Temporary storage in Keys...

J

jbdba01

New member
I've been hanging about here for several years and have come very close to buying a Tomcat. After about 18 months, several near purchases, I ended up with a Glacier Bay 2670.

I seatrialed her in 20-25 knot winds and all I could say was wow - the beat down I was expecting never came. I'm sure there will be a learning curve on following/quartering seas, but what a ride compared to my 17' tri-hull.

All that said the seller is ready to move on and would prefer to have the boat off the property - he has 3 different types of boats. Well...2 now.

So I'm getting my trailer built out (2-3 weeks), but am in need for a temporary home - preferably dry until I can get the trailer.

The boat is located in Big Pine Key - so just about anywhere would do.

I've called 5-6 places, but cats pose certain issues for storage - plus it seems most places are booked up.

I have a place in Naples but a 100 mile journey in 18 knot winds really doesn't appeal to me right now - transports are doable, but not cheap ($1000 or so plus another $300 to store it for 1-2 weeks).

Anyone know of a place in the Keys that might assist/have an opening?

Thanks in advance. Hopefully I can be the black sheep in the family at a CDory gathering one day. I'll dock far away. :wink:
 
Nice boat.
The cheapest transient wet slips in the Keys is NAS Key West Boca Chico Marina at $1/foot per night including power and water, if eligible.
Very good security. Guys and gals with M-16's and tactical shotguns in the trunk and trained to use them.
The Best is Stock Island Marina at $90/night min.
You want a lift and dry storage now, and that's rare, if even available anywhere in the Keys. Your seller would know this.
You can store a boat on your trailer at Garrison Bight City Marina for $10/night, which is as cheap as I've found.
If you can, await a weather window for Naples.
If not, hiring transport service might be your cheapest option.
Good Luck!
John
 
I think that weekly rates are going to be hard to find even this time of the year. We spent a number of "Winters" at Knight's Key. The Resort is being closed down to RV and Condo's are going to be built there. However, you might try and contact the administrators and see if they will rent you a side tie in their harbor. From what I can see there are still some campers there, and the phone # is:
(305) 743-4343.

The trip from Big Pine to Naples should only be 4 to 5 hours--faster than you can drive it in your car or truck. With a little planning it should be an easy trip. (for instance right now the wind is averaging about 8 to 10 knots out of the SE over the next 4 hours) That is very do-able in the Glacier Bay 2670.
 
Thanks everyone...I'll give the folks a call.

If things don't work we'll make the run - not exactly sure when.

I think we'll have 1-2 hours of open water but once we get near Flamingo if the wind continue from the East it'll get better.
 
thataway":2cnhqe32 said:
That is very do-able in the Glacier Bay 2670.
Click to expand...

Meant to add this...we sea trialed her in 20-25 in the Atlantic and all I can say is what a ride. So much smoother than I expected. She's a much heavier boat than my 17' skiff. We got her up to 40 mph - calibrated on phone and chart plotter. Trimmed up I suspect she would hit 43 or so. There was some sneeze, but "the sea was angry that day my friend."

Bought her from a fella that had 3 boats and was culling out the herd - 300 hours on engines/boat. At 75 he was feeling that the GB was just one boat too many. Compression checked out and surveyor was really liking the boat.

I'm upgrading the F150 to a 2500 series or Tundra as well.

And so it begins...$1K here $1K there...it'll probably take 2 years to get her where I want her.
 
One other suggestion, I forgot to add to the post yesterday. There are a number of people who live in the Keys on "The Hull Truth". Post in the general boating section and/ or the specific Florida /Georgia. There maybe someone there who has a place at their house or knows of a marina where you could put the boat.
 
I would try Blackfin Resort Marina 4650 Overseas Highway Marathon Florida. Bayside 305 743 6417 they might have a decent price on a slip for a week or two. The launch ramp is pretty good if you wanted to load it on to a trailer. Less time across open water if you are going to run the boat across the bay and on up to Naples.
D.D.
 
Well...sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

I managed to do a planes, trains, and automobiles with my neighbor and moved the boat myself. Actually it was one way car rentals, uber, and airbnb.

We knew it was going to be a rough go in the Atlantic, but once we made it under the seven mile bridge it "calmed down" to about 15-18 knot winds. Took about and hour to get to the bridge. Really would have preferred to just start out on the Gulf side, but after talking to multiple captains and the owner the bridge it was.

The boat is a beast and really did nicely in white caps all the way. Crab traps every where from the Keys through the Everglades. Really kept us on our toes. Hard to see white buoys in white caps.

We tripled down on electronics, doubled down on life preservers, and took my spot. 1 hand held 2 mile range (that would have been useless because we only saw one boat the whole way) and a 25 mile VHF.

We had the hammer down and at one point hit a "smooth patch" (trimmed up we were skipping over the higher frequency waves) and were doing 30 mph. We hugged the shoreline and that cost us some time, but I was tired of being pounded by the much "bigger stuff" offshore. I'm guessing we averaged about 20-25mph in the Gulf. I'll do the math later.

Never quite got to the 40mph she'll do - probably because we were loaded down with full tanks (180 gal). Top we hit was low 30's - and that was quite brief.

Had a couple cat snap rolls, but I'll figure how to work out those kinks later.

Got "lost" in the Naples cut, but eventually found our dock 1 hour later

Probably the deal of a lifetime - 300 hours on twin 150's on a Glacier Bay 2670 - $28K. Very clean to boot. On to fixing her the way I want...

Thanks for everyone's suggestions. I'll continue to hang on the site, but will lay low on the GB post. No need to "muddy up" the site with non-CDory posts.

naples_zpsfvt4pmkf.jpg

2670_zpsvuvkazt9.jpg
 
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