252SD New Owner – What Would You Do? Trailer vs Rack vs Slip

[RedlineRider]

Hey everyone,

I recently picked up a 2025 Yamaha 252SD and I’m trying to decide the best long-term setup for storing and using it. I’d really appreciate input from those of you with real-world experience.

I’m in Michigan and will only be boating in freshwater. My use will be a mix of full days and quick 2–3 hour after-work cruises, plus family time, fishing with my son, and occasional sunset cruises.

I also tend to avoid weekends and prefer weekdays when things are less busy. Ideally I’d like to get out 2–3 times a week, even if it’s just a quick run to a sandbar and back.

I’ve been weighing a few options:

1. Keeping it on the trailer at home under an RV carport
2. Rack & launch at a marina (~40–55 minutes away on Lake St. Clair or Lake Erie)
3. Wet slip at a marina (~40–55 minutes away on Lake St. Clair or Lake Erie)

My biggest concern is leaving it in the water, even freshwater. I’ve read about:

• Algae/scum buildup
• Jet pump/intake issues
• Gelcoat staining

My current thinking is:

Season 1: keep it on the trailer to learn the boat, do any work, break it in and get quick reps at a lake 20 minutes away​

Season 2: move to a marina setup (likely rack & launch) once I’m more comfortable​

For those with Yamaha jet boats:

• How big of a deal is leaving it in the water full-time?
• How much extra maintenance does that add?

And for anyone who’s been through this:

• What did you choose and why?
• Did your usage change based on storage?

If you were in my shoes, what would you do for the first couple seasons?

Appreciate any insight—thanks!

 

[Dave burke]

I've been wetslipping my boat since 2017. May to October. Small lake though so no concern with big waves.

There is some algae build up but it's not bad and I clean the hull in the fall some years (not every year if I'm honest).

No issues with the jet pumps leaving them in the water.

My guess is you'll use it more if you don't have to trailer it every time. That being said, are there any options closer than the two lakes you mention? I wonder if it's realistic to think you're going to drive 2 hours on a weekday 2-3 times a week?

 

[Exciter 220]

I've only trailered my boats. However, there is no way I would ever leave a Yamaha in a wet slip. They leak too much, and the driveshaft seals can develop leaks while they're sitting there. Keep in mind that you don't need saltwater to cause corrosion.

 

[RedlineRider]

I've been wetslipping my boat since 2017. May to October. Small lake though so no concern with big waves.

There is some algae build up but it's not bad and I clean the hull in the fall some years (not every year if I'm honest).

No issues with the jet pumps leaving them in the water.

My guess is you'll use it more if you don't have to trailer it every time. That being said, are there any options closer than the two lakes you mention? I wonder if it's realistic to think you're going to drive 2 hours on a weekday 2-3 times a week?

@Dave burke - Really appreciate the response, that’s super helpful, especially hearing your experience with wet slipping.

Good to know you haven’t had issues with the jet pumps and that algae hasn’t been too bad.

I do think 2–3 times a week is realistic for me. I work from home, so I can bring my phone and laptop and work from the marina or even the boat if needed.

There are smaller lakes closer, but they get old quick, just going in circles. The bigger lakes offer way more variety and places to explore, which is what I’m after.

And I agree, that’s exactly what I keep coming back to. I’ll probably use it a lot more if I don’t have to trailer every time.

Do you think I should go with a wet slip right out of the gate in my first season or wait to get a season with the boat at home and on closer lakes to get more familiar? I’ll also be taking it on family vacations to different lake homes within a 3–5 hour drive radius.

 

[Russell]

A slip with a hydro-lift is best if you can afford it. You can't be the convince of launching your boat in minutes. It's a huge time saver and stress reliever all on one!

 

[zipper]

We wet slipped our Yamaha for 3-4 seasons in Lake Champlain, 3 different marinas. Never had any water intrusion from lake water, however we did have some rainwater get in from the snap on bow and cockpit cover, but not enough to trigger the bilge pump. If the bow and cockpit sole drains to the scupper and NOT to the ski locker, no issues. There was a little growth to clean off at end of season, not much it you do a little bottom cleaning at the beach over the summer. We used it a lot more when she was wet slipped versus kept on the trailer, no waiting lines or hassles at the ramp, usually only a weekend thing here. The lake is 120 miles long and 10 miles wide at it’s widest. No other lakes within a 1.5 hr. drive worth dropping a boat of this size in. If we wanted to trailer to other parts of the lake, the ramp is 5 minutes from the slip.

