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Eisboch[_8_] Eisboch[_8_] is offline
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First recorded activity by BoatBanter: Dec 2010
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Default Cost of keeping A 45 foot boat at a marina



wrote in message ...

Can someone give me an idea, how much would it cost to keep a boat at
a marina year round (including winter storage). This should not
include variable costs like diesel fuel used for trips. Just the cost
of mooring and necessary maintenance. hanks

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It varies depending on the marina and it's location. Since you
mention winter storage, I assume you are not in a location like
Florida or areas where the boat can stay in the water year round
without special precautions. The location is also important because
some areas of the country don't have as many slips and moorings
available, especially for larger boats, as other parts of the country.
My state, (Massachusetts) is one of them. Finally, slips are usually
easier to find than moorings ... again at least in my area. Moorings
often have a long waiting list that can be in terms of years.

That all said, in my area a very nice marina with direct access to the
ocean that is well run and has dockside amenities is roughly $180 -
$200 per foot for a six to seven month season. This is for a slip.
Dockside power might be an additional $500 to $600 for the season
although some marinas include the electricity and water in the slip
fees. Dry storage (on land) is typically about $1,500 and up,
depending on whether it's inside or outside.
That does not include the cost of winterization, hauling or shrink
wrapping.

I know of another marina, also with good ocean access, but without a
lot of the amenities that is about $140 per foot for a six month
season.
They don't offer winter storage, so you have to find a place that will
haul, winterize and store it on your own.

One other consideration. Often, the boat's length is not as critical
as it's beam in terms of slip availability. Slip availability for
super wide beam boats are hard to find.

When we were in the market for our first large boat (52' LOA) I
first spent months searching for a slip in our general area before I
bought it.
The dealer I bought the boat from had some slips that he used to demo
his boat inventory. I told him that if he could find me a local
slip, I'd buy the boat. He gave up on of his slips in order to make
the deal happen.

I later found a nice marina on Cape Cod that had some "dockominiums".
Although outlawed in Massachusetts in the late 1980's, existing
dockominiums were "grandfathered" and can still be purchased. A
dockominium is basically a long term lease (usually 99 years) of a
slip whereby you buy it outright and upfront, just like buying a
house or condominium. You "own" your slip, so you don't pay for
it's use and you can sell it, just like selling a house or condo when
you no longer need it. The problem is that like everything else
associated with boating, they can be expensive, however unlike boats,
they appreciate in value over the years, much more so than typical
houses or condos. We bought a 55' slip in 2002 for $72,000. For the
first two years we didn't use it because our 52' boat was in Florida.
When you are not using it, you may lease it yourself or have the
marina lease it for you. The marina charges the going rate for slips
and takes a 15 percent commission. You receive 85 percent of the
leasing fee.

I moved our boat back to this slip in 2004 and we sold the boat in
2008. In 2010 we sold the slip for $152,000. Not a bad investment
overall and the only fees we paid during the eight years of ownership
was a small yearly maintenance fee. When you consider the profit made
in the slip sale, we basically had a free 55' slip for 8 years.