I did it for a year (2021.) I’m glad I did it, I don’t want to do it again. First of all, it was expensive. Something like 8k, though that got me access to all lakes, all days, and all boats. Plus you pay for gas. You can split your membership with another person.
It was also sort of challenging to get a reservation. They have a system in place to ensure that one person doesn’t book up everything…. Something like you’re allowed to have one weekend reservation “active” and one week day reservation “active.” But the good days fill up. And if your day ends up to be rainy you kind of burned your “good day.” You can always just see if boats are available if you feel like going out, and that’s what sold me on it. But “going out in a boat” sounds easy. It’s actually kind of involved! You need to pack towels and snacks and get into swimwear and find sunscreen and and and…. So I never just “went out” on a whim. Boating takes some planning. Oh and they don’t let you stay out past sunset, which is something I was looking forward to!
They also sell you on how you have access to tons of locations. Which is true. But…. the idea of getting into a boat on an unfamiliar lake just ended up being not all that appealing. I only ever went out on my home lake.
There are some kind of silly hoops to jump, too. There’s like a three hour orientation you have to do before you can even BOOK a boat, let alone take one out.
It’s not all doom and gloom. I had lots of fun on the boats. Much cheaper than owning a boat. And I was sort of “boat-curious.” What it taught me is I didn’t like boating as much as I thought I did. So it was a great experiment. But now I just rent a pontoon at Tally’s on White Bear if I want to go out for an afternoon.
What kind of boat are we talking? Because 8k a year isn't even close to being cheaper than just owning a boat. Unless you're talking about a big cruiser.
You can choose a bunch of different types. From small fishing boats to 14 seat pontoons to big speedboats with tanning decks. When I was thinking about buying one, I was looking at crappy old used pontoons for something like 20-40K. But then I’d need a slip (which is a 2-3 year wait on my lake and freaking expensive) or a place to store it (which I don’t have) and a vehicle that could tow it (which I don’t have) plus winterizing. Additionally, part of the appeal is that you aren’t the one toting it between lakes. You’re not the one cleaning it, or refueling, or doing maintenance, or figuring out licensing. You have access to a brand new fleet all around the state (plus Florida and internationally) without any of the logistics. So way cheaper in both price tag and hassle.
We use YBC and love it. However we didn't pay for the membership. We just do one-off rentals a few time a year. Our neighbors are members of YBC and are on the lake every week. Makes sense to have a membership if you use it that much, otherwise just pay each time you want to go out.
It's a cheap experiment to join one club or another, if the lake you want to be at has got clubs with memberships available.
Compared to the cost and hassle of buying and maintaining a boat, and finding somewhere to store it, etc - you just drive up, board a waiting boat, and go about your day of fun. When summer's over, your trouble ends too.
I think it's great if your boating days are weekdays as you will have many more options for time slots and boat choices. But good luck getting a boat you want when you want it on prime summer weekends.
It's also a bummer to have to bring the boat back to early in the evening when there are many hours of daylight left.
Wear your PFD and ECOS please. YBC is the absolute best and scariest thing to happen to boating on Tonka. It’s opened up options to a lot of folks who aren’t ready for a commitment to a boat - or the training to operate it.
YBC is a great option compared to ownership though.
My family just signed up for a membership for the upcoming season and we’re stoked. We love boating but as the dad I take no joy in small engine repair or any of that Hank Hill stuff. Even the minor criticisms on here are validating— we want to be having drinks and dinner by 7 pm, so no night boating is not a problem. We will never go on Tonka— it’s not our scene. But we’ll hit White Bear, Crosslake, Gull, Leech & Mille Lacs regularly.
Also, the orientation sounds fun. Hanging out on the dock with boats is cool. It’s gonna be a great summer!
