
More Women taking the Helm at Freedom Boat Club
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New boat-share club is encouraging more women to step up to a boat-based lifestyle
Gold Coast-based Mary Berney has achieved what for many would seem impossible. She’s convinced her husband to sell his Sea Fox boat and leave the driveway empty.
But while they’ve sold their boat, the Berneys haven’t given up boating. Instead, the Sea Fox has been replaced with a fleet of boats that is ready to hit the water as soon as they turn up at the marina.
That’s because Mary is now part of the Freedom Boat Club, a new style of boat-sharing service that gives its members access to a fleet of boats ranging from hardcore fishers to lifestyle-focussed entertainers.
Freedom Boat Club members pay a one-off fee to join the group, and then a monthly fee to get unlimited access to a fleet of boats ranging from 5.2 metres in length to 7.3 metres.
It has club bases in several sites across Sydney, Lake Macquarie, Brisbane and the Gold Coast, with plans to expand into more regions throughout Australia.

For people like Mary and her partner, the first people in Australia to sign up for Freedom at last year's Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show, it’s a much better way to enjoy the Gold Coast Broadwater.
“We sold our boat to join the club because we didn’t need it anymore,” Mary says. “My husband is a fi-fo [fly-in, fly-out] worker, and with the Freedom Boat Club if it’s a nice day we can jump on a boat early in the morning as long as the boat we want is available.”
Mary’s enthusiasm for the Freedom Boat Club is not an isolated case. Surprisingly, almost two out of every five people signing up for the boat-sharing club since it launched at last year’s Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show are female, showing that if you build the right sort of ownership experience, one of the most overlooked groups in the boating community will step up and take the helm.
Switching off
Fellow member Anna Cardno signed up for the Freedom Boat Club after her first trip out on one of the club’s vessels.
“We were out on the boat and a dolphin just leapt up out of the water in front of us,” she says. “I got back in and said ‘You may as well take my money now’,” she says.
For Anna, getting out on a boat is a way of switching off. “It is freedom,” she says. “You’re not thinking about work, it’s not stressful or anything.
“You’re literally not on your phone, and you’re carefree when you’re out there.”
Adding to the sense of ease is the fact that members need only step onto the boat at the start of the day, and step off it at the end. Other than paying for fuel and bringing along food and drinks, all the difficult bits of boat ownership, such as hauling it in or out of the water, maintenance and repairs, are taken care of by the club.
Anna takes an active role, skippering the boat while her partner, a contractor who is always on the phone, does other things like catch up on sleep. The experience of not being on the phone is also good for him, she says.
However, before joining the club, she would never have thought of taking the helm. Now, though, after Freedom helped her gain her marine licence and showed her the basics, she is confident enough to bump out of the marina and skipper to Gold Coast landmarks such as Jumpinpin or Tipplers.
“In less than a year I’ve gone from knowing nothing about boating to pulling out of the marina, anchoring up and going fishing,” she says.
Taking the lead
Alejandra Tinoco, another Freedom member who skippers, said she was starting to notice more female club members taking the lead on boats.
“Everyone expects the guy to drive, but it’s not the case,” she says. Anna agrees, saying some male skippers will react when they see a female at the helm, but it has not affected her competence or confidence.
“Men do notice when I’m driving,” she says. “They’ll do a double-take sometimes but have then waved to me.”
Janet Wardle, another member, likes that she can just jump on a boat pretty much any day she feels like it.
“When you share a boat you do have the chance to take it out, but if it’s a beautiful day and it’s not your turn you can’t,” she says.
The club is also responsive to members’ suggestions of what style of boat should be added to the fleet. The newest club vessel based on that feedback is a pontoon boat.
“The new boat is a pontoon boat that can fit 12 people on it,” Janet says. “So that means we can take out family and friends and celebrate a birthday party or Christmas and so on.”
Alejandra also likes that Freedom Boat Club has become much more sociable as other members have joined, with everyone sharing ideas about where and how to use the boats.
She says she sees more female skippers bumping out of Freedom’s marina, with everyone exchanging a friendly wave as they pass.
“We’re beginning to feel like this is a community,” she says.
Boatsales- 30th May 2024