Why moor?

B

breausaw

New member
Most of us own a boat the is designed to tow on a trailer, so why would you moor it? My guess is you don’t have enough room in your yard, or you live on a lake or salt water bay and have beach access, or you just don’t feel comfortable towing a boat for long distances; just wondering. Granted the TomCat is a beast to haul down the road every weekend and I can understand the desire to moor such a vessel, but the rest of the CD models up to the 25 are quite easily towed.
Personally we have no desire to moor our boat in a slip, or store it anywhere other than our yard. We like to bring our CD home and pressure wash it, clean it out, empty the water, and spend the week getting it ready for the next weekend adventures; that’s us. The only thing we do last minute is load the refrigerated items in the cooler, put in the plug, do a last minute walk around and we are off; the truck is always hitched. We always top off the fuel tanks after every trip so it’s ready to go.
If we lived on the water and had a slip in our front yard perhaps we would consider mooring the boat.
After three seasons and about 600 hours on the motor, perhaps over a 100 nights on the hook, the bottom of our boat looks like new; I have only waxed the hull twice. Just don’t see the advantage or convenience of mooring our boat, seems like it would be a lot more work and the boat would suffer over the long term.
 
For me it's the convenience of having it on the water and ready to go. I have enough to do in terms of loading my dive gear :D

The Tomcat is actually easy to trailer. I seldom have the luxury of a buddy when loading or launching and have it down to a science for single handed operation. I relish the fact that I am in and out of the water in just a few minutes. Most of the time required is for me to walk from the truck to the dock to then drive it on the trailer.
 
I don't but I can see some reasons why people would.
1. No desire to own a tow vehicle
2. No place to put it the boat and trailer
3. Have enough money to pay someone else to take care of boat
4. on demand rack storage you call they put it in the water in one half hour.
5. No need for a trailer (see above)
6. Can't back up a trailer and can't drive worth a damn
8. don't want to have to insure the trailer
9. save money on tie downs
10. a place to hang out when you fight with your wife about how much money you spent on fishing stuff
11. cheaper to stay on boat than buying a house on the water
12. Love to spend money on bottom paint, dinks, dock fees, etc
13. can't stand to watch and wait for other idiots at the launch ramp
14. yelled at wife while launching boat one too many times.
15. thought saving on ramp fees would pay for bottom paint etc.
16. like hanging out with blow boaters hanging on the mooring balls
17. don't like trailing your boat to different destinations, might motor off the edge of the earth
18 especially like worry about the boat during bad weather
19. like paying high prices for on the water fuel
20. love bilge pumps
21. don't want to burn up the transmission in your Dodge truck
22. hate getting passed by Chevies :P
ok I'll stop, sorry i got carried away
D.D.
 
I paid for a slip for a previous boat I owned because I thought it would be easier for a variety of reasons.

-Living in a HOA, it was always a pain to have to put boat in backyard behind privacy fence. (This was greatly alleviated by docking, and my HOA was quite the pain)

-I thought I would go out more often if I was just able to jump on it and go vs. launching and retrieving. (this was true)

-I could hangout with all the boaters at the marina more often and have a place to sleep if I had an extra margarita. (didn't really work out like I had planned)

-I could keep it cleaner since it wasn't sitting under the trees in my yard. (OK, no tree litter, but I did get seagull poop, salt, and running rust.)

Painting the bottom was a pain and it was harder on the boat overall. I got my driveway covered in bottom paint that I spilled when painting it and took a ration of you know what from my wife for that. Then on top of it all, now I had to maintain the bottom paint. It took a ton of work to get it up to snuff when it was sale time due to sitting at the dock. Bad weather was a concern, and pulling the boat out for a trip (or bad weather) and packing it was not nearly as easy. Unless I have a liveaboard, I don't think I would ever do it again unless it is at my house and on a lift, and even then you loose some convenience.
 
Different strokes for different folks. The trailer(ability) is a big part of the flexibility of our boat... but, we do have a house on the water, with a dock right out our back door. And the boat is most functional on/in the water. And I am happiest when it is. No matter how fast someone can tow to the ramp, launch the boat, park the trailer, hoof it to the boat, untie the boat, and head off... it's faster, easier, and more convenient to just step on the boat, fire it up, untie, and shove off.

