wet or dry?

[JRD]

i am considering buying a used Albin 28 TE. I plan to keep it in Charleston SC and to use it year round. My previous boat was trailered so this will be a first. There are many places in and around Charleston to store her in the water or out for a tiny difference in price. My question is: Is it better for the boat to keep it in the water and haul it periodically to clean the bottom or take it out everytime i use it and dry stack her? I have heard both have their drawbacks and advantages. Your thoughts?
Thanks,
JRD
wannabe owner

[Russell]

I kept a Shamrock in dry storage and now my Albin in a wet slip. A lot depends upon the service you get in the dry storage but if you have a customer oriented crew and it costs about the same I would go with the dry stack. Your boat stays out of the weather and the bottom is always clean. In bad weather and approaching hurricanes you need not worry. Here in the South if you do not use your boat for a week the barnacles start growing on the propeller and you either dive yourself or hire someone. Plus the hauling, cleaning, sanding, scraping and bottom painting is a chore and several hundred dollars each time. The marina I am in now has excellent service in the dry storage but the one I used for the Shamrock had very poor service. One always had to wait for them to get the boat after they finished what they were doing or they had to be tracked down to come operate the fork lift. If you came in late and the lift docks were full they would not pull your boat around from an adjoining dock and put it away, necessitating another trip to the marina to move it yourself. So ask some of the dry storage customers if they are happy and that would be my choice. Ask if they will put it out for you the night before if you intend to go out before they open.

[Drew]

We also had a Shamrock before Mulligan Too and kept it on a dry stack at our marina. We now keep Mulligan Too in the water. Certainly some additional expense... but we do like the convienence and the socializing that goes on at the dock. We have a diver at the marina that cleans the bottom about every 4 weeks during the hot months....does not take long for the growth to start. He also checks the zincs and replaces as needed. Charges $30 for cleaning. Bottom painting about every 2-3 years is definately more of an expense. We find that we take advantage of the boat more in a slip...can go and return on our schedule and not the marina's schedule. We initially thought we would keep it on the dry stack as we had the Shamrock....for now we are glad that we have a wet slip.

[Mariner]

It is more convenient to moor your boat in the water. Your boat is designed to be kept in the water year-round and, with proper mainenance, should suffer no ill effects. Indoor rack storage will obviously reduce maintenance and extend the life of deck hardware and the gelcoat. Outdoor rack storage offers no advantage over in-water storage aside from eliminating the need to periodically clean and paint the bottom and will extend the life of zincs. Many of the advantages of indoor storage can be gained by using covered moorage. The boat was not designed to be stored on a rack, and doing so may cause damage to the hull and structural members over time. Indoor and rack storage is usually orders of magnitude more expensive than in water moorage.

[JRD]

Thanks for all the input. Definitely a lot to consider. Does anyone have any experiences of damage to the hull from being stored on racks? I know the weight of the boat is distributed evenly on the hull when in the water and that the racks take the same load on two beams so i can see that would definitely put more stress on the hull in those spots, but is it enough to cause problems? Thanks again

[Tuxedo]

Some thoughts -

Lots of folks who have private docks store there boats on lifts around here. There's a 28 on the waterway behind IOP. You could probably ask the guy if he's had any problems, but I would doubt it. Most of our northern neighbors have their boats out of the water on blocks for 6 months a year.

You won't find any covered slips in Charleston.

Most dry stacks around here are actually open to the elements.

A marina is a social setting as well as a place to keep the boat. At my marina, The Bristol, there are groups that have pot luck dinners and sometimes breakfasts on the dock. Also, having a boat in the water let's you go by whenever you feel like it and enjoy your Mancave.

The downside is that most of our marinas have fierce currents. Besides the docking challenges, you need to have the bottom cleaned every 3-4 weeks in the summer. Ripley, Toler's and Dunes West are not as bad as the marinas on the rivers, but Ripley, at least, is usually full and has silting issues.

Just some things to think about.

[Panhdjoe]

Our 27 Family Cruiser is at Rivers Edge. We have a wet slip, I was going to dry stack but the depth of the full keel on the 27 will not permit it. The bunk boards at all of the dry stack marinas in the Charleston area are 10" I don't know what the bottom on a 28te is like but dry stack is not an option for our boat. You brought up the hull flex question, yes the hull on our Albin will flex quite a bit when picked up with a fork lift and sat on the bunks. I don't like it and my personal opinion is that over time it would cause damage.
Now I must say that we love Rivers Edge marina. The staff is great the prices are competitive and It is one nice place. visit it before you decide. It is on the Ashley river @ the I-526 bridge, you cant miss it. They have a huge Indoor dry stack building. We have found that as others have shared that a slip is a great way to enjoy your boat.

[RobS]

When I reinstalled my engine, tranny and shaft a few seasons back I was told by a few guys to not eveh bother doing the fine alignment at the coupler until she was in the water as she was certainly flexed and would need to be redone when splashed. A marine mechanic friend of mine who is familiar with the 28TE said he knows how strong she is and he doubted there was much flex if any at all. He bet it would be off minimal if anything. We set the alignment with the feeler gauge on the hard and checked again after splash. She remained dead on. I guess it's a combination of the yard blocking her true and the strong hull construction.

[JRD]

thanks for all the responses. im going to check out a few places this weekend... anyone in the charleston area know anything about or dealt with st. johns yacht habor on the stono river? Service? Staff? Currents? etc? Particularly their "wet lifts" which are slips with lifts. Thanks again for all the help.