The Boat Sharing Economy Is Exploding, Here's Why You Shouldn't Buy a Boat

1
00:00:00,050 --> 00:00:01,609
Have you ever thought about buying a boat?

2
00:00:02,160 --> 00:00:07,250
I'm gonna share a story today about why
I've always been interested in boats and

3
00:00:07,250 --> 00:00:08,810
why I'm interested in purchasing a boat.

4
00:00:08,839 --> 00:00:12,039
But now, after learning about what
we're gonna be talking about in today's

5
00:00:12,040 --> 00:00:17,083
episode of the boat-sharing economy, I
have maybe changed my mind about boat

6
00:00:17,143 --> 00:00:21,043
ownership, but I'd still be able to
get out on the boat whenever I need it.

7
00:00:21,156 --> 00:00:23,533
So we're gonna talk about that
on today's episode of the How

8
00:00:23,533 --> 00:00:24,903
to Protect the Ocean podcast.

9
00:00:25,263 --> 00:00:28,163
This is a podcast where you find out
everything about ocean news from what's

10
00:00:28,163 --> 00:00:31,843
happening in science, the latest trends,
some of the advocacy things that are

11
00:00:31,843 --> 00:00:36,383
going on, and some of the business end
trends that we're seeing in being able to

12
00:00:36,393 --> 00:00:40,863
have a sustainable business that is good
for the environment, good for people,

13
00:00:40,883 --> 00:00:42,833
and good for the economy all in one.

14
00:00:42,873 --> 00:00:45,626
About like a triple bottom line,
and make some money of course.

15
00:00:45,723 --> 00:00:49,206
And so that'll always be good, and this
is where we talk about Monday to Friday.

16
00:00:49,293 --> 00:00:52,489
So if you like this type of information,
feel free to hit that follow button,

17
00:00:52,489 --> 00:00:54,209
because this is where you're gonna get it.

18
00:00:54,209 --> 00:00:57,299
And we have an interview, and we're
talking about businesses and how people

19
00:00:57,299 --> 00:01:01,953
are making wages and sustainable decisions
about businesses and having businesses

20
00:01:01,953 --> 00:01:05,153
that allow people to be better for
the environment all week this week.

21
00:01:05,153 --> 00:01:08,583
And on Friday we have an interview
with Alexandre Mongeon, who owns a

22
00:01:08,593 --> 00:01:12,943
boat-selling business, and he sells
boats, and we're gonna hear about electric

23
00:01:12,943 --> 00:01:14,803
motors and why those are so great.

24
00:01:14,853 --> 00:01:17,243
We're gonna hear about it today too,
'cause in the boat-sharing economy,

25
00:01:17,243 --> 00:01:19,356
electric motors are actually really handy.

26
00:01:19,449 --> 00:01:20,499
So we're gonna talk about that today.

27
00:01:20,499 --> 00:01:21,729
Now first, a little story.

28
00:01:22,029 --> 00:01:25,859
Okay, so when I was a kid, I was always
interested in being a marine biologist.

29
00:01:25,859 --> 00:01:27,949
I would talk to my dad, I
would talk to my mom about it.

30
00:01:28,086 --> 00:01:31,549
My dad was on a fishing boat
briefly when he was a kid, right

31
00:01:31,549 --> 00:01:33,039
out of high school in Quebec City.

32
00:01:33,226 --> 00:01:36,696
And I remember him talking these stories
and talking and talking about being on

33
00:01:36,696 --> 00:01:40,136
this boat and being fishing, and he says
he'd always loved to get a big sailboat.

34
00:01:40,136 --> 00:01:43,116
And of course, you know, when I was a
kid I'm like, "Dad, one day I'm going

35
00:01:43,116 --> 00:01:46,996
to buy you a boat. Like, that is my
dream. I'm gonna get you that boat."

36
00:01:46,996 --> 00:01:48,576
And so it was almost
like an on-running joke.