I understand both sides. I appreciate both sides. Nice to have a boat that allows each owner to do it the way they want. :hug :love :hug2 I dream of the day when owners of moored boats and owners of trailer-stored boats can put their differences aside and come together in peace and harmony. When the questions of "Why would they do that?" become smiles of understanding... and all the little children of the world can hold hands and sing in perfect harmony. 8)

OK, kidding aside... how do we like to spend time on our boats: on the water or on the trailer? What we're talking about here is time NOT spent on the boats. And I'm here to tell you, Bucky, that time NOT on the boat is time wasted. Yes, we like our trailer, but not so much that we'd rather have the boat on the trailer than in the water. With over 35,000 miles of trailering Wild Blue, she has more miles on the trailer than on the water... probably a function of the fact that we live SO far south that you have to drive for two days just to get out of the state of Texas. But, that's not the same thing as the boat just sitting on a trailer. Sitting? What self-respecting boat wants to just sit there??? No, your boat wants to feel free - floating on the water. Feeling the wind in her hair... OK, our boat doesn't have hair, but if it did, she would like to feel the wind. Maybe I'm digressing? OK, she likes to feel the wind through her radar arch... there, is that better? I'm just saying that: a boat is meant to float. Good God, man, set my people free!!! I mean, let my boat float. :lol:

The trailer is a convenience. They can take my trailer when they pry my cold dead fingers from it. (How may cliche´s can I get into this post?) It's a place to park the boat if you don't have water to park it on... OR, it's a way to get to some great water instead of endless passages or just dragging your boat across vast dry patches (which is REALLY hard on the boat, btw).

Ask yourself which is better: a boat without a trailer or a trailer without a boat? Some things just go together to make the whole even better... like peanut butter and jelly... ham and cheese... skinny-dipping and warm water. Did you know that some people drink Coke without the benefit of rum?? Am I digressing again?

See, this is what happens when your boat spends too much time on the trailer. We are heading for home and one of the first things we'll do when we get there is set our boat free from the shackles of her trailer.

Don't forget that the trailer needs maintenance... ask not what your trailer can do for you, ask what you can do for your trailer. (Not meant to be political)

Having said all that, we only visit the house a couple months a year these days. That's a lot of expense just so Wild Blue has a place to park on the water when we're there. I'm thinking we may change that situation. Anyone wanna buy a house on the water with a dock right out the back door? Where the water stays liquid all year? And you can wear shorts 360 days out of the year (365, if you're really tough)? A place where you can CHOOSE to have a trailer... or not?

Ummm... what was the question? :roll:

Best wishes,
Jim B.
 
Like Jim says but briefer, without the cliches, and w/ far less intelligent writing on my part.

Now what was that about Coke without rum?????? What is this world coming to?

Take care,
Dan
 
We keep the C-Dory in dry stack storage at Twin Bridges for a number of reasons. The boat is primarily used for commuting to a cabin in the San Juans. Trailering a boat up I5 every friday afternoon in the summer would get old fast. With dry storage, the boat is filled with a full tank and in the water ready to go when we get there. Dry storage is nice because no bottom paint is necessary and the boat is always stored indoors and out of the water.

We also have a Whaler that we use on Lake Washington. We've had it stored on the trailer and stored in a slip for the summer and much prefer the slip. When the boat is in a slip it gets used 4-5 days a week if the weather is nice. On the trailer it might get used once every week or two. Yeah, keeping it in the water creates extra work and cost (cleaning the bottom regularly, exposure to sun, bird poop, fuel dock prices), but it's worth it. We own boats to use and enjoy them, and I find that is easier when trailering isn't involved.

We don't have space to store a boat at our house, so whether or not a boat is on a trailer or in a slip we are paying a monthly "moorage" fee. If you could store your boat at your house it might change the equation, but moorage fees are cheap compared to the cost of buying more property where we live.

I have occasionally missed the opportunity for trailering the C-Dory to other places, and we may buy a trailer at some point. But right now most vacation travel has been either for skiing trips or international trips, neither of which a C-Dory is required for. But I have found lots of places where it would be nice to have the boat...if only it could be shipped across oceans cheaply!
 
linda and i have a covered slip, 16' x 40' located on the ohio river, actually just off of the ohio river. it's all about convenience for us! rain or sunshine, always a good time. this past weekend was on the cooler side with rain, we took a 3 hour cruise in the rain and it was perfect. got back to the dock and enjoyed good food and conversation with other dock neighbors, which brings up another benefit of having a seasonal slip, establishing friendships, adds to the boating experience. transit boaters are fun but 2 days later we forget who they were!
pat
 
We also keep our boat at Twin Bridges like 20dauntless and like it for the same reasons as they said.

