The Freedom Boat Club Boating Lifestyle!
The Option to Boat on Demand in the Great Lakes & Beyond
Published: Friday, October 8, 2021
By: Erik Kyle, Publisher, Great Lakes Scuttlebutt
Hey, boat owners, former boat owners, snowbirds, new boaters, vacationers, traveling families, and campers, you’re going to want to join FBC in the Great Lakes before the snow flies! As an on-the-water junkie and passionate boat owner, I know that the more you learn about what FBC offers—and more importantly, the more you do the math—a membership really makes sense!
Now, we currently own a boat on Lake Erie and there’s plenty to do here: Cedar Point, the Islands, run across to Canada, up to beautiful Lake St. Clair, or over to Cleveland for dinner. But as an FBC member, I have access to the rest of the Great Lakes, too. Now we can visit Chicago, Milwaukee, the Dunes and harbor towns of West Michigan and Indiana, Toronto, Buffalo, Up-State New York, Ottawa, and more. So, even though I have a big boat in Lake Erie, by joining my local Freedom Boat Club, I get easy on-the-water access to the rest of the Great Lakes—and beyond!
On my big boat, it’s completely impractical to get to those places in time for a fall cruise. Fall boating is perhaps the Great Lakes’ best kept secret: the water is still warm, the weekend warriors are gone for the season, fishing is great, fall foliage is beautiful… Freedom Boat Club solves this accessibility problem and lets me boat in other areas of the Great Lakes easily and on my last minute schedule. If I do decide to cruise on my big boat, my boat or camper can become my home base while FBC gives me access to fishing on a center console, a pontoon, or a deck boat to entertain friends on a fall color cruise—all without having to take the big boat out. My inflatable dinghy cost more than an FBC membership anyway. Membership is all about the OPTIONS to enjoy boating on demand!
Additionally, every year I break out into a cold sweat thinking about the encroaching winter days and the prospect of no boating for six months. I need to get my on-the-water fix and an FBC membership solved this problem too. When the family heads south two or three times a year during the cold months, I actually SAVE money and time through FBC. I can leave my winterized boat at home, don’t have to haul or ship it, worry about a saltwater splashdown, dockage, trailer storage, maintenance, or how to get my boat back up here in spring! Since FBC fleets are updated every 2-3 years, I also get access to new boat models (which renting doesn’t provide) and it’s all included with my Great Lakes membership! The cost doesn’t even come close to the fees, insurance issues, and restrictions experienced with peer-to-peer or rental access to day boating.
After joining FBC in the Great Lakes and completing my New Member Orientation before the end of the boating season, last year’s Christmas break in Cape Coral, Florida, was a blast! The first full day we enjoyed a 21’ deck boat for the cost of the gas I used ($26). It was so easy and hassle-free that we went to the Fort Myers FBC the following day and took a 21’ Cobia center console out for a picnic at the Sanibel Island lighthouse. Day three saw us aboard another deck boat at the northern tip of Captiva Island (only accessible by boat) where we saw dolphins, tons of shells, fished, and fell in love with the beach there.
After taking New Year’s Day off for football, we spent the next two days aboard a center console visiting with friends at North Captiva again and finished our trip aboard yet another boat, a pontoon this time, entertaining friends and visiting waterfront restaurants. What a blast! An incredible vacation with 5 of 7 days spent boating, aboard a variety of options, and different locations, for no more than the cost of gas.
All it takes to have this access yourself is to join your local Great Lakes FBC and get your training done now before the snow flies. You will get unlimited fall access to Great Lakes boating and FBC will get you ready for a winter season full of boating—conveniently, easily, and efficiently. Plus, as a joining incentive, many Great Lakes locations offer “no club dues" until next spring to lock in this year’s pricing. They even allowed us to split the initiation fee payments over the winter.
With 320+ locations across North America and Europe, Freedom Boat Club is the solution we’ve been looking for to maintain and enhance our boating lifestyle all year long, no matter when or where we are. Visit bit.ly/FreedomGreatLakes today and discover true boating freedom!
A version of this article appeared in the Fall Issue (September/October) 2021 of Great Lakes Scuttlebutt magazine.
tags: Boat Club
