ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – Members of a popular boat club with locations in Jacksonville, St. Augustine and Fernandina Beach say they were left without access to the boats they pay hundreds of dollars a month to use.
At several local marinas, Carefree Boat Club of Jacksonville boats have disappeared. Some say they have also been unable to reach staff or make reservations.
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Chuck Martoia said he discovered the problem when he tried to make a reservation for his grandchildren in St. Augustine last week.
He said he couldn’t get an answer from the marina, so he drove there and spoke with a worker.
“He said, ‘Oh yeah, they went bankrupt. They repossessed all their boats yesterday,’” Martoia said.
Martoia said there was no one in the office and no boats at the marina.
The News4JAX I-TEAM has not found any bankruptcy filings for Carefree Boat Club of Jacksonville. Several members, however, told News4JAX they were given similar explanations about the boats being repossessed at local marinas.
An attorney for the Carefree Boat Club network told News4JAX that the network itself is operating as usual and that the affected clubs are independently owned and operated.
The Jacksonville, Fernandina Beach and St. Augustine locations have suspended operations but no other Carefree club has been impacted, according to the attorney.
Correspondence was sent to members last Friday via email saying the network is stable and operations continue across the network.
The network is not a party to membership agreements between customers and their local clubs. Those agreements are with the individual local clubs.
That distinction matters for members who say they are still being charged hundreds of dollars despite being unable to use their local club.
Martoia said he was surprised when he checked his American Express account on Aug. 18 and saw another charge.
“I was surprised on August 18th, yesterday, when I looked at my American Express that they had another $432 on it,” he said.
His wife, Diane Martoia, said the couple had been members for years and did not expect the club to suddenly stop operating.
“We had been with them so long we just didn’t think that they would go under,” she said.
According to the Carefree Boat Club network, billing for network fees for members at clubs that have suspended operations was stopped as of Aug. 14. Members do not need to take any action for that suspension to apply.
However, the network said that suspension applies only to Carefree network fees. It does not suspend monthly membership dues owed to the local clubs under their membership agreements, which can exceed $400 a month.
The network said members’ accounts and reservation accounts remain active and members can make reservations at any Carefree location that remains open. The closest locations to Jacksonville are now in Daytona Beach and St. Marys.
Carefree Boat Club network also said ownership of the network returned to its original founder in March. The network is made up of independently owned and operated clubs that operate under license agreements.
According to public records, Carefree Boat Club of Jacksonville LLC is owned by Nicholas A. Mastroianni III. Mastroianni acquired the entire Carefree Boat Club network as CEO in 2023. The network later returned to its original founder, while Mastroianni appears to have retained ownership of the Jacksonville-area clubs.
News4JAX has reached out to Mastroianni and his attorney, as listed in corporate registration records, for answers about what happened to the local clubs and what it means for members who continue to be charged. We have not yet received a response.
For members like the Martoias, the immediate concern is getting answers and figuring out what happens to the money they have already paid.
Diane said the lack of communication has been particularly frustrating.
“I just feel like he was just dishonest and he just didn’t communicate,” she said.