American Boat Club

[AmericanBoatClub]

If anyone would like to ask me any questions, I would be happy to answer them. We are very excited for the up coming boatings season. You can see the boats at our website. http://www.americanboatclubnh.com/ or for more photos facebook http://www.facebook.com/AmericanBoatClub

Kurt
603-231-6002

[jbess]

Originally Posted by AmericanBoatClub

If anyone would like to ask me any questions, I would be happy to answer them.

Kurt
603-231-6002

Here's one for you Kurt.

Have you considered a partial membership? Like a limited number of reservations for a reduced fee?

I ask this because I am very interested in ABC, but the cost and my time at the lake (usualy avg. 2 weeks a summer) just don't make it feasable for me. I have trailerd a boat back and forth from Ct. to Winni and have even sliped at Akwa for a week one year (before renovations) and loved the convienience.

I like the "club" aspect over just a rental deal...

Thanks, Joe B.

[AmericanBoatClub]

Originally Posted by jbess

Here's one for you Kurt.

Have you considered a partial membership? Like a limited number of reservations for a reduced fee?

I ask this because I am very interested in ABC, but the cost and my time at the lake (usualy avg. 2 weeks a summer) just don't make it feasable for me. I have trailerd a boat back and forth from Ct. to Winni and have even sliped at Akwa for a week one year (before renovations) and loved the convienience.

I like the "club" aspect over just a rental deal...

Thanks, Joe B.

Thank you for asking. We have given it a lot of thought. It is something we would prefer to avoid and keep one simple program. Two weeks is too short to join.
If you have an idea or proposal I would love to hear it.

[kauriel]

Originally Posted by AmericanBoatClub

Thank you for asking. We have given it a lot of thought. It is something we would prefer to avoid and keep one simple program. Two weeks is too short to join.
If you have an idea or proposal I would love to hear it.

What about allowing a limited registration with a much lower fee (say $500) that includes one prime rental per year and then only allow these members to make pay-per-use off-peak reservations (say no more than 7 days in advance and charge $100 for half day or $300 for whole day) or pay-per-use peak reservations for the day of use.

That would prioritize higher level member reservations while helping fill voids that the boats might otherwise not be used. (Think about the concept of hotwire.com where hotels sell empty rooms as discounts because $50 is better than $0.) You could also limit total rentals to x per week or x per year to further encourage customers in better financial positions to buy the more expensive package. Given these difficult times I would think it might be easier to sell 20 $500 memberships than 3 $3,300 memberships.

We are at Village at Winnipesaukee and would love to participate but we work and can't be up every single weekend all summer so it would be cheaper for us to rent a boat every visit than to participate and build a relationship with you. I would really love to see a better relationship with our organizations and I see a great potential to work together as neighbors!

[AmericanBoatClub]

Originally Posted by kauriel

What about allowing a limited registration with a much lower fee (say $500) that includes one prime rental per year and then only allow these members to make pay-per-use off-peak reservations (say no more than 7 days in advance and charge $100 for half day or $300 for whole day) or pay-per-use peak reservations for the day of use.

That would prioritize higher level member reservations while helping fill voids that the boats might otherwise not be used. (Think about the concept of hotwire.com where hotels sell empty rooms as discounts because $50 is better than $0.) You could also limit total rentals to x per week or x per year to further encourage customers in better financial positions to buy the more expensive package. Given these difficult times I would think it might be easier to sell 20 $500 memberships than 3 $3,300 memberships.

We are at Village at Winnipesaukee and would love to participate but we work and can't be up every single weekend all summer so it would be cheaper for us to rent a boat every visit than to participate and build a relationship with you. I would really love to see a better relationship with our organizations and I see a great potential to work together as neighbors!

Thank you for the idea. It is something we have considered. The problem is it gets away from our core biz model. We would prefer 3 full time members over 20 part time members, all other things being equal. Keep in mind that we do not plan to have that many members. Maybe we will consider it in years to come but for this year we are going to stick to the basic model.
With that said we hope to get the boats in the water soon! I hope to see a lot of you out on the water. If you see me at the town docks with a big American Flag sitting on a boat, please come say hello.