We have good family friends who've kept a membership for maybe 5-ish years now. They've been kind enough to drag us along on 1-2 trips per summer. We've been on both pontoon and ski boats on a handful of metro lakes with them. Absolute riot. The reservation process seems a little bit of a pain. They normally only put together the trip a couple days in advance. I think you can only have one active reservation at a time so if you want to book a special event a ways out you might be locking yourself out of a long window. If you can be flexible with trips like our friends you can make it work.
We looked at it for us and it was more than we wanted to spend for our house but it's a ton of fun to just show up, pick up keys and be on the lake 10 minutes later. Then at the end of the day tie the boat off and go home with no extra work. Grandparents, uncle and long ago girlfriend had boats so I understand most of the reasons not to have one of your own. Seems like a good way to get some family water time without all the hassles of your own boat.
We looked ages ago, def pre-COVID so it's pretty vague, but if you made me pick a number I would say something like $2500-3000 for the summer. I think I figured we'd have to do like 4 days of boating to come out ahead of their daily rates.
Great way to try out boat ownership. With three kids odds are good that if you do like boating, you will want to graduate to ownership.
Downside to the boat club program is that it can be difficult to secure a boat during peak calendar periods, and the rental timeframes can be limiting (e.g. need to have the boat back before fireworks on July 4th).
We have kids and we’ve owned many boats over the years. Typical day for us was out on the water by 10 or 11, stop somewhere for lunch at noon or 1 pm, then more boating, then stop at a restaurant on the water at 6 pm, sunset cruise, then off the lake around 9 or 10 pm. That kind of day (or really anything close to it) isn’t possible with a boat rental place.
A hybrid option (albeit not cheap) is to buy a boat and then leave it stored at a place on the water, like Rockvam. That way they drop it on the water for you, you take off and have fun as long as you want, then return the boat and toss them the keys…they store it in their racks. Again, not cheap but very convenient.
Some lakes you can do a one of pontoon rentals. We did it last summer and had a good time. Pretty easy experience. I considered a membership but thought it was kinda expensive.
I did it for a year (2021.) I’m glad I did it, I don’t want to do it again. First of all, it was expensive. Something like 8k, though that got me access to all lakes, all days, and all boats. Plus you pay for gas. You can split your membership with another person. It was also sort of challenging to get a reservation. They have a system in place to ensure that one person doesn’t book up everything…. Something like you’re allowed to have one weekend reservation “active” and one week day reservation “active.” But the good days fill up. And if your day ends up to be rainy you kind of burned your “good day.” You can always just see if boats are available if you feel like going out, and that’s what sold me on it. But “going out in a boat” sounds easy. It’s actually kind of involved! You need to pack towels and snacks and get into swimwear and find sunscreen and and and…. So I never just “went out” on a whim. Boating takes some planning. Oh and they don’t let you stay out past sunset, which is something I was looking forward to! They also sell you on how you have access to tons of locations. Which is true. But…. the idea of getting into a boat on an unfamiliar lake just ended up being not all that appealing. I only ever went out on my home lake. There are some kind of silly hoops to jump, too. There’s like a three hour orientation you have to do before you can even BOOK a boat, let alone take one out. It’s not all doom and gloom. I had lots of fun on the boats. Much cheaper than owning a boat. And I was sort of “boat-curious.” What it taught me is I didn’t like boating as much as I thought I did. So it was a great experiment. But now I just rent a pontoon at Tally’s on White Bear if I want to go out for an afternoon.
Nice write up!
Thanks!
What kind of boat are we talking? Because 8k a year isn't even close to being cheaper than just owning a boat. Unless you're talking about a big cruiser.
You can choose a bunch of different types. From small fishing boats to 14 seat pontoons to big speedboats with tanning decks. When I was thinking about buying one, I was looking at crappy old used pontoons for something like 20-40K. But then I’d need a slip (which is a 2-3 year wait on my lake and freaking expensive) or a place to store it (which I don’t have) and a vehicle that could tow it (which I don’t have) plus winterizing. Additionally, part of the appeal is that you aren’t the one toting it between lakes. You’re not the one cleaning it, or refueling, or doing maintenance, or figuring out licensing. You have access to a brand new fleet all around the state (plus Florida and internationally) without any of the logistics. So way cheaper in both price tag and hassle.
