storage dilemma

[mikestein]

I've been keeping my boat at the same marina dry storage for years. Lately thing are getting broken, e.g. the bow light two times. Now I'm noticing crescent shaped scratches in my gel coat . they are about 10" to 12" long and curved up, like a smiley face. Something, the forklift, the storage rack, or who knows, is doing this. I like the marina folks but they are very VERY laid back and while they are not reckless by any means, they don't wear white gloves when handling the boats. My boat is probably among the nicer ones there, and it ain't that nice! :grin: They've been great about replacing the bow light -- twice. They tried to fix one of the scratches last season, and didn't do a great job. Now, like I said, they are appearing again. I will point them out, but I'm not really confident they will do anything other than try to buff them out -- which really won't work. So given the shortage of dry storage on the lake I have two choices. Keep it there and continue to put up with it. Or put it on the trailer and bring it home. It's really nice after a long day on the water to tie up and let somebody else put the boat away, but I'm starting to wonder.... thoughts? I've never kept it outside, but I'm thinking it will start to age faster, even if it's covered.

 

[midway]

My first boat was kept outside and covered with a tarp, upholstry, carpet, finish all looked good when I traded in on the 04 185 I have now, it stays outside, covered with a tarp, with two vents in it, one at the windshield and one at the high point of the stand I made to attach the cords that I run fore and aft to the cleats to support the tarp. Works well, replace tarp once a year (Harbor Freight) the vents I got from Overtons.

 

[mikestein]

that's good news. i'm leaning toward bringing it home. save some money too.

 

[boatmailster]

that's good news. i'm leaning toward bringing it home. save some money too.

keep it washing and waxing often and will look good for years to come

 

[midway]

I forgot, get a couple bags of the bungie cords at Harbor Freight that has the ball on one end and a hook on the other, hooks a plastic won't hurt anythig.

 

[SeaRide]

Mike,

You could also try the covered storage areas at Lake Murray Marina, Spinners or Ballentine Storage. Also, I kept my boat in thte dry stack at Lighthouse while the lake was down and they nicked the hull in a couple of spots. SR of Columbia matched the gelcoat color perfectly. You may want to give them a shot for future gelcoat repairs.

 

[mikestein]

How much did the gelcoat repair cost you at SR of Cola? I'll probably take it over there this winter and get all my nicks and scrapes touched up.

 

[charlg]

Sun does most of the damage. Keep the boat covered....preferably with a mooring cover if you have one. Make sure the seats are protected (Armorall) and the boat has a good coat of wax. It'll look new for years.

 

[SeaRide]

Mike,

I don't remember the actual amount. That is a good thing. If the repairs were expensive, I would definitely remember.

As I recall, I had one or two nicks on each strake near the stern where the lifting forks came in contact with the hull.