Slip with a lift or no lift....?

[Afun]

I keep mine in dry storage if I call ahead they can have the boat in the water for me. I am a little particular about the cleanliness of my boat just couldn't leave it on a lift due to said spiders and other critters. Also two marinas on Douglas have been trashed by storms I the past 3 years. Mountain Cove was completely destroyed.

That's why Mountain Cove is all new now.

[Tims]

More like 2 or 3 times a summer for me. We don't have power on our dock. So maybe once a month we pull the boat up to the house (about 2 blocks away) and clean things up, make any equipment adjustments needed, maybe even haul it to another lake for a change in scenery. At that point cleaning the hull involves getting out the garden hose & spraying it off, nothing more. I usually spend FAR MORE time vacuuming it out, cleaning the glass, removing any rub marks from the gelcoat, and just general cleaning.

We have 17 boats on our dock so inevitably we are all doing the same thing. And there are probably 200 other boats on the lake doling a similar process. In the 9 yrs living on this lake, 7 yrs on Sammamish with thousands of boats around, and 3 yrs on Lake Washington with who knows how many boats, I've only seen one case of hull blisters.... on a Mastercraft.

Not dealing with the lines or chaos at the public launch is soooo nice. I can ride my motorcycle or golf cart to the boat, far less wear & tear on the truck, and it takes minutes instead of an hour to get on the water. Every year we are the first on the water & last off. Riding after work when you only have an hour or two of daylight left is the best.

Here in TN where Afun and I boat, one month of sitting in the lake will take more work to clean than just spraying off. On blistering, while not likely, why take the chance?? Spending $3K for a used hydrohoist seems like cheap insurance on a $80K asset. Love having a slip for my boat and I use it much more often because of it.

[wakesetter8796]

Our lake in TN (old hickory) is terribly dirty. We get a white scum line within a couple hours. A neighbor's boat is in the water all the time. Looks terrible. The bottom is all brown and green... nasty! I could not imagine the 'Bu suffering the torture of not being on a lift or trailer.

[Afun]

Let me tell you just hitching the trailer up with a woman is a difficult process...it's either a marina or my divorce is looming

[Bill_AirJunky]

Let me tell you just hitching the trailer up with a woman is a difficult process...it's either a marina or my divorce is looming

I wouldn't ever ride if I were relying on my wife for things that simple. Get yourself a cheap rear vision camera.

Funny thing is my wife bought me one of these cameras for Christmas last year. After more than 10 yrs of practice doing it myself, NOW I have a camera.

[Levi900RR]

I've never had that much trouble hitching my trailer up alone... That being said, get that thing on a lift, you'll love it.

[Cory]

Yup--it's for the good of the family!

[Tims]

Let me tell you just hitching the trailer up with a woman is a difficult process...it's either a marina or my divorce is looming

My 2 cents. Look for the Marina that is the shortest distance from your house.

[Afun]

Anyone

My 2 cents. Look for the Marina that is the shortest distance from your house.

Norris Marina 13 miles away.

[ktrent]

Anyone

My 2 cents. Look for the Marina that is the shortest distance from your house.

Norris Marina 13 miles away.

As much as I love Douglas if I was that close to Norris there would be no question. Norris is awesome and one of the only reasons my boat ever hits the trailer. Other than winter storage.

Btw the point has dry storage also.

[Afun]

As much as I love Douglas if I was that close to Norris there would be no question. Norris is awesome and one of the only reasons my boat ever hits the trailer. Other than winter storage.

Btw the point has dry storage also.

I enjoy going to La Follette and eating at Shanghai Marina. Nice 30 minute drive. So many spots on Norris.

[Pnwrider]

I found a place that dry docks my boat. I make a phone call on my drive to the lake and they drop it in the water for me. The water is like a magnifying glass with the sun, one season I kept my boat in the water and will never do it again. Seems to fade red and blue hulls the worse...

[Levi900RR]

If you can get over the idea that your boat is going to be a showpiece every single time you go boating you'll do just fine. If you can't.....don't moor it........at all. A lift is only going to allow you to avoid a scum line, that's it. It ain't gonna make packing a vacuum, extension cords, glass cleaner, vinyl cleaner, towels, paper towels, wax, etc down to your slip any easier .....

