Boat sharing
Boatsharing is just like car-sharing, but for boats. Boatsharing is the act of sharing a boat with other guests who also want to go on a boat in the same place and time — together splitting the cost of the boat, and potentially the captain or skipper costs. Boatsharing platforms such like Boatide exist to facilitate this in making boat rentals easier.
Boat Sharing may also describe the ownership of boats, mainly sailing boats, by a non-profit organisation for its members, for pleasure use.
A boat sharing organisation may be an association, club, cooperative or company. The boats may be owned by the organisation, or leased to it, with members hiring or booking the boats for use for a variety of cruise durations.
The costs of setting up, financing and administering a boat sharing scheme may be offset by the eventual higher utilisation of the boats and moorings, producing cheaper rates of sailing for its members compared to private boat ownership.
Members joining a boat sharing scheme may also save themselves the need to wait for a mooring, which in many marinas can be significant due to the demand exceeding supply. Advocates of boat sharing contend that it offers a fairer way of utilising over-subscribed but sometimes under-used moorings.
Larger sharing schemes may also offer the opportunity to members of sailing from different ports and shores, and with different classes of boat. The limiting factor for the growth of a boat sharing organisation is still, as for the private owner, the availability of moorings.
Some existing boatsharing associations
France, Spain, and Canary Islands: Boatide