[AmericanBoatClub]

Thought I would share some photos with all you wonderful people of the boats just relaxing in the marina waiting for opening day!!

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From American Boat Club Boats in 2011

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From American Boat Club Boats in 2011

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From American Boat Club Boats in 2011

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From American Boat Club Boats in 2011

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From American Boat Club Boats in 2011

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Not sure if I embedded this right

[birchhaven]

Nice Press, good luck...
http://www.laconiadailysun.com/story...hout-ownership

[Kamper]

They're a board sponsor now.



http://www.winnipesaukee.com/adpeeps...efault&ver=2.0

[AmericanBoatClub]

Thanks for all the support, the season is off to a great start.
Here we are in the Weirs Times http://content.yudu.com/Library/A1sf...esources/3.htm

[AmericanBoatClub]

Thanks you for all the advice we received. Our final weekend of boating is coming up this weekend. The 1st season of American Boat Club was a great success, and we look forward to rapid growth in the future. Our average member used a boat over 24 times (keeping in mind most of member joined part way through the season, and does not include walk-ins) and boat availability was great through-out the season.
We had many seasoned boaters, but we also had some members who were enjoying boating for the first time, and it was nice to be able to introduce these people to the lake and boating, in a cost effective way.

Have a beautiful fall and a great winter.

Kurt

[NHBUOY]

Congratulations Kurt, and continued success in your future. NHB.

[Happy Gourmand]

Join the American Boat Club.....

Talked about it last year, didn't do it for whatever reason. Will be sending the paperwork to Kurt this weekend.
Spoke with him a few times and I don't think I can go wrong.

Is it ice out yet?

[AmericanBoatClub]

Originally Posted by The Phantom Gourmand

Join the American Boat Club.....

Talked about it last year, didn't do it for whatever reason. Will be sending the paperwork to Kurt this weekend.
Spoke with him a few times and I don't think I can go wrong.

Is it ice out yet?

Welcome aboard!!!

Great resolution too

Kurt

[ushaggerb]

Originally Posted by AmericanBoatClub

Welcome aboard!!!

Great resolution too

Kurt

Kurt, will there be any type of program for people coming in for, say, 10 days. I won't mention any names, but we've been renting for years now, and tried several marinas. The boats are shot, too small for the Lake (at least during a windy day or weekends). And we still end up paying around 3 Grand.

[ushaggerb]

Originally Posted by kauriel

What about allowing a limited registration with a much lower fee (say $500) that includes one prime rental per year and then only allow these members to make pay-per-use off-peak reservations (say no more than 7 days in advance and charge $100 for half day or $300 for whole day) or pay-per-use peak reservations for the day of use.

That would prioritize higher level member reservations while helping fill voids that the boats might otherwise not be used. (Think about the concept of hotwire.com where hotels sell empty rooms as discounts because $50 is better than $0.) You could also limit total rentals to x per week or x per year to further encourage customers in better financial positions to buy the more expensive package. Given these difficult times I would think it might be easier to sell 20 $500 memberships than 3 $3,300 memberships.

We are at Village at Winnipesaukee and would love to participate but we work and can't be up every single weekend all summer so it would be cheaper for us to rent a boat every visit than to participate and build a relationship with you. I would really love to see a better relationship with our organizations and I see a great potential to work together as neighbors!

Had one more thought on this. Could you have a "marry up" program, in which could split a membership?

[AmericanBoatClub]

Originally Posted by ushaggerb

Had one more thought on this. Could you have a "marry up" program, in which could split a membership?

We do not offer co-memberships, at this time.

Kurt

[AmericanBoatClub]

Warming up for the 2012 season we just picked up our next boat and we are very excited.
The newest addition to the fleet is a fully loaded 2012 210 SLX, it is not just identical to the boat that Sea Ray used for there Catalog to show case the boat with ever available option, it is literally the boat used in the photos!

