THE CAREFREE SHARED BOAT OWNERSHIP SCHEME: HOW IT WORKS
If you love the idea of exploring the waterways but find that regular boat hire can quickly add up, shared ownership offers a more cost-effective way to enjoy boating.
By sharing ownership with a small group of other people, the purchase price, mooring, insurance, licence and ongoing maintenance costs are shared too. You own a genuine share in the boat, giving you an asset as well as regular time on the water.
It’s a simple way to enjoy more boating, without taking on the full cost and responsibility of owning a boat outright.
Expert Care, Without the Hassle
Owning a boat comes with plenty of responsibilities, but as a Carefree shareholder, you don’t have to manage them all yourself.
Our experienced team takes care of the day-to-day administration, including arranging moorings and insurance, purchasing the licence and making sure each boat is serviced, maintained and ready for your next cruising week.
We directly manage our main bases at Middlewich Canal Centre in Cheshire, Aston Marina in Staffordshire and Dunchurch Pools Marina in Warwickshire. Our local managers are on hand during turnaround days, while the Carefree Cruising team carries out routine maintenance and repairs.
This hands-on approach means we can maintain consistent standards across our fleet and provide a reliable service for our shareholders. We also have access to additional bases across the canal network, giving you even more options when planning your cruising.
Support When You Need It
We provide 24-hour, 365-day support, giving you peace of mind while you’re out cruising.
If you encounter a problem while on the water, you can contact our support team for guidance and assistance. We’ll do everything we can to help and, where necessary, arrange for the appropriate support to get you back on your way.
Allocation of Weeks Between Owners
We operate a structured and fair share owner boat usage system. Each owner picks their weeks by way of a list that rotates each year. This ensures that share owners use of their boat is planned in an even handed and impartial way. Compare this to some of the other schemes, who subject you to the lottery of drawing weeks out of a hat!
Running Costs and Repairs
Each year, you will pay a proportion of the running costs of the boat. This will be the same proportion as your share. For example, if you own a 1/12th share, you will pay 1/12th of the running costs of the boat. You also pay (direct to the Marina) the costs of the diesel that you use, plus the cost of having the toilet tank pumped out. There is also an optional valet service available at each of our bases for owners who wish to make use of it.
Caring for Your Investment
We operate a totally transparent, open, honest and professional service to care for you and your investment.
Each syndicate has its own bank account, through which all payments for services or work done on behalf of the syndicate are made. This is a “Designated Client Account”, which means that the Bank accepts that the money in the account belongs to the share owners and not Carefree Cruising. Any share owner may request a copy of the bank statement for their account at any time. Your money is therefore 100% safe.