I?m on a boat! There are plenty of ways to rent a vacation home in our computer-driven world, whether it?s rental agencies with an eye for architectural style or peer-to-peer platforms that focus on families. But one unique company is taking a new approach and offering nightly rentals on boats.
Launched in San Francisco in 2013, GetMyBoat is the world?s largest boat rental and charter marketplace, offering 75,500 rentals in 171 different countries. Similar to VRBO and Airbnb, GetMyBoat lets potential guests search and book boats from an app and also allows individual boat owners, rental shops, and charter companies a place to list their watercraft.
While there are lots of luxury yachts and sailboats for rent on the site, GetMyBoat also offers smaller watercraft like kayaks and jet skis. This means that if you?re staying in a hotel in San Diego, California, for example, you could rent a local?s single kayak for around $14 per hour. There are also boats for rent outside of vacation destinations like Miami; a quick search turned up several boats available for daily rentals in landlocked states like Colorado.
Courtesy of Get My Boat
The dining room of a 42-foot houseboat in the French West Indies available for rent on Get My Boat.

The most intriguing rentals are the overnight options. Boat rentals can come with or without a captain, so there are choices both for people looking for a charter and for experienced bareboaters who want to find th...