A Year Of No Shows? No Fund Raising? No Worries. Woody Boater Labs Is On The Job!

shhh, I am think’n.

As we march into Summer, it’s clear that boat shows are not for this year. Most have canceled, and I will stick my neck out here and say, ALL WILL BE CANCELED for 2020. Period. No wait and see crap.  Of course that does not mean that you should try something new. Fund Raising is a huge part of a clubs life blood. And Virtual Boat Shows don’t bring in the green stuff. So here is an idea.

Thrill Rides!

RIDES! yup. Hey, this is how it all started. And you could make it a cool adventure. The club could build a booth. And charge for a ride. Possibly have several club members on the weekends at the same place every weekend. Find a common location, and set it up online and promote it on social media in your area. It allows social distancing, you can make sure the folks wear masks and control them in the rear seat. And disinfect after each ride.

Oh god

Lets do the math, oh god, you think I am bad at spelling. Here goes. 

3 months, = 12 weekends = 24 Days to use as ride days of summer. 

$25 Per ride extra people 15 bucks = $40 for two. A ride is an hour x 4 rides a day each boat lets say times 2 =8 Rides a day.

NO FREE RIDES!

Okay 8 rides a day x 24= 192 rides. 192 rides x 40 bucks is = $7,680 Minus fuel. And Cleaner etc and I bet you could clear $5,000 for the club. And no venue stuff, no bad chicken dinner, no politics.. And this is just the start, you could offer sunset cruise for more. Breakfast cruise. Picnic.. Date night.. You can run out of gas if it helps on that one. So that is all bonus money. And the club has all summer awareness and gives members a way to help with their boats. 

And thats two boats. You could have 8 boats working all day. 10 boats. 

I think there were 8 Miss Catalina Boats

Its a tradition, and makes perfect sense..now dollars.. Thats a joke you have to hear.. Cents=sense.. Get it..

A tip! Offer a T shirt for sale. And get a credit cart thing for the booth. I found selling shirts and other stuff, taking a Credit card doubles the sales. You can get the Square set up and you are good to go.

16 replies
    • Rick
      Rick says:

      Advertise as a real thrill ride. “Will we break down during your ride?” “Come play woody Russian Roulette. We know not everyone will make it back on time!” Hello Boat US, I’d like to upgrade my membership.

    • Gary Van Tassel
      Gary Van Tassel says:

      You beat me to it. 6 pack master’s license at minimum. BTW Classic boats and engines for the most part do not meet USCG regs. And then there is insurance. So at the end of the day the $5k probably goes negative. Don’t even think about not charging and just accepting donations. USCG interprets this as one in the same, passenger for hire. There a some unlucky folks doing jail time. So tread lightly.

  1. Tim Robinson
    Tim Robinson says:

    Don’t get me wrong I think it is a good idea. When you take money for a boat ride you open a can of worms with your insurance Co. Coast Guard, Lake Patrol etc. sorry to Peeeeeeee all over your idea.

  2. m-fine
    m-fine says:

    If we are going to do something that may cross some legal grey areas, how about using classic boats to smuggle drugs in from Canada? Sorta like the prohibition rum runners, except the clubs could buy cheap prescription drugs at Canadian prices and then sell them in the US with a modest markup. You could raise a lot of money from the ACBS demographic while also saving members money. I call it a win win!

    • Rick
      Rick says:

      I’d volunteer Panther for the job but she’s so slow 2 elderly women in a canoe could catch her.

  3. Dick Dow
    Dick Dow says:

    Beside all the legal stuff – how many of our boats running at what would be considered an entertaining speed burn less than 7 gallons per hour? Marine gas here in the PNW is stilll over $3 per gallon… Great thought though and if it was legal and insurable we could have a great time with it! 🙂

  4. Tommy
    Tommy says:

    We could say it was a club “Donation” and it would be legal. Our marina is charging $5+ a gallon on the lake. Sucks A$$
    I like the way you guys think.

    • Gary Van Tassel
      Gary Van Tassel says:

      Sorry tommy, no it wouldn’t. Been tried many times and the USCG and DOJ have blown thru that approach.

  5. Marcel
    Marcel says:

    Bought a (new) 1940 CC, are they EPA emissions exempt and where would I find that paperwork for the border?

Comments are closed.