Opinions on Lake Moorage

[Cloud]

Anything I should be aware of or concerned about? Does it wear down the boat or anything of that sort?

[boardman74]

I don't know about wearing it down, but you can get hull staining and marine growth on the bottom depending on the body of water, I would make sure you close all thru hulls when you leave the boat unattended. Make sure your bilge has a float switch and it operating properly.

[JohnnieMo]

First thing is security. Select a marina where you think your boat and your gear will be safe. Locked gates... security cameras are both good ideas. Try to pick a place where your boat is NOT the nicest boat

Next I'd look at the water. Consider the depth of the water and the quality of the water (is it really green, full of algae?). Can you get a full season before the water level subsides? I stayed in a marina for a few years that was in the "dead" end of the lake, so it was full of muck, and dead fish smell. A great looking marina, but the birds were always crapping in the boat. One day I literally found a family of muskrats in the boat and they crap something that feels like ground up fiberglass. (not fun, although the little guys were cute.) I think selecting a location where there is good water flow keeps the dead fish, birds and sea dwellers less interested.

After that, I'd look for little things like proximity to where you like to boat.... whether or not they sell gas.... and what other services they might provide with the boat slip. Also, maybe you want a lift installed. That might be something to bring up.

And yes, leaving your boat in the water will "wear it down" a bit, but if you clean it often and keep it well covered, its worth it IMHO.

Just some random thoughts.

[IDBoating]

http://www.airdock.com. Problems solved.

[Cloud]

Thanks for the replies. I'm probably going to pull it out atleast once a month to wash it so I don't think marine growth will be an issue.

The Marina is gated, and there is MP roaming near by so I heard it's pretty safe.

@WABoating
Pretty cool, going to have to look into this.

[IDBoating]

Pretty cool, going to have to look into this.

They're apparently pretty popular at rented slips because they require no permits, nothing touches the lake bottom, and if you don't have AC power it can run off the cigarette lighter outlet in your boat. I'm looking out the window as I type this at our boat, which is "on" the lake yet sitting safely high and dry.

Hope it helps!

[Travism]

WAboating,

How much does the system run and how hard is it to setup/remove ?

[IDBoating]

How much does the system run and how hard is it to setup/remove ?

Here are a few highlights...

The cost varies with the size of AirDock, which is driven by the size and weight of boat. The system for my 24Ve cost about $2800, half of what mechanical lifts cost. The ones we have for the jetskis were ~$900 each.

Initial assembly takes a couple of hours. Removal and reinstallation is really fast because there is no alignment, no adjustment, etc. My wife and I remove and reinstall ours every year and it takes perhaps an hour each time. Remember, all you're really doing is dropping some big pillows into the water. They self-level, and they track the lake level automatically if it varies during the season, so you don't have to mess with cables or levers or adjustments. It's impossible to "beach" or "strand" your boat like a mechanical lift can. There are no bunks or other pressure points, so you don't have to align anything to "your" boat.

Lifting the boat is flipping a switch and opening three valves. The boat rises, and you set its angle by controlling how much air goes into each bag with its valve. Raising the boat takes maybe five minutes, and while it's happening you can be unloading stuff, wiping down, or whatever.

It has been handy a couple of times to intentionally mislevel the boat. On our jetboat we once got a rope caught in the impeller so we just deflated the front bag and overinflated the rears. That put the entire back end of the boat out of the water, easy access, and we got the rope out without diving or trailering by sitting on a tube in the water. You could swap propellers on an inboard the same way without trailering. And since there are no pressure points, you could even do this as a favor with someone else's boat as long as it wasn't a lot bigger than your own.

Lowering the boat is even easier: Just open the valves and wait about 4-5 minutes while gravity does all the work. During this time we're running the blower, stocking up on toys and such, and getting people in the boat. The boat is always ready long before all the humans are!

When Fall comes, we inflate the bags to make handling easier and then they just lift right out of the water onto the dock. Deflate, fold or roll up, and put them away until Spring.

We're coming into our 9th summer with an AirDock and I wouldn't own anything else. Easier, faster, less expensive, and gentler on your boat than anything else out there.

Hope this helps!

[Travism]

Sounds like a great setup. I only keep my boat in the water a few weeks a year while on holidays. Im not sure if this is something that would work for that or not.

how do you secure the boat and the bags to the dock ?

[IDBoating]

The bags have heavy-duty D rings sewn onto them. I use ropes (provided) on the front bags and shock cord on the rears, so my setup is attached at the four corners.

Yeah, for only a couple of weeks a year no lift will make economic sense. Our boat is on the water 5-6 months a year and I don't want to mess with antifouling paint or rigorous cleaning, so this works great for our setup.