To trailer or not to trailer

[agallant80]

Well not exactly. The boat will be trailered but I am debating on how much I want to pull it. Currently the boat is at a storage place 3 miles from the local lake but I have discovered that I really like taking the boat out on the ICW. So my issue is do I leave the boat down by the ICW(150 miles away) and give up running down to the lake when ever I want or do I leave it where it is so I can use it at the lake when I want and just pull it down to the ICW when I want to go there. Things I am considering are

1. It costs $210 is gas just to get the boat from Raleigh to Wilmington, NC
2. If I leave the boat around Wilmington I will be spending only about $80 in gas to get there pull the boat to a ramp then go home.
3. I am not sure if I want to give up the ability to go to the lake when ever I want because its so close
4. Ware on the trailer. If I do pull it down to wilmington I will put about 350 miles on the trailer, I can see myself going down there every 4 weeks if I have to pull it but about every other week if I leave it down there
5. Swimming, I like swimming, but I don't like doing it in salt water so that is a +1 for leaving it at the lake.

So I guess my question is has anyone gone through this before? What are the general thoughts.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: To trailer or not to trailer

Leave it where you boat the most. I guarantee the 150 mile trip to the ICW will get old after awhile and that will result in less use and the boat is farther away from you so you now have less control over it. Nothing more annoying than driving 150 miles only to find the boat needs a repair that would have likely a better chance of detecting and fixing where it nearby.

 

[Bondo]

Re: To trailer or not to trailer

Currently the boat is at a storage place 3 miles from the local lake but I have discovered that I really like taking the boat out on the ICW. So my issue is do I leave the boat down by the ICW(150 miles away) and give up running down to the lake when ever I want or do I leave it where it is so I can use it at the lake when I want and just pull it down to the ICW when I want to go there.

Ayuh,... Simple,... Just buy Another boat, 'n leave 1 at each location,....

 

[agallant80]

Re: To trailer or not to trailer

Ayuh,... Simple,... Just buy Another boat, 'n leave 1 at each location,....

I did consider that option. Perhaps in a few more years.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: To trailer or not to trailer

The boat in question being a 25'.....I wouldn't be real interested in trailering that 300 miles round trip either. I think leaving it near the ICW and having a cheaper boat for local lake use would be a good compromise.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: To trailer or not to trailer

you have a brand new 25' Bayliner. That's a lot of boat to run up and down the road more than a couple times a year. Your trailer maintenance (incl tires) will be a factor.

Maybe bring it back to the lake area if you know you're going to spend a long weekend, or week vacation, there but otherwise leave it where you use it most.

there is no substitute for having a boat as close to home as possible and as close to the water as possible. Those who have done the trailer thing, and left a boat in a slip, know this. your case, however, is difficult; you have one foot on the dock and the other on the boat that's drifting away....

I may be prejudiced, but there's a whole lot more to do and see on the coast, more places to go and more variety of water and activity, than being confined in some flat old lake somewhere. It's like the difference of "outdoors" to a golfer or a hunter.

I don't mean to judge your decision, but for the benefit of others, I am confident that the difference in what you paid for a 2013 boat new, and what you would have paid for the same boat 4 years used, equals the cost of a second play boat.

Your situation is why many people keep their old boats, too. I know it's driven by storage availability and am always jealous of those who live in the country, or who have access to the corner of a warehouse or storage yard for cheap/free in town.

 

[agallant80]

Re: To trailer or not to trailer

Well I did not want a new boat but I had a 2011 stingray that I had to deal with and the new boat was the easiest thing to do. I love the new boat its what I have always wanted. I do agree that there is allot more to do on the coast than on the lake. The lake is pretty booring. you can cruse up and down it in an hour and then what? No resturants, board walk or what ever to dock up to. You are just out there. I was thinking of keeping my storage place in Raleigh and getting one down by wilmington so I have a place to keep the boat if I decide to keep in in Raleigh for a month or down at the coast.

 

[riptide09]

Re: To trailer or not to trailer

I live in MA but most of my boating is in NH. It is a 185 miles round trip if we go straight there and back. I have been doing this for 4 years. Trailering is getting old. The only thing that stops me from renting a slip is I like keeping the boat local because we do use it on the Charles River and Boston Harbor a few times a year. I feel your pain, a tough decision.