Anyway, just my 2 cents

I agree 100% with this last paragraph. My boat sits on a covered lift all summer. It doesn't get a ton of crap on the hull but it DOES NOT look brand new by the end of the season. Last year I took a day off from work and pulled the Skier to do a full detail on it. This year with my new job I've not had that chance. Every weekend I think to myself... Should I pull the boat and clean it this Saturday? Or go out on it and use it. Needless to say I haven't detailed it yet. BUT I know when I pull it this fall its a half a day away from looking brand new again.

Don't get caught up with cleaning your boat more than you use it. Its an easy thing to get addicted to.

[Afun]

I agree 100% with this last paragraph. My boat sits on a covered lift all summer. It doesn't get a ton of crap on the hull but it DOES NOT look brand new by the end of the season. Last year I took a day off from work and pulled the Skier to do a full detail on it. This year with my new job I've not had that chance. Every weekend I think to myself... Should I pull the boat and clean it this Saturday? Or go out on it and use it. Needless to say I haven't detailed it yet. BUT I know when I pull it this fall its a half a day away from looking brand new again.

Don't get caught up with cleaning your boat more than you use it. Its an easy thing to get addicted to.

I look at it more than I clean it. I think I could enjoy it a little more if I did not care about how dirty it could get. Edited August 16, 2013 by Afun

[jtrovato]

I agree 100% with this last paragraph. My boat sits on a covered lift all summer. It doesn't get a ton of crap on the hull but it DOES NOT look brand new by the end of the season. Last year I took a day off from work and pulled the Skier to do a full detail on it. This year with my new job I've not had that chance. Every weekend I think to myself... Should I pull the boat and clean it this Saturday? Or go out on it and use it. Needless to say I haven't detailed it yet. BUT I know when I pull it this fall its a half a day away from looking brand new again.

Don't get caught up with cleaning your boat more than you use it. Its an easy thing to get addicted to.

I have to 100% agree with everything you said about cleaning the boat. Right now, it's about as dirty as it's ever been, but every time I get a chance to clean it, I say the same thing. Do I want to waste a beautiful day pulling it out of the water, cleaning it, then running it back down to the marina, just to let it get dirty again in 2 weeks? Or should I just take the family down, take the cover off, and go have some fun and make some memories? Not a very tough decision for me! At the end of the season I can have it looking new again in about 3-4 hours. You're just not going to be driving a freshly cleaned boat every weekend. And really, the only thing that looks dirty is the hull below the water line. We wipe the seats down every time we use it before we leave, so the interior is clean and nice.

[TrickyNicky]

Afun: I totally agree that a lift is a beautiful bonus. Lots of benefits. At the same time though, don't feel like it's an absolute must. There are millions of beautiful boats that sit in salt water year round, year after year and are just fine. My boat spends 6 months of the year, every year in the (fresh) water......... and while the hull looks like dog doo during the season, it cleans up just fine. No acid wash, no special cleaning process, just get a washmit, a couple buckets of soapy water, and a little bit of elbow grease and the thing looks good as new. Of course you've got to wax it too, but that's the same for any boat. Also, if you're in a slip there is no reason your boat would break free or have rub marks. Center the thing in the slip and tie it up: done deal. No fenders, no nothin.

If you can get over the idea that your boat is going to be a showpiece every single time you go boating you'll do just fine. If you can't.....don't moor it........at all. A lift is only going to allow you to avoid a scum line, that's it. It ain't gonna make packing a vacuum, extension cords, glass cleaner, vinyl cleaner, towels, paper towels, wax, etc down to your slip any easier .....

Anyway, just my 2 cents

I agree 100% with this last paragraph. My boat sits on a covered lift all summer. It doesn't get a ton of crap on the hull but it DOES NOT look brand new by the end of the season. Last year I took a day off from work and pulled the Skier to do a full detail on it. This year with my new job I've not had that chance. Every weekend I think to myself... Should I pull the boat and clean it this Saturday? Or go out on it and use it. Needless to say I haven't detailed it yet. BUT I know when I pull it this fall its a half a day away from looking brand new again.

Don't get caught up with cleaning your boat more than you use it. Its an easy thing to get addicted to.

You guys are making me feel better. Over the year the boat gets progressively "dirtier" water spots, fading etc and I feel so bad looking at everyones "NEW" boat on the trailer. My logic has always been I'd rather use it than clean it. I too have the benefit that at the end of the season, one good cleaning and shes back in tip top shape.

