Freedom Boat Club To Add Baja Islanders To Fleet

Started in 1989, Freedom Boat Club has 8,000 members—and 82 franchise locations from Texas to Vermont—that pay one-time entry fees from approximately $1,200 and up and monthly dues for access to a variety club-owned powerboats. Thanks to its new alliance with Baja Marine in Washington, N.C., the club will soon have outboard engine-powered Baja 247 Islander models in its fleet and available to members around the country.

The Baja 247 Islander will be the most sporty and stylish offering in the Freedom Boat Club’s nationwide fleet.

“We are working on converting the 247, which is traditionally a stern drive boat with a MerCruiser 377 engine, to an outboard boat with a 300-hp Verado outboard, which is what the club wants,” said John Walker, chief executive officer of Baja. “As it happens, we were in the process of doing that.”

While the club offers a variety of deck boats, center consoles including Pro-Line models (another brand under the Baja Marine manufacturing umbrella) and cruisers, the open-bow 247 Islander will provide the closest thing it has to a performance-oriented sportboat.

“This is a great boating alternative that we are very pleased to support”, said Walker in a press release from Baja. “We look forward to having Freedom Boat Club members use our products and enjoy boating in them all over the country.

“In today’s environment it takes creative, out-of-the-box thinking to get 8,000 boaters on the water,” Walker continued. “This is a program that we can get behind.”