Retro Boat Rentals: Saugatuck, Michigan

My husband knows some pretty cool people. One of those people is Lauren Stanton. She used to be a news reporter but now she is part of a really cool business. Retro Boat Rentals in Saugatuck. You can rent a really cool "Retro Boat" and drive it up and down the Channel in Saugatuck.  (I attached a map from Google Maps and marked the location of the Rental place)


The Kalamazoo River Saugatuck goes to Lake Kalamazoo and the other way it goes into a cove where it's good to swim. This cove also has an outlet into Lake Michigan, you do not want to take a retro boat out there,  it's not a good idea. Lake Michigan is huge (Like a mini sea) The boats only go between 4 and 6 miles an hour. It is comparable to driving a golf cart on the water (the pamphlet actually says "As easy to drive as a golf cart"). The boats are old fiberglass boats from the 50's that have been rebuilt with a electric engine that runs on batteries.  You can only take them 4 miles an hour in the channel because it's a no wake zone. For those of you not familiar with boats it means "Don't make big waves" Basically keep it slow and steady because the channel is full of other people on boats.

Retro Rentals has a wide variety of retro boats to rent. You can take them out for 1 1/2  or 3 hours. It takes about 1/2 hour to get to the cove, where you can anchor your boat and take a swim. We brought sandwiches and bought water from Retro Rental. They supply a cooler and a blue tooth speaker for your vessel. They also have a liquor license, so you can purchase beer or wine to take with you.  (Don't drink and drive the boat please) The boats come equip with a fire extinguisher and life vests. (Safety first)

The selection of boats is great. They had this amazing purple one, I'm still kicking myself for not getting a picture of it. It was so cute. When we first took Ruby out (the boat has a name, I think all the boats have names), we wandered down the channel, looking for the cove. It wasn't hard to find. Navigating through the water was easy, stay to the right, just like driving a car, but the steering wheel is on the other side. The boat is electric, so it has a little electric key with a lever. The lever goes forward, the boat goes forward, the lever goes backward, the boat goes backward. The middle is obviously neutral.  It's amazingly easy. It reminded me of when you drive those cars on a track at amusement parks. Only there is no track to stay on you just have to stay on the right side of the buoys. 

Getting in and out of the boat isn't that hard, they give you a ladder to hang off over the side. It's much easier to get on and off the doughnut boat. The retro rentals also offer doughnut boats. They are round, you can have 8-10 people fit on them. It's more like a pontoon.  It's super important to wear sunscreen on the water. The Doughnut boats have an umbrella, but the Retro Boats do not.  I usually wear sunscreen, (I'm naturally a blonde and I burn quickly) but I did not. I got a killer sunburn and I regret not wearing it. Thankfully I wore a hat and did not burn my face.

It is very nice to take any of these boats out for a couple of hours, pack a picnic lunch, and park it by the beach in the cove. Just remember your sunscreen.....

This is where we went:
  https://www.facebook.com/RetroBoatRentals/