Storing Boat at home

[62cruiserinc]

I am thinking of storing my 1981 Sea Ray Sundancer 26' boat at home. It's in a slip on Lake Ontario now. I don't have a trailer, but I would have a boat mover with a hydraulic trailer take it to my house (10 miles away).

I see how they are stored at the marina on a stack of wood on the keel at the bow and stern. I have plenty of wood for those pieces.

What I would need is some of those stabilizer screw stands that the marinas have that keep the boat from tipping sideways. Where do I buy those? Is there an inexpensive online place to get them? I think I will need 4, two at bow and two at stern.

Steve

 

[hnt]

Defender Marine sells them.

 

[alldodge]

Hey tpenfield you can give some ideas, doing it every season

 

[tpenfield]

Boat Stands . . . Brownell is one of the more popular brands of stands. You really need 6 stands if you do bottom paint or any type of major cleaning on the hull bottom, as you will want to move both the keel blocks and the stands.

I found some boat stands on Craigslist locally for about $50 each



Then a while later I found another 4 four on CL., so now I have 8 stands and use the extra ones to more securely 'lift' the boat off of the keel blocks when the blocks need to be moved for bottom prep/painting.

Here is my boat with the stands (some extra) holding the boat stable on the keel blocks.



For the blocks, I got a bunch of 6x6 landscape timbers (would have liked to get 8x8 timbers, but could not find any at the lumber yards) I cut them into 16" blocks, yielding 6 blocks per 8' landscape timber. I have the boat hauler 'cross' the blocks, making a stable stack of 4 blocks high at the stern and 5 blocks high at the bow. Then he sets the stands . . . first the rear set and then the bow set after the trailer is pulled out.

Here is a picture of the boat hauler pulling the trailer out from under the boat.



I think the stands are about $100 new, but then there is a bit of extra $$ for shipping if you don't get them locally.

I've been doing this for 5 seasons so far. The cost around here is $10/foot, or $330 each way for my boat. The only disadvantage of not having a trailer is being able to pull the boat mid-season for maintenance or if something needs repair (that would be $660 . . . out and back in). . . and if a hurricane is coming.

 

[Old Ironmaker]

Why not get yourself an older trailer? You can't swing a cat around here without coming across a 25 year old cruiser sitting on a trailer that the owner will give you for free if you take the boat away, we do that. It's expensive here in Ontario to dispose of a fibreglass Cuddy or Cruiser. I don't know what side of the lake you are on but if you are in Ontario we have more than 1 trailer here at our hobby shop that will fit your boat. We are in The Niagara Peninsula on Erie. Thinking about it we have 3 right now that will fit. We are not dealers, just a few retirees that enjoy working for free.

 

[alldodge]

Need to agree with old iron, but your 26 footer weights in at 5200 lbs dry so that would not be hard to find. Don't know where your at but I know of a guy with one, and if interested PM me

 

[Ned L]

Brownell stands are convenient but certainly not necessary. My boat is coming back home tomorrow for the winter and I don't have any, just block her up 'old school'. I found old RxR ties that make good blocks.

 

[crazy charlie]

Use cement blocks with some inches of wood on top of them.If the ground has never had that kind of weight on it then you should put the blocks on some cut plywood larger than the block surface

 

[62cruiserinc]

I agree that a trailer is the best solution, but I can't swing it now financially. Next spring I will be ready for a trailer.

I found a local CL guy that has reasonably priced stands.

So it looks like I will need 4 of them? When my boat was stored at the marina earlier this year they used 4 of them, so I assume that is what I would need?

I also need to get some heavy timbers to put under the keel at the front and back. I read that the "usual" height for these is 16" high. Old railroad ties seem to be hard to find around here. Maybe I can find some PT 8x8s and cut them into pieces.

Steve

 

[Old Ironmaker]

I agree that a trailer is the best solution, but I can't swing it now financially. Next spring I will be ready for a trailer.

I found a local CL guy that has reasonably priced stands.

So it looks like I will need 4 of them? When my boat was stored at the marina earlier this year they used 4 of them, so I assume that is what I would need?

I also need to get some heavy timbers to put under the keel at the front and back. I read that the "usual" height for these is 16" high. Old railroad ties seem to be hard to find around here. Maybe I can find some PT 8x8s and cut them into pieces.

Steve

I got your email. I understand how financially strapping it can be when you first get into boating, especially a big older glass cruiser. Baby steps. Many folks don't realize the operating costs until they have bought the boat. I know more than a few that move the big cruiser twice a year, once in and once out, something like $700.00 to fill the fuel tanks. They use it as their weekend get away, beats a trailer in a park for many and waterfront prices are out of this world around here. The annual waterfront rate just to secure a site here at a private local park is $15,000.00 not including the trailer, annual fee and utilities. Good luck to you.

 

[tpenfield]

For the record and something to consider. . . Cinder blocks are not the best thing to use for the keel blocking on a heavier boat.

Having wood on top of and in between the stack of blocks helps, but you just never know if a block is going to crumble.

Wood is preferred.

 

[redneck joe]

got wood?


sorry, had to.



yes wood is best

 

[62cruiserinc]

I found some decent boat stands on CL. I'm not sure if they are the angled stand type or the straight up stand type. Will either type work for me? The marina used angled stands for my boat.

Steve

 

[tpenfield]

The ones that are slanted are for sailboats. Powerboats typically use the ones the are straight up, but the pad itself swivels to match the angle of the hull.

 

[62cruiserinc]

Thanks or the info.

I am going to see if the ones on CL are still available.

Steve