Slip vs. Trailering

[hostage]

I bought the boat on Sunday and I am trying to figure out what to do. I already spent about $700 on my SUV (MDX) to get it properly equipped to tow my boat. The dry storage which is right next to the bay, but about 6 miles from the launch I am looking at costs about $30/month to store. The cheapest Marina I contacted said it was about $750 for the season to store, but he also warned me the water level is low. Another marina on the bay quoted me $1450 There is a boat launch across the street from the storage place, but I need to ask them if they have a season launch pass. None of the Marinas include trailer storage.

From what I have read, you save time and get bathroom facilities etc. Though it costs more, you boat hull gets grime on it and you should paint the bottom of your boat. My boat does have a head, though it doesn't seem that much fun to clean it out.

Cost of Towing
GAS & Wear/Tear on SUV = ?
Season Launch Pass = $100
Dry Storage for year = $360

Cost of Slip
Slip Rental = $750
Winter Storage = $210

Edit: The cost for season launch for the place across the street is $275.

[amanphoto]

The bay is really low. Be careful. My choice is to trailer. Take it home clean it up and putter with it. Also remember your paying marina gas prices vs. gas station prices. But beware of ethanol (kwick fill in our area is ethanol free). How many times are you going to launch it? Cost of launches all season vs slip. How far away from the bay do you live? I live less then a mile from the bay so Its a no brainier. Also the birds are going to make a mess out of the top, the lake is going to make a mess out of the bottom. Just my two cents.

[hostage]

Cool, another Rochester person. I work in Webster at Xerox, though I live in Fairport. Ideally I would like to use it a couple times a week. If I put it into a slip I am pretty sure I would use it more. The Sea Breeze launch costs $100/season to use, but it is all the way up at the northern part of the bay. My boat is currently being stored at a place across the street from Bazil/South Point Marina. I do admit it feels a little scary crossing traffic w/o a light on Empire Blvd. South Point's yearly launching fee is $275, but I am unsure if that includes bathroom facilities etc. Any idea if there are public bathrooms near the Sea Breeze Launch?

[amanphoto]

I launch at Mayers on the Webster side. Its $5 a launch no season pass. They have a public bathroom. I think all the launches have a public bathrooms. I think the Irondequoit one also has a bathroom, its a state park.

[amanphoto]

I think mayers is $50 a foot for the season. Not sure of what you have for a boat.

[hostage]

19ft Maxum Cuddy w/ 4.3L I think it is about 2800lbs

[hostage]

Hrmm...Where is Mayers, how many launches do they have, and how are their bathrooms? I haven't checked out Sea Breeze's bathrooms though public bathrooms in state parks, never tend to be that clean.
Thanks again!
-Hostage

[Home Cookin']

guaranteed you will use it more if it's in the water. Then go find a cheapo place for the trailer since you will seldom need it.

If you really time it from actual start (in the car at the dry storage) to absolute finish (motoring away from the ramp) it will take close to an hour to launch and another to haul and return to storage (from touching the dock to leaving the gate). 2 hours 2c a week for 12 weeks this summer is 48 hours of lost boating time. And if you don't have those extra 2 hours of "shoulder" time you won't go out for an hour. Great thing about being in the water is those short sunset or morning cruises.

Boating is a luxury and you have to pay for convenience. Conversely, if you save enough money, you will hate boating. Seek the middle ground!

[bhammer]

I am a fresh water guy... I have done both. I like the slip better. I used to have a lift at the slip so the bottom stayed dry. Our family used the boat more too. I would just pull the boat to go get gas and deep cleanings. I am not in a slip now, but will be back as soon as I can.

Me personally, I don't think you can do a cost comparison and make it make sense. It is going to be what works best for you.

[DuckHunterJon]

Tips from another Xerox resident - I'd trailer it. There's much more boating around besides I Bay. Pultneyville, Sodus, East, and Port bays, and all the Finger lakes. Why limit it to just Irondiquoit. I too have launched at Mayers, $5. Just be real careful as I have hit bottom in front of the launch a few years back and the water was higher than it is now. Just ask the folks in the store of any areas to be aware of. There's only one ramp, but I've never seen a line there. Hope that helps.

[DuckHunterJon]

Also, if you get a chance, can you pm or email me on what year MDX and how it does towing? We have an 07, and will be using it to tow the new boat (if we ever get it!). Just curious how it works if it's a post 07. Thanks.

[jmarty10]

The river I boat in is 2 miles from my house. I was keeping my boat 20 minutes away at a marina up river that was very reasonable as far as cost. The problem with that was by the time I got all the stuff loaded in car and the 3 kids in the car, it wasnt worth the trip up to marina to prep boat and go for an hour. I want to go boating at night after work. Nobody on river. So this year, I keep my boat at the marina thats 2 minutes from my house and we have already been on water 3 times. It cost $375 more to use this marina but the convenience is totally worth it.

This new marina has slips but I opted for in/out service. I call them up and they put my boat on water at ramp. When I'm done, I dock it and they load the boat for me the next morning. So I basically have a slip and dont have to keep it on water all the time.

