Hey all,

Happy to be here, figured I'd make an intro. I've recently purchased a 1988 Formula 311 SR-1 after being away from boating for the better part of 25 years. I grew up in NE Ohio in a family who had a '62 Chris Craft Cavalier 36' for 40 years and an '18 Starcraft for skiing for almost that long. Fun fact; my grandmother (yes, grandmother) was the longest running dockholder at Cedar Point Marina until she finally threw in the towel on boating after several decades of it (she was aging out and they wanted to spend more time down in Miami at their winter residence). Anyhow, I grew up in the '80s and '90s around those boats as well as many others belonging to friends and neighbors of theirs, have spent my own career dealing with Italian performance cars of the usually red variety, I own a shop in Cincinnati which specializes in the prancing horses. Anyhow...I figured after a long time away from being on the water, I wanted back in and after consideration of several types of boat, landed on a classic Formula that was for sale nearby our family's place in North Miami, Florida. Presently, I am deciding whether I want to leave it in FLA for the winter months and use it periodically when I'm down there or if I want to get it back up here to Ohio for the remainder of the boating season we have left up here. Secondly, I'm trying to decide if I want to keep it on the river here in Cincinnati or take it north and keep it on Lake Erie. Never really done much river boating and truth be told, the nostalgia factor would be in play for me to be back up on the lake (folks still live outside of Cleveland anyways). But, regardless, I was wondering what everyone's thoughts would be on that and regarding winter storage, if I bring it to Ohio, I am going to assume indoor is the way to go as opposed to shrink wrapping and keeping it outside (I have to think that a boat that has been in Miami its whole life might react badly to extreme cold temps of outdoor storage??)

If I take it north, I'd keep it at Cedar Point Marina. If I keep it in Cincinnati, I don't know if Rivertowne or Four Seasons (or somewhere else) would be the best bet. Input is greatly appreciated.

And no, I'm not putting Ferrari engines in the boat, I'm happy with the 454s (for now, haha).

Aaron

Congrats on buying a great boat! I'd vote to bring it to Lake Erie and keep it at Cedar Point. I wouldn't worry about keeping the boat in the Midwest for the Winter. As long as it's winterized you don't need a heated building. I always keep my boats under a roof at all times of the year. They seem to keep just fine as long as they're out of the elements and have plenty of wax on the fiberglass. Good luck!!!

Thanks! I'm excited to make a bit of a shift from cars [back] to boats after this long. Had always toyed with the idea of getting a boat for years but never seemed to have the time for it. At this point in my life, I'll make time.

And I agree, Cedar Point would be vastly better than the river. Convenience is about the only thing the river offers.

Congrats - enjoy!!

Thank you, appreciate it.

Welcome and congrats on the Formula. I have a 311 as well. Just north of you too. I second the lake, the river is freakin dirty. Have had a couple people whack things on it and done drive damage.

winterize it and keep under solid cover and you will be good, as already stated.

post up pics of what your color scheme is.

Thank you. Yeah, I do think the lake will be where I land it. I checked with Cedar Point on dockage rates and they were surprisingly reasonable compared to what I was expecting. Granted, I was comparing those rates to Miami

but even compared to other marinas on Sandusky Bay, they weren’t too bad. In fact, they were somewhat close to what Cincinnati marinas charge.