Continue with Dry stack or switch to conventional slip

[67greengt]

Good morning all SBC family,

I’m currently drystacked at Milltown Marina and love the location but have had a couple not so favourable experiences lately. I’m new to the boating world and so I wanted to reach out to those more experienced and see what your thoughts are, should I stay in drystack or switch it up?

They forgot to launch my boat one night and because they close at 5 or 6 you can’t get a hold of anyone to try and inquire further. They have been delayed quite a bit on the notification of my boat being launched and since the forgetting to launch day I’m always not sure if they actually launched it or not. Again they close early so you can’t get a hold of anyone if you’ve requested a launch and don’t get a confirmation. We live in maple ridge so it’s a long drive out at 5am if the boat isn’t launched and they don’t put the first one in until 845.

Because they don’t work very long days the valet dock has been getting packed and thus they start to raft boats together. I understand this is a normal practice but not sure how much I like other people walking through my boat to get to theirs. Also when tide goes low and they raft it makes it very tricky to get in and out..

Due to the size of our boat they always want us to pull right down closest to the lift and there isn’t always water handy to wash the boat depending on where we land

The boat was also damaged once during the lifting process and although they went good to fix a trim sensor I worry each time as ours is the biggest they can lift.

I’ve addressed the concerns with the marina a couple times but don’t see a whole lot of change

Other than bottom paint more often, anything else to consider when going to a conventional slip? I like the idea of having water and power right there for cleanups or battery charging.

Thanks for your help in advance
Tom
Onefishthufish

 

[Last_Call]

I'm there in drystack as well and I share many of your concerns but I still wouldn't want my boat in the water year round. Getting it up and out under cover is a huge plus for me. The growth, the other elements, etc. I think they have just taken on too many new boats and some bigger boats and likely new staff (like everyone these days) so that both the boat lift and fork lift are being overworked/stressed which has led to some downtime. They do need to address this as there have been several occassions where I have not been able to get my boat in the water when I wanted it.... although in one case they were great in throwing my boat on a trailer and dropping me in at MacDonald beach as I really did need my boat in ASAP.

 

[pescador]

Depends. For me, I'm in dry stack with my GW 228G because I don't want to bottom paint the boat and I like the boat being undercover and out of the weather. If I had a larger boat like a 28-30 foot, I'd be personally in the water. I think the wear and tear of dry stacking a larger boat is more than on something in the 23 foot range. Just my view. I think MT's lift is struggling to keep up with launches, and the valet dock isn't big enough and the area and the end of the dock needs serious dredging. They also need to stock extra parts for the lift in case of breakage. Really good crew of people but there are some opportunities for improvement. If you've got bottom paint and are over 28 feet, I wouldn't think twice about getting a water based moorage spot

 

[SPFISH89]

I have a 30ft slip coming available at Lynntown Marina beside the Ironworkers bridge if that is of any interest to you - its long term moorage and fully transferable - I am moving to the Island so wont need the slip any more.

 

[67greengt]

thanks for the message, but going to stick it out and just deal with the growing pains at Milltown.

 

[SPFISH89]

No problem .. hope all goes well in milltown

 

[ab1752]

Are there sheds at Milltown? If there was, I'd 100% go wet slipped in the river, inside a shed. I love being in a shed, always clean above the water line and all my junk is in there too. But ya, hauling out twice a year is a mandatory pita with an IO like mine. And I came form inside at lgm.

 

[Bonefizz]

I feel your pain man. It sucks comming back late to milltown and the valet dock is fully packed out (happened to me many times this season) and you dont have a chance to spray the boat / gear down. There has been several occasions when i drove back the next morning and waited for them to haul out some boats so i could get a chance to rinse down. I ended up just buying my own hoses and spray nozzle, keep one in the boat and one in my vehicle. So no matter what i can always reach. This summer was crazy busy there and sometimes it took three days for them to haul my boat out if i was stuck way at the back (notified via text msg). I still prefer the dry stack to the marina i used to stay at honestly. Peace of mind knowing your up on a shelf out of the sludge and sun.