Rental Waiver & Terms

This Release of Liability, Waiver of Claims, Assumption of Risk, and Indemnity Agreement (the "Agreement") is between Madeline Holdings LLC, a Wisconsin limited liability company doing business as Scituate Adventures (200 E Verona Ave PMB 5023, Verona, WI 53593), including its owners, members, officers, employees, family members, agents, independent contractors, guides, and volunteers (collectively, the "Operator"), and the person completing the booking ("you" or the "Renter"). Rentals are self-service and honor-system at Driftway Conservation Park, Scituate, Massachusetts; there is no staff on site. In exchange for being allowed to rent and use the Operator's watercraft and equipment, you agree to the following. If you are booking for others in your party, you accept this Agreement on their behalf as well as your own.

1. The activity and equipment

You are renting one or more kayaks, sit-in or sit-on-top kayaks, or stand-up paddleboards (SUPs), together with paddles, personal flotation devices (life jackets / PFDs), and related gear (the "Equipment"), to paddle on the tidal waters of the Herring River and the North River estuary from Driftway Conservation Park (the "Activity"). The Activity is a recreational activity involving inherent risks that cannot be eliminated.

2. Assumption of inherent and other risks

Paddling on a tidal river and salt-marsh estuary is inherently dangerous, and no equipment, instruction, or precaution can remove these dangers. A participant accepts the risks inherent in a recreational activity of which an ordinary prudent person is or should be aware. You knowingly and voluntarily accept all such risks, which include, but are not limited to:

• Drowning, death, and serious personal injury;
• Cold water, hypothermia, and cold-water shock — New England coastal water is dangerously cold well into summer and can incapacitate a swimmer within minutes;
• Capsizing, falling off or out of the Equipment, and being unable to re-enter it;
• Strong, fast-changing tidal currents that can carry a paddler toward the river mouth and open ocean, and can reverse direction with the tide; sudden and severe changes in weather, high wind, fog, waves, and chop;
• Being pushed, blown, or carried far from shore; becoming lost, stranded, or separated from your group; and remoteness from rescue or medical care;
• Collision with other vessels — the estuary carries heavy powerboat traffic in season — and their wakes, plus docks, moorings, rocks, submerged objects, oyster and shellfish beds, and shoreline hazards;
• Sun exposure, dehydration, exhaustion, strains, sprains, cuts, and overexertion;
• Aquatic life and encounters with wildlife;
• Your own physical condition, fitness, swimming ability, fatigue, and errors in judgment;
• Equipment that may fail, break, or be lost, and improper use or fit of paddles and life jackets;
• The acts, omissions, or negligence of other paddlers, boaters, and third parties beyond the Operator's control.

This list is not complete; there may be other risks, known and unknown, foreseeable and unforeseeable. You choose to participate anyway and assume full responsibility for all such risks.

3. Your responsibilities as a participant

You agree to: (a) act within the limits of your own ability; (b) heed all warnings and instructions regarding the Activity; (c) maintain control of yourself and the Equipment you are using; and (d) refrain from acting in any manner that may cause or contribute to injury or death to yourself or others. A violation of these responsibilities is negligence on your part. You further agree that you and everyone in your party will:

• Wear a properly fitted, U.S. Coast Guard–approved life jacket (life preserver / PFD) at all times on the water — no exceptions. PFDs are provided in the black boxes at the rack;
• Be able to swim and be physically capable of paddling, or stay off the water;
• Check the weather and lake forecast before and during your rental, and use your own judgment — do not paddle in unsafe conditions, high wind, storms, or after dark;
• Stay within your ability and inside the estuary — never paddle beyond The Spit into the river mouth (New Inlet) or the open ocean;
• Check the tide before and during your rental and plan around it — currents strengthen near mid-tide and the marsh floods and drains fast;
• Not drink alcohol or use drugs before or while boating, and not use the Equipment under the influence of either;
• Understand that there is no lifeguard on duty — no one is watching the water, and you are responsible for your own safety and your party's;
• Supervise any minors in your party at all times — minors must be accompanied by a responsible adult;
• Follow all posted park rules and applicable local, state, and federal laws.

4. Fitness, ability, and equipment inspection

You represent that you are in good physical health, have no medical condition that makes the Activity unsafe for you, and have honestly assessed your own swimming ability and paddling experience. Because rentals are self-service, you have the opportunity — and the responsibility — to inspect the Equipment at the rack before going on the water, and you accept the Equipment in its then-present condition. If the Equipment appears unsafe or damaged, or conditions seem unsafe at any time, do not go out — return to shore and contact us for a resolution.

