Having personally had many combinations of home and trailer sailer storage it would be interesting to get others current storage circumstances.
I have done everything from the street verge storage, my house driveway, yacht club hardstanding, caravan storage centre, on my hobby/small farm, on others hobby/small farm, marina berth(briefly), warehouse, vacant block ( I own ) beside my current house which also has a pontoon where it is sometimes stored on water in the back yard.
I haven't done mooring storage, parents/friends house/driveway or public road parking bay but have seen these.
I have finally just purchased what I think is perhaps one of the ultimate places being a place to store in my side driveway behind high gates with my own boat ramp and jetty in the backyard allowing forward in from the street and launch and forward out to the street again turning circle in the back yard.
I admit here in Australia trailer sailers are perhaps easier to store.
Having been on this site for quite a while, I think most keep their trailer sailers somewhere in their yard with a few having car ports, i.e. porticos. A very few have garages large or boats small, so that they can be completely enclosed. Seasonally some are kept on the trailer at a marina so with mast kept up they can be more quickly launched via ramp or crane. The smallest group keep their boats afloat in a marina at least seasonally.
Here in the south and having a marina about 30 meters away, I kept my boats afloat year round. I prefered trailer boats for a length not over about 7 meters for ease of single handed sailing, an just as much shallow draft as one section of the channel from the marina would silt up to less than 2 meters a few times a year.
I consider myself lucky in that regards. I keep my boat in my shop (garage). That's only one of the good things about having such a small boat. It's plywood, and in great shape too, and it wouldn't have lasted nearly as long without being stored INSIDE. I've got a Stauter skiff that I have worked on some that WASN'T stored inside and it shows. It was gifted by my nephew because he could see that the end was coming if he didn't do something. It's inside too, and waiting on the time I can pay attention to it. Those skiffs are renowned in this part of the world and sooner or later I'll finish up the things I have started on it. Maybe it'll last another 25 years. I did keep the clorox bottle I had at a marina for a while, but the boat wasn't my cup of tea and neither were the marina fees. I just guess I'm more attuned to wood and small anyway.
RX400002.jpg
I keep my 21 in a slip all season,i get between 30 and 40 sails aprox 3 hrs each.at the end of season the marina lifts boat washes bottom and places her on trailer then ill lower mast secure and tow 40 miles home to back yard winterize and cover with whalebone frame and tarp
I have a 15' West Wight Potter that has been my only sailboat for 12 years. I am fortunate to have an old farm building, perhaps an old bunkhouse, that I keep it in. It is difficult to get inside because the opening is narrow and the gophers keep tunneling under the ramp and sinking it, but I love having the boat protected from the weather and close at hand to tinker with or just admire.
I have 3 sailboats they stay on the hard at the sailing club on Lake Murray. I have two sea kayaks stored under the house and 3 canoes in a rack on the side of a shed covered with a tarp. I bring the sailboats home to do major work on them. I live about an hour's drive from the club. I do use all my boats a few boats more than others.
We drag ours home from it's summer's mooring usually abouut mid september.
Most winters our's gets shrinkwrapped . Hopefully this winter ,we will have a steel tubed framed building to house the boat.
My Compac 23IV is at a Marina year round. Bay Springs Marina is a very pleasant 35 mile drive up the Natchez Trace Parkway from my home. I found that if I don't keep the boat in the water, ready to go, I won't use it as much. Kind of expensive, but I have dockside power and water and that makes a big difference in maintaining it, battery charging, pressure washing, and running a much needed Davis Air Drier in the winter. Also has a place to store my trailer and a shower to use after a sail or work day on the boat. IMG_20171013_170534846.jpg
My 19ft Mariner sits on a boat lift in my back yard. Totally agree with keeping it ready to use makes for more use. I have the trailer to take it to other waters - this summer was the Mariner Rendezvous in Waterford, CT. Seriously considering the Florida 120 in May.
Fred W
Stuart Mariner 19 #4133 Sweet P
Yeopim Creek, Albemarle Sound, NC
The boats are kept at home. The 2 bigger ones have dedicated trailers, the Sunfishes and the PDR are moved using an adapted utility trailer. The biggest is tarped for the winter, I should extend this practice to the smaller ones. The dream would be to have covered storage and a heated shop to prep and repair during the off season.
Tarp and carport protected during the off season. Should have built a larger garage. Only two stall unit plus the carport. Truck, tractor, and small heated shop/storage room fills up the indoor space.
Cleared off an area on the SE 10. Nice lake view of the mouth of the Bay, South Channel, and Long Island. Neighbors thought I was clearing to sell. No way. Unless I need to finance a larger boat. But then where would I store it. Was always thinking about building a boat house, machine shed on that 10. Easier access to store the boat. Longer, winding, and moderate pitched driveway makes it a bit challenging parking Vela.
IMG_0801.JPG IMG_0753.JPG
My poor boat spent 40 years in the driveway, under the blazing south Florida sun with no protection from UV, Hurricanes or errant birds.
Here's a view from the roof of the house:
IMG_20130106_154849_450x600.jpg
Here's from the driveway.
20130704_142624 (2) 1024X768.jpg
And during Spring Cleaning:
Sailing_Stuff_5.JPG
7 years ago I moved up to north central Florida (near Gainesville, Fl) and had to face an issue that was never a problem in south Florida: Massive amounts of Oak leaves.
20230517_064237 1024X768.jpg
So we put a carport in front of the garage. And FINALLY!! The bright work lasts longer than 6 months! :D
20180505_081206 1024X768.jpg
Charles Brennan
It's been 7 years???? I was thinking 3.
But that's what life is like when you count time by the day on your pill box.
For 15 years my boat has lived in the driveway when not in the water. I keep it covered too.
Boatsmall.png
Interesting responses. I helped a friend build a hard standing alongside his garage and stored a former WWP19 I owned there one winter, presently I can store my Montgomery 15 in the driveway of a new home. In the photo below it sat alongside my now sold Seaward Fox. For winter (until I build a garage) this is now parked at an indoor storage facility some half hour drive. No local Marina, just a ramp and parking at Katepwa.
I am lucky in that friends can park their sailboat on some common land just in front of my property (normally full of speedboat trailers and RV's but in the photo below, just my Seaward Fox).
My boats stay at home on trailers covered by tarps - 2 boats & 2 trailers. The CIY 16 is stored with the mast acting as a ridge pole sitting on stands. The Hunter 18.5 has stands and a ridge pole made from 2x4's doubled. They are tall enough that I can get into the boat if I have to.
IMG_0809.jpg
When I had my first boat, the Kells 23, I kept it on it's trailer but not covered. I kept it for 5 years.
When I bought my Mac 26S, I built a frame with tarp to cover the boat. Worked great for the 8 years I kept her.
819304-R1-19-18A.jpg
When I was sailing my SD11, I was able to keep it on a small Harbor Freight trailer in the garage. She was as good as new when I sold her except for a few scratches from normal use (and she was made from 5mm luan!).
SD11.jpg