A day on the lake, a long weekend aboard a houseboat, a sunset sail — booked straight with the owner who keeps the boat shipshape, not a faceless fleet. Renters discover the boat here and send the inquiry through HulloShips; the owner confirms dates, rate and captain, and you book direct. Own a boat that sits idle most weeks? List it and let it earn.
Honest by default: we connect renters and owners and earn a small booking fee (plus optional featured placement). No hidden markup baked into your rate.
Every kind of boat people actually rent — captained when you want a pro at the wheel, bareboat when you've got the ticket and the experience.
The default lake rental: stable, shaded, sociable. Single pontoons for a family of six, double-decker tritoons with a slide for a birthday of twenty. Half-day, full-day, or sunset cruise. Hot Springs & Austin lakes are full of them.
See the party-boat directory →A floating cabin for the weekend — bunks for ten, a galley, a top deck and a slide off the back. Lake Ouachita and Lake Travis both have crewed and bareboat houseboats that sleep the whole crowd. Book a long weekend, not just an afternoon.
Houseboat rentals & brokers →A step up in polish — a cabin cruiser or small yacht with a head, a sound system and a captain who knows the no-wake zones. Right for an anniversary, a client day, or a proposal you don't want to chance to a tiller you've never held.
Captained · 6–20 guestsQuiet power, the real thing. A skippered monohull or catamaran for a half-day on the bay, or a bareboat week through the islands if you hold the certification. Coastal hubs from Florida to the Med run crewed and bareboat both.
Bareboat · skippered · crewedGuided trips where the captain finds the fish and rigs the rods — bass and stripers on the inland lakes, redfish and offshore runs on the coast. Half-day to full-day, license and tackle usually sorted by the guide. Just bring a cooler.
Guided · gear includedCaptained means a licensed skipper runs the boat — you relax, no boating experience needed, and it's the safe call on an unfamiliar lake. Bareboat means you drive: cheaper, but the owner will ask about your experience and may require a checkout. New to it? Take the captain.
Ask the owner which is offeredFind the boat and the lake — a 24' tritoon on Hamilton, a houseboat on Ouachita, a sailing charter on the coast. Filter by region, type and captained-or-bareboat.
Tell the owner your dates, your group size and whether you want a captain. Your request goes straight to the person who owns the boat — not a call centre.
They confirm availability, the rate, the captain and the deposit — in writing, before any money moves. The rate you see is the owner's rate. We don't quietly pad it.
You arrange payment, deposit and meeting point directly with the owner. HulloShips made the introduction and earns a small booking fee — your rate doesn't change because of us.
We start where the WholeVoyage network is strongest — the Hot Springs and Austin lakes — and reach out to the big coastal charter hubs from there.
Lake Ouachita — 40,000 clear acres, the houseboat capital of Arkansas: Mountain Harbor, Shangri-La and Brady Mountain rent tritoon party barges and 58–84' houseboats that sleep a crowd. Lake Hamilton runs right through town — pontoon rentals, captained cruises and dealers a few minutes from the bathhouses. Our home water.
Marinas & rentals on these lakes →Lake Travis is party-barge country — double-decker funships with slides, captained charters up to 75, and houseboat weekends from Just For Fun, VIP Marina and Premier. Lake Austin, in the city limits, runs calmer: pontoons, wake boats and women-led captained cruises. Add Lake LBJ and Canyon Lake an hour out.
Austin-lake operators →The deepest charter market in the country — Keys to the Panhandle. Day yachts, sandbar pontoon runs, sunset sails and serious offshore fishing, captained or bareboat. If you can dream up a day on salt water, the Gulf coast has a boat for it.
Captained & bareboat · year-roundSan Diego, Newport, the Bay, the San Juans, Lake Tahoe up high. Skippered sailing, whale-watch cruisers and Tahoe's alpine-water charters. Cooler, dramatic, and strong on crewed sail for anyone who wants the wind without the work.
Sail-heavy · skipperedCroatia, Greece, the Balearics, the Côte d'Azur — the world's great bareboat and crewed-yacht cruising. A week aboard a catamaran island-hopping, or a crewed motor yacht for a milestone. Plan early; the good boats and the good weeks go fast.
Bareboat weeks · crewed yachtsThe BVIs, the Grenadines, the Bahamas — trade-wind sailing, easy line-of-sight hops and an anchorage with a beach bar most nights. Bareboat with a checkout, or crewed with a captain and a cook. The classic warm-water charter.
Trade-wind sailing · crewed or bareboatA boat used twelve weekends a year still costs you fifty-two. List it for charter and let the idle weeks pay the slip, the insurance and the winterizing.
Set your own day and weekend rates, block out the dates you want the boat yourself, and require a captain or a security deposit if you choose. You approve every booking before it happens.
Renters pay you directly. There's no broker taking a fat percentage of every charter — just our small, disclosed booking fee on confirmed rentals. You keep the rest.
Put your boat on the exchange at no charge and go live the same day. Add photos, your rates, your rules and the lake you run. Pause or pull it anytime.
Not sure which boat or which lake? Send what you've got. We'll route you to the right owner — or, if you're an owner, get you listed for charter.
Yes, and we don't hide it. HulloShips earns a small, flat booking fee on confirmed rentals — that's how the introduction stays free for renters and listing stays free for owners. The owner's rate is the owner's rate; we don't quietly mark it up. Owners can also buy optional featured placement for more visibility in peak season.
You arrange payment and any security deposit directly with the owner — HulloShips connects you and confirms the details, but the money moves between you and the boat's owner. Always get the rate, the deposit, the cancellation terms and the meeting point in writing before you pay anything. If an "owner" pushes for an unusual payment method or wires up front, slow down and call us.
If you don't have real boating experience on water like this, take the captain — it's safer, it's usually required by the owner anyway, and you actually relax. Bareboat (you drive) is cheaper but the owner will ask about your experience and may require a checkout or proof of certification, especially for sailboats and houseboats. Each listing says what's offered.
Confirm insurance and safety gear with the owner before the trip — coverage, who's covered to drive, life jackets for every guest (including kids), and a working plan if the weather turns. A reputable captained charter carries the right insurance and equipment; on a bareboat rental, ask exactly what's covered and what you're liable for. This page is guidance only — the arrangements are between you and the owner.
Absolutely — that's half the point of this page. Listing is free, you set your own rates and availability, you approve every booking, and you keep the lion's share (we take only the small booking fee on confirmed rentals). Start a charter listing → and you can go live the same day.
Cancellation terms are set by each owner, so they vary — weather holds, deposit refunds and reschedule windows are all the owner's call. Get them in writing when you book. Lake weather can move fast; a fair owner will offer a reschedule for genuine storm days, and we encourage exactly that, but it isn't a HulloShips guarantee.
Owner-direct charters and rentals — small disclosed booking fee, no broker markup, free to list. Lake and coastal.