Renters and Boats
 

We are thinking of renting a house on Winni for a week and would like to rent a boat as well. Where can you rent boats, and what paperwork, if any, do you need?
Thanks!

Here is a list of renters on Winni. However the boat could cost you more than the house. If you plan to do this on a regular basis, or even once a year, it may be cheaper to buy a used boat than to rent.

http://www.weirsonline.com/boat_rentals.htm

You can also check the boat links on this site:
http://www.winnipesaukee.com/links/Boating/

Anchor has power boats for $1200 a week and up. You may also need to take a boater education exam. Depending when you where born, etc. See here:

http://www.boat-ed.com/nh/course/p4-3_whomayoperate.htm

Finally get a chart from this website it's less than $20. Winnipesaukee is huge, rocky and easy to get confused on.

Try Anchor Marine.

The other thing you need to consider is that they make you sign a contract stating you are responsible for any damage and, at least last time I did it, there is no insurance. Repairs for things like prop strikes or lower unit damage can get quite expensive.

Buy a Bizer chart.

ITD has a really good point, I'd call my homeowners and/or auto insurance and see if I'm covered and if not, I'd get a temporary rider. I might risk self-insuring the boat but I'd sure want liability coverage.

All good advise above --

From numerous close friends -- STAY AWAY FROM THURSTON"s rentals !!

That's all I'll say on the forum boards .... detailed reasons - private msg me

A guy I work with ended up paying for a prop one year then the following year an entire outdrive the following so I would definately check to see what the insurance coverage available is.

My other word of wisdom is make sure you rent a big enough boat for your family and what you want to do. These little 17-18 footers with a 3.0 liter IO probably aren't going to keep a family of 6 happy if your doing anything besided putting around. trexlers, anchor and glendale all have 20-21 footers with bigger engines that will make it more comfortable and easier to ski and tube behind and it's only a couple hundred more for the week.

Going to the lake certainly isn't a cheap vacation but the 4,000-5,000 it costs with the boat rental is still a better value to me than going to somewhere like Disney.

If your interested in staying at the weirs for all the attractions there send me a PM. one of the houses on my street is a rental with a nice little yard, use of our beach and less then a minute walk to the boardwalk, peir and boat rentals.

Thanks for all the info! Looks like hubby and I don't need the boater cert until next year; sometimes age has an advantage! We are interested in checking out the lake to see how we like it. After years of vacationing on Cape Cod, we figure there's more to do than sit on a beach and I think the water is just too darn cold there, anyways! We'll definitely check out the insurance; I never thought about that. Also we'll get the Bitzer and stay clear of Thurston's. I've learned a lot on your forum, and you all are so helpful! :)
Thanks again!

Renting and Skiing
 

If you intend to use your rental boat for skiing (or tubing) you may be disappointed. Last time a tried to rent (5 yrs ago?) most of the rental places made you sign an agreement that included a clause prohibiting the towing of anything.

Tubing from Rented Boats
 

Anchor Marine used to allow tubing and they rented the tubes as well. This is based upon my experience of three years ago.

R2B

We had a friend rent a pontoon "party barge" from Anchor last August -- boat was in sad shape (too many rentals) but skiing & Tubing was fine!

Fay's is another one to investigate for "long term" rental -- I remember a couple a few years back that used them. No comment of good or bad ...... I do know that they hoisted (yikes) the boat out at the end of the rental to inspect it!!

I rented a boat last year. It gets expensive. If you rent, (or for that matter, buy) get a chart and learn the markers. If you are cautions, willing to really get to know the area where you will be boating, wow, what a great time you can have... This year, I will bring my own boat.

Have fun!

;)

You might consider buying a used pontoon boat and putting it back up for sale with the dealer after you leave.I'll bet the down payment,registration and insurance would be cheaper than a rental.
It works for us with automobiles.We buy 3 or 4 cheapies every summer for our European student/workers and re-sell them in the fall.They have use of the vehicle for just the price of insurance and registration.
Just a thought.