Rack Storage

240 Sundeck

New Member
Oct 5, 2006
18
Orlando, FL
Boat Info
240 Sundeck, F-250 Diesel
Engines
5.0
I am looking into some facilities for the summer. I have always been a trailer boater so excuse the ignorance on the subject. Basically
1. How much per month? Do they make you sign a contract or can you use it for a few months per year?
2. Do you still have to cover it everytime you leave?
3. How do you flush the engine after use?
4. Can you call ahead to get the boat floating for you when you get there?
5. Thanks and I know I can get these answered by calling the marina but this is more fun now isn't it? :smt038
 
Also looking in the Daytona-Cocoa area let me know if you know a place. So far Inlet Harbor is looking good.
 
I think the answers to most of your questions are "it depends", and will vary by area and from marina to marina.

Here in Maryland, we have a year-long contract and pay about $200/month. Our racks are in the open, so we use a mooring cover when we leave. There are enclosed racks (not at our marina) but I'm not sure I'd leave the boat open even if she were stored inside. Our marina has wash racks which are available first-come first-served, and if one is open we flush the engine and button the boat up on there, and they put her away when we leave.

During the week we can call and ask to be put in the water, but on the weekend you need to come in person before they'll pull the boat out. In practice, though, we've never had to wait more than about 10 minutes, and we spend the wait time taking down the canvas and loading the boat. It's great to be able to park right behind the boat and hand stuff up onto the swim platform!

Hope this helps...
Jeff
 
Whew!!!!.....when I first read the title of this thread I thought you guys were going to be talking about women's underware..... :grin: ...sorry...I couldn't resist.....my bad...!!!!!
 
I stored my 290DA. The marina would flush the engines would they pulled it, rinse it off, and put it away.

When coming to the boat, I would call about 1/2 hr before I got there, and they would fuel it, drop it, nad have bait and ice on the transom, if I asked them too, when I got there.

I paid about 400/mo, if I remember it right, for that. I had a year contract.

One thing - the rack was covered, but the forklifts make a tremendous amount of what they called "diesel dust", which is a black soot-like material. Sometimes when I got there, there was a lot on the boat. Sometimes, there wasn't any.

I always left the camper top up before they put it away, so that stuff wouldn't get in the cockpit. I'd still have to hose down the outside before we went out.
 
Whether or not a years committment is involved depends upon local demand. In our area, that is the only way you get inside storage.

You do want and need a contract. A bailment is created and who's responsible for what needs to be documented. Damage to your boat may and probably will occur so your contract needs to spell out the marina's responsbility.

Plan of covering the boat. Someone mentioned diesel soot, but the other reason is that the boats above you may well leak fuel or drive lubricant. It is a regular occurrence to see a boat interior ruined in our area by a boat whose owner fueled it to the top on a cool day or at night then stored the boat , only to have expansion on a hot day force fuel out of the tank vents.

Costs vary, again depending upon demand. Understand that the marina had a cost component for insurance on your boat while you are stored and moved from storage to the launch ramp. I pay less per year for a slip in the water than owners of 32-34 ft.boats do for barn storage and more than 50% of their cost is insurance.

Most marinas will do everything for you....for a price. Don't expect flushing, boat washing, jump starts, etc. for free. You can do all that stuff and most marinas provide racks for that purpose.

Also, don't expect to have access to your boat while its in storage. Most marinas do not allow that, but will move your boat to a rack for you to work on it as long as you are reasonable in when and how ofter you request it.
 
I second all of the above.

At my marina, they dropped a brand new 300DA off the forklift. It happens.

I think cost is also dependent upon size. Around here, it is hard to find a rack spot for something like a 290. Most marinas can't lift boats that heavy. You might have to call around, and you will definitely have to know the weight when you do.

Alot of places offer inside and outside storage. For storm reasons, I liked inside (not so much hurricanes and such, but normal summer storms). I didn't like the idea of my canvas blowing off or ripping up, or being damaging by airborne projectiles.
 