37
00:01:48,586 --> 00:01:50,846
I don't think my dad ever
expected me to buy a boat.

38
00:01:51,026 --> 00:01:52,416
I think he would've
been happy with a boat.

39
00:01:52,456 --> 00:01:54,936
I never did buy him a boat
before he passed away, but

40
00:01:54,936 --> 00:01:55,976
we always talked about it.

41
00:01:55,976 --> 00:01:58,336
And of course, we would get lavish
with a yacht, and he's like, "Well,

42
00:01:58,336 --> 00:01:59,176
I don't wanna drive the boat.

43
00:01:59,176 --> 00:02:02,266
I want a captain and I want a crew,
and take your mom everywhere, and

44
00:02:02,266 --> 00:02:04,916
take you and your brother everywhere
around the world," and all this kind

45
00:02:04,916 --> 00:02:07,106
of stuff like we were millionaires.

46
00:02:07,106 --> 00:02:08,816
And we weren't but we, you
know, we did all right.

47
00:02:08,816 --> 00:02:11,146
But not enough to get,
like, a big yacht like that.

48
00:02:11,146 --> 00:02:12,736
But that's something that I valued.

49
00:02:12,736 --> 00:02:16,146
I wanted to get that for him, and
deep down I still wanna get one.

50
00:02:16,186 --> 00:02:20,436
Like, over the last couple months I've
been really looking at buying a boat

51
00:02:20,436 --> 00:02:24,693
because of those stories and because it
reminds me of my dad now that he's gone.

52
00:02:24,903 --> 00:02:27,213
But also, I've always
wanted to have a boat.

53
00:02:27,363 --> 00:02:30,283
But I don't always need a boat, 'cause
the thing is, it's a big investment.

54
00:02:30,543 --> 00:02:33,113
You know, you're looking at tens
of thousands of dollars, if not

55
00:02:33,123 --> 00:02:36,039
hundreds of thousands of dollars,
almost like another mortgage.

56
00:02:36,219 --> 00:02:39,713
It's costly to maintain and it's a
tough thing to have for a lot of people.

57
00:02:39,723 --> 00:02:44,553
So I'm always at that point where I'm
like, "I want to be able to have a

58
00:02:44,553 --> 00:02:49,253
boat whenever I go to a cottage or if I
wanna go out on the day to do something,

59
00:02:49,253 --> 00:02:50,723
and that would be kinda cool to do.

60
00:02:50,953 --> 00:02:54,059
And to be honest, I never really
thought you could rent boats, or I

61
00:02:54,059 --> 00:02:56,789
did know you could rent boats, but I
thought it'd be extremely expensive.

62
00:02:56,789 --> 00:02:58,409
I didn't think there'd be
a lot of people who did it.

63
00:02:58,583 --> 00:03:01,313
Apparently, the boat-sharing
economy is growing.

64
00:03:01,633 --> 00:03:06,666
So apparently, as of, the last study
in 2026, valued the boat-renting

65
00:03:06,666 --> 00:03:12,826
market between 19 and $23 billion
US, depending on the research firm

66
00:03:12,826 --> 00:03:17,196
that you're looking at, but it's
growing roughly 5 to 7% annually.

67
00:03:17,526 --> 00:03:21,196
And full electric boats are the
fastest-growing power source segment

68
00:03:21,196 --> 00:03:26,766
in boat rentals, projected at
about 17.62% compound annual growth

69
00:03:26,766 --> 00:03:31,683
rate through 2031, compared to
gas-powered boats rentals, which will

70
00:03:31,683 --> 00:03:33,243
still dominate the current market.

71
00:03:33,393 --> 00:03:34,753
So that's a pretty big deal.

72
00:03:34,763 --> 00:03:35,546
It's increasing.

73
00:03:35,546 --> 00:03:39,836
I'll be honest, I didn't hear much about
the electric boating industry until this

74
00:03:39,836 --> 00:03:44,116
week, and I've done one other interview
with an electric boating company.

