Is this “a thing” in the kayak/canoe industry: a season or monthly rental like what’s done in the ski industry? Rent the craft for a period of months, return or purchase at the end of the rental period.
The topic came up during a coaching session. I don’t have my own, and am not sure I want to dive into a purchase yet but not having a boat makes it tough to get coaching and practice while the water and air temp are still relatively warm. The coach suggested I try to find an off-season rental.
The local-to-me place has already closed up for the year but it made me wonder if this is even done. I can see where it would be a revenue source off-season; on the other hand, it’s also probably a potential liability for the merchant with stuff coming back destroyed.
Agree with ppine. A local place I know rents kayaks weekly for around $200/ week. They are decent but not great boats, with not many options for smaller paddlers.
In my area I regularly see decent used boats going for around $500- $600, so 3 weeks rental. And if you’re patient, you can sometimes find even better deals. Also, as long as you purchased wisely, you can usually re-sell for what you paid or even more.
I doubt it is economical. Rental places around here have boats what I think would cost $250. They rent them for almost $20 the hour. So after a long summer day of hourly rentals, they already almost re-covered the boat cost.
I’m not saying they are swimming in money since they pay for land, staff etc. but for you as a renter, it is better to buy if you have the option. but Compare that to a car rental, where you pay maybe $50 for a full 24 hours of a $20K car.
Buying also gives you a good boat. The ones i see here for rental are what is called recreational, as in short and wide. If you want to try to get into the sport, you are better off to buy a type you may like more (i.e. touring)
Obviously you need to research your local places. Maybe where you live there is a good deal.
In my opinion, renting or leasing a boat would be similiar to using 20 dollar bills to start a campfire. Wasted money!
Buy used boat; use it, then sell it, and get at least some of your money back on your “investment”.
Want to move up to a better boat than the original?
Reread all above.
BOB
P.S. All boats picture below were bought used, played with & paddled some, and resold for more than I paid for them. Profit reinvested in boats I liked a lot, and kept for awhile or still own.
P.S.#2 Should have held onto that Wenonah Moccasin!!!
Kicked myself in the butt as it was driven away & said something like, “That was really dumb; selling that boat” !!!
In my area, the Dundee Marina and Gunpowder State Park have a sale each year in May. The outfitter also has a paddle day with numerous current models they stock. I wanted to upgrade and looked at the 120 Pungo and 140 Pungo in Duralite. I paddle that areas so I figured out the 140 was best in that location. Two years later, I tested fishing kayaks, but was ready to upgrade again and compared the 145 Tsunami against Perception and Necky kayaks. Two years later I tested the 175 Tsunami against other boats. CLC also stages paddle days, and they do paddle days around the country. Tested their boats, but couldn’t find one that fit.
