Long Term Storage - Southern Maine

[smilie]

Hi:

I have a 1967 Cheoy Lee sailboat (36 footer) that I think I am going to, in an effort to keep her, move to dry land this spring for long term storage/overhaull (maybe 3 years). Am looking for an afforadable place to put her up for this purpose. I can be contacted via e-mail at srogers@york-laywers.com. Thanks.

[Gnitfar]

have you tried yards in Gloucester

[smilie]

Southern Maine. I keep my boat in Falmouth but live in South Berwick (near York Maine, just south of Kennebunk (which many know relative the Bush compound). Would like to keep her south of Kennebunk but just north of Portsmouth, NH.

Thanks.

[CarlF]

For three years, I think the most economical would be to truck her inland a mile or so to get away from high price coastal property. 36ft is small enough that a hydraulic boatyard trailer can do the job. In Maine, you really need to put the boat inside to do work. Either a barn or build a plastic sheet Quonset hut. Make sure you have a source of electricity.

Given the economy, you should be able to find someone nearby with an unused 500 square ft of land who agrees a few hundred dollars a year in cash is better than their next best option. Best would be an old guy who might come with useful experience and better stories.

Carl

[klem]

Is getting the boat trucked to your property out of the question? If you are looking at 3 years, the yard fees and gas money to drive to the yard regularly would probably be more than the trucking fee to get the boat there assuming it is small enough to go over the road easily.

I can't recommend any yards right where you are, I only know the ones a bit further downeast.

[smilie]

Goodness, this is a website is already proving to be a great resource. Thanks to all the responses.

Will look inland. I have a call in to a yard in South Berwick now. Will follow up on the outcome (least anyone else is interested in the outcome) if it proves fruitful.

[Catamount]

Store the boat at your home if you've got a lot of work to do. It really will be much easier!

My Dad did this on an annual basis, and found that having the boat hauled and trucked to his inland home, 2 to 3 hours from the coast, and then back again in the spring, was a wash financially compared to storing the boat in a coastal boat yard.

Likewise, I had my boat hauled in Marblehead, MA, and trucked the 2 to 3 hours to my home here in Keene, NH twice, and indeed the cost is about equivalent to storage in a boat yard.


View out the bedroom window after the boat was delivered the first time.

Independent Boat Haulers in Eliot is one of the main outfits in your area. They have a storage yard, if you'ld rather. They usually haul out in Rye, NH, or in Kittery, I think.

I can also recommend highly Marblehead Trading Company
trucking@marbleheadtrading.com
1-800-600-9382


EDIT: just saw that you keep your boat in Falmouth -- you might talk to Steve Morse -- he's got a good rep as a boat hauler in that area (Falmouth/Yarmouth), and could truck it from there to your home in South Berwick if you didn't want to sail down to the Pisquatiqua...

[hanschristian38]

Try Great Bay Marine in Newington, NH.

[Kefaa]

Catamount - when you say a "wash" do you mean that literally? In the Chesapeake I am paying $175/month to store at the yard. (December - March = $700) I have not found anyone who would move it 2+ hours away and back for that. Am I missing something? Because I would have loved to have done that this year (first year as owner) and worked on it through the winter.

[Catamount]

OK, here's an example:

Per their rate sheet available online, outside winter storage for 2009 at Boothbay Region Boatyard was $6/square foot for the season, which includes haul, wash, block and launch, but not unstepping the mast or covering the boat. My boat is 34 feet long and 11.25 feet in beam, or 382.5 square feet, which works out to $2295 for a winter's storage. Perhaps not the cheapest place around, but it is somewhat representative of the going rate around here.

Again, according to their online ratesheet, Marblehead Trading, the place I used, charges 4.25 per running foot for haulout (34' = $144.5), Rigging work at $65/hour (unstep and store mast, ~4 man hours? $260), Trucking at $120 hour (round trip = 6 hours, $720) -- repeat in spring to launch, total is $2250. Add mast storage ($150) and pressure wash at haulout ($150) -- basically it works out to be about the same as a winter's storage at a boat yard, marginally more, but now I've got my boat at home and don't have to drive 8 hours round trip each time I want to work on it!

Of course, Marblehead Trading is very efficient at this process, and they are using their own truck and trailer based right there at their yard, so you don't have to pay to have a trucker come from far away just to get to your haulout yard, and then pay for their trip back home again.

Typical winter storage season up here is about 7 to 8 months long. At your $175/month, that's about $1400 -- but does your rate include haulout and launch?

In the OP's case, he's looking to store the boat for 3 years. At your yard, 36 months X $175 per = $6300 -- So, yes, I think you can probably have the boat trucked home, and then back to water again, for less than $6300!

[smilie]

Maine has proved to be a lot more expensive than Virginia (where I purchased my boat) on haul and storage. This year, with shrink wrap, my total bill is a little north of $3,500. When I add winterization of the motor and the spring commissioning, it is much more. In Virginia my total cost was less than half that. Perhaps there are simply fewer yards. Not sure why it is so much more expensive. I had my boat hauled in Sandy Hook, NU, just across from NYC, for a winter and it was by far cheaper than here in Maine. Given that the sailing season is so short in Maine, this really puts the pressure on.

Will look into hauling it home. I might actually be able to do that.

Thanks.