Drystack versus Marina Berth?

[Tree]

Again, one really for the 28 TE owners - my marina contract has just come up for renewal and this year it will be £503 a metre - drystack is £425 a metre.

How many of you out there drystack your 28 and what are the pros and cons against and for it?

I know Porchylad over here drystacks his 28 but I am looking for longterm users before I decide if it is for me?

cheers

Lee

[denchen]

Wow I knew prices were higher `down south` but I`ve just paid my club jetty moorings for my 25 for this next summer and paid 225.00 for the season.

[Tree]

Wow I knew prices were higher `down south` but I`ve just paid my club jetty moorings for my 25 for this next summer and paid 225.00 for the season.

thats the downside of being berthed in the Solent!

[Russell]

Lee
I dry stored the Shamrock that I owned before getting an Albin and tried to have the Albin dry stored here in Florida but they would not accommodate the keel. The major advantage is no more bottom paint or growth on underwater metals. Zincs are still necessary but last a lot longer. Another plus for Florida is being out of the water in case of a hurricane. No worries about sinking at the dock. If stored inside a shed the boat is out of the sun and stays looking new for many years.
The major disadvantage is not having access to your boat any time of day. You have to plan ahead. If you wish to fish before opening hours you must have your boat launched the day before. If returning after hours at my marina we just left the boat in the pick up area with the antenna down and they would store it the next morning. They would put the boat on a work rack any time I wanted and in and out of the water was limited to 2 or 3 per day but that was never an issue for me.
Your must check with your marina to see what their policies are and if they sound reasonable I would recommend trying it.

[Tree]

Cheers for that Russ, I only have to give an hours notice for launch here so its not too bad, assuming I don't want to launch on xmas or boxing day.I am warming to the idea as it will massively reduce maintenance and would mean i can wax the hull as often as i like.

Did the hull ever suffer any damage from the forks on the lift?

[Russell]

No the fork lift operators were very good. They do this all day long. In my last marina in Norfolk I had a wet slip but had my Albin periodically lifted out to clean the hull and prop with no problems. The flat area at the chines is perfect for the fork lift. Just make sure to have your trim tabs up which is standard procedure for me. I like to raise them just before entering the no wake zone and flip on the rear bilge pump while the bow is up to empty the bilge while coming down off the plane.

[RobS]

..Did the hull ever suffer any damage from the forks on the lift?

Ex-Albineer RicM has a post "Southern Venture" where he moved his boat from RI to FL for the winter and she was dry stored and moved with a forklift. Here's some pictures from his thread. My marina also moved T-R around with a forklift at times as well. Just gotta watch our for your transducers and other underwater hardware.

[Tree]

Russ, good call on the trim tabs. Rob, the issue with transducers came to me last as we have one thru hull and one transom mounted. The transom mounted one is my biggest concern.

We even have the same lift trucks in our Marina here!

[RobS]

Does the transom mounted one have the "flip up" feature ? It should..

[Tree]

Yeah it does but the bracket is only plastic. I can see that being broken quite easily if it's flipped up too often.

[Tree]

Well this isn't going to happen - trial lift today and the boat slid back on the forks. Result, one damaged swim platform!

Just off to inspect the damage - the marina are picking up the repair bill.

[Tree]

6" crack and damage to the starboard side of the swim platform - can't tell if the stainless arms underneath have been damaged and would assume the boat will need to be lifted out for further inspection.

It's handy really its coming up to refit time of year!

[Russell]

Sorry to hear that. The lifts in my marina have a heavy canvas cover and once the boat is lifted it does not move. They should not have tilted it so much in any case. Did you see it happen?

[Tree]

I wasn't there at the time Russ, they phoned me immediately to tell me, so at least they owned up straight away.

I just wonder if the slime on the bottom has made a difference and thats whats caused it.

[RobS]

It's a boat coming out of the water, of course it will have some slime. Slime shouldn't allow this to happen, I doubt you were the first slimy boat the fork lift has lifted. What do they have for non-skid? Here's the forklift that lifted T-R a number of times..