dry stack storage?

F

ferret30

New member
We're trying to figure out where to moor our boat in Seattle. We're in Ballard, and would probably want to keep the boat in fresh water and go through the locks for cruising on the sound.

We've looked at a few marinas near the locks, both covered and uncovered, with and without power, etc. All are over $200/mo. My wife and I ran in to some people from Waypoint Boats (SeaSport's new dealer) last night and besides trying to sell us a new SeaSport :) and telling us Triton made our 2006 (nope), they told us we could do dry stack for $150 a month with free launch/retrieval.

This could be a good option with less wear and tear on the boat, but I was wondering if the 2 straight bunks used in most dry stacks would be hard on the hull. Also, it would be nice to be able to work on the boat, which is harder with dry stack...

What do you guys think?
 
Location and perspective... $200/mo +/- is a hot deal on a slip, compared to most places around the country. I like having a boat in the water - makes it easy to "get on and go" and there is a nice lifestyle in the right marinas.

Stack storage shouldn't be any harder on a boat than spending most of its time on a trailer.

My vote would go to keeping the boat in the water IF it is convenient to where you live and you would have time to use the boat. If the boat is going to sit for extended periods, dry storage would be my preference.

Nice thing about owning a boat - you have options. :D
 
Pricewise, you would be hard pressed to beat it. It sounds like a good location from where you live. Do you have to sign up for a year? If not, try it for the good weather months.
By the way, if I could live anywhere in the Seattle area, I would live in Ballard, unless, of course I could live in Fremont. :lol:
 
We have done both -- dry and in a slip. Being on the hard is definitely easier on the boat and much easier for working on the boat. That said, during the summer we prefer a slip. First, you can hang out on the boat, BBQ, have friends over, and so on. Second, you can come and go as you please. Most dry stack places have hours of operation that may not fit your schedule. It is a pain to return from a trip and have to wait an hour or so to be pulled out when it is busy (most places will lift you out without you there if you need to leave, but I'm pretty obsessed with rinsing the boat and flushing the engines after each trip). Or even worse to come back and not find a spot at the dock. But when winter hits it is nice to be dry and safe.
 
We've kept our C-Dory in dry stack storage (Twin Bridges) since we bought it and my only complaint is the diesel soot that collects on the boat from the forklifts. There are lots of C-Dory's at Twin Bridges, and I've never heard of a hull problem. We also have kept a Boston Whaler in dry stack storage for many years, and no problems with that boat either.

$200 a month for a slip strikes me as pretty reasonable in the Seattle area.
 
Don & Brenda;
Sea Angel is stored in 'dry storage'. It is within a large building, on padded bunks fitted to the hull.

Fire regulations prevent any batteries to be left on or power to the boats within the building.

A marina down the creek from us burned to the ground due to a boat fault within their building taking everything with it. All boats at our marina are required to carry a minimum of $300,000 liability for such an event.

As to the batteries during the off water times, I simply have Sea Angel placed on a work rack and hookup power to the boat, charging the batteries. I use this time to 'putter' about the boat, read, do projects, have a cup of coffee or tea using the Wallas for both heat and water and I may clean/wax as moved. I just 'play boating' while on the hard and it is too cold to get it wet. I generally do this every 3-4 weeks in the off season.

Hope this helps. It is cheaper for me at 25' length to be in the 'barn', verses the water by abt $940/year due to the minimum dockage lengths, at annual rates. For this difference I can plan a little ahead and have a 'night' launch' where the boat will be placed in the water before closing so I have its use off hours.

Art
 
I just switch the batteries off when I leave the boat and it goes into storage. Since the boat is inside a heated building, there's no need for pumps or dehumidifiers. Even after several months of sitting, the batteries have had plenty of power to start the engine.
 
At Hilton Harbor where we store our boat on the hard during the winter there is no covered storage, but we do have an electrical hookup so that we can run a small heater for the cabin and the battery charger to keep the batteries topped up. It's a good situation and allows me to putter around the boat during the winter. It's a wonderful man cave.
 
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