Delivery day is the start of the lease, and it is deliberately uneventful. We bring the boat to your dock, put it in the water, walk you through it, hand over the gear, and leave you with a boat you can use that afternoon. The work behind that morning is ours; the first decision is yours, which is where to go first.
If you have never leased a boat before, the day can sound more complicated than it is. This is what happens, in order, and what you need to have ready.
What delivered to your dock means
Delivered to your dock means the boat arrives at the dock you have described, on the lake where your house sits, ready to use. It does not mean a trailer left at the end of the road, or a marina slip you have to drive to. The point of the lease is that the boat lives where you do for the season.
We deliver to private docks on Lake Waramaug, Candlewood Lake, Highland Lake and Woodridge Lake. If your house is on one of those lakes, tell us about the dock when you call and we will confirm delivery. We do not claim other lakes, and we would rather say so than waste your time.
One boat is reserved for your household for the whole season. On delivery day it becomes yours: not shared, not time-sliced, and not booked by the hour.
Before the boat arrives
The preparation is mostly conversation. We confirm your dock, your lake, the boat you have chosen and the delivery date. If the dock has something we should know about, that is the moment to mention it rather than the morning of.
You do not need to buy anything in advance. The boat arrives insured, registered, fueled and geared, which means the equipment for a normal day on the water is already aboard. If you have your own life jackets or a favourite tow rope, bring them, but the lease does not depend on it.
It also helps to decide who in the household will drive. If more than one person will be at the helm, have them there for the handover rather than learning second-hand later.
The arrival
On the day, our dock team brings the boat to your dock and puts it in the water. They check that everything is as it should be before they hand it over. Whether the boat is a pontoon, a ski boat or a bowrider, the routine is the same: it arrives, it floats, and it is yours for the season.
You do not need to arrange a launch ramp, a trailer or a tow vehicle. Those are not part of your season, and they are not part of the day.
The boat is fueled when it arrives, so the first run does not begin with a detour. Fuel is the one ongoing cost the lease leaves with you, and it is worth knowing that from the start rather than discovering it at the pump.
The orientation
Before we leave, we walk you through the boat. That covers the controls and the layout, where the safety equipment is kept, how the gear stows, and what to do if something needs attention during the season. It is a conversation rather than a course, and it is paced to whoever will actually be driving.
Ask questions while we are standing on the dock. The first hour is the easiest time to learn where the life jackets live, how the seating works or which switch does what. We would rather spend twenty extra minutes there than have you work it out on the water.
If children will be aboard, introduce them to the boat while we are there too. Knowing where the jackets are and how the ladder works is easier to learn on a calm dock than in the middle of a good afternoon.
The gear handover
The watersports equipment comes with the boat: tubing, ropes, a wakeboard, a kneeboard and life jackets for the crew. We show you where it is stowed and how it is set up, so nothing is a puzzle on the first Saturday.
Life jackets for the crew are part of the lease, which means you are not equipping a boat from scratch. If a rope is missing or a jacket does not fit, say so on delivery day and we will deal with it.
Everything is there to be used, not admired. The gear is included so that a spontaneous afternoon on the water does not require a trip to a shop first.
Your first week
The first week is mostly about settling in. Fuel is yours to buy, and it is the only ongoing cost the lease leaves with you. Everything else, from insurance and registration to routine maintenance and the gear, is already handled.
Learn the lake at your own pace. If you are new to the water, our guide to the Connecticut lakes we serve is a reasonable place to start before you plan a long run. If something feels wrong with the boat, call us rather than a mechanic. Routine maintenance and service are ours, and we would rather hear about a small noise early.
By the second weekend, delivery day should be behind you. That is the measure of a good handover: the boat feels like it was always there. If you are still weighing the lease against ownership, our five-year ownership comparison is the place to start. When the season ends, the end-of-season hand-back follows the same logic, and the seasonal leasing page sets out everything the lease covers from delivery to collection.
