On The Next Boat Journey, former dealer and club founder Luke asks if you must own a boat to become a boater, or if a club can be the first step into this lifestyle.
The Next Boat Journey keeps returning to one question: how do more people discover boating, stay in the lifestyle and choose what comes next?
In a recent conversation, Dock Side Live Radio sat down with Franklin Pillsbury of Let’s Go Boating TV and Luke, a former Minnesota dealership owner who later launched a multi-state boat club.
Luke has seen the same family from two sides of the dock. First they walked into a showroom ready to buy. Later they arrived looking for an easier way to get on the water. That combination makes him unusually useful to this series. He is not arguing that everyone should own a boat. He is not arguing that no one should. He is asking whether the industry is matching the product to the person’s life.
Two Different First Steps
A first-time buyer and a first-time club member are often looking for the same feeling. They want to become a boating family. What they can support is different.
Luke said many first-time buyers were excited the first year and still used the boat the second year. By the third or fourth year, the boat was buried behind bikes, Christmas decorations and lawn tools. A flat tire or stale gas was enough to keep it in the garage. Ownership had become the obstacle.
The club, which he started in 2009, was built for people who were not yet committed to a full-on boating lifestyle — and for people who had already left it. Daily rentals later gave another door to families who only wanted the water two or three times a year instead of 18 or 20.
I knew there had to be a better way for the person that wasn’t already committed to a full-on boating lifestyle.
The Question Is Not Either-Or
When someone says they want to get into boating, Luke starts with lifestyle, not inventory. A family living on a Minnesota lake with a truck and a three-car garage may be a natural owner. A family in a townhouse or condo, driving a smaller car, may be better served by a club or a rental. Some members join only to try a runabout, a deck boat, a pontoon and a fishing boat before they decide what they actually enjoy.
That is the point of The Next Boat Journey. The first step does not have to be a purchase. The first step has to put someone on the water in a way they can repeat.
The Next Boat Journey airs Thursdays at 5 PM on Dock Side Live Radio, with encore broadcasts Saturday and Sunday at 5 PM. Each conversation continues through articles and social content at DockSideLive.com.
Thank You to Our Founding Partners
The Next Boat Journey is made possible by a group of Founding Partners investing in the future of boating. We thank: Let’s Go Boating TV · Franklin Pillsbury IV · Dockmate · The Florida Mariner Magazine · SOS Screens · Sirius Signal · Big Bumper
Their support helps Dock Side Live Radio follow the full journey from discovering boating and getting on the water to owning, upgrading and choosing what comes next.
This conversation is part of The Next Boat Journey, produced by Dock Side Live Radio.
