Dry stack options

General Boats and Motors
1

looking for a few opinions from you guys on local dry stack options and reviews – good or bad

I know the rates for some of the places, but I’m not sure how consistent that is. If any of you are willing to share ballpark costs that you pay or have heard of that would be great.

For the next boat upgrade I’m thinking a CC in the 22-24 range. That’s not hard to trailer, but I honestly don’t want to deal with the hassle of putting it in and out so frequently, especially at the end of a hot and humid day. Plus, I don’t have room to keep it at my house, so even on a trailer I would probably have to keep it at a self storage place.

trying to see if the convenience justifies the cost

2

The search function on CF seems to swallow its own ass every time I try to use it, but Google hooked me up with some good info from these archived posts and a few others. It would still be nice to get some current opinions on dry stack options around town.

nice list of fees in the 3rd post from the top:

http://old.charlestonfishing.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=150523

another thread I missed that was over in the offshore forum:

http://old.charlestonfishing.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=171716

links to a lot of the local marinas on this page:

http://www.dreamcharleston.com/charleston-marinas-boat-docks.html

3

I drystacked my last boat at Rivers Edge, so I’ll share my opinions based on that experience:

Pros:

  • Boat was kept inside out of the sun and weather
  • Process was easy - call ahead one hour and it’s in the water and fueled up
  • Maintenance was easy - I’d just call and have them put the boat on a work rack for the day

Negatives:

  • Boat always had a fine layer of diesel soot on it from the forklifts. This didn’t stain anything, but the boat needed to be rinsed/wiped down before you could hop on and go.
  • Restrictive hours - if you want to go fishing in the morning, you have to plan ahead and have it launched the afternoon before. If you want to take an evening cruise after work, you have to plan ahead and have it launched in the afternoon. They closed early, so if you come back after about 4pm, your boat will stay in the water overnight, and you’ll have to fight for dock space with everyone else coming back late.
  • No matter how careful the forklift drivers are, the forks will scuff up the bottom of your boat over time.

Neutral:

  • I had a long run to the harbor down the Ashley, but I ultimately decided the tradeoff for cheaper monthly rent vs the stacks closer to the harbor, and the indoor storage was worth it.

I don’t remember my exact cost, but I think it was around $350/month for a 24.5ft boat on an annual lease.