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Q for those wtih docks/wet slips - winter?


67King

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What do those of you with wet slips or covered docks or whatever do in the winter? When we had our boat in a wet slip, we left it there, as did about every other boat in the marina. We bought a lakehouse towards the end of last Summer, and had to build a dock, which was completed over the winter. I noticed last year that many of our neighbors, but not all, pulled their boats out of the water for the winter. Supra next to us, and the Mastercraft across the cove pull out their boats, and I have no idea what they do with them, but they've both done it this year.

CUrious to know what others do, and if you pull it off teh slip, why? I can't provide any better weather protection than what I have (and I don't have a trailer, anyway). I don't see what is gained by pulling the boats off of the slips, and putting them who knows where. What am I missing here?

Oh, and for clarification, the docks in question are all fixed/not floating. Our lake only drops about 4' over the winter, so it isn't like one of the ones where the dock ends up sitting on the ground until the Summer (i.e. NOrris/Douglas).

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Does the lake freeze? Is the lift still in water when it freezes? I assume that ice will destroy anything left in it, so all of our gear is pulled out of the water before freeze.

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Does the lake freeze? Is the lift still in water when it freezes? I assume that ice will destroy anything left in it, so all of our gear is pulled out of the water before freeze.

No, lake does not freeze, and the neighbors I mentioned, like I, all have fixed docks, so the hoists are cable/dock mounted, rather than Hydrohoist style.

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Your dock sounds like the ones here on our lake. I'd say 99% of the boat owners here leave their boats on the lift over winter. They are all winterized and covered plus under roof. If you have direct afternoon sun exposure you should have a skirt on that side of your cover to keep the gel in good shape. The only time we take our's off and store it onshore in covered storage is if the lake is getting low enough that we may not be able to get off the lift to use the boat before the water comes back up.

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Your dock sounds like the ones here on our lake. I'd say 99% of the boat owners here leave their boats on the lift over winter. They are all winterized and covered plus under roof. If you have direct afternoon sun exposure you should have a skirt on that side of your cover to keep the gel in good shape. The only time we take our's off and store it onshore in covered storage is if the lake is getting low enough that we may not be able to get off the lift to use the boat before the water comes back up.

What he said.

Living in Texas, we really don't have a lot of risk of long power outages and low temp. I don't winterize; I simply throw a 200W heater on the boat for cold days/nights. We take the boat out for a cruise year round (+ New Years ski run).

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I Have a fixed dock with a motorized lift. I winterize, take all of the removable cushions out of the boat and store them in the house, cover it well and leave it on the lift for the winter.

I have one of those "extended" covers from skiboatcovers.com that hangs all the way down to the bunks of my lift. So the entire gel coat on the sides is protected from Sun exposure.

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Thanks for the feedback, good to know I'm not missing anything. I certainly do winterize the boat, and will likely do what I did on the Axis, install in line valves and petcock valves, which makes draining out all of the water a breeze.

Dock faces almost due north, and our lot is on a pretty big hill with lots of mature trees. So the only time the boat ever sees any kind of direct sun is late afternoons/early evenings close to the Summer solstice. Won't even come close to seeing direct sun in the winter. I have no idea why the guy next door to us pulls out his Supra, his dock scenario is almost exactly like ours, i.e. no direct sun. Guy across teh cove with the Mastercraft does get some sun, at least in the Summer. But it is an older one (Pro Star I'd guess 190), and he doesn't seem to be as meticulous (i.e. no cover, never pulls it more than a few inches out of the water).

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Granted I've never lived lakeside but I'm not sure I'd sleep as well at night knowing my baby was outside, exposed to the elements and being left unattended for months at a time.

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We pull ours and put in on the trailer and into the garage. Even covered / under roof, there is exposre to the elements and I will avoid that if I can. Plus its a much more secure location being locked in the garage vs in the open on the lift. Thats important since we dont get down to the lake much during winter.

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With the TVA system I would move it because the lake could drop on someone's whim. Im on the highest lake in the chain, Watauga, and one year BAM the water was down 27' that winter. It did come back up but many of the fixed dock owners didn't get their boats off for 2 years.

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Okay, so those reasons make sense as to why folks would do that. Don't really apply to me, though, as we're only 30-35 minutes to the lakehouse, so we'll spend time there over the winter, regardless. The garage unfortunately will not hold it (doors are too short and narrow). So the covered dock is the most secure place I have at my disposal.

