Washington D.C. Freedom Boat Club Opens

Freedom Boat Club’s Washington, D.C. location is the first membership-based boat club in the area to provide services for getting back on the water. Modified procedures will be implemented that could signal how boating rental and membership operations will work in the COVID-19 era.

Banned in Maryland

In the District of Columbia and in Virginia, recreational boating activity is allowed as long as social distancing rules are followed. Freedom Boat Club D.C. worked with the D.C. Harbor Patrol to develop a comprehensive approach to complying with the restrictions at the club’s headquarters at The Yards Marina.

Recognizable Rules

The harbor patrol’s guidelines for boating sound similar to those in other states. Only family members from the same household can be together in a vessel. Additionally, the club’s plan is that only one group can dock at any given time with six or fewer people on board. They all must be members of the same family.

The club operates four boats and only one can be reserved per day. Boats will be disinfected before and after each use. All deck staff wear gloves and masks and the club members must sign a waiver when they take out a boat.

Since the club re-opened last Saturday, management said that every boat has been booked. Members of the Annapolis club have access to the D.C. location and they have been taking advantage of it being open. Recreational boating is still banned in Maryland.