Carefree: that's what boating should be. Boat ownership that allows you to get on with the pleasure of boating, and leave all the work and organising to someone else. With Carefree Boating, you have as much access to your own boat as your busy life allows yet you make only a fraction of the investment needed for sole ownership, running costs and maintenance.
Better still, you don't have the worry or frustration of looking after your boat. Your time with your boat is for sailing. Riviera Nautic is renowned for the performance of its charter fleet based at Metung on the beautiful Gippsland Lakes - just over 3 hours from Melbourne.
You want to buy a boat
Why not? Boating is a fabulous pastime, one that’s easily shared with family and friends, and offers just the right combination of exhilaration and relaxation.
But there are drawbacks.
If you have lots of money and lots of time to look after and organise your boat, then outright ownership is probably for you.
But that’s not the case for most people. Having bought your boat, all the old demands of life don’t go away, and guilt can become a significant part of boat ownership.
And the boat of your dreams might be more expensive than what you can justify.
Some facts
Boats are expensive – particularly those that are truly worth owning – both to buy and to own.
They are high maintenance, even when they are not being used.
Unless you live next to their berth they need supervision, and organisation.
All the usual claims on your time don’t’ go away, just because you have bought a boat. Work, family, interests, holidays and sport remain competitors for your time. That’s why almost all private boats get used less than 20 days a year.
If you put all your money into a wonderful boat, does it mean that you won’t have anything left for those other toys that you want?
Yet the lure of boat ownership is still strong (justifiably so!)
There are clever ways to own a boat that offer you all the flexibility you need, and the solutions to the drawbacks.
Here are two alternative forms of boat ownership that offer you all the pleasure without the problems.
Although the Whitsundays is often the immediate response, there are other places which provide sailing that is as good as, or in some cases better, than that region.
The Gippsland Lakes are one of the great boating destinations in Australia and a very special part of Victoria.
