Southern California is a desired destination because of everything we have at our fingertips. Within a matter of hours, we can be boating in Big Bear, the Pacific Ocean, or Pyramid Lake, and these boating adventures have become more accessible for those who are not boat owners.
The GetMyBoat app allows users to rent someone else’s boat by the hour while helping boat owners make a profit.
GetMyBoat began when serial entrepreneurs and co-founders Sascha Mornell and Rafael Collado were out on the water and noticed all the boats sitting unused in dock slips at marinas. They asked themselves, “How can more people access great boating experiences for less?” A few years later, and with the emergence of the sharing economy, Sascha and Rafael brought GetMyBoat to life, officially launching in 2013.
Founded originally as a boat rental marketplace, GetMyBoat has grown to offer every type of on-the-water experience – from whale-watching tours and eco-kayaking trips to houseboat rentals and private sailing lessons. Its goal is to help people of every age, background, and budget experience everything the water offers in a fun, safe way.
Applications such as GetMyBoat combat the boat charter industry, a specific market inaccessible to most of the public due to the general cost of the boating industry. In many cases before, the only access to boats was via a travel agent, two levels removed from the boat owner. In addition, the boating industry is less likely to bring in a new generation of boaters. The difficulties of going boating are unfortunate because boating is one of the best ways to have memorable experiences, and it should be easier to find, book, and enjoy.
The GetMyBoat app strives to create a platform that connects people with the water or to generate charter boat businesses that need customers.
GetMyBoat is similar to other rental apps such as Airbnb, where the listings on the platform are boats that individual private owners, charter companies, and boat rental operators own. GetMyBoat does not have a fleet of boats in various locations.
“We are the platform that brings together renters and boat owners,” said Val Strief, Marketing Manager for GetMyBoat. “The majority of bookings on GetMyBoat are captained charters, and these are often through local charter companies that use GetMyBoat as a tool to book more customers in addition to their own marketing efforts. There’s no rule against having an independent business and using GetMyBoat. We have over 150,000 listings across 9,300 destinations worldwide.”
How the User Benefits:
There are lots of obstacles when it comes to owning a boat. You not only need money, but you need time. GetMyBoat is making boating more affordable by allowing boating enthusiasts to pay for a boat only when they use it. There are no club, slip, maintenance, or expensive membership or startup fees like many marinas and boat clubs charge. GetMyBoat helps users to rent what they want when they want it and only pay a one-time booking fee.
According to Strief, some of the top occasions GetMyBoat sees booked on the platform include birthday parties, proposals, bachelor and bachelorette parties, weddings, family reunions, city tours, retirement parties, corporate events, and fun family days with kids who want to enjoy water sports like tubing and wakeboarding.
GetMyBoat is also a tool for people who want to buy a boat but are curious about trying different styles, makes, and models.
Other opportunities to utilize GetMyBoat can be to host a company boat party or charter a yacht to shoot music videos and T.V. scenes. Users have even booked a yacht for model photoshoots.
How the Boat Owner Benefits:
Boat owners can benefit from GetMyBoat by turning their boats into income-producing assets. According to quicknav.com, on average, boat owners only use their boats for 54 days of the year, leaving the boat untouched the other 311 days of the year. To add to this, boats are an expensive asset to purchase and maintain. They depreciate and have high monthly costs. GetMyBoat changes this by enabling boat owners to rent out their watercraft when they aren’t using it, turning it into a profitable side hustle instead of a money drain. This is also helpful because it keeps the boat in tune during the off-season or when the boat would otherwise be sitting for a long period of time, rather than sitting and having equipment expire or break due to not being used.
GetMyBoat is easy to start — owners create an account, set their availability, prices, requirements, photos, and videos, and promote the experience. Once a guest books the boat, the owner can work with the guest and approve or create a custom quote for each guest, all while facilitating the payment for the booking. There is also a 24/7 customer service team to help sort out any issues and a sales team to help with onboarding.
In addition to one-day rentals, multi-day charters and sleep-aboard boat trips are available on the platform. You can also rent a boat you don’t sleep in for multiple days or over a week. Houseboats, large yachts with bedrooms, and other boats equipped with galleys and bedroom cabins are available on GetMyBoat to charter on various lakes, rivers, and the ocean.
Renters can also travel with the vessel. These reservations are typically charter vacations where renters have a captain and crew onboard to cruise to a new location. It’s common in the Caribbean and Mediterranean, where island hopping is a popular choice for people on vacation. However, the most common type of rental on GetMyBoat is a half-day or full-day rental. Still, people have rented for multi-day trips and longer excursions to multiple destinations, too, according to Strief.
Lastly, GetMyBoat allows people to book fishing charters like any other boating experience. It has thousands of licensed fishing charter operators with their experiences available to book on GetMyBoat in great fishing locations worldwide. Users can filter by “Fishing charters” for a set destination and see all available options. When you see a fishing charter in your price range, you can read the description to get more information on what is included and what to expect.
For more information about GetMyBoat, visit https://www.getmyboat.com/.
