Two or three times a month, Tracy Burns and some of her closest pals head to the Balboa Marina in Newport Beach to set sail.

The boat trips are restorative on several levels for the women, most of whom have busy work lives. They provide a chance to breathe in the energizing sea air, watch dolphins play in their wake — and on quite a few occasions, just be silly.

Burns’ best friend, Desiree Horton, is a helicopter pilot for the Kern County Fire Department. Horton has become the goofy ringleader, organizing themed dress-up events for their outings.

The outings are all the more fun because no one has to worry about some of the details that come with boats — monthly payments, dock fees, maintenance, cleanup or even fuel. All that is handled by the Freedom Boat Club, a popular tenant of CRC Marinas.

“It’s actually better than owning a boat,” Burns says. “You just reserve one on their app and go.”

“‘Boating made simple’ is our motto,” says Andrew Hard, owner of a franchise of the club, which has five Southern California locations. “We have a fleet of boats that people can choose from, whether it’s for fishing, cruising, overnighting in Catalina Island or whatever you’re looking to do. We train you, and you pay a one-time entry fee and monthly dues that give you unlimited access to boats in more than 450 locations throughout the world.”

Boating from Balboa Marina is especially convenient, he adds. “The staff helps you bring all your gear to the boat. When you come back, they’ll unload and clean it for you. It’s really a high-end service.”

Supporting the boat club and neighboring businesses is CRC Marinas, a division of Irvine Company, which owns four Newport Harbor locations, including Balboa. “The customer service is the best of any marina I’ve worked with,” Hard says. “They stop by my office to say, ‘How are you doing?’ They even have a boat show to help us grow our business. No other marina does this for me, not even close.”

For boaters, Newport Beach is enticing for many other reasons. “We love going out of Newport Beach because the drop-off in the ocean floor is not very far out, and it’s a great place to find marine life,” says Patty Farrell, a Freedom Boat Club member, avid whale watcher and former president of the Los Angeles chapter of the American Cetacean Society.

The marina itself is an additional attraction, with its ample free parking and variety of dining options. “Just hanging out in the harbor is really fun,” says Burns, who enjoys having lunch on the dock at Billy’s at the Beach and watching kids learn to sail nearby. “I don’t drink, because I’m driving, but my friends love the mai tais there.”

Farrell prefers Sol Cocina, and Horton likes Tavern House, which both overlook the harbor, but they agree with the general idea.

“When you get out on the water, you get to really enjoy the beauty of bringing friends together and feeling like a boat owner, just pulling up to a dock and having lunch,” Horton says.

In between helping put out fires in Kern County, Horton is planning the next costumed boating outing. “It’s most likely ‘Gilligan’s Island,’” she says.

—Katherine Ellison