5. Release and waiver of negligence claims

To the fullest extent allowed by Massachusetts law, you release, waive, and agree not to sue the Operator for any claim for personal injury, death, property damage, or other loss that you (or anyone claiming through you) may suffer arising out of the Activity or your use of the Equipment and that is caused by the ordinary negligence of the Operator. This release applies to the Operator's own ordinary negligence.

This release does NOT apply to, and you are NOT releasing, any claim based on the Operator's reckless conduct, gross negligence, intentional acts, or any liability that Massachusetts law does not permit to be released. Nothing in this Agreement releases any such claim.

You understand that, without this release, you would have the right to sue the Operator for its ordinary negligence, and that you are voluntarily giving up that specific right in exchange for being allowed to rent the Equipment.

6. Indemnification

To the fullest extent allowed by Massachusetts law, you agree to defend, indemnify, and hold the Operator harmless from any claim brought by a third party for injury, death, damage, or loss caused by your own negligent acts or omissions, or your violation of your responsibilities under Section 3, while participating in the Activity. This indemnity does not apply to claims caused by the Operator's own negligence, recklessness, or intentional acts.

7. Voluntary agreement and opportunity to negotiate

You acknowledge that: (a) you have had the opportunity to read this entire Agreement and to ask questions about it before booking; (b) the Operator invites you to raise concerns or propose changes to any term before you book — call or text 857-242-1806 or email tim@scituateadventures.com, and we will respond and, where we agree, put any modification in writing; (c) you may choose not to agree and not to rent, and other options for paddling may be available to you elsewhere; and (d) you are agreeing freely and voluntarily, not on a "take-it-or-leave-it" basis.

8. Equipment care, damage, loss & card authorization

You are renting equipment you retrieve and return yourself. You agree to:

• Return all Equipment (boat, paddle, life jacket) to the same rack and location, and re-lock it with the cable lock as you found it;
• Rinse or brush off sand and dirt, and fully close and latch the storage boxes;
• Return the Equipment in the same condition you received it, ordinary wear excepted.

You are financially responsible for any equipment that is damaged beyond ordinary wear, lost, stolen, or not returned during your rental. You agree to pay the reasonable cost of repair, or the replacement cost of the item if it cannot be repaired or is not returned. By booking, you expressly authorize Scituate Adventures to save your payment method and to charge it for such repair or replacement costs, up to a maximum of $250 per booking, after we notify you of the charge and its reason. This authorization covers off-session charges made after your rental ends.

9. No guarantee of conditions

We do not guarantee weather, water conditions, or that any particular experience will be available. Rentals are self-service; Equipment is provided "as is."

10. Cancellations & changes

You can change your rental date or time using the reschedule link in your confirmation email, subject to availability. Cancellations with at least 48 hours' notice before your rental start time receive a full refund. Cancellations with less than 48 hours' notice are not refundable. To cancel, call or text 857-242-1806.

11. Minors

No one under 18 may book a rental or accept this Agreement. A minor may participate only if an adult (18 or older) accepts this Agreement on the minor's behalf, and that adult must be the minor's parent or legal guardian, or an adult expressly authorized by the parent or legal guardian to do so. By completing a booking that includes a minor, you represent that you are that adult, you consent to the minor's participation in the Activity, you accept the inherent risks described above on the minor's behalf to the extent allowed by Massachusetts law, you agree to the indemnity in Section 6 for your own and the minor's conduct, and you agree that the minor will be supervised by a responsible adult at all times, will wear a life jacket at all times on the water, and will follow every rule in Section 3. Massachusetts courts have generally enforced a parent's release of a minor's claims arising from voluntary recreational activities, but you understand that the enforceability of any release involving a minor depends on the circumstances and is not guaranteed.

12. Governing law, venue & interpretation

This Agreement is governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Any dispute shall be brought only in the state courts located in Plymouth County, Massachusetts. If any part of this Agreement is held invalid or unenforceable, the remaining parts stay in full effect. This Agreement is intended to be interpreted so that it releases the Operator's ordinary negligence only, and never reckless, grossly negligent, or intentional conduct. This is the entire agreement between you and the Operator about the release of liability and assumption of risk, and it replaces any prior oral statements on that subject.

13. Your agreement (electronic acceptance)

By checking the agreement box at checkout and completing your booking, you electronically sign this Agreement and confirm that you have read it, understand it, and agree to it; that you are at least 18 years old; and that you accept it for yourself and everyone in your party, including any minors as described in Section 11. Your acceptance, the date and time, and the version of this Agreement are recorded with your booking. You may print or save this page for your records.