Trojan Boat Forum

Is the cost of seasonal dockage rising faster than the inflation rate everywhere....... or just here in Eastern Ontario?? My boat has been moored at the same marina since 1976 (it's a '74 and I bought it in '98) and has hibernated each winter in the same storage building. But it's getting tougher each year to swallow the fees. I really enjoy the people on my dock and certainly don't want to move. I visited the competition and they're just as expensive. I guess it's what the market will bear but if seems sort of like a monopoly. I do know that marina operators certainly face additional costs these days with new regulations for fuel tanks, septic tanks, increased insurance and green products.

But, during the last five years, it seems to me that the cost of keeping a boat in a marina has experienced a dramatic upswing. Thoughts?

Do they have yacht clubs where you are? I wouldn't be able to afford to keep my boat at a marina, but I can afford to keep it at a yacht club. My total expenses (dues, dockage, and storage) are ~$800 per year. I'm required to put in 5 work hours per year plus help install the docks in the Spring and take them out in the Winter (2 additional days). It's by far the best deal around.

The downside to a yacht club is there is typically a waiting list to join the club and an additional waiting list to get on the docks. I waited a few months to join and then waited 3 years before I got dock space. I had a trailerable 24' cuddy cabin then, so launching the boat each time using the yacht club's launch ramp was a minor hassle but not too bad. There are other yacht clubs in my area that are more expensive but offer dock space right away.

Look around for a yacht club. You could possibly save a lot of money.

come on over to our docks , We charge by the dock not the foot. Limit is a 27ft boat " I know racists huh " Were a working club as well but docks in BEER , docks out BEER and a little raking and beer. Just got this years bill $320.00. best part is I can crawl home !

Here is our breakdown for my F-32.. Have been at the same marina 21 years.
winter storage $ 4.00 per square ft. ( 32 x 12 ) 384 sq ft
summer dockage $ 57.00 per sq ft
hydro $ 2.20 per sq ft
environmental charge $ 11.00
!3% HST tax. Total $3888.77 per year.
Yes it is climbing but thats boating in our area.

Come down to Texas, my f28 is in a 50 foot dock, with built in efficiency kitchen and shower. Cost $510 a month, pay it once a year and you get it for 10 months payment $5100, ouch, they are al the same here, it is a monopoly.

The marina 1 mile from my house in Tampa is $10 per foot maxim 30' they would not let me slide on 28' have to pay for 30. Or I can anchor in the bay or river inlet for free and use a skiff,seems to be quite a few doing that as live aboard,but it seems risky.

kallen wrote:winter storage $ 4.00 per square ft. ( 32 x 12 ) 384 sq ft

How did you cut off that 1' on the beam.... mine is 13'.
My marina does it on specification length=32'
So covered winter is $64/ft x 32= $2,048 Was $62 in 2010.
Summer is $51/ft x 32 plus 5% discount if you store for winter as well. =$1,550.40
30Amp hydro is $175.
There is also another 5% early pay discount available if paid by May 1 and Nov 1.

Winter storage is about the same as what I pay for Summer Florida covered storage where I paid $10/ft overall length/month last year..... this year it is up to $11/ft!
Though there are extra haul & block charges in FL (=about 1 months rental) which are included in the price in Ontario.... so that is the extra in the two places ignoring exchange rates.

When we were in a marina, we were paying about $4K/yr for a while (years ago) so when an oportunity came up to purchase a place on a canal that had a boat house, I didn't hesitate. A little higher mortgage but what I don't pay a marina; $5-6K now, offsets the higher mortgage so it balances out. I'd rather put the $5-6K into my own pocket than someone elses.

I've said before that the trend in a lot of big boat areas seems to be to squeeze the little guy out. There is bigger money in servicing bigger boats so I can see the logic from a business perspective. Not knocking marinas, they have a business to run, and their expenses have been going up too. The smaller boats are usually DIYers, shop on-line or big box stores rather than the marina's store, are usually a harder sell on maintenance, etc. etc. There's exceptions to everything of course, some big boat guys are the same. I know of at least one marina that won't let you work on your own boat so you know who they're trying to keep out. It took a while but eventually most of their clientele changed to a type that suited their operation best. Heck, there is a trend in a lot of marinas selling $10-15K premium packages for a regular slip with a bunch of extra services/frills, and the people that can are getting on board.

Between the cost of slips, fuel, lock fees, maintenance etc., it's a wonder the average family can boat at all. To reduce expenses, I've had friends seek alternatives to marinas, such as I did, or clubs and hook up with private water front owners who no longer boat or those that have extra slip space they are willing to rent out. I suspect there are more out there than one would think. They are usually older folk who don't use the cottage much anymore, or live there but don't mind the company any could use a little extra play money.