 

[paleus]

I'll go against the grain and say that I actually prefer to keep my boat on the trailer at my house. At the lakes we go to, the ramps are easy and usually not crowded at all. Even if it were in a slip, we'd still have to uncover it before going out and put the cover back on when done. Launching and retrieving from the trailer really doesn't take much time at all, we have a plan worked out and can do it quickly and stress free. Being able to go to different lakes on a whim is nice as well. Mostly though, I really like working on the boat so I like having it at home where I can tinker with it whenever I have some free time.

 

[Dave burke]

@Dave burke - Really appreciate the response, that’s super helpful, especially hearing your experience with wet slipping.

Good to know you haven’t had issues with the jet pumps and that algae hasn’t been too bad.

I do think 2–3 times a week is realistic for me. I work from home, so I can bring my phone and laptop and work from the marina or even the boat if needed.

There are smaller lakes closer, but they get old quick, just going in circles. The bigger lakes offer way more variety and places to explore, which is what I’m after.

And I agree, that’s exactly what I keep coming back to. I’ll probably use it a lot more if I don’t have to trailer every time.

Do you think I should go with a wet slip right out of the gate in my first season or wait to get a season with the boat at home and on closer lakes to get more familiar? I’ll also be taking it on family vacations to different lake homes within a 3–5 hour drive radius.

Unless you're familiar with boats and trailering, if I were you I'd probably trailer to a variety of lakes to get used to launching, retrieving and trailering.

I also forgot to add that if you do wet slip, I would add a second bilge pump for safety, connected directly to the battery so even if your battery switches are off, it still works. I had a bad experience with mine in the 2nd year because the through hull shaft seal started leaking because I sucked up a rope and factory bilge didn't work with the battery switches off. Might be different with the newer boats but you'll want to be sure.

 

[RedlineRider]

I've only trailered my boats. However, there is no way I would ever leave a Yamaha in a wet slip. They leak too much, and the driveshaft seals can develop leaks while they're sitting there. Keep in mind that you don't need saltwater to cause corrosion.

Not worried about salt water as only freshwater lakes here in Michigan. But have noted your other points.

 

[RedlineRider]

I'll go against the grain and say that I actually prefer to keep my boat on the trailer at my house. At the lakes we go to, the ramps are easy and usually not crowded at all. Even if it were in a slip, we'd still have to uncover it before going out and put the cover back on when done. Launching and retrieving from the trailer really doesn't take much time at all, we have a plan worked out and can do it quickly and stress free. Being able to go to different lakes on a whim is nice as well. Mostly though, I really like working on the boat so I like having it at home where I can tinker with it whenever I have some free time.

This is why my thought is to do my first season with it in the trailer and next season deciding if I am going to repeat or going with Marina rack & launch or wet slip for season 2 based on my usage and frustration in season 1.

 

[RedlineRider]

Unless you're familiar with boats and trailering, if I were you I'd probably trailer to a variety of lakes to get used to launching, retrieving and trailering.

I also forgot to add that if you do wet slip, I would add a second bilge pump for safety, connected directly to the battery so even if your battery switches are off, it still works. I had a bad experience with mine in the 2nd year because the through hull shaft seal started leaking because I sucked up a rope and factory bilge didn't work with the battery switches off. Might be different with the newer boats but you'll want to be sure.

I am very familiar with trailering just never a boat. I have trailered RVs and jet skis since the 90s so not worried about launching and recovery so my as I have my fair share of experience there

Great tip on the second bilge pump, I might do this regardless as I prefer to have redundancy for critical items like this.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

I trailer my boat to different lakes, my closest lake is 10 minutes from my house, another is 20 min, another 45 mins, two more 1.5 hours, two more at 3.5 hours, another 8 hours and still others two days drive to get to. So, I’m going to go with the trailering option. It’s a trailer boat, so I like exploiting that and go to many different lakes, including Lake Michigan in the summer.

Launching and retrieving the boat is not that big of a deal for me, when I’m by myself it takes me 4 minutes from the time I start backing my boat down the ramp until the boat is tied at the dock and I’m pulling away from the ramp in my truck whether launching or retrieving. Sure there is a learning curve if you’ve never done it before, but with some practice its a quick affair to launch and load the boat. You’ll come up with a system that is quick and easy.

