In my relocation to the coast, I'd been trying to develop a plan to get out, enjoy the ocean and waterways of this unique piece of coastline. I pulled an offer on a boat slip in one of the marinas after I found they needed renovations assessing each slip owner about the asking price, no thanks. I was advised to watch the lease opportunities once summer ends, finding several in the same price range as I found last spring, ~$10/ft/mo, 30' slips for $350.
Then, I need to find the toy to fill the slip up, we all know how cheap boats are, to purchase, insure, clean, maintain...nothing I'd find comfortable taking my kids/grandkid(s) under a $50k boat. Enter the Freedom Boat Club that I'd been getting spammed ferociously thru social media and local TV, took a trip to the marina during an open house a couple Sunday's ago. Purposely came during the mid-day turn-over to see how the dock crew handled the transitions, toured a couple boats and chatted up the training captain, then left without talking to the sales staff. After some negotiations, I decided to take the dive into this "boat club".
Wanting to enjoy boating without the pain of boat ownership, this boat co-op is show and go, then drop, check fuel use and go. The monthly dues are not much more than the lease for a slip and I get the use of the variety of boats in the fleet. I've been thru their boat orientation, in-shore and off-shore boat certifications, I took advantage of today's great weather and light seas to take my first solo trip with Tashi thru the inlets down here. We took one of the Cobia 220 CC with a Merc 200 to run around.
Tashi did amazing, seemed to dig the air, smells and birds, she handled the rougher waters of the inlet really well. I couldn't be more pleased with our first outing together...
As we came back in the Carolina Beach inlet, we passed this stealth vessel going out the inlet. I'm hoping one of our military based members may help identify the craft, it surely was handling the conditions much better than our vessel...
Then, I need to find the toy to fill the slip up, we all know how cheap boats are, to purchase, insure, clean, maintain...nothing I'd find comfortable taking my kids/grandkid(s) under a $50k boat. Enter the Freedom Boat Club that I'd been getting spammed ferociously thru social media and local TV, took a trip to the marina during an open house a couple Sunday's ago. Purposely came during the mid-day turn-over to see how the dock crew handled the transitions, toured a couple boats and chatted up the training captain, then left without talking to the sales staff. After some negotiations, I decided to take the dive into this "boat club".
Wanting to enjoy boating without the pain of boat ownership, this boat co-op is show and go, then drop, check fuel use and go. The monthly dues are not much more than the lease for a slip and I get the use of the variety of boats in the fleet. I've been thru their boat orientation, in-shore and off-shore boat certifications, I took advantage of today's great weather and light seas to take my first solo trip with Tashi thru the inlets down here. We took one of the Cobia 220 CC with a Merc 200 to run around.
Tashi did amazing, seemed to dig the air, smells and birds, she handled the rougher waters of the inlet really well. I couldn't be more pleased with our first outing together...
As we came back in the Carolina Beach inlet, we passed this stealth vessel going out the inlet. I'm hoping one of our military based members may help identify the craft, it surely was handling the conditions much better than our vessel...