Fort Loudon stays pretty consistent, presumably since it so much barge traffic moves through there. Winter level is 809 MSL, full pool is 813 MSL. Water is only about 4-5 feet deep there in the Summer, so the lift will sit on the bottom. If a scenario such as what happened at Boone Lake were to happen, I could come up with some way to get it down (e.g. back my flatbed trailer underneath it and set teh whole lift down on it). We have an old roadbed on our property that can function as a way to get a vehicle onto the lakebed. I do know what you mean, I had started looking into what it would take to get a Ski Nautique down this Summer, as a guy was trying to sell it dirt cheap with teh caveat of the buyer having to find a way to get it down.

Again, those do seem like sensible reasons people would pull down their boats, which is really what I was after, so thanks for the feedback on that!

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Your dock sounds like the ones here on our lake. I'd say 99% of the boat owners here leave their boats on the lift over winter. They are all winterized and covered plus under roof. If you have direct afternoon sun exposure you should have a skirt on that side of your cover to keep the gel in good shape. The only time we take our's off and store it onshore in covered storage is if the lake is getting low enough that we may not be able to get off the lift to use the boat before the water comes back up.

FYI, my response was for a dock where you live. Our's is right in our back yard. IF I wasn't living where the boat is, I would have a hard time leaving it unattended at any time unless I had very close neighbors that I knew would keep a close watch on it. Not because of the elements causing danger but thieves. There is always the chance of a cover getting lose and rain or snow/ice blowing into the boat if you're not there to put it back on. IF you try to depend on a bilge heater or even a light bulb during freezing weather, you may have problems with power outages. We rarely lose electricity but the few times we have is when power is cut by the power company for rolling black outs in severely cold weather for this area. If we were not here and had a power cut, there will be nothing to stop the block from being damaged. I understand the OP winterizes but there are times when you think you may get by. IME, it's better to take care of it when the temps are not in the single digits. It's not fun to try to winterize at those temps.

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I have a fixed dock, but I pull mine every winter.....part of it is reasoning listed above. I am about an hour from the lake. I am able to keep it in a buddy's barn during the winter along with his and 2 other boats. The barn is locked as are the trailers. The ones that store there have access. It's only about 3 miles from home. Helps me sleep better at night and it's nice to have access to it for upgrades, maintenance and repairs during the winter.

I left my previous boat, a Supra, on the lift one winter....I was always concerned and finding reasons to get to the lake during the winter to check on it.

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we have covered dock and lift, but the boat goes in storage over the winter. I'd rather not leave it out in the elements, just the cover alone would take a beating. Everyone with a pontoon around us leaves theirs out, half the stern drive bow riders leave theirs out. Every inboard owner takes theirs to storage. Our cove freezes solid for a couple weeks each year.

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Thanks for the feedback, good to know I'm not missing anything. I certainly do winterize the boat, and will likely do what I did on the Axis, install in line valves and petcock valves, which makes draining out all of the water a breeze.

Dock faces almost due north, and our lot is on a pretty big hill with lots of mature trees. So the only time the boat ever sees any kind of direct sun is late afternoons/early evenings close to the Summer solstice. Won't even come close to seeing direct sun in the winter. I have no idea why the guy next door to us pulls out his Supra, his dock scenario is almost exactly like ours, i.e. no direct sun. Guy across teh cove with the Mastercraft does get some sun, at least in the Summer. But it is an older one (Pro Star I'd guess 190), and he doesn't seem to be as meticulous (i.e. no cover, never pulls it more than a few inches out of the water).

Even if does not see direct Sun, covering with the tower down has benefits for outside winter storage.

post-26767-0-05459500-1445014502_thumb.j

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Even if does not see direct Sun, covering with the tower down has benefits for outside winter storage.

What's the price range on that? I have a 23lsv.

In response to the original question.....I leave my boat on the lift year round and don't even own a trailer. Most inboard owners in my lake leave theirs on the Lift in NW Arkansas.

Edited by superjet
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What's the price range on that? I have a 23lsv.

In response to the original question.....I leave my boat on the lift year round and don't even own a trailer. Most inboard owners in my lake leave theirs on the Lift in NW Arkansas.

The skiboatcover website has all the the prices and a lot of pictures of the various style covers.

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