It is a head turner.

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From 2012 210SLX

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2012 210SLX

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[AmericanBoatClub]

Just added another 2013 Berkshire pontoon to the fleet, can't wait to get it in the water.

[AmericanBoatClub]

We are pleased to be adding another boat to fleet. It is very first class boat, we a very beautiful interior and a nice dark blue hull. Can't wait get it in the water this Tuesday.
Have a great holiday weekend and be sure come by the beach bar and say hello.
Kurt
603.231.6002

[AmericanBoatClub]

Hello all,
Just checking in to give everyone an update on the club. We are heading into our 5th season. We have 6 boats in the fleet of boats and will be continuing to add more. We have 3 searays and 3 Berkshires. We have learned a few do's and some don'ts when it comes to the boat selection, and up fit. Interesting I think a few of these would probably apply for your average boat buyer so I will share a few of those discovers later on.
The club is still using an updated version of its original custom software from w4o software. It will run on popular Web browsers and there is a mobile solution as well. So you can book a boat from the beach. We have seen some very interesting statistics show up on boat utilization. The craziest being nearly half (~45%) of all reservations result in a cancelation/no show. I think this speaks to the nature of boating in general, we all have visions of boating every weekend but the reality is something else gets in the way. This creates opportunities for other members to use that boat on a walk in bases and it works great.
A couple of things we have learned.
Don't get carpet on the pontoons, never dries out.
Don't get counter rotating props(very expensive dings)
Get aluminum props
No matter the horse power of the pontoon it goes ~20mph, (we don't have triton yet)
The pontoons slowly recruit every member and become the club favorites.

Thanks
Kurt

[upthesaukee]

Thanks for the update Kurt.

Just curious: Do you have a no-show cancellation clause in your reservation policy? I can see allowing a cancellation up to say 48 hours before pickup time. People could reserve the boat a couple of weeks in advance, and then on Wednesday find the weather forecast is 100% chance of rain on Fri, Sat, and Sun.

What must be frustrating, especially without a clause, is to have a good boating weekend, and have someone no show, making the rental that time period difficult.

Thanks, and best wishes for continued success.

[AmericanBoatClub]

We do have a clause but we never enforce it.
The cancelation can happen right up to the minute before the boat is supposed to go out. We also have many many no shows where the boat shows up as checked out but the person never shows. Or they go out for 20 minute cruise and come right back.
I don't consider any of these situations a problem.
What ends up happening is dock hands will attempt to reach the no show, and see if they are coming via cell phone. If no response after a reasonable amount of time we let the boat go out on a walk in bases. We have many members who come up to just hang out at akwa marina for the day, so they are sitting by the pool and look at there phone and see a particular boat is supposed to be out but it is actually sitting in the Marina. So they go and ask to take the boat and away they go, without having to book a reservation. So they could actually have all there reservation booked for the next weekend but still a joy boats all week.
The walk ins are what create spotinuty (sp ?) in the club and are actually one of the most over looked features when signing up.
Great question

[pjard]

Interesting observations Kurt...you are so spot on regarding the pontoon boats. They quickly became our favorites...so much so we went out and bought our own last year. Not a good business model for you! LOL You guys are great and we LOVED our time with American Boat Club. One year we went out of the lake 46 times with your boats. I HIGHLY recommend the club to anyone.

[Happy Gourmand]

Originally Posted by pjard

Interesting observations Kurt...you are so spot on regarding the pontoon boats. They quickly became our favorites...so much so we went out and bought our own last year. Not a good business model for you! LOL You guys are great and we LOVED our time with American Boat Club. One year we went out of the lake 46 times with your boats. I HIGHLY recommend the club to anyone.

We did the same thing..members for a year and had the opportunity to enjoy every boat. We too favored the pontoon boats and we also bought our own but with a bit more HP (200). We've owned fiberglass hulled boats in the past and would never go back. We love our pontoon boat and are grateful to ABC for the introduction to them.

