We have a house on the water and the boat is in the back yard. Hope to buy a lift someday.:D

It's All About the Cash
 

I store my boat inside for $100 / month. I buy an Annual Pass to launch my boat at the local county park on Lake Travis (Austin, Texas) for $50 / year. I fill up on 93 octane between the storage place and the ramp. I buy ice at the same time that I buy gas.

This is the most cost effective way for me to go boating. I live 5 miles from the ramp, and the storage place and the gas station is "on the way" to the ramp.

Life is good in Central Texas! :D

Care to tell me why blocking the boat as shown in the diagram provided by Fountain is going to damage the bottom? Right now, it sits with a lot of pressure on the transom and the back of the step. If it's blocked so the step portion is supported, the pressure is better distributed.
I've talked to 2 new rack places going up here and both said they'd add blocks to the rack (not cut the rack) for better support if I wanted.

No hi and drys here in Richmond, so I trailer. It's not much of a hassle as long as you get to the ramps at the right time. Cost is between free and $7. I usually burn 100-200 gallons a weekend, so gas-cost savings can add up. Plus, I like to travel so I'd have to own a truck anyway.

Racking is definately the way to go if you use your boat allot. There are many boats I have scene over the years that just sit all of the time, I don't get why their owners foot the bill. I was the #1 in/out rat (pain in their ass) at my old marina for years. I would have them taking my Baja in/out evertime I wanted to do anything, "Set it on a rack so I can wash and vacumm, then I am going for a run so put me in, then I will want to be pulled out when we get back to change props, then I will want to go back in for more running, then be pulled out at the end of the day, and will be repeating this all summer long:D ". I save them the grief with my 42, I put in thursday or friday, and take out sunday, and maybe hit a wash rack mid week for cleaning and oil changes. For SOTW I will put it on the trailer and fill up at a station, or for any other runs where I need full tanks. Our service does not want the big boats with more than a 1/4 tank when lifting, so we fill accordingly on weekends, usually $100 splash and go gets us to see boobs and back Sat and Sun:cool: . My only ***** at our marina is because we are the biggest, and pay the most, does not me we get better service. On a busy Saturday I get there at 9-10 to beat the rush. You show at noon you will wait at least an hour. They just keep pushing us back to "Quickly" throw in a small boat, which turns into ten quickies, its all Politics:rolleyes: . But this would pale in comparison to the Barnem & Bailey event that dawns itself at every local launch around the country each and every weekend. I dont know if I could bear explaining a dozen times a weekend what, and how fast that "Cigarette Type" boat is to every fishing boat and Bayliner owner that is struggling with the loading of a twenty foot boat with an entire army of family on lookers, none of which have a clue of what to do while dad is yelling at mom to back it down a little more while Ma yells at the kids to grab the "string" and help Pa square the boat up on the "rollers". Midnight:cool:

Trailer
 

Put it on the trailer... If you care about your boat/investment.
The rest of the comments highlight the fuel thing, freedom to travel, and maintenance (flushing).
I know of one Maryland Hi Dry that put it's best work on display... They has a 33 Donzi with the step hull, that they managed to peel wide open with the forks on the lift. These idiots ruined a beautiful boat, and had the nerve to put it on a stand right out in their parking lot.
Trailer it. If it gets f'ed up it's your fault.
If your lazy and only want to boat in one spot, Hi Dry it.

Sonic Steve has the right Idea with the building and all. I just wish I had the money to do it.. I'd have to pay $800/month to get my 28 Pantera inside here in S. Florida...

Re: Trailer
 

Say what! :crazy:

I had a 23 Nova I trailered with a Ford Explorer now I have a 28 sonic and a Lexus so I keep it in a lift slip. Pretty $$$$ but with no truck or trailer at this point a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do:D

We are all defiantly in some different circumstances that would justify going either way. It sure sounds like some of you have some exceptional dry stack facilities.
I have done both with a different boat and just bought a trailer last fall for my present boat ending its time at the rack storage.
Some things I didn’t like about rack storing.
No one is going to take care of your boat the same as you would. How do some of them scratches and nicks get on the boat? Just watch a dock hand move someone else’s and not yours or you will want to hang him between the dock and the boat that he just carelessly smashed into.
When you return for the day there might be several boats ahead of you and you have to wait for them to be put away. If your lucky a work rack will be open so you can clean up your boat. If you didn’t get back before 9 pm, that’s to bad because now it’s sitting in the water all night. If you go home and leave it in the water it now becomes a rafting point for anyone who decided to stay at the bars and party until closing. Your boat now becomes an extension of theirs and its anything goes.
If you want to wash or do any maintance you have to schedule a work rack. Ever have someone next to you get more water on your boat then his? I’m talking about not only on the outside but the inside. What about the guy who is touching up his out drive with mercury black spray paint and the wind is blowing towards your boat. How would you feel about having teak oil splattered and dripped on the side of your hull and you never have used the stuff. What about when another boater comes up and tells you how the fork truck driver hit your lower unit and it chips off the fin. It would be nice to here about it from the driver.
There is a list of rules including lifting the boat each way once a day or fees will be charged accordingly.

I could go on about being tied to one place but you get the idea.

I like the trailer because it will take me to other places on my own terms. I can have access to it at any hour of the day or night. I can get gas much cheaper on land. I put it in the water and take it out so I can protect it from dock damage. I can maintain it at home and have all my tools available. I can also wash and dry it one time instead of having help from stray hoses and other over spray. Most of the time I had to pay transient fees any way because we would stay at other marinas on the weekends so I felt like I was double paying.

You guys with docks in your back yards have it going on!

Cordell

I park mine on the trailer right in my driveway. It reminds me why I go to work in the morning.