75
00:03:44,116 --> 00:03:47,476
But they were like a smaller type
company that were designing their own

76
00:03:47,476 --> 00:03:51,356
engines, just like Alexander's gonna
talk about today, but he's got a bigger

77
00:03:51,356 --> 00:03:54,706
platform to work off, and we're gonna
hear more about that this Friday.

78
00:03:54,919 --> 00:03:58,709
But you have these peer-to-peer
platforms now called GetMyBoat or

79
00:03:58,849 --> 00:04:01,363
Boatsetter or Click&Boat and Sandboat.

80
00:04:01,593 --> 00:04:04,703
They're expanding access-based
boating instead of ownership.

81
00:04:04,703 --> 00:04:07,753
So if I didn't want to own a boat and
pay for all the maintenance, and I

82
00:04:07,753 --> 00:04:08,823
don't really know what I'm doing.

83
00:04:08,939 --> 00:04:11,069
Every time I hear about buying
boats, people are like, "Well,

84
00:04:11,069 --> 00:04:14,759
if you buy a boat, you're always
fixing the boat, so be prepared

85
00:04:14,759 --> 00:04:16,349
to have a budget to fix the boat."

86
00:04:16,556 --> 00:04:20,566
So it's nice to have something that where
it's like if I wanna go out on the water

87
00:04:20,566 --> 00:04:23,503
and I wanna be on the water, I wanna be
in nature, I like hiking and everything,

88
00:04:23,503 --> 00:04:24,713
but I'd rather be on the water.

89
00:04:25,023 --> 00:04:26,343
I can actually rent a boat and go out.

90
00:04:26,343 --> 00:04:28,783
I don't have to invest the
money to go out and do that.

91
00:04:28,793 --> 00:04:31,173
It's almost like cottaging
in Ontario right now.

92
00:04:31,386 --> 00:04:35,046
If you want to go to a cottage, you
can rent a cottage, and you can spend

93
00:04:35,046 --> 00:04:38,526
a good amount that week, but you can
rent a cottage, and it'll feel good.

94
00:04:38,526 --> 00:04:41,616
Like, you'll have the amount of
money that you need to have or you'll

95
00:04:41,616 --> 00:04:43,826
have what you need, and you can have
fun, and you can return that boat.

96
00:04:43,953 --> 00:04:45,833
Maybe you'll be able to
get that boat another time.

97
00:04:45,976 --> 00:04:47,146
In a cottage, you can do the same thing.

98
00:04:47,146 --> 00:04:50,013
You can rent the cottage, you can go stay
at the cottage, and then you're done.

99
00:04:50,013 --> 00:04:51,033
You don't have to worry about maintenance.

100
00:04:51,033 --> 00:04:51,983
You don't have to worry about upkeep.

101
00:04:52,043 --> 00:04:52,673
You just enjoy.

102
00:04:52,683 --> 00:04:55,053
You pay a little bit more, but
if you're only using it for the

103
00:04:55,053 --> 00:04:58,693
week, maybe two weeks, it's more
like a vacation than anything else.

104
00:04:58,693 --> 00:05:01,133
You're not gonna go out and buy
a hotel room at a resort, or

105
00:05:01,203 --> 00:05:02,563
some people do, at a timeshare.

106
00:05:02,563 --> 00:05:05,923
But it's nice to be able to go
and just not have to worry about

107
00:05:06,073 --> 00:05:06,953
the cottage that you're at.

108
00:05:06,953 --> 00:05:08,143
It's the same thing with boats.

109
00:05:08,143 --> 00:05:11,826
It's nice to be able to rent
a boat, go out and enjoy that

110
00:05:11,826 --> 00:05:12,986
time, and then come back.

111
00:05:13,006 --> 00:05:14,466
When you're done, you just give it back.

112
00:05:14,589 --> 00:05:16,989
And as long as you keep it in
good shape while you're using

113
00:05:16,989 --> 00:05:18,036
it, then it's pretty good.