[AmericanBoatClub]

It has been a long time since this thread was updated but it still comes up in conversation with people thinking of joining the boat club, so I wanted to up date it.

The boats are always changing but right now they are:

240 Berkshire Tri-toon

210 Berkshire Pontoon

22' StingRay Deck Boat

210 SLX Wakeboard SeaRay

210 SLX SeaRay

THIS LIST IS NO LONGER UP TO DATE!!!


We have also gone through several up grades to the cloud based reservation system.

Additional details can be found here https://www.akwamarina.com/page/american-boat-club

Cheers
Kurt
603.231.6002
[email protected]

[Biggd]

Originally Posted by AmericanBoatClub

It has been a long time since this thread was updated but it still comes up in conversation with people thinking of joining the boat club, so I wanted to up date it.

The boats are always changing but right now they are:

240 Berkshire Tri-toon

210 Berkshire Pontoon

22' StingRay Deck Boat

210 SLX Wakeboard SeaRay

210 SLX SeaRay

The price is a one time signing fee of $1200, then $3900 per year. It really is the best boating deal in the area.

To make things even better we are currently waving the $1200 signing fee for new Members till 2/15/19

We have also gone through several up grades to the cloud based reservation system.

Additional details can be found here https://www.akwamarina.com/page/american-boat-club

Cheers
Kurt
603.231.6002
[email protected]

How many members are vying for these 5 boats?
What are the odds of having a boat every weekend through out the summer?
Is there a guarantee on a certain number of reservations through out the boating season?
The advantage of having your own boat is it's availability any time you want it.
If availability is limited due to too many reservations and not enough boats then that's a big negative.

Just looking to see if you can provide more information on the forum.

[AmericanBoatClub]

Originally Posted by Biggd

How many members are vying for these 5 boats?
What are the odds of having a boat every weekend through out the summer?
Is there a guarantee on a certain number of reservations through out the boating season?
The advantage of having your own boat is it's availability any time you want it.
If availability is limited due to too many reservations and not enough boats then that's a big negative.

Just looking to see if you can provide more information on the forum.

We aim for a 5:1 ratio, 5 members to 1 boat, depending on the membership this sometimes is closer to 4:1.

The boat club plays into peoples behaviors. If you plan to use a boat all day every weekend, then you are someone who should buy a boat. Most people like to think they will get out on a boat that much but we all know it never happens. Life happens. Kids games, family commitments, choirs around the house, etc, etc. Not to say you can't get a boat every weekend, but getting a boat on a Saturday every other weekend is pretty easy to do. Monday through Friday we are lucky if more than one boat leaves the marina. Saturdays book up about 10 days in advance. Sundays can book up depending on the weather. We do have a 40% no show/cancellation rate. This creates a big opportunity for walk-ins. People hanging out at the beach club who don't have a boat booked can take an unreserved boat (or no show, cancellation) without booking a boat. The cloud-based reservation system is completely transparent so our members can see what is available at any moment. Our average user take a boat out 40 times per season, we have had a few go getters get up to the 70s and we don't track walk ins.
I can not stress enough how good a deal the boat club is, to rent a slip on the lake right now is going to be ~5k and you supply the boat and the headache

[Garcia]

Boat clubs make a lot of sense for many people. Show up with your stuff, load and go. No trailering, no maintence, any problems are someone else’s...

I know people with memberships in Florida. One really nice feature is they can use the boat that fits their needs for the day. Scenic trip? Take a pontoon boat. Headed out to fish - center console is ready to go...

[TriDad]

Originally Posted by AmericanBoatClub

We aim for a 5:1 ratio, 5 members to 1 boat, depending on the membership this sometimes is closer to 4:1.


I can not stress enough how good a deal the boat club is, to rent a slip on the lake right now is going to be ~5k and you supply the boat and the headache

What hours can a member have the boat for? I prefer to go out early (6am+-) and late in the day for sunset or night rides.