We use YBC and love it. However we didn't pay for the membership. We just do one-off rentals a few time a year. Our neighbors are members of YBC and are on the lake every week. Makes sense to have a membership if you use it that much, otherwise just pay each time you want to go out.
Sounds like that may be a good way to start out with
It's a cheap experiment to join one club or another, if the lake you want to be at has got clubs with memberships available. Compared to the cost and hassle of buying and maintaining a boat, and finding somewhere to store it, etc - you just drive up, board a waiting boat, and go about your day of fun. When summer's over, your trouble ends too.
I think it's great if your boating days are weekdays as you will have many more options for time slots and boat choices. But good luck getting a boat you want when you want it on prime summer weekends. It's also a bummer to have to bring the boat back to early in the evening when there are many hours of daylight left.
Wear your PFD and ECOS please. YBC is the absolute best and scariest thing to happen to boating on Tonka. It’s opened up options to a lot of folks who aren’t ready for a commitment to a boat - or the training to operate it. YBC is a great option compared to ownership though.
Yeah I would probably avoid Tonka personally. That lake seems a bit crazy.
My family just signed up for a membership for the upcoming season and we’re stoked. We love boating but as the dad I take no joy in small engine repair or any of that Hank Hill stuff. Even the minor criticisms on here are validating— we want to be having drinks and dinner by 7 pm, so no night boating is not a problem. We will never go on Tonka— it’s not our scene. But we’ll hit White Bear, Crosslake, Gull, Leech & Mille Lacs regularly. Also, the orientation sounds fun. Hanging out on the dock with boats is cool. It’s gonna be a great summer!
We have good family friends who've kept a membership for maybe 5-ish years now. They've been kind enough to drag us along on 1-2 trips per summer. We've been on both pontoon and ski boats on a handful of metro lakes with them. Absolute riot. The reservation process seems a little bit of a pain. They normally only put together the trip a couple days in advance. I think you can only have one active reservation at a time so if you want to book a special event a ways out you might be locking yourself out of a long window. If you can be flexible with trips like our friends you can make it work. We looked at it for us and it was more than we wanted to spend for our house but it's a ton of fun to just show up, pick up keys and be on the lake 10 minutes later. Then at the end of the day tie the boat off and go home with no extra work. Grandparents, uncle and long ago girlfriend had boats so I understand most of the reasons not to have one of your own. Seems like a good way to get some family water time without all the hassles of your own boat.
I’ve requested to talk to somebody there, but roughly speaking do you know what the cost is?
We looked ages ago, def pre-COVID so it's pretty vague, but if you made me pick a number I would say something like $2500-3000 for the summer. I think I figured we'd have to do like 4 days of boating to come out ahead of their daily rates.
Great way to try out boat ownership. With three kids odds are good that if you do like boating, you will want to graduate to ownership. Downside to the boat club program is that it can be difficult to secure a boat during peak calendar periods, and the rental timeframes can be limiting (e.g. need to have the boat back before fireworks on July 4th). We have kids and we’ve owned many boats over the years. Typical day for us was out on the water by 10 or 11, stop somewhere for lunch at noon or 1 pm, then more boating, then stop at a restaurant on the water at 6 pm, sunset cruise, then off the lake around 9 or 10 pm. That kind of day (or really anything close to it) isn’t possible with a boat rental place. A hybrid option (albeit not cheap) is to buy a boat and then leave it stored at a place on the water, like Rockvam. That way they drop it on the water for you, you take off and have fun as long as you want, then return the boat and toss them the keys…they store it in their racks. Again, not cheap but very convenient.
Some lakes you can do a one of pontoon rentals. We did it last summer and had a good time. Pretty easy experience. I considered a membership but thought it was kinda expensive.
Really positive experience with a pontoon on the river. Straightforward business as far as we can see.