[Afun]

You guys are making me feel better. Over the year the boat gets progressively "dirtier" water spots, fading etc and I feel so bad looking at everyones "NEW" boat on the trailer. My logic has always been I'd rather use it than clean it. I too have the benefit that at the end of the season, one good cleaning and shes back in tip top shape.

I always feel bad just seeing people hang at their slip with their boat...

[jtrovato]

You guys are making me feel better. Over the year the boat gets progressively "dirtier" water spots, fading etc and I feel so bad looking at everyones "NEW" boat on the trailer. My logic has always been I'd rather use it than clean it. I too have the benefit that at the end of the season, one good cleaning and shes back in tip top shape.

I definitely think we are the minority in this community! Time is sacred when you have a 4 and 1 year old!

[Levi900RR]

Clean your boat, take a picture. Use that to look at all year. Rack up the hours on it while you can!

[RLPBL]

Clean your boat, take a picture. Use that to look at all year. Rack up the hours on it while you can!

I agree 100% with this statement. I have some fading on my dark blue hull from previous owner who kept boat in the slip for 1 summer. This year I made a pact with myself that I would finally spend some serious time and get er all shined up... Got half of the boat done and quit. I just can't justify spending all that sun time when I could be out riding. Do I want my boat to look good? Yes.. but i'd rather enjoy it all summer. I'm alot less worried about what the boat looks like from the street than what it looks like from 70 feet back behind a handle.

Having said all that, I spend half my summer down south, and half up north. Down south I trailer the boat, up north I keep it on a lift at our lake house. I won't leave the boat tied to the dock over night. Mainly, the water gets rough at times and I sleep a whole lot better knowing the boat is up and out of harms way.

Downfall to the lift though is it makes wiping er down after using it alot harder. Plus, its not easy to find a few friends to help you take your lift out in October when the water is 50 degrees...

[Levi900RR]

Plus, its not easy to find a few friends to help you take your lift out in October when the water is 50 degrees...

No doubt... I usually pull my lift mid September and run the boat off the trailer for the rest of the summer. Nothing worse than fighting the lift and docks in freezing cold water. I actually pulled my mooring one year while it was snowing. I vowed to never do that again.

[Joeprunc]

After having a slip and hoist for the past two years, I will never trailer my boat to my local water hole. I can still take the boat out and trailer on occasion, but it is really nice to avoid towing, launching, launch fees, and everything else that goes with towing. And it is SOOOO easy to take out and go, hell last night my wife got off early so we just dropped the boat in the water and went out for an after work ski, and back in the house before 7pm.

Where we are the water is filthy, you get a ring within 8 hours of sitting, I would never keep my boat in the water unless it was a 30+' cabin cruiser. But some of the clearer watered lakes take quite a while to develop a ring of scum. Having a hoist makes it easier to load and unload the boat, wipe down, and do general maintenance than if it were on the water. Our marina also offers dry dock storage, its pretty slick, they have cubbies 4 or 5 boats high and use a giant fork lift straight from the cubby to the water, or they can put your boat on a stand so you can do maintenance or load/unload. A downfall is during the summer they close at 8pm (winter pm) so if you are out riding past that, you have to tie off and they will bring your boat in the next AM. I think they charge $10 every in/out. If our house did not come with a boat slip, I would definitely have my boat at the dry storage.

Also something to think about, marina gas is generally more $$. We fill up 5 gal jugs and bring them to the boat instead of buying gas from the marina. You will save gas $$ on not towing, but around here you will pay around $1.00 more per gallon on the water.

Edited August 16, 2013 by Joeprunc

[BlastRlxi]

I enjoy going to La Follette and eating at Shanghai Marina. Nice 30 minute drive. So many spots on Norris.

We've noticed that the food quality at Shanghai seems to have fallen off a little lately. We prefer the food at Sequoyah Marina. Check it out if you haven't been there.

As far as the lift, definitely get a lift to store your boat at a marina. I would highly recommend Lifetime Docks and it's owner Tom Lejeune. He will put in a HydroHoist lift for you. We have had great luck with ours and I don't miss lanching and recovering at all!

[Levi900RR]

Also something to think about, marina gas is generally more $$. We fill up 5 gal jugs and bring them to the boat instead of buying gas from the marina. You will save gas $$ on not towing, but around here you will pay around $1.00 more per gallon on the water.

I carry a 6 gal VP race fuel can down to the boat everytime I go out. I only have to fill up on the lake a few times a year.