Northwest Fishing Reports

I was thinking about renting out my pontoon boats and other outdoor gear that I have collected over the years, my hours are getting cut at work and I need to make some extra cash without selling my gear, I have 2 person, and a 1 person. both Dave saddens so I am not worried about them falling apart on somebody. and since they won't be on my trailer i dont have to worry a road worthy trailer or any mechanical parts like i would my aluminum boat. I would supply life jackets and all necessary items to keep them safe on the water.

I am running into a couple questions/problems
1) How would I cover my ass in case of injury, does a signed document actually hold up if stated that I am not responsible for any safety once the boat leaves my property (in fancier lawyer terms or course)
2) does anyone run a small business? I would like to take smaller deposits (most fixes are under $300) so that more people could rent it, but if something does go wrong and the boat gets destroyed beyond the deposit how can I make them financially liable for replacing it, technically all I have is a signed piece of paper and I have no clue how to enforce it.

Any ideas or advice would be great, I am not sure on the best course to take this so here I am.

Thanks

sounds to me like you should start with a business licence

yeah unfortionaly after typing all that it looks like that would be the safest bet, but that kills the cash on the side idea.

You can be sued even with a liability waiver. And recouping money for damaged gear would be tough. Tgat said, call a resort that rents boats and see what they have to say.

Trust me when I say this, you're going to have to get a business license and insurance. The government will catch up with you. Someone will run their mouth eventually and you're going to have a government agent knocking on your door. They want their tax money, and they will eventually get it.

I've seen it happen.

When I owned Downs Lake Resort I had 17 12ft Hewes Craft row boats and 6 electric motors to rent out. My best advise is to sell your stuff out right. And buy new stuff when your situation changes. I would rent a boat for $15 and it would come back in full of beer cans and garbage and possibly a broken $35 oar or a lost anchor. They have even bent the shafts on the electric motors and cracked the cases on 12v batteries. After the first five years I just started selling the boats to folks that would often rent them. I would take payments and they would leave the boat at the resort and use it until it was paid for. I had a friend in snowmobile rentals that did about the same thing I did. Most people are OK, but there are folks out there that are just pig with no respect for your stuff. If you decide the rent your boats out these people will find you, I promise you that. Good Luck

PokeyPrasch wrote:

mizm05 wrote:They want their tax money, if you can't afford to hire a lobbyist to tell them otherwise or the same tax guy that works for CAT.

I've seen it happen.

Ha, got that right!

Well my main concern is how much would you charge for a pontoon 26bucks a day thats same price has a car rental? So in my opinion all the risk of liability for the possible low return is simply not worth it. Good luck if you do tho.

You could make far more money by selling it lowballing and reselling items off Craigslist or eBay.

Not that I am foreshadowing or that I believe you will sell but if you do, let me know. I just might be able to take it off your hands.