Tennessee has some of the best club boating in the country — Percy Priest, Old Hickory, Center Hill, Tims Ford, Fort Loudoun, Tellico — and one of the most common questions we hear is also the simplest: what does it actually cost. Here are the real 2026 numbers, including the ones for owning a boat here instead.
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Across our clubs, a one-time initiation runs $3,000 to $8,000 and monthly dues run $300 to $600, depending on the market and the plan you choose. First-year total: roughly $6,600 to $15,200. Every year after that, it is dues only — $3,600 to $7,200.
Those dues cover the fleet, the maintenance, the slip, the cleaning, and a dock team that has the boat fueled and loaded before you arrive. You bring a cooler. For the full national breakdown, see our 2026 membership cost guide.
Tennessee is not a year-round boating state, and that changes the ownership math more than most buyers expect. A well-equipped new pontoon or bowrider runs $45,000 to $80,000. Then the recurring bills start:
Stack it up and a financed boat in Tennessee commonly costs $9,000 to $15,000 a year to own — much of it accruing during the five or six months the boat sits wrapped on a trailer.
In year one, membership and ownership can overlap on paper. The difference is what sits underneath the number. A membership has no hull losing value through the winter, no slip bill in January, and no engine to winterize. Ownership has a boat that is entirely yours, on your schedule, rigged your way. Both are real advantages — they are just different purchases. The five-year picture is where the gap opens, and we walk through it in Boat Club vs Buying a Boat: Which Is Smarter in 2026?
Nautical Boat Club members boat on Percy Priest and Old Hickory in the Nashville area, Center Hill near Cookeville, Tims Ford in south-central Tennessee, and Fort Loudoun and Tellico around Knoxville — and a Tennessee membership travels, so a Nashville member can take out a boat at our other clubs when visiting. For the Middle Tennessee decision specifically, see our Middle Tennessee boat club comparison.
A club is not the answer for everyone. If you own lakefront property with your own dock, run a tournament fishing rig you have spent years dialing in, or trailer the same boat between lakes every month, owning probably makes more sense — and the off-season bills are a fair price for having your boat, your way. We would rather tell you that now than sell you something that does not fit.
"Love the boat club! easily one of the best decisions my family has made and way less expensive than owning a boat."
— Joseph DuLaney, Nautical Boat Club – Nashville (Google Review, 5★)
Less expensive than owning is the whole argument, made in one sentence by someone who ran the numbers on his own family.
Price the boat you want, add the slip, insurance, winterization, and five years of depreciation, and set it next to a membership. Then explore our Tennessee locations at nauticalboatclub.com/locations.
Don't buy a Boat! – Join the Club
