Has Anyone Joined The Freedom Boat Club in Australia?

eman resu on 14/03/2025 - 22:34

They always say owning a boat is the second best thing in life. The first is to have a friend who owns a boat. I noticed adds popping up for the Freedom Boat club on the Gold Coast. It sounds too good to be true, with a low monthly fee to have access to a number of boats.

However, all the research I have come up with is from the USA. I wonder if there are any Ozbs who have joined this club and if they can tell me what the membership up front fee is as you cant find any info on it without calling and making an appointment for the sales pitch.

Sports & Outdoors

Comments

  • Sye on 14/03/2025 - 23:14
    +11

    OzBargainer's just pay 50 Cents and catch a CityCat.

    • HamBoi69 on 15/03/2025 - 10:15

      ??(buchermunicipal.com)

      • qtr pounder on 15/03/2025 - 22:32

        Just Brisbane things….

  • Wiadro on 14/03/2025 - 23:18

    no

  • cashless on 14/03/2025 - 23:21
    +2

    “Freedom”. “Boat”
    Sounds like an oxymoron

    • Ocker on 15/03/2025 - 07:56
      +6

      Actually, "boat" is an acronym - Bring Out Another Thousand.

  • holdenmg on 14/03/2025 - 23:31
    +2

    resU emaN skcehc tuo

  • jv on 15/03/2025 - 00:15
    -1

    nope

  • djones145 on 15/03/2025 - 07:01

    dont worry give it a bit and i will be uberboats

  • pegaxs on 15/03/2025 - 08:01
    +7

    You misheard them… A boat is the second most expensive thing in life. Boats and caravans are quicker at turning money to ash than gambling. At least with gambling there is a chance you may get some money back.

  • JIMB0 on 15/03/2025 - 08:20
    +8

    Call for price means it expensive and they're going to give you a big sales pitch before giving you the price.

    • DashCam AKA Rolts on 15/03/2025 - 09:35
      +6

      Time share pitch, sea going version.

    • MrThing on 15/03/2025 - 13:22
      +2

      oh yer you get to use the boat unlimited times per year. but you have to share it with 100 other people. school holidays - tell em your dreaming.

      heaps of spare availability on a tuesday afternoon between 1 and 3 o clock.

  • 6079 Smith on 15/03/2025 - 08:26
    +7

    Freedom Boat - Anyone else picture a bunch of anti-vaxxers with an upside down Red Ensign on the mast ?

  • brendanm on 15/03/2025 - 08:33
    +3

    Doing a Google search (I know it can be hard), $226 a week plus approx $9k joining fee.

    • saltypete on 15/03/2025 - 08:54

      So THATS the price of freedom!

    • mskeggs on 15/03/2025 - 09:16
      +2

      $11k a year ongoing, ouch.

      • brendanm on 15/03/2025 - 09:20

        Their gold coast boats seem to be in the $150-200k range. Yearly berth at a marina is probably in the $6-8k range. Servicing maybe $1.5k a year as they are outboards. Lift and antifoul once a year maybe $2.5k? Plus fuel, rego, insurance etc. Including depreciation it's not a terrible deal really.

        • mskeggs on 15/03/2025 - 09:34
          +1

          But your costs are for the owner to have exclusive use. Presumably these are timeshare and most of your days to use it will be weekdays.
          If there are 15 other co-owners that is only 3 or 4 weekends a year.
          Would be a good deal for some retired mates who wanted to fish most weeks, but didn't care what day.

          • brendanm on 15/03/2025 - 09:40
            +1

            @mskeggs: Yes I understand, most people hardly use their boats anyway, so this can make sense.

  • prodrome on 15/03/2025 - 11:13
    +4

    Timeshare for boats sounds about as good as timeshare units.

    • MrThing on 15/03/2025 - 13:23
      +4

      impossible to use and impossible to sell.

      Great deal

    • brendanm on 15/03/2025 - 17:52

      I believe you don't "own" a slot in freedom boat club. There are other boat syndicates where you do buy a share, but that's generally only for stuff $500k+, and they sell easily.

      • prodrome on 15/03/2025 - 18:02

        I own a boat I can afford.

        • brendanm on 15/03/2025 - 18:59

          What exactly does that have to do with what I posted? Lots of people who are in this sort of thing can afford to buy the same boat outright.

  • Euphemistic on 15/03/2025 - 18:51
    +4

    All these businesses rely on peolle signing up then not using what they paid for. Youd be better to hire a boat on the odd occasion you want to rather than joining a club that will have a bunch of rules and conditions that mean you cant really use it the way you want.

    Think aboht how boats work. You want to use them the same time everyone else does. Weekends, sunny days. Booking well in advance is no guarantee of good weather. Imagine your booking slot was the week that Alfie came to town. Yourw unlikely to get money back.

    • eman resu on 16/03/2025 - 18:30

      That is what I am doing now. However at $800 per day plus fuel and I have to pay a $2000 bond in advance. Also, face the same issue, trying to book on sunny days it is booked out, and if you book in advance, same issue, you loose the deposit.

      The issue, is that rentals on the Gold Coast are either older boats, or those that cater to higher end of the market. I just want a boat I can take out on my day off on Weds or Sunday.

  • try2bhelpful on 16/03/2025 - 08:47
    +2

    There is a saying that Yachting is standing under a freezing cold shower tearing up hundred dollar bills. Best of luck but I think freedom is going to be expensivedom.

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