The biggest problem I see with trailering the boat is dealing with the droolers at the ramp on the weekends, but since you are going to avoid weekends you shouldn’t have that problem. If you do go on the weekends, get there early and leave when the crowds have abated. When I first started boating I read the book, “how not to be a dick at the boat ramp”. Basically, have your poop in a group when you pull up to the ramp, boat fully loaded with gear and people, dock lines in place, hull plug in, transom straps removed, and ready to launch the boat, launch, tie it to the dock and get out of the way. No loitering near the ramp etc.. get in and get out. It is amazing how many people missed reading that book, it should be required reading.

At my closest lake there are slips but I can’t imagine using them, I’d have to carry my gear down to my boat which is a bit of a hike to do that. I keep my boat out by my shop with a cover on it, when I go to the lake, I take off the cover-usually the night before,I hook up the boat and pull it by the house, bring the packed ice box out and put it in the boat and I’m ready to head to the lake and am pulling away from the dock 20 mins later. While the boat is parked next to my shop I keep it plugged in and the onboard battery chargers keep my batteries, start/house and trolling motor, fully charged and ready to go, that battery charger thing is something you’ll want to do as soon as you can. The charging systems on our boats are not very powerful, and lead acid batteries of any type need hours to charge properly, so if you do decide to go with a slip or rack there should be electricity dock side that you can plug your chargers into, this guarantees that your boat will be ready to go when you show up to use it. Your boat has the drive X system, and almost all of the problems that I’ve seen on this site with that system is due to low battery voltage, there is the occasional issue where someone gets in too shallow of water and binds up the reverse gate with small debris when they reverse in too shallow water, but mostly its low voltage issues. At the slips by my house there is no electrical hook ups so that is a non starter for me since I have a trolling motor. There are other folks on here that slip or rack with electrical hook ups and some of them have a solar set up to keep their house and start batteries charged.

I leave all of my gear on my boat, MFD, fishing tackle, tools etc. I live in a safe area, but the guy who lives at the marina during summer has told me about the occasional theft. So security is a big deal to me.


If you’re not familiar with jet boats then you need to plan on doing a lot of practice to learn how to maneuver your boat in close quarters. You’ve got twin engines so splitting the throttle will be your best tool, just remember to keep the steering wheel centered with using differential thrust. Remember, it’s a jet boat, if you’re not using thrust you have no or very very little directional control. Your boat comes with TDE (thrust directional enhancement), its explained in the owners manual, this is the first detent on the throttle forward, the reverse buckets are partially open and the thrust gets pushed down and to the sides as well as backwards, using this with the no wake button to increase the engine idle speed greatly enhances directional control. No amount of after market fins is going to make up for practice, and besides, its fun, I’m sure your son will have a blast learning how to move the boat around. Find a spot out away from boat traffic and play around with moving your boat around to where you want it, especially in the wind.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Unless you're familiar with boats and trailering, if I were you I'd probably trailer to a variety of lakes to get used to launching, retrieving and trailering.

I also forgot to add that if you do wet slip, I would add a second bilge pump for safety, connected directly to the battery so even if your battery switches are off, it still works. I had a bad experience with mine in the 2nd year because the through hull shaft seal started leaking because I sucked up a rope and factory bilge didn't work with the battery switches off. Might be different with the newer boats but you'll want to be sure.

I think all of the newer boats have their bilge pumps wired directly to the battery for the auto function..

 

[paleus]

I am very familiar with trailering just never a boat. I have trailered RVs and jet skis since the 90s so not worried about launching and recovery so my as I have my fair share of experience there

Great tip on the second bilge pump, I might do this regardless as I prefer to have redundancy for critical items like this.

Instead of a second bilge pump, I wired in a float switch directly to the battery. I didn't want to have to figure out the plumbing for the outlet of a second pump and I am not as concerned about the pump failing, just it not working with the battery switches off. Just adding a float switch solved the problem for me.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

I am very familiar with trailering just never a boat. I have trailered RVs and jet skis since the 90s so not worried about launching and recovery so my as I have my fair share of experience there

Great tip on the second bilge pump, I might do this regardless as I prefer to have redundancy for critical items like this.

Pretty easy to add a second bilge pump, some folks add it in the back of the boat and put it down as low as possible just above where the hull plug is. If you just want redundancy you could put it right next to the OEM one and run the outlet up to where the OEM discharge is.

 

[CastawayRK]

I support the trailer/learn year and if you find you like one of those lakes better then get a slip second year. I had lift installed at marina when I kept boat there and took it with me when I got my neighborhood dock. Personally not a fan of dry stack though I know they are popular. One thing to note about dry stack- the marina I used would not take my boat due to thrust vectors and trim tabs (and now transducers) hanging off the back.

