The air dock does lift the whole boat out of the water....including drives when trimmed up.

I have an airdock for my 35 Cig . Works great.

Look into a Shorestation
 

Shorestations are very popular, not too expensive and work well in the water depths you mentioned.

http://www.shorestation.com/

Hey Ken! Good to hear from ya! I had considered the ice, thats why I figured an "Air Dock" or "Hydrohoist" as I could float it in at Spring and drag it out in the fall. The "permanant" hoists work well, but, need pilings to hold them in place, which I cant do myself and I would have to deal with "green freaks", permits, etc

Thanks guys and keep the ideas coming!

Michael

do you have rock on the boat or dirt? If you have a rock bottom pilings aren't going to work well -- but you could get one that the frame actually sits on the bottom.

I was concerned about the air bag type that the water would get held between the bag and the hull of the boat -- is this a problem?

A buddy of mine has his 38 Donzi sitting on an air dock and it seems to do very well, I believe the water drains off when the bags are inflated. I'm also considering one in the near future.

Both! LOL!

I am in a bay, there is about a foot or so of "Silt" on the top, under that its solid bedrock/limestone

What lift just "sits" on the bottom?

Michael

My boat sits on a 10K Econo lift from Spring until Fall. It has dual blowers and lifts the boat very quickly. Cant beat them for the money. Mine is 8 years old and still going strong

http://www.c-pack.com/trailer/english1.htm

where is your cottage located? although you would still essentially be pulling the boat out of the water, you would not have to bring the truck up to the cottage. i know there is a company that makes a nicer version of these that have a drive seat and 8-10 wheels instead of tracks.

Where can I get some info on the "Econo lifts"? They sound reasonable

Perlmudder: I seem to recall seeing something similiar to that [or maybe it was that EXACT unit] at the Toronto Boat show last year, They had a version there with tracks, as I remember it was VERY expensive.

My cottage is located on Wolfe Island [just look for the BIG UGLY WINDMILLS!] East of Kingston, just North of NY state on the St Lawrence river.

Thanks!
Michael

If money wasn't an issue [when ISN'T it?] I could solve all these problems by going to a "floating boathouse' with a hoist in it, guess I will keep buying lottery tickets!