I was thinking in the next few years of getting me a Hunter 38. I have been saving to get something to retire as early as possible on haha! I am handy enough to do most if not all repairs besides the stuff that requires cranes ect. If I bought a boat I am sure I would want to work on it for a season before I took it out. The cost of buying a boat and paying to store it at a remote location may not be worth it because of the time I would have to work on it. I was wondering if it would be a silly idea to just pay to have it delivered to my house and work on it here since I have plenty of space. The thing that I am pondering though is if I can find a company to bring it to me how would they get it off the trailer and onto stands. That being said what stands?! Anyone tried something like this? Please forgive my ignorance I have been around boats my whole life and have a small sailboat and a
Storing boat in yard?
- Thread starter Koltar
- Start date
I have many times wished my boat was much closer to home or even in the back yard for the efficiency and convenience that would bring. You may be able to save $4,000 a year on docking alone. Even if It did not save I would still consider it because projects can be painfully slow when you have to commute to the boat
You need to do the analysis.
You need to do the analysis.
Don't have names but there are plenty of transportation companies which can deliver a boat that size anywhere the truck has access. I'm sure others can provide names.
The biggest problem is that you cannot safely drop it on the ground. It has to be on a paved surface to avoid subsidence around the jackstands.
The biggest problem is that you cannot safely drop it on the ground. It has to be on a paved surface to avoid subsidence around the jackstands.
A lot of the boats in the Great Lakes area have a cradle that is used for winter storage and can be tranpsorted in the cradle with a hydraulic trailer and dropped on the ground. And as Don said above ground has to be solid and stable to support the wieght.
Years ago I often wished I could bring my Catalina 34 home and park it in the yard so I could work on it. Wasn’t practical but would have made some projects easier.
We now have a Hunter 38. A couple of things to keep in mind as you contemplate this. The 38 weighs in the vicinity of 20,000 pounds so you’ll for sure want to make sure you have a solid place to put the boat so it doesn’t sink or roll over if it settles.
Our 38 came with a cradle. The boat in a cradle sits higher than the same boat in jack stands.
Just to give you an idea of what it looks like I have attached a couple of pictures.
if you use jack stand be sure you use enough and make sure they are properly and solidly placed and chained together. A friend had a marina not do it properly and the stands moved and the boat fell over. $50,000 in damage to the boat.
We now have a Hunter 38. A couple of things to keep in mind as you contemplate this. The 38 weighs in the vicinity of 20,000 pounds so you’ll for sure want to make sure you have a solid place to put the boat so it doesn’t sink or roll over if it settles.
Our 38 came with a cradle. The boat in a cradle sits higher than the same boat in jack stands.
Just to give you an idea of what it looks like I have attached a couple of pictures.
if you use jack stand be sure you use enough and make sure they are properly and solidly placed and chained together. A friend had a marina not do it properly and the stands moved and the boat fell over. $50,000 in damage to the boat.
Also keep in mind that the larger Hunters with the arch installed generally are too tall to be transported over public roads. The arches are usually sealed on with 5200 and bolted on - very hard to remove without damage
Hunters cannot be transported with the arch in place, even with the shoal keel. I think you'll find the cost of dropping the mast, removing the arch and transoprting to your yard and then reversing in the spring will be more than the cost of winter storage at the marina. Many ( most ) boats will store winters with the mast up.
sailme88, Escape is a 356 shoal keel and the arch is not road legal - all of the midsize and up Hunters were transported without the arch installed because they weren't road legal. Debonder will loosen the 5200 bond, but I've seen arches removed that took part of the deck off too.
Good to know... You'd think that Hunter would have sleeved the arch so that the base was fixed and the upper portion removable...
They did not think up their hash tag "This stuff really works". They just printed on the can what every body that uses it tells their friends.