114
00:05:18,196 --> 00:05:21,676
And so membership and boat club
models are growing faster than

115
00:05:21,676 --> 00:05:24,779
traditional ownership and this is
according to industry trend reports.

116
00:05:24,789 --> 00:05:25,739
So that's pretty cool.

117
00:05:25,933 --> 00:05:29,183
Because like, let's be honest, like I
said, boat ownership has, like, they carry

118
00:05:29,183 --> 00:05:33,003
a high upfront cost, and the maintenance
burdens, like, I don't wanna have to

119
00:05:33,003 --> 00:05:35,243
deal with or most people try to avoid.

120
00:05:35,436 --> 00:05:38,866
And then digital booking platforms
have made peer-to-peer and short-term

121
00:05:38,866 --> 00:05:43,076
rental far more convenient than having
to look it up on a website, send

122
00:05:43,076 --> 00:05:45,696
an email, wait for that to come
back, and all that kind of stuff.

123
00:05:45,716 --> 00:05:49,893
And then you got, from the boat rental
position, you have electric propulsion

124
00:05:49,893 --> 00:05:53,953
that has a lower maintenance requirements
'cause like, my electric vehicle, I have

125
00:05:53,953 --> 00:05:57,303
a Tesla, my electric vehicle, when I
bring it in, I bring it in once a year.

126
00:05:57,626 --> 00:06:01,843
And the maintenance is a lot lower
than it would with my gas-powered car.

127
00:06:02,023 --> 00:06:06,089
So an electric propulsion boat would
be the same as a gas-powered boat.

128
00:06:06,089 --> 00:06:07,829
It'd be less maintenance every year.

129
00:06:07,989 --> 00:06:10,979
And so when you have lower maintenance
requirements than combustion

130
00:06:10,979 --> 00:06:14,313
engines, that makes electric boats
a lot more attractive for rental

131
00:06:14,313 --> 00:06:15,813
fleet operators specifically.

132
00:06:15,813 --> 00:06:19,993
And then since like fewer moving parts
means like less of that downtime, right?

133
00:06:19,993 --> 00:06:21,583
So you're not fixing
that boat all the time.

134
00:06:21,723 --> 00:06:24,826
' Cause let's be honest, like the one thing,
if I were an owner and I was renting

135
00:06:24,826 --> 00:06:29,436
out boats, I would be worried about what
people are doing to that boat, and all the

136
00:06:29,446 --> 00:06:35,016
little things in the motor that could go
wrong that will allow for more upkeep on

137
00:06:35,016 --> 00:06:36,586
the boat and more maintenance on the boat.

138
00:06:36,586 --> 00:06:38,206
You'd be paying a lot
more maintenance fees.

139
00:06:38,366 --> 00:06:42,046
Whereas an electric boat, there are less
parts, and it might be more expensive

140
00:06:42,046 --> 00:06:45,036
to fix if it needs fixing, but you'd
probably have to do it less times.

141
00:06:45,036 --> 00:06:46,726
And so that's always a great thing.

142
00:06:46,956 --> 00:06:49,413
Now, of course, the interesting
thing too about rentals, like with the

143
00:06:49,413 --> 00:06:52,533
shared use models, means fewer total
boats and engines that are needed

144
00:06:52,533 --> 00:06:54,483
to serve same number of boaters.

145
00:06:54,493 --> 00:06:57,673
Not everybody could afford a boat, just
like not everybody could afford a cottage.

146
00:06:57,723 --> 00:07:02,103
And reducing manufacturing demand
and fuel use per person on the water

147
00:07:02,123 --> 00:07:05,923
would be a great advantage as more
and more people are renting out

148
00:07:05,923 --> 00:07:07,423
cottages and they're going to cottages.

149
00:07:07,533 --> 00:07:09,116
They wanna be on the water.