 

[RedlineRider]

@FHS 210 Sport
Really appreciate all the detail, this was super helpful and gave me a lot to think about.

I’m going to stick with keeping the boat at home and trailering for the first year. I like the idea of being able to easily work on it, practice whenever I have time, learn all the functions and features, and explore different lakes. We’re also planning to take it on family vacations to different lake houses within a few hours, so trailering fits that well.

If I find a lake I really want to commit to, then I’ll revisit the marina option next season.

I’ve never read that book, but I love that philosophy. I’m big on having everything prepped and ready before getting to the ramp and getting in and out as quickly and efficiently as possible. I’m definitely planning to develop a solid system and will be practicing during off-peak times to dial that in.

I’m not too worried about low-speed maneuvering. I’ve got a lot of experience from rentals, friends’ boats, and owning PWCs for 30 years, just never a jet boat. I’m sure I’ll pick it up quickly with some practice. I’m also familiar with TDE since my WaveRunner FX HO has it and I use it regularly.

Thanks again, really appreciate you taking the time to write all that out.

 

[RedlineRider]

I'll go against the grain and say that I actually prefer to keep my boat on the trailer at my house. At the lakes we go to, the ramps are easy and usually not crowded at all. Even if it were in a slip, we'd still have to uncover it before going out and put the cover back on when done. Launching and retrieving from the trailer really doesn't take much time at all, we have a plan worked out and can do it quickly and stress free. Being able to go to different lakes on a whim is nice as well. Mostly though, I really like working on the boat so I like having it at home where I can tinker with it whenever I have some free time.

Yup this is exactly what I plan to do the 1st year and then figure out if there a lake or marina I want to commit to.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

@FHS 210 Sport
Really appreciate all the detail, this was super helpful and gave me a lot to think about.

I’m going to stick with keeping the boat at home and trailering for the first year. I like the idea of being able to easily work on it, practice whenever I have time, learn all the functions and features, and explore different lakes. We’re also planning to take it on family vacations to different lake houses within a few hours, so trailering fits that well.

If I find a lake I really want to commit to, then I’ll revisit the marina option next season.

I’ve never read that book, but I love that philosophy. I’m big on having everything prepped and ready before getting to the ramp and getting in and out as quickly and efficiently as possible. I’m definitely planning to develop a solid system and will be practicing during off-peak times to dial that in.

I’m not too worried about low-speed maneuvering. I’ve got a lot of experience from rentals, friends’ boats, and owning PWCs for 30 years, just never a jet boat. I’m sure I’ll pick it up quickly with some practice. I’m also familiar with TDE since my WaveRunner FX HO has it and I use it regularly.

Thanks again, really appreciate you taking the time to write all that out.

Glad to see you are familiar with the TDC / No Wake thing. Level 3 no wake in the TDC gives brisk directional control but on my boat generates too much wake in a marina at level 3 so I stay with level 2.

Your closest lake maybe small, but it’s convenient and practicing doesn’t require much room.

So the book, that was a joke. But there should be one, like a little kids book, big pages with illustrations, you know, Barney style.

Having the boat at your pad and being able to load everything up then head to whichever lake you are going to go to will work out well for you. You mentioned your son, perhaps he will be able to drive the boat when launching and retrieving ? Or perhaps your wife, that makes it go so much faster. When my friend is with me and he is driving the boat, it takes less than a minute to launch, and about 90 seconds to retrieve the boat, in and out super quick.

If the only time I could go and use my boat was on the weekends, and I could find a secure marina with electricity at the slip, and I could put a lift in then I’d probably do that to avoid the chit show at the ramp, the only thing I’d have to bring to the boat would be an ice box. I had a run in with total asshole on the trip, Lake Mohave at Katherine Landing, I just came back from, basically he and his wife had completely cut the “ramp lane” and pulled his boat to the front of the very long dock blocking everyone else from using the left side of the single dock, and he thought I was the problem because as he put it, I cut off his wife who had emerged from a special parking place and had not gone through the “ramp lane” as I had. As I like to say, “people are awesome”. Compare that to the other times I retrieved there on this same trip and it was mostly older folks who were all waiting their turn and helping each other-thats my kind of crowd.

We hope to see posts from you in the “one picture of your last outing” thread or perhaps the “show us what you see” thread in the coming season.

 

[AZMark]

You need to keep the boat at home for the first year to install all the mods you'll "need" on a new boat after spending time on this forum.