parking. Renovated last year with new furniture.
We also have one camping spot available with a 50A service and hose hookup.

Water access: Located all on flat ground at lake level we have a ramp a literal stones throw away from the house and dock.
The dock is a with a three well covered dock with plenty of room to tie up to both sides. Slip one is 54X18, slip two is 44X14 and has a lift that our classic white 97 Fountain with staggered 500EFIs, and slip three is 32X12.

The boat: This is where we are doing something different. We are considering opening up weekend rentals for the boat. I have worked out the insurance requirements as well as the damage deposits.

The question is, if you were looking at making a trip to LOTO, would an all inclusive rental be attractive? Or, if you drove the hours to your favorite boating destination to just be put back on the trailer, would the availability of a performance boat rental be useful?

Due to the fact that we also have a van parked at the airport we could even wrap up the transportation aspect of the rental for people looking to fly in and out.

Is this an untapped market, or a pipe dream?

Jupiter Sunsation

I think you are nuts. House rental/slip rental fine but throwing in the Fountain is a disaster waiting to happen:
A. Boat is old, won't be up to running hard which is exactly what renters will want to do so expect mechanical breakdown.
B. Boat is fast enough to get someone in trouble.
C. From a renter's perspective, I wouldn't want to be the guy that idles away from the dock only to have a drive fail because the previous renter was trying to be Reggie Fountain!

Precision

Thanks for your input. I totally get your perspective and they are all thing that I and others have considered while exploring this. With that being said I have a couple of counter points.

The boat is absolutely up to running hard, and I have back up engines and drives that can be swapped in just a couple of hours if something were to fail of course any loss of time would be prorated or refunded. I'm aware that mechanical parts fail, and we need to be prepared.

As far as running hard, I have run it WOT from my place to Coconuts a couple of times and it has preformed perfect. I was considering adjusting the throttles and some parameters in the ECU to limit performance regardless. Prospective renters will have to fill out a performance boating resume and/or have history with the rental company to captain the boat, if not, a captain that meets the criteria can be hired/supplied to ensure safe operations.

ICDEDPPL

Good luck dealing with Retter on anything , all talk, ZERO follow thru but he will keep you on the hook for months and months with empty promises. Anyone you ask will give you the same story.

cigrocket

Better off offering a Boat Ride on the Fountain for an afternoon captained by you or someone you know. You can charge by the hour or something like that. Giving them free reign would be crazy.

Jupiter Sunsation

Ok, then is "all inclusive rental" going to be 10-15-20K a weekend?

Why not just give them a 25 ft single engine center console or a Formula 260 bowrider type boat instead of the performance boat?

27Activator

I agree with everyone else it seems extreme to give just anyone free access to the fountain. Although it does seem like a good opportunity if your able to vet the renters and make sure you are only renting to "responsible" people. I honestly would be interested as it would make it easier to come to the lake not having to drag my boat 15 hours. So I'm sure there is a market for it. At the end of the day if the insurance is all good. It seems like your covered so I would say go for it.

105Fountain

Insurance & liability #1 if that covered and screened client it may work ?Go for it not many go fast rents on Lake!

Precision

Yeah, I was thinking in the mid to upper teens for a regular weekend and low $20's for event weekends. This would loop in the air travel as well. I know that the guys driving 12-14 hrs are already paying close to $2K in fuel and maintenance, so the cost justification and convenience are there if we were in the $4,500 range for the boat rental for a weekend.

The ideal potential renter would be someone with years of experience that has a comparable boat that either traveled days to arrive at the lake and now has a mechanical issue, or someone that has decided to leave their boat at home to offset the cost to go to the lake and 4-5 friends chip in to pay the rental fee.

At no point would anyone that has less than a few years of experience running a boat like this would be allowed to captain.

Sydwayz

I know plenty of people with years of boating experience that have still have no idea on how to properly drive one.