I've been rack storing a 290 for about seven years and my experience is only slightly different for those above, but maybe of interest. My marina allows you to call ahead anytime on the day a launch is needed, up to 30 minutes before you arrive. They will fuel your boat for you and pump it out, and if you wish, they will drive your boat to a wet slip. This way if you arrive late at night, and plan to overnight on the boat, the boat is in a slip with shorepower. This is a huge draw for me. The boat (and sterndrive!) are stored out of salt water, yet the boat is snug as a bug in a slip when you arrive. All of this is done with no extra charge (although tipping helps grease the squeaky wheel).

When it comes time to leave, you do need to cover it to keep the diesel dust and boat "droppings" from the upper boats off the interior. When the boat is out of the water and still on the forklift, they flush the engine and wash off the exterior of the hull.

They allow you to pay annually or by the month, but a contract is required. The charge is $12/foot per month annual or $13/foot per month monthly. Back in November, they instituted a surcharge of $1/foot per weekend for their dry stack boats to stay in a wet slip, but a revolt has formed since they have so many unoccupied wet slips, and the word on the docks is that this charge will be repealed, but for now it is in effect. The bottom level racks for the bigger boats (24'-29') are scarce, and difficult to get. The upper racks for the smaller boats are not as difficult to get.

Sadler
 
thunderbird1 said:
Are any of you concerned that the process of lifting + storing your boat in a rack may create excessive stress on your hull?

3 years each on two different 29' boats and I never saw a problem.
 
Lifting a boat with a forklift, with properly positioned forks, won't hurt the boat any more than loading it and storing it on a trailer.

The storage racks for dry stacking are important, however. Some cheaper approaches have the storage bunk cross-ways or parallel to the transom. This only works if the cross bunks are placed on the boat's sling marks. That presents a problem because sling marks are determined by the manufacturer of the boat and are different on every boat.

Longitudinal bunks in the storage racks are no harder on the boat than your trailer.

What does damage a boat is when a forklift driver attempts to slide the forks under or out from under a boat. The lift driver should run under the boat and raise the forks to pick up the boat. Positioning the boat in the storage racks should be done the same way....position it, then lower it on the racks. If repositioning is needed, then pick it up and do it all over again, but never slide the fork under the boat and never slide or push to boat on the rack with the lift truck.
 
I store at a dry stack marina on the Mississippi in LeClaire Iowa.

I don't call ahead. The recognize my car as I drive up. By the time I have my cooler on the dock, they're putting my boat in the water with a forklift.

If you have your boat stored in a tiered rack and there are boats above you, you may have trouble with the boat above you dripping into your boat. If the water is clean, no big deal. But, for that reason you may want to cover your boat. Also, if they use a diesel forklift and you're stored indoors, you may have a light coat of diesel particulate matter (soot) on your boat interior.

We pay for the entire year. Expect to pay by the foot. More for indoor storage, less for storage on an outdoor ground level rack.

I'm on an outdoor rack at present and pay around $1800 per year. I like it because I can work on my boat without having the marina guy fetch my boat out of the barn and put it on a work rack.
 
Well said Frank. Unfortunatley, the operators at our two marinas aren't qualified to lift a canbote out of the water. While the lake was down, I stored my boat in the drystack. At the end of each summer, I had a least two or three nicks along the strakes or trailing edge of the strakes. It was quite obvious that the operators were manipulating the lifting arms while the boat was resting (partially?) on the pads.

Years earlier while I was adding the third tank for the for my hyrdohoist, I saw the bull operator remove the windshield on one boat and damage the rubrail on another boat. Quite an accomplishment for a day's work!
 
fwebster said:
What does damage a boat is when a forklift driver attempts to slide the forks under or out from under a boat.

Yes, this type of damage happened to a boat I had on rack storage for one season. The sliding of the forks (even though padded) made the hull look like someone took 60 grit sandpaper to the bottom in exactly the position and length of the forks.
 
The bottom of my hull has streaks on it from the rubber on the forks. This may not be good thing, but I've always chalked it up as more cosmetic than anything else.

Although I've not had any hull damage per se, twice a forklift operator has bent the outboard prop. The boat is at the maximum length they can handle, and if the boat is positioned a little too far up on the forks, the outboard prop will brush one of the horizontal braces of the forklift as the boat is raised. Both times I pointed it out, the marina payed to have the prop straightend and balanced. They may not have noticed it, but neither time did they come to me first. Checking for a bent prop when the boat is out of the water has become part of my routine.

Sadler
 

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