Questions for those of you who use dry storage with in/out svc

[Chatt_Jetsetter]

So we're going today to test drive our Vortex and possibly take it home. If we get the boat we're doing a dry storage service that offers In/Out svc using the big forklift. I have a few questions and I thought some of ya'll probably had some experience with this, though I'm sure all the marinas are a bit different in how they do this.

1) When they put my boat in the water and it's at the dock for us to load, can I fuel it myself with cans instead of buying marina fuel? I'm sure they are worried about spillage but I don't think there's anymore potential for that than fueling at the dock store.

2) Once you pull back up to the marina at the end of your day and clean out the boat, do you give it some time for the interior to dry before putting the mooring cover on? I'd like to store it covered, and they won't put the cover on but I don't want to store a wet boat inside a dark, covered environment. Or is this not really an issue?

3) What happens if you come back after hours? My assumption is I tie the boat up at the service dock, take the key, prep it and then they'll get it the next morning; but nothing prevents someone from just towing that boat away in the middle of the night so my guess is this just isn't advisable?

Any other advice/tips/tricks you guys have learned from using dry storage when it comes to launching, returning, or otherwise? Thanks and I appreciate any input!

 

[ididntdoit]

Not sure where your located - but in all the dry stacks ive been in in fla, self-fueling is never allowed - some allowed fuel deliverey, but that only applies to larger boats (my boat at the time held 170gals) most marinas here sell rec90. As far as covering, I liked my interior to be dry before installing my mooring cover too - my boat allowed for some circulation with the top on.

after hours, yes - leave it and they take care of it in the am - some have a "system" where you leave some kind of a signal if you will be using the boat the next day - in south florida, most marinas have security after hours, not sure about other places - most thefts seem to be outboards and lower units, electronics, fishing gear and yeti coolers

I always tip the forklift guys well - they often take care of the other guys - get to know the office staff too - the more they put a face and $$$ with a boat, the less you (and your boat) will be treated like a number

 

[Chatt_Jetsetter]

Not sure where your located - but in all the dry stacks ive been in in fla, self-fueling is never allowed - some allowed fuel deliverey, but that only applies to larger boats (my boat at the time held 170gals) most marinas here sell rec90. As far as covering, I liked my interior to be dry before installing my mooring cover too - my boat allowed for some circulation with the top on.

after hours, yes - leave it and they take care of it in the am - some have a "system" where you leave some kind of a signal if you will be using the boat the next day - in south florida, most marinas have security after hours, not sure about other places - most thefts seem to be outboards and lower units, electronics, fishing gear and yeti coolers

I always tip the forklift guys well - they often take care of the other guys - get to know the office staff too - the more they put a face and $$$ with a boat, the less you (and your boat) will be treated like a number

Great tips, thank you!

 

[Beachbummer]

My marina does not have fuel, and you can't fuel yourself except on a maintenance rack. I suspect they allow this only because they don't have fuel on site.

Covering the boat wet is a challenge, If you don't cover it there are consequences too. I keep some disecant on the boat to help with this, the least bad option is to cover wet vs not cover for me, so it's what I do from time to time.

In my marina they generally don't move boats without request, except for Monday morning where all boats go to dry stack unless you tell them otherwise. They will tell you what works for them. best thing to do is to follow their instructions, they will be the best source of this info.