Tampa Area Boat Slip Rentals?

[Morpheus]

Ok all you out there that have had a boat a while in the Tampa Area.

Can you recommend any slip locations that rent? I'm not sure what I'm looking for yet but I wanna get an idea of good locations and slip locations and pricing. I of course have a 240SD 26' with the swim platform (24' for insurance purposes).

Right now I keep it on a trailer in a storage area but I'm thinking I might want to have a slip either part of the year or all year or maybe just a few weeks at a time. Say I take a couple of weeks off instead of loading and uploading it would be nice if I could park it in a slip for a while.

I don't even know if this fesible or worth the money but for me if I got home from work and it was nice out and wanted to take a cruise around the bay it sure would be easier if I could just untie it and go rather then go get it and put it in at a ramp.

I appreciate any and all input on this. Thanks!

 

[tphinney]

first things first. wetslipping a 240SD is probably not going to happen in our area because of the limited wetslips and the number of large bats that can't be racked.

if you do get a slip it will probably be a rack. this means that you will need to call the marina at least 2 hours before you plan to get their for them to move it from the rack to the water and have it ready for you when you get their. so the next question is where do you want to be; on tampa bay, clearwater, duniden, new port richey, tarpon.

once you decide that then you can start looking for a marina and get on their waiting list.

on the other hand you can do what i did and find an in-expensive house on the water and park your boat in the canal behind your house.

 

[Morpheus]

first things first. wetslipping a 240SD is probably not going to happen in our area because of the limited wetslips and the number of large bats that can't be racked.

if you do get a slip it will probably be a rack. this means that you will need to call the marina at least 2 hours before you plan to get their for them to move it from the rack to the water and have it ready for you when you get their. so the next question is where do you want to be; on tampa bay, clearwater, duniden, new port richey, tarpon.

once you decide that then you can start looking for a marina and get on their waiting list.

on the other hand you can do what i did and find an in-expensive house on the water and park your boat in the canal behind your house.

I was kinda afraid of that but was aware of the shortage. You would be surprised how hard it was for me to find a place to store it on the trailer (HOA doesn't allow us to keep boat at house unless it's in a garage and that just isn't gonna happen)

I thought about not getting a trailer and doing the dry slip rack but I like having the trailer to take it places.

Your idea of a cheap house I thought about to when I was down in punta gorda (not that I wanna keep the boat down there) there were A LOT of lots for sale that already had a dock and lift but no house. I was thinkin if I could find even a place with no house but had a dock and lift I could buy/rent that as long as I had bay or gulf access.

As for location that's a tough one. I live in The Eagles which is in Odessa at the Top of the bay and there is not alot up here cause the top of the bay is SOOOO shallow. I thought about havings on in Tarpon Springs somewhere just south of there but then that would be gulf and ICW access and no bay access.

Also if i do decide to do something like this I'll still need a place for the trailer.

A friend of mind just moved from an apartment which was on harbor island in downtown tampa and they had slip rentals for $100 a month for apartment renters can you believe that I was dude why didn't you tell me but of course he just moved into a townhome.

Decisions decisions. Typically what kind of cost am I looking at if I do find something?

 

[tphinney]

I honestly don't know what your cost would be; but I will tell you that we have had a buch of folks move into our development from Westshore and places like the Eagels becuase of the HOA and that fact that they are boating folks.

here in Tampa Shores you can get a 2,000 to 3,000 sqft home on the water for about 375k-450K and with the market where it is it's a buyers market with about 12 homes up on the market right now.

Since your up at the Eagles i would suggest you cal Marker 1 and Home Port to find out if they have racks or if at the least you could park the boat and trailer at thier facility for a fee. Marker 1 is on the south side of the duniden causeway and Home port is on the North side. Marker 1 just got bought by Marine Max so being a Sea Ray owner might get you some extra points.

hope this helps.

PS. on the storage issue - the uhal storage on Tampa road has a RV and boat facility where you can store you boat if you need it.

 

[Morpheus]

Hmmm a new house the wife would kill me although we could really use a bigger house. I need a room for my model trains and she needs a room for her STUFF we already have a 2000 sq ft house so something about 3000 would probably work out well with a dock, but of course she has to have a pool too.

Thanks for the tips I'll be checking that stuff out.

Why would MarineMax buy Marker1 ?? Is Marker1 more then just a marina?

