Boat Storage

[moguy1973]

Where does everyone store their boat if you can't store it outside your house (e.g. in the yard or driveway). 

 

Do you put it in the garage? 

Do you use some sort of storage facility? 

If you use a storage facility do you rent a storage "locker" to put it in or do just keep it at their facility outside? 

If outside do you remove the electronics and trolling motor so they don't get stolen? 

Also, how do you charge your batteries if stored at one of these storage facilites?

Do you keep it at a family member's house?

Anywhere else?

 

Hopefully I'll have a boat in the next few years and these are things that have been on my mind lately.

[Long Mike]

My boat is parked next to my house.  I NEVER leave my electronics on it.  As for the rest of your questions, you will get at least as many answers, as you have questions, because so many people store their boats in so many different ways.

[CKFishin]

Mines stored in either the garage here or my Father's bosses house( got divorced and sold all his toys)...

[Fishes in trees]

I built a large shed to store my boat, fishing truck and assorted gear.

[slonezp]

Storage yard. Electronics come off the boat at the ramp. I live in a townhome and rules say I can have the boat in my driveway for no longer than 24hrs. I pick it up the night before I go out and plug in the charger. This is the 3rd boat I've stored there in 10 years as well as my work van which holds my livelihood. Never an issue. The guy who runs/owns the lot is really on the ball. Every inch of the lot is covered by security cameras.

[Glenn]

Pretty much all of the above.

 

- Stored my boat out in the front yard of my sister's house when I lived in a nearby apartment.  Yes, I took all the electronics off and locked up everything. It helped that I put a serious makeshift tarp over the boat, using a complex system of bungie cords and ropes to secure it.  Nobody messed with it, thankfully.  And my sister was gracious enough to let me charge the batteries there too.

 

-  Stored the same boat in a storage facility after I moved. It was inside a secure storage unit, not stored outside. I attached a light bulb adapter that had a plug-in on it, so I could charge the batteries.  I didn't hide it from the owner.  I told them what I was doing, and they allowed it.  Being nice helps.

 

- Got a different boat and needed a larger storage unit at a different place.  Got one with a plug-in located on the outside of the door, so I ran the extension cord under the door.  The manager let me do it, but the fire marshal didn't like it.  He just didn't want it plugged in all the time, because he thought I might be using grow lights or something, LOL! So I had to charge it overnight and unplug it in the morning.  Minor inconvenience.

 

- Now I have a garage.  'nuff said.

 

Key thing with the storage units is to make friends with the manager, and to find a place that will let you access 24/7 (making friends goes a long way to turning a non-24/7 into a 24/7 access code, as well as getting permission to charge the batteries).

[jhoffman]

Stored at my mothers, in the driveway, just go get it when I want.

[J Francho]

When it's not in my driveway, it's in my grandfather's pole barn.  Since he doesn't raise t-breds anymore, there's room for two boats, a utility trailer, and then some.

[KevO]

Keep my boat at my aunts house, I take everything out of the boat before I drop it off, and she even lets me charge the batteries there if I need to but I try to do that my place before I drop it off.

[moguy1973]

For those storing at a facility inside a storage unit, what kinds of monthly prices are you paying?

[SissySticks]

I refuse to buy a boat that won't fit in my garage, both for economy reasons and convenience. Thus, I have a 16' boat. It's a deep V fisher, and serves me pretty well.

[BassnChris]

Had it outside......sold storm shelter so I could get it in the garage. That lasted the last half of winter. Got new truck so boat is back out in the backyard. All electronics and anything I could remove was taken out. Boat cover and then a heavy tarp and secured as Glenn used to with bungee cords so that it is. Wrapped up tight.

Hope to be able to buy a metal carport to place on patio and add some side panels and maybe end panels.

The thing I hate about the way it is stored in the backyard is it is a hassle to remove the tarp and the cover just to tinker with it.....and the cold and wet too.

I loved having it in the garage......I could go out anytime I wanted to and just lift the cover and tinker around.

After the spring storm season has passed...... I will probably keep in garage again.....we'll see.

Inside storage rates were around $150-190 and outside storage ranged from $25-95......depending on location and facilities.

[Catawba Mike]

I just leased an indoor storage space - 12'x25' w/ 10'x10' garage door and electric plug in for charging. It's running $185 per month. With no electricity, the same size unit was $169. This is in the Suburban Kansas City.

[moguy1973]

Dang, these things are really a hole in the water you throw your money into.  Might have to do the outdoor storage facility thing and just pull it to the house and put it in the driveway to charge the night before fishing.

[BassinB]

Mine is in my garage. fits nicely. the truck gets parked outside lol

[j.bruno]

My barn

[ww2farmer]

Mine is at my grandfathers house in the empty side of his two car garage. I could keep it at my house in the back yard/driveway if I wanted to during the season, and store it at work in the huge pole barn we have in the winter, but he has an empty space in the garage year round, and I am  9 miles from the boat ramp, and he's only 4. Besides my family likes that I keep it there, he's getting to be in his mid 80's with health problems now, and since I am there so often getting the boat, I am always checking on him an doing odd-n-ends around the place to help him out.

[senile1]

The housing association for my neighborhood does not allow boats in the driveway for any length of time and we keep our vehicles in the garage, so I keep my boat at a storage facility that uses high chain link fences and barbed wire around the entire facility including a locked main gate.  Also, different sections within the facility are fenced and gated as well.  Covered storage and outdoor storage are available.  I pay for outdoor storage which is $25 monthly, and $137.50 if paid 6 months at a time.  No other storage facility in the area comes close to that price, though they have nicer indoor facilities.  I have a heavy duty cover that I had custom made for my boat to keep out the elements.