Winter Storage
 

Always curious to see what other people are doing for their winter storage.

I have decided this year to opt for an indoor storage "condo". It's basically a 32' long x 12' high and 12' tall garage with secured 24hr access at one of the local boat dealerships. http://cdn-8.psndealer.com/e2/dealer...storage543.jpg

Pricing was $700 for 6 months. It's a little more expensive than last year's warehouse storage facility, but worth it for the easy access. (Last year I got put in middle of the building and surrounded by camper trailers, and ended up moving all of them myself to get the boat out!).

I'm jealous of every one of you that has a garage big enough to hold their boat. :D

My kayak, windsurfers, lawnmowers, snow plow, etc are kept in a storage unit like you're talking about. 12x25. I'm lucky enough to have a 14' peak in my storage unit, so I'm able to hang a ton of stuff from the walls in there. It's something like $700 for the year, so yes, it adds up, but I certainly don't have room for all that plus a couple cars in my garage at home. As much as I'd like to, my lot is not conducive to building a bigger garage at home either.

My brother owns a commercial building with a garage about 40 minutes from my house. He stores his 2 boats & a couple toy cars in there. He's been gracious enough to allow me to squeeze my boat in after he has his all set for the winter. I've kept my catamaran in there the last few years. This year with 2 boats here, I'll have to get a bit creative to see if I can get the new Mariah in there too.

At the cabin (Sault Sainte Marie, MI), I just winterize and cover the fish-n-ski with a tarp (poles down the middle to help the snow slide off). I dry and cover the sailboat (skiff) with a tarp. They just sleep in the yard until all the snow melts. Has worked out fine for the last 10 years or so. Although, I'm always surprised at the amount of dirt that works its way under the tarp over the winter.

Winter storage
 

I have a 40x32 foot polebarn which has a 30 foot travel trailer, the Talari 180 and my Chevy 3/4 ton pick-up along with assorted yard junk, tractor etc. It's a bit tight to say the least, but $ 0, except for the $ 10,000 the polebarn cost when built a few years ago. I throw moth balls around the floor and put dryer sheets in the trailer and boat and also have a few mouse traps around the floor for the mice who can't smell and have never had a rodent problem.

for the last 24 years My Galaxy and other boats were stored outside with frame work and tarps. Last winter we received over 10 feet of snow and the frame work collapsed on both, I caught the Celebrity as we keep it where we Snowmobile in winter, the galaxy is kept at my Winni camp and I close that down for the winter and didn't feel the need to visit til spring my BAD!!! The snow load broke the windshield and I got a little water damage as well. The Galaxy has been a Great boat, we brought it the first year after buying the lake house and didn't have a lot of money for a boat. The boat has been with us for 24 years now and has been bullet proof, it's a 140 3.0 liter BR185. that will be in the garage this winter for restoration. The Mariah may go to FL if the trip next week doesn't produce a FL boat. If it stays here in NH it has a garage to hang out in til spring at my buddies place. I hope to spend Nov. til mid Jan in FL, then back to NH for Snowmobile season and winter work projects.
I wish all in the southern Hemisphere a safe boating season and all a good holiday season.

My guy charges $12/foot for storage in a steel building, which includes moisture wicks in the boat during storage, and battery storage in climate controlled building with regular charge ups.