People with no boating experience, BE AWARE.
This review is not meant to hurt the business -- this is meant to prep newbies for some things we wish the business had prepped us for. This review is intended for people who are new to boating, and who do not have a license other than the one HP Powersports will provide you for the day. There are some things that are likely to happen which will result in your $269 (+tax and fuel) rental turning into a $700(+) rental.
HP Powersports will not give a lot of detail for best ways to protect his boats - he is used to renting to experienced boaters. He talks very quickly, does not repeat much nor emphasize much, and focuses on how *not to get lost* ... **NOT how to protect his boats.***
It is VERY easy to damage the propellor blades on the outboard motor - ***you will not know you are close to the rocks and weeds.***
So when he gives you directions to just stay in the middle of the water-way, so as not to get lost - what he is also saying is, **DO NOT get close to shore AT ALL because there is a HIGH likelihood you will damage the prop blades and get weeds caught-up in the blades.**
At the time we rented a pontoon boat (Sept 2021), he had two boats available to rent and rented them in half-day intervals. That means there are max 28 rental opportunities per week. When we returned the pontoon, only to find the price inflated to $700 because we had apparently driven over rocks and weeds, he showed FOUR such damaged prop blades on the wall and said that we were the FIFTH to happen in ONE week. So, assuming he did not rent all 28 times in one week, it would seem there is almost a 20% (1 in 5) likelihood you will be paying $700+ for your 4-hour boat rental.
Perhaps your best bet is don't rent from HP Powersports if you have no experience and no license. Either that or stay in the DEEPEST water you can, and be prepared to pay **A LOT** for your 4-hour excursion.
With the small amount of instruction HP Powersports gave us, we wouldn't have done anything differently. We truly had NO idea we had driven over rocks or weeds. Unfortunately, it has left a pretty bad taint to what we thought was 4 hours of fun to see the Thousand Islands from the water ... only to find out the rental went from $269 to $700. read more