Owning a boat is a dream come true. With a boat, you can take the family or a group of friends out on the lake for a fun outing at any time. Depending on the type of boat you have, you might be venturing out on the lake for some laid-back fishing or for a leisurely meander through coves and remote inlets or for some adrenaline-inducing wakeboarding. With all types of boats, renting a slip at the marina is a good investment. Here’s why.
You Have No Space at Your House
Perhaps you live on a tiny lot in the middle of town or your residential neighborhood has parking regulations that prohibit boats. Generally, the neighbors don’t want to be greeted by your huge boat every time they look out their window; nor do they want to carefully navigate around your yacht every time they drive down the street. Nobody wants to be responsible for repairing your boat. Generally, if you live within city limits or in suburbia at all, you won’t be able to store the boat at your house.
You Want to Save Time
When your boat is conveniently located at the marina, you can just pick up and go, take off the boat cover, and be on your way. Driving your boat to and from the lake and launching it can take several hours of your time each time you go out on the lake. If you’re a frequent boater, this will soon become a major annoyance and time-suck.
You Want to Minimize Wear and Tear
A boat is made for the water, not for the road. Towing a boat and launching it require a special set of skills. Not everyone has them. Even the most experienced of boat towers and launchers can run into road hazards and snags. And launching requires practice. If you’re only launching a boat occasionally, you’re probably not going to be an expert. And the less experienced you are, the higher the risk for damage to your boat.
You Don’t Have a Truck
This is an unusual and extremely inconvenient circumstance to find yourself in—to have a boat, but not a truck. Perhaps you have a truck, but it’s too small or too old to handle towing a boat. In these cases, you’ll need to borrow someone else’s truck or you’ll need to rent one. That can get expensive quickly. If your boat is at the marina, you can show up at the dock in your little red Mazda or the family minivan, climb in the boat, and take off for a favorite fishing spot or swimming hole.
You Want to Save Money
By the time you calculate the expenses for hauling your boat back and forth, it might make more financial sense to simply rent a boat slip at the marina. There will be extra gas charges to tow a boat, especially if you live a distance from the lake. If you do this frequently, the expense will add up quickly. And then there’s the cost of maintaining and insuring a large truck and a boat trailer.
Getting a boat slip at the marina makes sense. It’s convenient, time-saving, and smart. When you have a boat, you want to focus on your outing at the lake—not on all the annoying details of storing a boat and getting it to and from the lake.
