Darcel Rockett
Nancy Fletcher’s fiancé would often spot a boat on the Chicago River and ask: “How come we’re not on a boat? How can we get on a boat?” Fletcher did some Googling and came across the GetMyBoat app. She gave him a charter boat tour on Leonard Besinger’s boat, the Bellanzi, for his recent 30th birthday, with a small group of family and friends.
When asked how often the Berwyn couple typically go boating in a season, the fiancé, William Dulles, said, “Not enough.”
This summer, as Illinois opens up without COVID-19 restrictions, the app—which connects customers directly with charter captains for quality time on the water in a wide range of watercraft—aims to make boating more accessible to everyone, from those still comfortable with a certain amount of social distancing to those who may be experiencing FOGO—fear of going out.
What better time to become a “boat person” than this summer with so many boat rental options to choose from? It doesn’t matter what you’re in the mood for: a night rental, a powerboat rental, a rental for the “Playpen” or the Chicago River. And the types of boats vary from yachts to cycleboats to pontoons. Each boat has certain restrictions, but Chicagoans can get in touch with their inner water baby at many price points.
Besinger is doing his part from his slip on Dock D in Belmont Harbor. A charter captain in the city since 2016, he was offering charters on his 31-foot Chaparral on his own through his website, Facebook, and friends and family members until a fellow boat owner told Besinger about the app. (Besinger also lists the Bellanzi on Boatsetter.com.) He has been on the roster of GetMyBoat rentals since 2017 and is one of those rated “best of” for Chicago from 2017 to 2020. With GetMyBoat giving him the majority of his bookings these days, Besinger said he’s aiming for the title again in 2021.
“When the coronavirus hit, I had twice as many bookings in May and June that I couldn’t do than I did the previous year,” Besinger said. “Everybody wanted to get out on the water, wanted to be outside, they wanted to be out of their homes. We’ve had a lot of proposals, families, bachelorette parties, groups of friends getting together. It’s a great way to hang out with people. Some people call them the Airbnb for boats.”
According to Val Streif, GetMyBoat’s marketing manager, Chicago is in GetMyBoat’s top five most-booked locations, with its 89 boat listings. The app was launched in the city in 2013, and operates in all 50 states and in over 184 countries.
“We saw a 293% increase for 2021, in terms of owners and boat captains coming on the platform to gain access to more customers and build their businesses—this is comparing Jan. 1-May 1 of 2020 to Jan. 1-May 1 of 2021,” Streif said. “We sent 60,500 renters on the water in 2019, 178,000 in 2020. With the current rate of bookings we’ve been seeing so far in 2021, we are on pace to send over 1 million people boating before the end of 2021.”
Besinger runs every charter, only bringing on help (and raising his flat, minimum rates) during busy times like the Chicago Scene Boat Party, holiday weekends, and the Chicago Air & Water Show. He is DJ, server, and cruise director on each job. When Lake Michigan is warm, renters can enjoy a ride on a six-person float that he pulls them on.
Besinger keeps an eye on everybody to make sure they’re having fun and staying safe. He has life vests for adults onboard, but clients under 12 have to bring a Coast Guard-approved life vest.
Streif said the average cost for boat rentals depends on factors like dates, time of day, and group size. (The Bellanzi can hold up to six passengers.) Chicago rental boat options show a range of prices from $75 to $945 per hour for charters with or without captains. (Captains are optional on some vessels.) Coast Guard officials say to be wary and to make sure that vessels meet Coast Guard regulations. Renters can face fines if they book an illegal charter.
“People book through GetMyBoat, but it is my regulations and rules. I set the hours and the price,” Besinger said. “I negotiate with the client through their application, get the client, and the client pays GetMyBoat, and GetMyBoat pays me.” Besinger charges $250 per hour on GetMyBoat for a four-hour minimum charter on the Bellanzi.
Customers are responsible for bringing their own food and drink, as long as it doesn’t stain the white and cream interior, Besinger said. Streif said the San Francisco-based app recently partnered with Dockside Delivery, which will deliver food and liquor packages to those in the boating community. The delivery service is the idea of South Loop Windy City Ribs & Whiskey proprietor Terri Evans. Menus from her restaurant and other Chicago eateries are available to choose from 24 hours in advance of boating, and deliveries will be made to all Chicago harbors, Evans said.
“You’re supposed to be having this amazing luxurious premium experience, but there’s nothing cute about hauling a case of water from where everyone parks,” Evans said. “We have everything from top-shelf liquor down to ice because everyone runs out of ice. What makes us unique is we will deliver everything they need, as it relates to food and beverage directly to their slip. Hopefully it will eliminate some of those pain points for people that don’t want to have to run to five different stores to get what they need before they can take their boat out.”
Evans laughs at the mention of getting to know “boat people.” Either you know them or you don’t, she said. New to the boating community herself, she said she had to do her homework on nuances and language in the harbor community. Some don’t take their boat out before Mother’s Day, and some just hang out at the dock. In having conversations with potential clients, she’s found how accessible the community is. She said she’s heard of people chipping in to rent a boat for the summer, almost like a timeshare.
“I think people are finding creative ways to get into the boating community,” she said. “What platforms like GetMyBoat have done is it’s allowed people to be able to get access, to be able to experience this without having upfront all the costs of boat ownership.”
Fletcher says she and her family had a great time, even though it rained.
“I’m definitely willing to book again,” she said.
“If the captain isn’t just right and the boat isn’t just right and people aren’t cared for in the correct manner, it’s not the same experience,” Besinger said. “It’s not about time, it’s not about money, it’s about the experience.”
