Where’s the best place to store a boat, on a trailer, on a lift, or in a slip? I’ve had trailer boats for over 35 years, had a boat in a slip for close to 20, and have had one in a lift for three. Each has its own advantages.
TRAILERS – Storing a boat on a trailer gives you the most flexibility in where to go fishing by a longshot. Yes, you can load a boat onto its trailer and go mobile no matter where you store it, but the bother of hauling it out from a slip or lift vastly reduces this flexibility. That said, each and every time you use the boat you have to launch and load. This isn’t a big deal, but if you have a boat in a slip or on a lift you’ll discover you use it more, especially for short trips that you might not otherwise have gone through all the bother for.
LIFTS – For using a boat in a single waterway, storing it on a lift is the hands-down winner. You can walk up to it, hit a button, and be fishing in five minutes. Same goes at the end of the day. You don’t have to worry about icky waterlines forming, and you certainly don’t have to worry about the boat sinking in its slip. Maintenance is easier, too, since you can access all around the boat including below the waterline. Downsides? The biggest one is cost, because lift slips cost more than wet slips and a whole lot more than parking a trailer somewhere.
SLIPS – The one advantage of having a boat in a wet slip is that you can step aboard, cast off the lines, and head out at a moment’s notice. And yes, they cost less than lifts, but that’s where their advantages end. Plan on your boat getting thoroughly yucky when it sits in the water all the time (yay! More maintenance!). And in areas with a big tidal swing there’s more chance of damage if your lines aren’t set just right. Yeah, there’s that whole sinking in the slip thing to keep you up at night worrying, too.
The bottom line? If you want to remain mobile and you’re willing to do the launch/load work every time you go fishing, storing your boat on a trailer is the move. Otherwise a lift will likely make you happiest unless you’re counting every penny. Well, except for boats too large for lifts. Of course, if you have a boat that’s big it won’t fit on a lift you can probably let the captain and crew do all the work and worrying for you.