Big_BobberII
Well-Known Member
My husband, a retired general contractor, says there is concrete that is cracked and concrete that hasn't cracked yet.
Bullfrog North (executive) Ramp question
- Thread starter Dr. Love
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The three multi owner boats I was on had a board of directors (all volunteers), one of which was the maintenance lead. I've now been with Laketime for two boats and many, many years. Their boats get returned to the storage/maintenance yard between uses and their maintenance team decides what the boat needs to make the next user's trip. Major modifications and such are done during the winter. Chuck
sparkin5280
Well-Known Member
Sorry, long answer ahead, was on the Board of our group for years....
Well first they are shared-ownership not Time Shares. You can't exchange them for Marriott points or something. That means there are a group of owners that own it (no more than 18 per Aramark rules). More specifically the owners usually own an LLC, the boat is in the LLC name. Each owner owns a % share of that LLC depending on what week(s) you have. These Corporations are usually run by a Board, President, VP, Treasurer and Secretary. They ultimately make the decision but all the Owners have a say and vote on critical items. They also have a set of By-Laws the group has to abide by and in those By-Laws it can even state that the houseboat is pulled every fall and launched in the Spring. These Ownership groups usually have an annual meeting with hopefully most owners in attendance.
This is what our group has done for our houseboat since it was launched in 2002, pull it for 6 months of the year it's not used. For several reasons, less wear on the boat banging around on a bouy all winter, ease of owner maintenance and improvements. (that how we keep our dues low), and now because the ONLY multi-owner houseboat insurance company is Markel. Markel REALLY frowns down upon leaving houseboats unattended for more than like 2 weeks, at least on a bouy. If they found out otherwise they could drop us and we can't operate on the lake with no insurance. So it's a no brainer to pull the boat in the offseason. It's just that this season we're probably going to miss the early launch window and hope that we can pull some sort of winter out at the end and get a runoff that gets us back into the 3530s to launch in the summer. The only problem with that is what do we do at the end of summer if it ends below retrieval levels?? Our owner meeting is in 2 weeks, lots of critical things to discuss. MANY other groups will be in the same boat. We have been on a wait list for a Slip for nearly 5 years.
Shared Ownership in a houseboat group has SO many benefits if you like to be at least once a year. But it's a commitment and all owners need to participate in the work, decisions, being a Board member etc. It's not just paying dues into something like a Time Share condo.
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Cimarron16
Active Member
Thanks for the details everyone! I had thought about asking about LLCs after my last post... glad you covered that. My other question was insurance hahaha. This is a mere curiosity every time I pass the marina or a house boat. I can deal with sleeping in the pickup for now 
I got wrangled into looking at a private condo with a realtor once in Gulf Shores that I saw for sale on vacation....... purchase prices are not bad. Almost fell out of my chair when they pulled the "oh by the way, this is the HOA fee."
I got wrangled into looking at a private condo with a realtor once in Gulf Shores that I saw for sale on vacation....... purchase prices are not bad. Almost fell out of my chair when they pulled the "oh by the way, this is the HOA fee."
Ryan
Keeper of San Juan Secrets
Well said. And you give a great reason on the additional value of a slip.
The last two boats we bought into that was one of my main requirements.
We own multiple weeks but only take the boat out of the marina usually once a year. The other trips the boat is used like a floating condo. It’s a base camp where we return to every day. Not ideal but much better than staying on land somewhere.
Colin
Well-Known Member
Our houseboat LLC works pretty much as described above.
One of our owners texted this to me today:
But I'm having my doubts and concerns about launching our houseboat with the current and projected water levels and (un)anticipated runoff. I hate to be a negative Nancy, but I'm trying to work with the reality of the situation, not against it.
FWIW, we just have a buoy, and we're paying for it all through the off-season because we've been told there's a waiting list and limited supply. We could lose our buoy altogether if we wanted to cancel it, and who knows if we could get one back each summer when we relaunch. Maybe that's just fear-tactic sales from Errormark
but it's a concern and extra cost of ownership.
One of our owners texted this to me today:
But I'm having my doubts and concerns about launching our houseboat with the current and projected water levels and (un)anticipated runoff. I hate to be a negative Nancy, but I'm trying to work with the reality of the situation, not against it.
FWIW, we just have a buoy, and we're paying for it all through the off-season because we've been told there's a waiting list and limited supply. We could lose our buoy altogether if we wanted to cancel it, and who knows if we could get one back each summer when we relaunch. Maybe that's just fear-tactic sales from Errormark
but it's a concern and extra cost of ownership.
Ryan
Keeper of San Juan Secrets
Two observations.Our houseboat LLC works pretty much as described above.
One of our owners texted this to me today:
But I'm having my doubts and concerns about launching our houseboat with the current and projected water levels and (un)anticipated runoff. I hate to be a negative Nancy, but I'm trying to work with the reality of the situation, not against it.
FWIW, we just have a buoy, and we're paying for it all through the off-season because we've been told there's a waiting list and limited supply. We could lose our buoy altogether if we wanted to cancel it, and who knows if we could get one back each summer when we relaunch. Maybe that's just fear-tactic sales from Errormark
I’d be shocked if they are still able to launch houseboats after March.
We are at 3535’. We are losing over 1’/week, and according to published data the north ramp is good to 3529 (yes I believe we can launch small boats to 35519 but not houseboats). Early March will be the cut off for houseboats. Hopefully we get enough runoff to launch again this year.
I’m not sure about the ability to get a buoy if you didn’t pay for it over the winter. But I personally know two people who lost their slip in Bullfrog by not paying through the winter.
And I’d guess with the uncertainty of being able to launch that there likely is a waiting list for all on water storage options.
sparkin5280
Well-Known Member
But I'm having my doubts and concerns about launching our houseboat with the current and projected water levels and (un)anticipated runoff. I hate to be a negative Nancy, but I'm trying to work with the reality of the situation, not against it.
FWIW, we just have a buoy, and we're paying for it all through the off-season because we've been told there's a waiting list and limited supply. We could lose our buoy altogether if we wanted to cancel it, and who knows if we could get one back each summer when we relaunch. Maybe that's just fear-tactic sales from Errormark
Our bouy has sat untouched, for 6 months of the year for 24 years. And for our group's previous boat the 19 years prior to that. It might be scare tactics but I've been told more than once that there is a wait slip for bouys and if you get off one there isn't a guarantee you'll get another. I think Captain Titus told me that a few years ago and he was a pretty honest guy. It stinks having to pay for something you're not using, but it's just part of the beast of having a houseboat out there. Our group doesn't want to take the risk so we keep it year 'round.
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