Do You Rack or Trailer?
 

Just wondering who uses Rack-In/Out Service for their boat. What size boat you have, how long the service is provided, and what your costs are. Or is your driveway home port?

It is that time of year when the Marina will be wanting their deposit for In/Out service. Here on the West side of MI our service typically starts May 1 and goes though Oct 1. In Grand Haven there are 5 Marinas that provide service with pricing ranging based on the quality of the marina. Grand Isle Marina charged $1550 for a 25' boat and up based on size. I had to move to the Wharf Marina with my 42 Fountain because they were the only group willing to do it, for a nominal fee of $2700 not including winter or trailer storage. The ease of this service is unbeatable, I have been doing Rack service for now my 6th year. But the expense is allot. Are most here doing this or trailering? I probably use my boat 3 times more because I can just decide to head out whenever, not to mention my current boat is just a pig to move around, it loads and unloads easy(IT MUST BE MY MANNING MARINE TRAILER!), but that is it. What is the consensus. Midnight:cool:

PS- Mark, you are holding slip #12 for me at Smoke, Right?:D

I rack store my boat at a large Hi&Dry facility here in St. Pete.
My boat is indoors, on racks that I had modified to fit perfectly. The boat never sees direct sunlight when stored.
The cost is $211.86 per month for my 25 outlaw. I have unlimited in and out service and have the use of a wet slip on floating concrete docks behind a breakwall at any time.

The convenience is great, especially when going home from work and having the boat fueled and ready go by time you get there! :D

I agree with Baja Daze. I only have a 211 Liberator, but used the rack for about a year until the big ax at work. I used the boat much more than when I have to trailer.

Mine was $150 per month with unlimited in-out service.

Les

Trailer from home each time...272 Formula loads easily and can get cheap gas on the way to the ramp:cool:
$350 for ramp Apr 15 to Oct 15 verses $1600 fork lift/ rack stored

Trailer mainly because we boat all over. From the Chain of lakes and the Illinois River in Illinois to Northern Michigan.

And you're absolutely right, I probably use my boat at least 3 times more simply because it's so convenient. On certain days, trailering and ramp antics would definately be the deciding factor.

No rack service available here.

I rent a 28' slip April 15-Oct 15 for $675 year. The docks are owned by the City parks Dept. The only service is a gas dock and even that is only evenings and weekends. Trailer and/or dry storage is also included. You can have your own lift and leave it in the slip year round.

I ramp mine, $30.00 for the year

I think you know my the answer to this question Midnight!!

Homeport is basically my driveway. Like to tinker with it on weeknights when I'm not boating. But mine is only 24' so it's not that hard to trailer. I even manage to put over 100 hours on most seasons.

Nice, indoor rack storage for my 29 Fever year round. About $750 quarterly (it would be a bit more than $250/month if I paid monthly). Can't park it at my apartment complex and don't have an adequate tow vehicle anyway. (Don't say it - I can't afford both right now. :D ) This way, she's out of the elements and they have work racks for cleaning or working on her. New place going up down the street from where I am now has promised me racks fitted to my step hull.

I have covered rack storage which includes winter storage for $1600 yr for a 253 Checkmate. the rate was the same for my buddies who have bigger and smaller boats. Mine is due this week also.

I just like the fact that it is inside and out of the elements. Plus mine is on the bottom and we are allowed to work/wash/start/run the boat when on a bottom spot.

Downside....if you come in after 4pm (which is every weekend), you park on the dock. Then they tow your boat around to the fork area. Sometimes there will be marks in my boat and the marina "has no idea" where they came from.

We trailer ours as well. We like to move around and visit other places so trailering is the only way we would have it.

Our 42 sits on a hoist at the lake house ready to go except i do have to go get my own fuel ( now there a business idea ) of course i dont think i would leave the keys for the fuel man.
later

oh midnightrider i havent forgotten ya on the arch. i did go down this last weekend but didnt take the truck.

I 100% trailer my Sunsation 288. The ramp is about 10 miles, $60.00 a year and gas is far cheaper on the road. I boat in salt water so I am very particular about washing and flushing after EVERY use.

We trailer our 42 Sonic, yes its a monster to get around but we share a building with a couple of buddies. This allows us to take it wherever we want and work on it whenever, and we save a ton by fueling up on land. The building cost us about $200 a month between the three of us.

I trailer my 31 Sonic, keep it in the garage I built for it during the week (and winter).

Both. I had the rack over the summer, but would pull it out sometimes to travel. We have so much water within a couple of hour drive. I put it on the trailer when football season started. I wasn't able to use it enough to justify the $$.

I agree with Baja, I use it alot more when it is on the rack. I have even taken it to lunch.

Baja, how do you keep yours flushed? I have thought about going around Tarpon Springs, but I am in fresh spring water now when I come in.

I've trailered my last two boats. Current boat is a 38 Powerquest that just fits beside my house. It's nice to be able to clean the boat and tinker with stuff, plus $1.00 less per gallon than at the marina doesn't hurt either. I figure I save $450/month by keeping it at the house. Three boats ago was a cruiser that I kept in the water, which was nice to go and relax on but not worth the extra maintenance and slip fees IMHO.

Trailer.
Garage is 48' deep, so not a problem. I don't trust anyone with my boat, let alone drive a fork truck under it and scratching the hull. (anal) We have to drive to the lake anyway, so towing the boat is no big deal. It follows the truck, and at the exact same speed too. :) Usually never have to wait for more than a couple of people launching.
Pay only $15 for year long seasonal launch pass thats good for any Ind. state park. Gas on the road is cheaper too, as the rest have said. We go every weekend, so trailering has never been a holdup.
I think those of us that trailer are 'more likely' to go to other lakes than those that don't. Same old stuff gets boring after awile for me.