I said those exact words when told a dock mate about it last year. He was removing port lights on his boat and it took him almost a week to remove the first of 8 with significant damage to the gelcoat. At my recommendation he bought Marine Formula from Debond Corp and the other 7 were done in one afternoon and looked good as new. Make sure to get the plastic razor blades because they make it much easier with lest chance of damage from a regular razor blade cutting the gelcoat.
It took the fear of 5200 away from me.
I said those exact words when told a dock mate about it last year. He was removing port lights on his boat and it took him almost a week to remove the first of 8 with significant damage to the gelcoat. At my recommendation he bought Marine Formula from Debond Corp and the other 7 were done in one afternoon and looked good as new. Make sure to get the plastic razor blades because they make it much easier with lest chance of damage from a regular razor blade cutting the gelcoat.
It took the fear of 5200 away from me.
Thanks everyone for the information. I did not think about the arch. I would plan on keeping the boat in my yard for 2 seasons and was thinking it would be worth it. Just thought my idea might be silly haha!
If you are going to be on two seasons and working on the boat quite a bit it would be worth it to me to remove the arch and ship it home. You will have a lot more time to work on it. Check to see if there are any shippers in your area that have hydraulic trailers because they can put it on the ground without the assistance of a crane.
If you have the space, having the boat in your yard would be very helpful for working on it. I just counted, I've probably been to the boat 20 times since haul out. Even though it's only a 20 minute drive each way that is over 13 hours of travel time. Not to mention the time I take gathering tools and material up to make sure I have what I need when I get there. And there is often something I need that is at home.
So it's not just a financial decision. If the cost of dropping the mast, removing the arch, hauling, jack stands, etc. is close to just leaving it at the boat yard you still would be better off bringing the boat home.
So it's not just a financial decision. If the cost of dropping the mast, removing the arch, hauling, jack stands, etc. is close to just leaving it at the boat yard you still would be better off bringing the boat home.
As my pic above shows, I've just a short walk out to the boat. I'm currently doing work abroad to be ahead of the curve come spring. If I have to store at a remote locale I would buy a trailer that would hold as many tools as possible and also be large enough to pile all of my cushions in.
@Koltar
It would seem that most experienced boat “renovators” agree with the logic of having the boat nearby having a lot of value.
If you haven’t yet purchased a boat such as the H 38 that has the arch “issue” perhaps you might want to consider a different boat that doesn’t have that particular problem.
It would seem that most experienced boat “renovators”
agree with the logic of having the boat nearby having a lot of value. If you haven’t yet purchased a boat such as the H 38 that has the arch “issue” perhaps you might want to consider a different boat that doesn’t have that particular problem.
You need to find a sailboat mover with a hydraulic trailer. The trailer is U shaped to slide under the boat, there's a cradle that ties the aft ends of the trailer together, which also runs under your keel, the hydraulic arms keep the boat from tipping over, a few straps and they're off.
Interesting rigs. And pretty common. I've had keel boats moved 3 times, 3 different haulers, easy peasy. You'll enjoy watching.
Buy yourself some good stands, chain them together, use plenty of cribbing to keep them from sinking into the dirt, tighten them up frequently when they settle, you should be fine. My Cal 2-29 survived 4 winters in New England, freeze-thaw cycles and mud seasons were fine.
Nothing more convenient than home storage.
Interesting rigs. And pretty common. I've had keel boats moved 3 times, 3 different haulers, easy peasy. You'll enjoy watching.
Buy yourself some good stands, chain them together, use plenty of cribbing to keep them from sinking into the dirt, tighten them up frequently when they settle, you should be fine. My Cal 2-29 survived 4 winters in New England, freeze-thaw cycles and mud seasons were fine.
Nothing more convenient than home storage.
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Thank you for all the replies guys I really appreciate it! I have not bought a boat yet and yes. I was thinking of going the stainless arch instead of fiberglass. I should be able to take that down. I really plan on working on the boat for a few seasons while I still work at my job and then when I have it all ready and all my debts paid off. I QUIT and I am going sailing!! lol!