 

[ylwjacket]

with the loss of on-water repair facilities, mm has bought a couple of marinas.

i was at homeport, and i'm in marker 1 now. either is fine for dry storage.

that's about all there is mid-county. you have to go to indian rocks beach or tarpon springs if you can't squeeze into either of these.

 

[tphinney]

right now I think the Clearwater store is the only one with water access in our area so having a wet service marina location will help MM sell more boats. especially when you consider that it would make it a complete turn key business.

Buy the boat from us, store it here, service it here and when you ready to sell we will broker it here at the Marine/Sales office. it make great business sense.

slip space and rack space will always be in high demand and every year we seem to loose more and more wet slips. Imperial Marina had some 300 slips before it got torn down for a condo development which went bust. Bayside Marina went Rackominum and have now tron down thier barns to rebuild bigger, yet I haven't seen any progress in a while so who knows they may go bust too.

 

[cr0ck1]

here in Tampa Shores you can get a 2,000 to 3,000 sqft home on the water for about 375k-450K and with the market where it is it's a buyers market with about 12 homes up on the market right now.

.

where? Im working installing a floor in davis island in tampa and this guy has a house on baywalk and its only 2400 sf. and he bought it for 750,000 and to me its not in the best shape. and the lady was asking 950,000 he said he got it "cheap" lol.. because the lady was going through a divorce..

 

[tphinney]

28° 0'20.63"N 82°36'19.64"W or type "Tampa Shores blvd, tampa fl" on google Earth it will take you to the entrance street of my development. there are about 12 houses for sale some new work others have been completely renovated. most where built back in the 60's and 70'.

 

[Morpheus]

right now I think the Clearwater store is the only one with water access in our area so having a wet service marina location will help MM sell more boats. especially when you consider that it would make it a complete turn key business.

Buy the boat from us, store it here, service it here and when you ready to sell we will broker it here at the Marine/Sales office. it make great business sense.

slip space and rack space will always be in high demand and every year we seem to loose more and more wet slips. Imperial Marina had some 300 slips before it got torn down for a condo development which went bust. Bayside Marina went Rackominum and have now tron down thier barns to rebuild bigger, yet I haven't seen any progress in a while so who knows they may go bust too.

I follow you now. That does make sense for them to get more of my money haha

Well sounds like I'm pretty SOL it took me 3 months to find a place to park it on a trailer I can only image how hard a wet or dry slip would be.

The place it's at now is prett convient about a mile or 2 from the house so I can go get it in the morning before sunrise and have it at the house load it up and then take it to whereever.

I was just thinkin it be nice sometimes not to have to take it out of the water and put it back if I planned on using it a for a few days.

 

[ylwjacket]

At your size, a dry rack won't be hard to find. A wet slip may or may not be, but I'm not sure you really want to pay the premium for wet.

Most dry racks will take you down the night before if you're going out really early. Also, if you come back late, you tie up and split.

Some will fill you with gas when they drop in, and wash you off when they pull you out. Others will drop you and pull you, and that's it - you fill up and wash down on your own.

If you make a few calls, you'll find out pretty quickly and easily who does what, and how much it will cost. Alot of places can only lift 10,000 lbs, so that limits your options once you get into the 28ish or 29ish foot range. Under that, and you will have more options.

When you are trying to find a place to park a 60 foot boat (or a 51 footer, for that matter), the window closes very tightly, and you are essentially screwed. I know that part for a fact.

 

[Morpheus]

At your size, a dry rack won't be hard to find. A wet slip may or may not be, but I'm not sure you really want to pay the premium for wet.

Most dry racks will take you down the night before if you're going out really early. Also, if you come back late, you tie up and split.

Some will fill you with gas when they drop in, and wash you off when they pull you out. Others will drop you and pull you, and that's it - you fill up and wash down on your own.

If you make a few calls, you'll find out pretty quickly and easily who does what, and how much it will cost. Alot of places can only lift 10,000 lbs, so that limits your options once you get into the 28ish or 29ish foot range. Under that, and you will have more options.

When you are trying to find a place to park a 60 foot boat (or a 51 footer, for that matter), the window closes very tightly, and you are essentially screwed. I know that part for a fact.

I don't see having a 60 foot boat as being a problem since I have itis :lol:

Thanks for the help. I know I could just as easly call and ask this but when they wash to the flush as well?

Again thanks for the info.

