Frequently Asked Questions

Our members join for a season, make online reservations to use the boats and their only additional cost is the fuel they use. The club owns the boats and pays for all the insurance, maintenance, dockage, storage, and repairs. We provide all required safety equipment along with water skis, and tow ropes for each boat. We also supply other water toys like tubes, wake boards, even kayaks if you’d prefer to just paddle for an afternoon. We limit the number of members per boat to insure you have ample access to boats during the boating season.

Roughly May 15 to October 15 but we will keep boats in the water as long as the weather is nice and marinas are open and selling gas.

Just like a hotel reservation, you can reserve any available boat for a date and time in the future. The more reservations you have the more future boating dates you can have reserved at any given time. With a 4 reservation membership you can have up to 4 boats booked for future use. These are rolling reservations.

There is no limit to the number of times you can use a boat. Our program is designed to let a 6 reservation member get out for a half-day (6-8 hours) every weekend or a full day (12-16 hours) every other weekend. A boat is usually available during the workweek. Most 4 reservation members get out 20-30 times per season. Members at the 2 reservation level should expect to get out 12-18 times per season. This is more than the average boat owner uses during a season.

Only two operators per household are allowed to drive the boats. Insurance does not cover anyone other than the two designated (primary and secondary members) and both operators must be over the age of 21 for insurance purposes. Of course, anyone can join you on the boats up to the designated capacity.

You can be out until just after sunset. There is no need to be back in before sunset. However, you are not allowed to drive a boat in the dark. Taking the boat out overnight requires prior approval from our Crews Director and a minimum of two reservations.

No. We have fuel meters on each boat to record the fuel used to five tenths of a gallon. We invoice you only for the fuel you used while you were out. If you’re out and the boat needs to be re-fueled, take it to the gas dock where they will put fuel in and charge Champlain Fleet Clubs account. Simple!

We accept members with no boating experience. All new members attend our orientation which includes up to 2 hours of on-the-water practice operating a boat. We take as much time as you need to get you comfortable with the boats. Every boat has Lake Champlain depth charts. The Coast Guard requires a valid boaters safety certificate ($44.95) to operate a boat on any Vermont lake if you were born after 1973.

A fraction of what it costs to own one of these great boats. See our Cost Comparison page for more information. See our home page to see the different membership options and cost.

The club pays boaters’ insurance just like if you were to purchase your own boat. But you will be responsible for the $2500 deductible should you cause damage to a boat while you are using it.

No, each membership entitles you to only have one boat reserved at a time.

We have pet friendly boats designated but not all boats are pet friendly. Typically we have at least one pet friendly boat at each location. They are the pontoon and center console boats. We will charge a clean up fee if boats are returned with excessive dog hair in the boat.