The Carefree Boat Club has, at least for the moment, ceased operations along the Treasure Coast, leaving local customers high and dry. Boaters who signed up for easy access to watercraft without the hassle of boat ownership fear they have lost their $4,000 initial membership fees along with recent $400 monthly dues payments.
Telephones are not being answered at any of the company’s three franchise locations along the Treasure Coast in Vero Beach, Fort Pierce or Stuart, and members seeking to take boats out on the lagoon or ocean have not been given any information by the national company about whether service will be restored.
“There have been no emails, no communications at all,” says Ben Comisky, an 81-year-old boater and fisherman who moved to Vero Beach from San Antonio about six years ago and has been a member of the Carefree Boat Club for the past four years.
“When you call the national number, it won’t even take your voicemail message because the recording says the mailbox is full,” Comisky says. “I believe their national headquarters are somewhere in Maryland, but you can’t find anyone there, either”
Comisky said he talked to a lawyer about getting his $4,000 initiation fee back, plus the $1,200 he paid for dues over the past three months, during a time when he was unable to use club boats.
The lawyer told him it wouldn’t be worth any attorney’s time to pursue such a small claim and urged him to track down other members to possibly file a class action suit. Comisky said he has not been able to find a membership list, although he knows from other boaters that there are numerous local members.
The Carefree Boat Club rents five slips on the South Dock at the city-owned Vero Beach Marina. Marina manager Sean Collins says that, so far, the club isn’t in arrears with its rental payments.
“Of course, we are starting a new month, so we’ll see what happens,” Collins said. “I’ve heard the rumors as well, but so far they’re OK with us.”
Collins said there have been minor problems with the company’s credit cards being rejected for fuel payments, “but that’s pretty normal. It can happen to anyone. They give us a new card to bill for the fuel, and the new card goes through.
“We haven’t seen any representatives of the company around here recently, but that doesn’t necessarily mean anything,” he added.
The company has not stopped operations nationally, and its Melbourne location, about 45 minutes north of Vero Beach off of Eau Gallie Boulevard on the Indian River Lagoon, is open for business. Vero Beach members have exchange privileges there, a Melbourne franchise manager said.
The Melbourne location has four boats available, two deck boats and two pontoon boats for trips on the lagoon, but nothing suitable for ocean voyages. The manager said the outlet is looking to expand its fleet to include ocean-going fishing craft.
North Florida Carefree Boat Club franchises in Amelia Island and St. Augustine have also ceased operations, according to a report on a Jacksonville TV station.
Comisky said he believes the Treasure Coast franchise’s problems started a couple of years ago when the local franchisee put the business up for sale due to family problems. Comisky said he was told that the national organization had right of first refusal on the franchise, and when no new suitable buyer could be found, the national organization took over. A local employee then told Comisky he had been fired and no one was taking his place.
The same thing happened at the Fort Pierce outlet, which Comisky said he used most often since he likes to go out fishing on the ocean and it’s a short distance to the ocean from that dock through the Fort Pierce Inlet. “Then I heard the same thing was happening in Stuart, too.”
The Carefree Boat Club lists 142 locations across North America, on both the East and the West Coasts as well as along the Great Lakes and some inland lakes. The website says the club has 9,416 members nationwide and has more than 1,000 boats available.
The club touts membership as an attractive alternative to individual boat ownership since “we take care of maintenance, repairs, cleaning and insurance. Boats are cleaned, fueled and ready to go.
“We make boating easy – you make it unforgettable,” says the company’s national website.
The local Carefree website appears to be out of date. It says its boats are docked at Vero Beach Yacht Club, which isn’t true, and the most recent blog post on the site is from 2017.
Carefree Boat Club isn’t the only company of its kind. Freedom Boat Club is organized in similar fashion and is a bit larger, with 390 locations. It is owned by the Brunswick Corporation, meaning that most of its fleet consists of Brunswick brands. It has two locations in Indian River County, at the Grand Harbor marina and on the Sebastian waterfront.
Photos by Joshua Kodis
