TomR

Jane,
I agree with JeffreyBoy, it's a little more effort, lot less expesive, lot more flexable,you will be able to keep your boat cleaner and the best part is when you are not boating and you olny have a few minutes you can go sit on the boat.
I trailer a 28ft Scarab and it works out great.

GRH

I've found that the more accessible a boat is... the more I use it... Trailering is time consuming.... If its tied to a dock... its accessible... even if only for a couple hours at a time... when the Sun decides to shine for instance... but.. the boat suffers more abuse by being in the water all the time... Its a trade off... but I bought my boat to use it... so its tied to my dock Memorial day to Labor Day... take it out for a good cleaning around 4th of July... Amazing what Bottom Bully can do!

Nagivator

Jane...I too prefer trailering. We've had several different boats over the last 20 years and have tried all available means of "storage".We now trailer a 39'Ocean Express.You exchange one "work" for the other. Let's see:
Rack and Launch: You boat on their time. Once they close at night the boat stays out at the dock, windshield and outdrive damage are common,(they tried to tell us we did our damage) oil drips on canvas and of course waiting to get in water.
Slip rental:LOW WATER (greatlakes area)The wind can blow the water to the other side of the lake and BOOM your boat sits on the bottom and mud gets in your drive and you can't reverse.Theft.Bottom alge.
Trailering:Keeping the trailer in good road condition.ie.grease bearing buddies check lights, tire condition,How are you at backing a trailer in a busy marina? The best way to keep the bottom clean because you wipe it down when you pull it out of the water.There is no best way....Oh wait yes there is..Call your captain,tell him to stock the boat you're coming out

Hot Boat

Jane the best place near you is Whites marina. But I don't think they offer rack storage. The only place close that does have rack storage is Crystal Bay in Peekskill and some place down in Ossining. But I don't think they can handle a boat your size on the rack. If Whites was closer to me I would keep mine there. All the marinas down this way are private clubs that you have to set up and take out the docks every season. usually you have to put in 40 hours of work a year minimum. that's part of the membership. I don't have time for that. So I continue on trailering mine. You will find that as you get further down the river the more expensive it is. If you decide to get a hydro lift just make sure your slip will be wide enough for it.

Paul

Guest

Navigator said it all...

My boat stays spotless. I used to own a 35 scarab that sat on the bottom rack. Four boats above and once one of them leaked outdrive fluid all over my swim platform...it permanently stained it...

Scratches all over the bottom of the boat from the forks...

Hustling every sunday afternoon to get back to the marina by 5 pm.

I don;t mind the hassles of trailering. It's actually a lot of fun. Karen and I have launching down to a science. It's either scrable to get all your crap off the boat when the forklift takes it away or scramble at the ramp so you don't hold anyone else up. The bottom of my boat is spotless along with the rest of the boat. I waxed it last Saturday when it was 55 degrees and sunny. I get to check on it ever week or so, since it's sitting right outside. I love trailering.

Plus you get all the people coming up and asking about your boat....especially mine...

Sunsation 288

buck183

I just recently purchased a 26 Scarab and was stuck making the same decision.

Here's what I came up with.

Slip at local marina. About $150 a month. Bottom of boat always dirty. Have to buy lake gas at about $.60 a gallon higher than a gas station. Possible security issues?

Towing. Boat is always clean. I can use my free time during the week to maintain and admire my ride. I don't have to worry about someone else messing w/ it when I'm not around. I figure the added cost of trailering to be around $15 a trip for me.

All of this added up to trailering the boat for me.

Buck
#183

puder

trailering is a pain in the ass!!!! There are so many time i wish i codl ust drove to teh marina pull the covers drop alift and fire teh engein and be runngin in 10 minutes.

Trailering requires at least 2 hours prerp time. Between organizing the truck and all the stuff (towels food people ect)then hitchign up driving it there and finally launching. Then after you are done for eth day instead of putting it on et lift and cleanign it off and closing her up you have mess witeht trailer adn drag it home.

Granted actually driving withah boat is easy the processing cna be time consuming and a pain i eth ass. I woudl recommend having eth hoist AND the trailer. That way you can take the boat with you on vacation, to the mechnaic of your choice, gas station of choise Not just on water gas), you can winter store it wherever you want. But for normal fun usage the marina is the best option. You shoudl havea trailer and know how to use it though.

turbo2256

Most of the pro's an con's have been mentioned here. I have doneboth also best was renting a slip with a hoist behind some ones privite home. But I found trailering to be the best for many times go other places with the boat Benton Harbor one week Detriot River next Boyles Harbor next Travis City next Lake Monroe next etc. This way its alot easier to get to were I want to boat. Cheeper gas this way for truck and boat and more time boating were I want to that week. So many of my friends are stuckin a particular area. Its hard to cruse 300 miles and back in a weeknd to run on a lake somewere when your stuck in a marina.

Hot Duck

My last boat was a 28' Pantera. It spent it's life completely covered up on the trailer when not in use. My current boat is a 38' Cigarette and it too stays completely covered and on the trailer when not in use for all of the reasons mentioned in the above posts. Either way you have to drive from your house to the marina, so just take the boat with you. No big deal. I may be biased becuase I have a ramp 3 miles from home, but I would say to trailer the boat.

Griff

Pretty much all the pros and cons have been mentioned. If I had enough space to keep the boat at home on the trailer, I would. I used to when I only had a 20 footer. I live 10 mins from where I boat and I could have it gassed up and in the water by myself in 30 mins. or out of the water, wiped down, and back in the garage in 30 mins. After you do it and get a system it is very simple. I can do the same thing with my 24 Outlaw. Its no big deal to load or unload it. The only problem is its too big to keep in my driveway. I keep it IN the water and it is filthy in a week. I usually pull it out every 2 weeks to clean the bottom anyway and fill it up with cheaper gas on land. It is just as much work cleaning it as it would have been trailering it.
BTW DO NOT PAINT the bottom. It looks like crap, slows the boat down, and will decrease its value. My boat sat in the water for 100+ days a season(3) and I have no blisters.
As far as Hotduck's 28 Pantera, its now MY 28 Pantera. I plan on getting a lift for it this Spring. Although, I will still pull it out every couple weeks to fill it with gas as my marina only has 88 octane and I need 92. Also, if I know I'm not going to use it for a week, it will stay on the trailer at the marina.
I guess what I'm trying to say is it just depends on what you would rather do. Both ways involve some work of one type or another.