Water Sports Rentals

MITOC’s boathouse has equipment for canoeing, whitewater, sea kayaking, windsurfing, and surfing. Get on the paddle mailing list to hear about awesome trips! If you want to rent a boat or two for your own trip, read on…

Approval Process (activity chairs approve)

1. Become a boathouse keyholder (training held by boathouse manager) and drop off deposit checks (frequent flyer) at MITOC office.
2. For each trip that you want to use a sea kayak or take a canoe on a car, fill out a float plan form. For surfboards, fill out a surfing float plan form
3. As early as possible, email the activity chairs. Include where you want to go, any prior relevant experience, and your method of transportation. You must get approval from the respective activity chair to be approved to rent (applies to all restricted gear).

Rental Procedure (boathouse manager approves)

1. Once approved by the activity chairs, make an online pre-payment for your equipment, sending confirmation of payment to the boathouse manager and activity chairs. The boathouse manager will check you have frequent flyer checks then provide the lockbox PIN to access the boathouse key. Please let the boathouse manager know if you need a TIM ticket to access the boathouse (for non-MIT affiliates).
2. Go to the boathouse, use your PIN to unlock the key and access the gear rooms. Remember to leave the key in the lockbox, for other renters. Have a fun, safe, trip! Respect the boats and don’t let them get stolen.
3. Return and clean your boat and gear at the boathouse. Make sure to return your gear before your lockbox PIN expires!
4. Email the chairs and tell them how your trip went, about conditions of the boats and gear, especially if any boat problems or damage is noticed.

If you’ve never done this before, read on for…

More Details: Approval Process

1. Become a boathouse keyholder. To become a boathouse keyholder, MITOC members must complete boathouse training and then provide one hour of service to the boathouse once a year to maintain active keyholder status. Training sessions are held monthly, coordinated by the Boathouse Manager, and announced on the paddle listserv. If you became a keyholder last year, you can rent boats up to May before renewing your keyholder training.
   1. Drop off deposit checks at the MITOC office during MITOC office hours, prior to your trip. If you have current Frequent Flyer status, you may skip the rest of this step. Otherwise, because boats are restricted and expensive, we require you to deposit checks ($300 and $700 in value) to cover any damage or theft of boathouse equipment you rent. These checks are kept for one year, and you can rent (any MITOC gear) as often as you like without writing more checks.
2. Get certified to rent out the boat you want. Whitewater kayaks, sea kayaks and windsurfers are all restricted gear; only canoes can be rented out by all keyholders. The best way to get certified is to go on a trip with the appropriate activity chair so that they can make sure you have the skills needed to use the boat safely. Otherwise, you can email the boathouse-mgr listserv.
3. As early as possible, email the activity chairs with your reservation request and respond promptly to any of their concerns. Please try to email us a week in advance. Allow us a couple days to respond since we are busy and do this on a volunteer basis. As with other MITOC gear, each member can rent gear only for himself and one other person. Boathouse keyholders may borrow more than two boats so long as there is at least one MITOC member in the group for every two boats rented. Official MITOC trips also take precedence over individual rentals, so check that there are no conflicting trips scheduled on the MITOC calendar. If your reservation is approved, the boat house manager will tell you and authorize the MITOC office to rent you a key.
   1. For whitewater: we’ll want to know your whitewater experience (any recent rivers you’ve run, how long you’ve been paddling), who you plan to go with, and how you plan to transport equipment.

More Details: Rental Procedure

1. Make an online pre-payment for your equipment, sending confirmation of payment to the boathouse manager. Please let the boathouse manager know if you need a TIM ticket at this time. When your reservation is approved (based on your float plan, dates, gear availability, submitted frequent flyer checks and rental payment confirmed), the boathouse manager will email you and provide you with a PIN to access the lockbox that contains the key to the boathouse. Get your boat and gear from the boathouse. The TIM ticket or your MIT ID will tap you into the building and the key will unlock the interior boat storage room doors. If you end up NOT taking out your boat because of “prohibitive weather conditions”, let the chairs know as soon as possible, and you will be able to use the payment made for any future MITOC rentals (NO refunds will be processed).
2. Have a fun, safe trip! Respect the boats and don’t let them get stolen. Do NOT take the key with you – remember to always leave the key in the lockbox for other renters.
3. Return and clean your boat and gear at the boathouse. If the boats were used in saltwater, please rinse them off before returning them. Many rivers in New England have invasive species that should not be brought from one river to another, so please clean your boats (bleach allowed on WW boats and canoes). There is a sponge and bucket available in the sea-kayaking room. Also, please try to brush off any sand on the exterior of the boats. Life jackets and skirts also should be returned dry and have any salt or sand rinsed off. Return the key to the lockbox. A late fee of $25/day will be charged if you forget to leave the key in the lockbox.
4. Email the chairs and tell them how your trip went, about any boat problems or damage.

Boats

Surfing

Approver is the Surfing chair for the appropriate gear (boathouse-mgr@mit.edu)

Paddleboarding

The inflatable stand-up paddleboards and PFDs can be found in the MITOC office, and one does not need to complete the boathouse keyholder training to rent them. For approval to rent the paddleboards, email the Paddleboarding chair via mitoc-approval@mit.edu with details of the planned paddling trip.