There are a few drawbacks like the price of their fuel vs Cap Sante and the extra 30 -45 minutes to get across Rosario.

Now if somehow they could magically move Twin Bridges to Skyline.....
 
I haven't ever morred a boat but have kept one in dry storage and one in a wet slip. There are pro's and con to all the options. The biggest plus for me on the wet slip was being able to just go to the boat, turn the key and take a ride but when working on it that means five trips to the house because of the five tools I need and didn't bring the other four trips :)

For me, the a major plus for the boat on a tralier at home is that it is right here when I want to piddle with it. I do that a lot with the c-dory. I know I'm probably the ONLY c-dory owner that does this but I love my c-dory so much I'll just go out and sit on it, on the trailer, in the yard. When I dissapear for awhile Mary Jo will come out and say "what are you doing" : answer "nothing"

Roger
 
flrockytop":13lckkg6 said:
I know I'm probably the ONLY c-dory owner that does this but I love my c-dory so much I'll just go out and sit on it, on the trailer, in the yard. When I dissapear for awhile Mary Jo will come out and say "what are you doing" : answer "nothing"

Roger
Click to expand...

I am fairly certain you are NOT the only C-dory owner to do this. When I first got it, I camped in mine in the yard (ostensibly to "test" it out) and frequently the cat and I will just sit on bow at night and drink a beer and watch the stars.
 
DoryLvr":30linoiv said:
flrockytop":30linoiv said:
I know I'm probably the ONLY c-dory owner that does this but I love my c-dory so much I'll just go out and sit on it, on the trailer, in the yard. When I dissapear for awhile Mary Jo will come out and say "what are you doing" : answer "nothing"

Roger
Click to expand...

I am fairly certain you are NOT the only C-dory owner to do this. When I first got it, I camped in mine in the yard (ostensibly to "test" it out) and frequently the cat and I will just sit on bow at night and drink a beer and watch the stars.
Click to expand...

Indeed, I go sit on my boat in dry storage 3 days a week and work -- OK procrastinate and then work. I bring 2 laptops, the iPhone, and a pile of books -- and have a delightful satellite office space. The dry storage is in the local boat yard, so there is always something interesting to see!
 
Jim - love your post! :)

For me; it's a convenience thing. It's just easier to drive to the marina, hop in the boat and cast off. I think trailering, launching, retrieving, trailering again will be enough added work that it will reduce the number of times I will be out in the boat.

Yes, there is the recurring cost of the slip to consider, but if I were to go the trailer route, I would have to a) buy a rig capable of pulling 10K lbs, and b) build a garage for the boat. The cost a 10 years of slip fees will be far less than those two expenses -- especially since I seem to totally over-engineer any project I undertake. :shock:
---
mike
 
The cost of mooring can be considerable.

I have two covered slips at Bridge Bay Marina on Shasta Lake that add up to $550 a month.

One is for the C-Dory, the other for my Sea Ray.

That's $6600 a year. Not all that expensive, but you need to be sure to make use of the boats to justify it!

Joe. :teeth :thup
 
Tortuga":vbylmtu1 said:
DoryLvr":vbylmtu1 said:
flrockytop":vbylmtu1 said:
I know I'm probably the ONLY c-dory owner that does this but I love my c-dory so much I'll just go out and sit on it, on the trailer, in the yard. When I dissapear for awhile Mary Jo will come out and say "what are you doing" : answer "nothing"

Roger
Click to expand...

I am fairly certain you are NOT the only C-dory owner to do this. When I first got it, I camped in mine in the yard (ostensibly to "test" it out) and frequently the cat and I will just sit on bow at night and drink a beer and watch the stars.
Click to expand...

Indeed, I go sit on my boat in dry storage 3 days a week and work -- OK procrastinate and then work. I bring 2 laptops, the iPhone, and a pile of books -- and have a delightful satellite office space. The dry storage is in the local boat yard, so there is always something interesting to see!
Click to expand...

I quadruple that, I love tinkering with the boat especially in the winter when its zero outside. I could not imagine leaving the boat 50 miles away in a parking lot or slip; I’d lose sleep at night worrying about it. Next year I am going to build a shelter over Triple J so we can extend our season, it will be nice to have the boat ready to go at a moment’s notice.
Yes, having our C-dory parked next to the garage were I can climb on board anytime, do maintenance, or work on a pet project is essential to my well-being.
 
I'd love to have BOTH for many of the reasons stated above.

Jim, hows the diving in Texas? I already wear shorts year round the warm weather would be a bonus.
 
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