Toronto, Hamilton are getting a boat-sharing service. Here's how to hop aboard

Skipperi, a boat-sharing service, will be available this boating season across the Greater Toronto and Hamilton area. (Courtesy of Skipperi)

Torontonians can soon act as their own skipper, hop aboard a boat and set sail across Lake Ontario – all with the touch of a button.

As of May 1, Skipperi – the world’s first boat-sharing app – will be launching its services across the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, where users can rent one of their 40 motorboats online when they want to catch some waves.

It runs all throughout the boating season, so sailors can take advantage up until Halloween on Oct. 31. Those interested will have to pay for a monthly membership service, which at its early bird pricing starts at $475 per month during the season.

“And that includes everything – we cover winterization, insurance, maintenance, essentially all the stuff that people don’t want to pay for, we take care of it,” General Manager for Skipperi Canada Keven Dextradeur told CTV News Toronto on Tuesday.

“People here are used to bike share, Car-2-Go, Turo, and Torontonians have been requesting something similar in the marine world, and this is essentially what we’re doing.”

The base membership allows its users unlimited boating from all harbours throughout the week, with two different time slots – one from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., the other from 4:30 p.m. until 8 a.m. the following day.

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Skipperi Canada (@skipperi.ca)

For an additional cost, users can add weekends to their subscription or opt for the plus package, which grants access to Skipperi’s pontoons and 23-foot-long boats – though the latter requires additional training and boating experience.

Before renting a boat, Dextradeur notes users must have their Pleasure Craft Operator Card (PCOC), a licence that costs about $42 but is valid for life. After boaters have their PCOC license, they can step behind the wheel, as no prior experience as a skipper is required for most of their memberships.

One-on-one practical training is provided, where boaters are taken out on the water for two to three hours and are shown how to operate Skipperi’s vessels, Dextradeur noted.

Boaters can drive as far as 35 nautical miles (about 65 kilometres), which can take users between Hamilton and Toronto’s ports. However, boats will have to be dropped off from the same spot they were rented from, and be topped back off with gas which boaters have to pay for.

There are nine spots across Lake Ontario where boats can be rented from:

• Harbourfront East - Queens Quay East and Yonge Street, Toronto
• Harbourfront Centre - Queens Quay West and York Street, Toronto
• Harbourfront West - Queens Quay West and Bathurst Street, Toronto
• Toronto Island Marina
• Harbour West Marina, Hamilton
• Port Credit Harbour Marina, Mississauga
• Bluffers Park Marina, Scarborough
• Frenchman’s Bay Marina, Pickering
• Port Dalhousie Pier Marina, St. Catharines

Dextradeur said Skipperi’s memberships can be used at any of their other global locations in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and New Zealand, at no additional cost.