 

[ylwjacket]

Again - it depends. Some will flush as well, some won't.

In all cases, though, you can be put on a work rack when you come in, and there are hoses and such. You can hook up the ears and run the engine, then wash up. They'll probably never new do the same job that you will.

 

[devilrays]

Hey Morpheus I too am also in the Eagles and keep my boat at Anclote Harbor in Tarpon Springs. I've only had the boat there for a few months, but my buddy keeps his boat there as well and they are great. Best customer service around. I pay about $350 a month for a 260DA with Arch. It take us about 15-20 minutes to get there and you call and 1 hour later the boat is in the water.

 

[Morpheus]

Hey Morpheus I too am also in the Eagles and keep my boat at Anclote Harbor in Tarpon Springs. I've only had the boat there for a few months, but my buddy keeps his boat there as well and they are great. Best customer service around. I pay about $350 a month for a 260DA with Arch. It take us about 15-20 minutes to get there and you call and 1 hour later the boat is in the water.

Ahh a fellow Eagles person very cool (which village).

I'll have to check that out hopefully it will be less then $350 for my 240SD but we will see.

When they take it out of the water do they wash it down, flush the engine, pump out the toliet. When the splash it I assume they have gas and fresh water there to fill it up.

Hopefully they will have a place to keep the trailer too.

Thanks for the info I'll check it out.

 

[ylwjacket]

I kept my 290DA at Anclote Harbors.

They were very good. They did all of the above except pump the toilet - you're on your own for that one.

They would fill it with gas for you, if you asked them to. When you arrive, it's gassed and in the water. They have bait and ice too, if you need that.

It's freshwater upriver there, so that probably helps with the flushout.

The only problem that I had there was the boat was constantly very dirty. D-ray - do you have that problem? That, and it is in Tarpn, so it is a bit north.

I live in Oldsmar, so it was pretty convenient to me too.

 

[Morpheus]

I kept my 290DA at Anclote Harbors.

They were very good. They did all of the above except pump the toilet - you're on your own for that one.

They would fill it with gas for you, if you asked them to. When you arrive, it's gassed and in the water. They have bait and ice too, if you need that.

It's freshwater upriver there, so that probably helps with the flushout.

The only problem that I had there was the boat was constantly very dirty. D-ray - do you have that problem? That, and it is in Tarpn, so it is a bit north.

I live in Oldsmar, so it was pretty convenient to me too.

We've not crisined (sp?) the toliet just for the fact that then I'd have to tow it somewhere that had a pump out. So I've never done it all I know is it hooks up to my boat and pumps the poo out and then I need to add new cleaner stuff (the green was recommended) I even bought some of the fancy super duper degradable toliet paper. Right now it's a great storage closet on the boat

 

[devilrays]

I haven't really noticed if it has been dirty or not, it didn't seem like it was. We usually head out to Caladesi Island or 3 Rooker and it a close drive. On Saturday we actually tied up to a friends boat on the channel between Caladesi and Honeymoon Island and had a blast. I can't wait for next weekend and it's my daughter 18 birthday this weekend. I can't believe my little girl is gonna be 18.

 

[Morpheus]

I haven't really noticed if it has been dirty or not, it didn't seem like it was. We usually head out to Caladesi Island or 3 Rooker and it a close drive. On Saturday we actually tied up to a friends boat on the channel between Caladesi and Honeymoon Island and had a blast. I can't wait for next weekend and it's my daughter 18 birthday this weekend. I can't believe my little girl is gonna be 18.

Sounds like fun, I'm a new boater so I've not had a chance to go to all those places (if I can find them). I've no experiece at parking at a beach either although I've read up on it I''ve see some people beach it and others anchor off shore and swim/walk in.

 

[tphinney]

Morpheus;

NEVER EVER beach that beautiful boat unless you want to destroy the bottom.

ideal into about 3-4 feet of water. aim the bow out and go back out about 40 or 50 feet. drop the front anchor and back up. once you have a least a 7x scope out. turn off the engine, trim the drive up to trailer and go off the back with a rear anchor. give it about a 7x scope and relax.

too many a$$ holes go by the beachs on plane or worse halfway on plane and firmly ground any one who is beached further up the beach. it never fails; seems like i see at least one boat everytime I go out with 6 or 7 guys pushing hard to get it back out in the water agian. Please don't be that guy.....