Now, I could keep the boat on the driveway and trailer it in the water at $20 per crack, but who wants to do all that after work. I'd save about a grand per year trailering if I use the boat 20x's per year. I would go for the slip or ask them if they have dry rack/ in/out service.

[hostage]

Jon - I sent you a PM.

[mjgates]

Dry is better for the boat. Boats are meant to get wet, not stay wet. That is advice straight from both marine surveyers I have hired in the last 11 years. That said, I slipped for a couple years for convenience reasons and never had any problems, but I can definately tell dry docking is better on my boat than the slip. That is, or else you have a lift.

[Home Cookin']

well it's also better to keep a car in a garage when not in use, so you could say "cars are made to go outside but not stay outside." So while what you say is true, the option of keeping a boat in the water is not so bad. f course some boats handle the weather better than others--just like cars. So a large part of the boat buying and storing question is driven by the type of boat. Mine, because I keep it outside, is made to stay outside.

[JimS123]

UV will take its toll on the finish and upholstery. Water will blister the hull unless its painted with anti-fouling paint. Water in the boat (lets face it, covers leak, even if only a little) will eventually rot out the stringers and floor.

A boat that is stored dry and out of the sun (and properly maintained) will literally last a lifetime.

My neigbor's 5 year old boat sitting in the driveway looks like crap. My 58 year old woodie in my garage looks like new.

Your choice.

[CHAWK46]

I'm putting mine in Friday and it will live at my dock until late Sept. This is at an Adirondack lake any we do get brown slime. When I pull it out for the year I hit it with my pressure washer, scrub it, hit it again then wax and buff it. Good to go in the spring.

[hostage]

A lot of good points, I am thinking of doing the $275 yearly ramp pass at Southpoint Marina. I know the Seabreeze is $175 cheaper, but my boat is stored about 500ft from the boat ramp at the storage facility across the street for $30/month. It sure beats driving 12 miles round trip with a boat in tow. As well as there are no lines since most of the people who use the ramp have a slip there. So long as their facilities are included in the price: i.e. bathroom, wifi then I think I am sold. The g/f was really impressed by the bathrooms which were Spa Quality.

It is almost equivalent to a dry birth with ramp and facilities access. Not bad imho for a little over $600 including yearly storage.

[Home Cookin']

sounds like a good deal. Have fun!

[kenmyfam]

We do the "combo deal" Keep the boat at a local marina for convenience if we want to go out for a couple of hours in the evenings for $350 per season but it comes out regularly when we head off to the cottage or go for camping weekends so it gets a power wash about every 3 weeks. No bottom paint, no need when it comes out regularly. price includes unlimited slip usage as well. Win win in my book.

[amanphoto]

Update.

We are now in a Slip and love it. When your launching 3 times a week it gets old fast. Found a nice place half way thew the season.

[Brewman61]

Where you are at makes a big difference. Public parking for trailers at all of the nice lakes around me is very minimal and goes away fast on weekends.
Plus the line of idiots at the launch make putting in and pulling out a real pain point. I'd take my slip any day of the week.
Yeah, there is likely some additional wear and tear by having it float so much but I bought my boat to use.
People who own boats that are too large to trailer and who live in the land where it never snows, keep their boats floating 24 X 7 X 365 for years. Many on salt water. I figure I'm only in fresh water for 6 months, then 6 months in storage. My 7 year old boat is in pretty good condition, considering.

[haulnazz15]

there are always pluses and minuses to each method. We have done both and have seen the pros/cons. The pros of slipping (especially with a lift) is that the boat is ready and waiting for you, so you only have to load up the car and go. The downside is mainly security, in addition to cost. I can keep a close eye on my boat when it's at home, but we've had watersports equipment stolen, as well as several hundred dollars worth of batteries (bass boat) and fishing equipment stolen. I have also heard of gasoline being siphoned from slipped boats.

Another possible pro to the slip is that you may have great neighbors to hang with around the dock, but they could be d!ckheads as well, so it's a double-edged sword.

Pros to the trailer is obviously having the trailer at home for security, also for always having the trailer available in case you need to make a repair that would otherwise be inaccessible in a slip. It's all in how you look at it, and the size of the boat can be a major factor as well. I don't mind towing 20-23 foot runabouts to the lake as it isn't a big hassle, but towing a 30'+ cruiser is a pain and isn't pheasible for most people without a 3/4-1 ton truck, much less getting the wide-load permits, etc.

[adam7]

I looked into keeping my boat at the marina, but it is way more expensive, especially considering I don't have to pay to launch it. Right now it sits in an open storage area for $55 a month that I'd need to keep either way because the marina does not have storage space for trailers.

$55 a month is $660 a year for storage either way. If I want to stay at the marina for a month it is $15/foot, which is $285 a month. 2-5 months is $252/month. I can see maybe paying for 2 months for a slip in the prime season for $500, but beyond that, I'm not so sure. Although I would definitely love the convenience.

[Brewman61]

Yup. Cost is something to consider. I pay thru the nose for my slip, but I know that without it, I'd boat way less often. Launching is free for me, but lack of adequate parking makes it a nightmare. Ironically, I live way closer to the public access than my slip. There are no pay launches on my lake, so it's either fight for parking or pay for a slip. It's that popular of a lake.