150
00:07:09,266 --> 00:07:11,639
Like I see in my neighborhood,
I don't know what it is, but a

151
00:07:11,639 --> 00:07:12,819
lot of boats are being bought.

152
00:07:12,819 --> 00:07:15,599
I think what happened is during
COVID, a lot of people bought boats,

153
00:07:15,639 --> 00:07:18,399
and then now are selling them for
cheaper because they don't need boats.

154
00:07:18,503 --> 00:07:20,596
So I think that's kind of
interesting in that respect.

155
00:07:20,826 --> 00:07:23,126
So I think electric motors
are making a big push.

156
00:07:23,323 --> 00:07:27,413
And then, the first-time renters
make up to close to 38% of the total

157
00:07:27,423 --> 00:07:29,073
customers in some of these markets.

158
00:07:29,256 --> 00:07:33,106
That suggests that like the access
model is pulling new boaters rather

159
00:07:33,106 --> 00:07:34,646
than converting existing boaters.

160
00:07:34,646 --> 00:07:37,783
So people who are boaters, they may
like the boat ownership 'cause they're

161
00:07:37,783 --> 00:07:39,323
used to it, they're used to that model.

162
00:07:39,466 --> 00:07:42,906
But for people like me who've never
owned a boat, and I may not have the

163
00:07:42,906 --> 00:07:46,916
ability to buy a boat and then afford
the maintenance, and I just only

164
00:07:46,916 --> 00:07:49,916
use it like once or twice a year, it
doesn't make sense for that for me.

165
00:07:50,056 --> 00:07:54,223
So this is a way to really go out and
get that information there, and I

166
00:07:54,233 --> 00:07:55,743
think that's really, really important.

167
00:07:56,059 --> 00:07:59,429
The politics around all of it
is that marina infrastructure

168
00:07:59,429 --> 00:08:00,789
investment's gonna have to increase.

169
00:08:00,789 --> 00:08:03,989
It's gonna have to include more
shore charging stations, which is

170
00:08:03,999 --> 00:08:07,729
being driven by both private rental
operators and in parts of Europe and

171
00:08:07,729 --> 00:08:11,289
North America, municipal waterfront
upgrade programs, which is kinda nice.

172
00:08:11,463 --> 00:08:14,403
And there's no major federal
regulatory push specifically for

173
00:08:14,403 --> 00:08:18,116
electric rental fleets yet, but
the growth so far is market driven.

174
00:08:18,229 --> 00:08:20,219
At marinas, you're probably
gonna start to see a charging

175
00:08:20,219 --> 00:08:22,249
station as well as gas stations.

176
00:08:22,259 --> 00:08:24,799
So I think that's gonna be real
interesting of who plays that role,

177
00:08:24,866 --> 00:08:28,136
who's gonna be involved, and what goes
into it when people are gonna be using

178
00:08:28,136 --> 00:08:29,996
it for marinas and stuff like that.

179
00:08:30,196 --> 00:08:33,509
And of course, with rentals like cottage
rentals, are they gonna have an electric

180
00:08:33,549 --> 00:08:37,339
charging station on their docks if they're
starting to have that so people can

181
00:08:37,339 --> 00:08:38,809
actually just charge right on the dock?

182
00:08:38,819 --> 00:08:39,579
That's a big thing.

183
00:08:39,579 --> 00:08:42,726
Or bring their electric charger
from the house to the boat.

184
00:08:42,846 --> 00:08:43,946
That'll be interesting as well.

185
00:08:44,029 --> 00:08:48,259
If you enjoy boats and you don't wanna buy
a boat, you can consider renting it or

186
00:08:48,259 --> 00:08:50,123
joining a boat club instead of buying it,

187
00:08:50,209 --> 00:08:52,619
especially if you're just
gonna use it a little bit.

188
00:08:52,776 --> 00:08:56,433
And then when renting, you ask operators
whether electric options are available

189
00:08:56,433 --> 00:08:57,763
so you're not using as much gas.