I pay $2060 for a 30 by 13 foot slip for summer. They always put a little 8 foot wide speed boat next to me so I have extra room to the right and left - otherwise I would need some marine Vaseline to squeeze it in.

My marina offers longevity discounts.

Winter is $2,000 which includes winterization of the engines.

And there is no such thing as a covered slip in Illinois on Lake Michigan which I find odd.

I pay about 2200 a year 36 foot boat ,40 foot slip New boats that come in pay by slip length now . I am grandfathered in by boat length .

Paying 4600.00 CDN covered slip with water hydro and cable 12 months. In and Out extra. Washrooms, showers and heated pool from May to October within 120 feet. Back of the boat is my parking spot plus 600 sq ft of grass for my picnic table, fire pit, lawn chairs and 2 x 4 x 3 deck box!

Similar to Big D, I haven't dealt with dockage fees at a marina or club in a very long time due to leaving that model and getting property with its own waterfrontage and dock. Having the boat at the house is also a nice way to be able to keep any eye on it. I do however pay for winter storage each season since acquiring the Trojan. Something I hadn't been doing in awhile since I was able to yank previous boats at a local ramp and trailer them back to the house. Not so much with the Trojan unless I want to take down the bridge and console every fall and put them back up every spring. So I have been paying for storage every winter. The marina that does it for me has a reputable on site shop so I let them winterize it as well. Good riddance to the hassle of doing it myself too. Having a shop where you personally know the guys doing the work (in my case its a family business whom I have known for 2 generations of boating because the old man there used to do work for my old man years ago) and knowing that not only do they do top quality work, but back it up 100% in the event something does go wrong (it happens to everyone once in awhile) is all I really needed to make the decision to have them winterize it as well as store it. $1400 bux. Haul, winterize, store, un-winterize, launch. I cover. I could get them to cover it too, but its too much money and wasted plastic for me to stomach. I get 3 or 4 winters on the boat out of a good tarp, and use it for several more on the woodpile after that. Shrinkwrap goes into big rolloff bins every spring. Seems a waste to me.

I know around here folks are getting 80 to 100 bux a foot at facilities that can handle 30-40 footers. Most places are including pressurized drinking water and single 30 amp hook-ups for those prices. Some of them are also packaging that with winter services too where they have the land and equipment for it for a year round price that amounts to the docking fee plus a discounted storage rate.

We all complain about the prices from time to time. Docking, fuel, upkeep. Its all expensive stuff for sure. Any recreational pursuit has its expenses though. There are few as rewarding as some time on the water though, espescially if you go out in do it in something classy like your vintage Trojan. For that, I'm willing to keep spending money on it. It beats the crap out of sitting at home in the nice weather.

Commissionpoint wrote:.....wasted plastic for me to stomach.....Shrinkwrap goes into big rolloff bins every spring. Seems a waste to me....

...Any recreational pursuit has its expenses though. There are few as rewarding as some time on the water though....For that, I'm willing to keep spending money on it. It beats the crap out of sitting at home in the nice weather.

Don't know about down your way but most marinas belong to a marina association here and pride themselves on achieving various levels of a "Clean Marine" program which has requirements/practices that need to be adheared to for maintaining that distinction. Shrink wrap should always be recycled, and there are programs up here to do that. All the used wrap and only wrap goes into one bin for processing. I don't have the need for the stuff as I lift mine in my covered slip but the recycling makes it a lot easier for me to swallow the practice. Some marinas also put the used stuff out front and before long, guys come around and pick it up for personal stuff like coveing smaller boats, garden equipment, what ever. It's great stuff and has many uses after winter.

I like your thinking about being in the water. Unfortunately, I'm sure it'll be a shorter season this year. Winter just won't go away. We still have 3 feet of ice. Usually by this time I can't stand on ice under my boat anymore. I'd say we'll be at least 3 weeks behind our typical launch time, and no matter how much of a positive spin I try to put on it, that just sucks

But it's going to be a great Summer!

$83 a year gets me a mooring on the Wareham river, I keep a dinghy on the beach. I had to buy the mooring tackle for $1500 including installation. Every three years the town says I need to have the tackle inspected for $100. For the winter, I store it at a Marina in nearby Fairhaven MA. for $1400 (includes haul out and in) and shrinkwrap it for $300. I think I'm doing it about as cheaply as it can be done. I feel fortunate indeed.