I'm with Later on this. Ours sits on a lift at our house. It is nice to just run down to the dock and drop her in and go. I guess if I had to trailer I would. The downside is gas. We have to pay for gas on the water, which everyone knows is high. However, we do get a $.17/ gallon tax refund at the end of every year.

Lift
 

We have a covered lift at our lake house that we just put in the year before last, and this past year put in a 300 gallon gas tank that the local distributor fills on a weekly bases, saves us about 50 cents a gallon, pull it out about twice a year to go somewhere else, just to do something different.

Midnight, like you I will also be at the Wharf Marina next summer. In/Out is the only way to go for us. Boat 37 AT.

I keep mine on an indoor rac from May 1 to Nov. 1 . Costs me $72.00 per foot for the 6 months. This includes unlimited usage, they will block me up in the yard as often as I want. I can work on whatever I want as well. I could even swing a motor there for a nominal fee for someone to operate the forklift. I love this place. :D

http://www.algroversmarine.com/

I trailer mine it is a snap. :D:D

Jon

I trailer my 28. It stays in a heated shop whenever its not in the water. I can work on it during the week and gas is a lot cheaper.
I can go to local water anytime during the week or on a weekend or do my usual 2 hr. trip to the big water on the weekends;)

When in N.J. we trailer to manasquan river. Keep in on trailer here
so I can keep an eye on it and tinker.
In FL we have lift at house, we also have a company that delivers fuel, they come and fill it right on the lift. Price is just above gas station, and they deliver 93 octane

Trailer. great for mid week projects.and not limited to any one harbor or marina.

I rack store my 31 at GreatLakes for $1250 per season.

I trailered my 30' Scarab every weekend 100 miles one way, it's now at the Wharf Marina in G.H. with it's new owner, now with the Excaibur Hawk 40 I leave it on the trailer at Great Lakes Marina in Muskegon, I keep it in one of their buildings and just put it in and pull it out on the weekends or weeks I'm there....I am thinking about the rack storage this season however,...Fred

When you use a rack, are there certain hours that you have to stick to?
We trailer ours, $100 for a season marina ramp fee. Never crowded at all. A little tricky at low tide to someone thats never been there. But the best thing about it is we can come and go anytime we please. We can launch at 11pm on Friday and trailer at 11pm on Sunday.

Both, kinda:cool:
We keep the boat on the lift, right behind the house, 20 FT. from the TIKI bar:cool: :cool: Can't beat watching the NFL Playoffs, and flushing the engine, sipping on a ADULT Malt beverage!!

We also have a trailer for it, ($25/ month to store trailer) that I use for maintanance yearly, and every now and then we take a trip with the Velocity.
MD

I trailer mine because of the step bottom,trailer bunks can be fit to the step,no hi and dry's are willing to cut there bunks for a step boat and that will ruin the bottom!

Offshore Addiction, my buddies and I have three PQ's in dry storage at Marina Shores. BillR designed and built some blocks for his 280 step hull many years ago. They work great on the 340's. We have the fork lift drivers trained to put them on before lifting our boats. They go at the back of the forks under the transom and give the boat just enough lift to relieve the pressure on the bottom edge of the steps.

Dry storage is pretty much my only option since I own a townhouse with no yard and drive a sedan. But it is SO worth it. Especially given all the boating we like to do in the late fall and early spring.

We keep our boat on the trailer at a Regional Park near our home. At $170 per quarter, including ramp fees, I feel that we are getting a great deal. For years i kept a previous boat in rack storage, but it was too easy not to keep it clean and do maintenance:D :D

Craig

its hard to get these guys down here to pay that much attention to details,let alone the same guy is there month to month!

Rack store 34' Scarab...love it 2500/year indoor year round...20 min. from home...

I 100% ramp my boat and always have. I currently have a ramp adjacent to my house which makes it convenient and I'm working on installing a boatlift once my other house expenses are taken care of first. Even if I shelved it I'd still have a trailer on the side for the occasional roadtrips to check out other venues AND, to take advantage of the cheaper gas at the roadside gas station...:cool:

I trailer ...

1. Store boat in my yard. Its safe and secure, I can work on it anytime.
2. Many ramps within a 20 mile radius. Cost, between free and $10, usually no wait time.
3. Cheap gas.
4. Visit different locations, The Chesapeake Bay area has countless creeks, rivers, etc.

Reckless 288,
Once you get your boat lift in, you might want to do what I and my neighbors do. I just haul (4) 7 gallon plastic gas jugs down to the local BJ's gas station, and fill'em up. Then I haul them back to the dock! My tank only holds 80 gallons, and if a remember to make a trip or 2 during the week, we are ready to rock by the weekend. For me, this is alot easier than pulling the trailer out of storage, and putting the boat back on the trailer to haul it to gas station!
Just an idea.
MD

We stored our 25 ft. AT on a rack for the first time last year, loved it, after trailering for 13 years. No ramp stress no trailering problems. Costs $2400.00 a year includes indoor storage all winter. (live in a townhome no garage). The place we use offers service racks and full wash facility. The scenery is great!! We will be using this facility for as long as we can afford it!!:D Anyone in the Upper chesapeake area should look into this place:

Tomes Landing Marina
Port Deposit , Md.