190
00:08:57,879 --> 00:09:00,203
Let's be honest, if you use electric,
as long as there's a charging

191
00:09:00,203 --> 00:09:03,619
station involved or somewhere you can
charge, then you are looking at a

192
00:09:03,619 --> 00:09:07,074
much cheaper time because you're not
gonna have to worry about gas, you're

193
00:09:07,074 --> 00:09:08,307
not gonna worry about moving gas.

194
00:09:08,481 --> 00:09:12,231
And let's be honest, electric motor
compared to a gas-powered propulsion

195
00:09:12,231 --> 00:09:15,377
motor, you're gonna be able to drive
the boat and still talk to your family.

196
00:09:15,497 --> 00:09:19,291
You're not gonna have to worry about the
noise pollution, the smell, any worry

197
00:09:19,291 --> 00:09:21,381
about spillage or anything like that.

198
00:09:21,524 --> 00:09:24,584
And of course, you can support
marinas that invest in shore power and

199
00:09:24,584 --> 00:09:27,197
charging infrastructure by charging
the boats that you rent there.

200
00:09:27,337 --> 00:09:29,227
There's a lot of things that
you can do that are directly

201
00:09:29,237 --> 00:09:31,027
related to you doing the work.

202
00:09:31,164 --> 00:09:34,674
And then of course, you can always
push for more charging stations

203
00:09:34,734 --> 00:09:36,944
at docks as well as marinas.

204
00:09:36,954 --> 00:09:39,204
So I think there's a lot of
things that we can do here as

205
00:09:39,204 --> 00:09:40,844
individuals, which is great to know.

206
00:09:41,057 --> 00:09:42,231
That's it for today's episode.

207
00:09:42,231 --> 00:09:45,204
I think this is always interesting
when we're talking about new businesses

208
00:09:45,204 --> 00:09:49,564
that are profiting off of the
sustainability of the world, really.

209
00:09:49,564 --> 00:09:53,317
And this may not make huge changes
in global climate change, but it's

210
00:09:53,317 --> 00:09:54,847
gonna help in just the way we, react.

211
00:09:54,847 --> 00:09:57,277
It helps us feel like we're doing
something good for the ocean.

212
00:09:57,397 --> 00:10:01,587
It helps us save costs overall, and we
don't have to own a boat, but you can

213
00:10:01,587 --> 00:10:02,807
rent a boat, so that's always great.

214
00:10:02,817 --> 00:10:04,467
And an electric motor,
you can always try it out.

215
00:10:04,467 --> 00:10:07,317
If you wanna buy a boat, you can always
try out an electric motor when you

216
00:10:07,317 --> 00:10:10,027
rent one for the weekend or for the
week, and I think that's really cool.

217
00:10:10,267 --> 00:10:10,577
All right.

218
00:10:10,577 --> 00:10:11,587
That's it for today's episode.

219
00:10:11,724 --> 00:10:13,299
If you have any questions and
you wanna get a hold of me, you

220
00:10:13,299 --> 00:10:16,909
can do so by just reaching out
on DM on Instagram or on TikTok.

221
00:10:17,132 --> 00:10:18,622
Social links in the show notes.

222
00:10:18,736 --> 00:10:22,146
And if you wanna support the show, as I
said, you can go to the Patreon community.

223
00:10:22,146 --> 00:10:26,246
You can join it,
speakupforblue.com/patreon.

224
00:10:26,412 --> 00:10:27,672
That's today's episode.

225
00:10:27,682 --> 00:10:30,122
I wanna thank you so much for
joining me on today's episode of the

226
00:10:30,122 --> 00:10:31,292
How to Protect the Ocean podcast.

227
00:10:31,312 --> 00:10:32,232
I'm your host, Andrew Lewin.

228
00:10:32,369 --> 00:10:33,009
Have a great day.

229
00:10:33,009 --> 00:10:35,139
We'll talk to you next time,
and happy conservation.