A monthly slip rate is an advertisement. A contract is the bill. This guide is about the clauses that turn a pleasant per-foot number into a different annual total, and how to put that total into BoatCost.
The calculator’s storage math is documented in wet slip vs trailer. Read that for the formulas. Read this before you sign.
Wet slip clauses that change money
What is length? Some yards bill advertised LOA. Some measure pulpit, swim platform, and davits. A “32-foot” cruiser can be 35 on the invoice. The model uses the length you type. Type the billed number.
Season vs annual. A northeast yard may quote May–October and a separate winter-storage contract. Multiplying a summer monthly by 12 is how people lie to themselves. Add both contracts, then override.
Electricity. Metered power for a battery charger or air-conditioning can rival a small slip. Ask for a typical monthly in your size class. This site will not invent kWh.
Liveaboard. Sleeping aboard more than N nights can trigger a different rate or a ban. If that is your plan, get it in writing.
Insurance. Marinas often require named additional insured, minimum liability, and sometimes hull coverage. A cheap liability-only plan may be non-compliant. See insurance cost factors.
Storms. Who must haul, who pays the crane, and how many hours’ notice you get are not academic on a coast. The calculator’s insurance line is not a haul-out fund.
Early termination. Losing a deposit or owing the season after you sell the boat belongs in the decision, not in a default $32/ft.
Dry stack clauses that change money
Included launches. A rack package with 20 launches is a different product from unlimited. Extra splashes billed per lift can erase the “cheaper than wet” story if you go often.
Wind and hours. Forklifts have limits. Holiday weekends have queues. The model cannot charge you for a Saturday you did not launch. Cost per outing will if you stop going.
In-and-out rules. Some yards want the boat back the same day. Overnight elsewhere can be a fee or a ban.
Insurance and forklift damage. Ask who pays for a rack ding. Do not assume your policy and the yard’s policy agree.
Height and beam. Racks have boxes. A T-top or radar arch can make you ineligible. That is not a calculator problem; it is a surprise at check-in.
Waiting lists and deposits that are not rent
Coastal racks and slips can require a waitlist deposit that sits for years. That cash is not in the monthly rate and not in this model. If you must park a deposit to get a spot, treat it as part of the down-payment conversation: money that is not earning and may be refundable only on their terms.
Sublets and “I will take your slip in August” deals can violate the contract. If the yard catches you, you can lose the slip and the boat-parking plan the calculator assumed. Read assignment and sublease clauses.
How to turn a contract into an override
- Write down every annualized fee: base, electric estimate, parking, extra launches you will actually buy, tax if the yard charges it (confirm locally; we do not quote a rate).
- Enter the sum as slip / storage override on the ownership calculator.
- Keep winterization separate if the yard bills commissioning on another ticket — or fold it into maintenance. See winterizing.
- Re-run buy vs rent if the contract is the reason owning loses.
Ask the office for last year’s total billed on a similar boat. That single number beats a brochure rate.
Mooring balls and clubs
A mooring plus a launch dinghy is neither wet nor dry in the formula. Use the override. A club that includes parking is a club pile, not a slip line of $0 with a hidden initiation.
State context
High-slip planning states in this model include Florida, California, New York, Massachusetts, Maryland, Washington, and New Jersey. That list is a modeling choice about demand, not a municipal rate table. A rack in those markets can still be scarce.
Inland reservoir states often have private docks and public ramps instead of coastal-style stacks. The contract may be a homeowners-association slip with its own insurance rules. Read it anyway. Pontoon in Oklahoma and center console in New Jersey are different parking cultures sharing one calculator.
Pros and cons
Wet slip
- Ready boat
- Growth, storms, electric
- Length billed whether you go or not
Dry stack
- Cleaner bottom
- Launch limits
- Forklift and package-fee risk
Neither, honestly priced
- Trailer + your time
- Club
- Mooring + water taxi
Gate keys, parking cars, and the people cost
A contract that looks cheap can still cost a second car pass, a lost-key fee, and a rule that trailers may not stay overnight. If you trailer to a rack yard, ask where the empty trailer lives. If two households share a boat, ask how many people can be on the gate list. None of this is in per-foot math. It is why “last year’s total billed” should include extras, not just base rent.
Quiet hours and no-work-on-Sunday rules also change DIY maintenance. A yard that forbids engine work in the rack pushes you to a shop. That shop bill belongs in maintenance, not in a surprise.
Who this is for
- Owners holding a “special” monthly rate
- Buyers relocating from a trailer lake to a coast
- Anyone whose all-in number assumed 12 × a summer flyer
Bring the contract home overnight. Sales offices like same-day signatures. A second reader will catch liveaboard definitions, storm clauses, and the length you will actually be billed. If they will not let you take the packet, that is information too. Compare the packet to a second yard even if you like the first docks. A worse view with clearer storm language can be the cheaper boat over five years.
Alternatives
- Public moorings where they exist (rules vary; read the city or state page)
- Keeping the trailer and visiting
- Not buying until a contract is in hand — see first boat budget
Related
If you are moving from a lake trailer to a coastal rack, walk the yard at pickup time on a Saturday. Watch how long launches take. A contract that looks cheaper than a wet slip is not cheaper if you wait two hours and go home. That wait will not show up in the override unless you admit it in outings.
FAQ
Should I include sales tax on the slip in the override? If the yard bills it, yes. This page does not state whether your state taxes marina services.
What if the rate is per square foot? Convert to an annual dollar total. The calculator wants dollars, not a new formula.
Can I leave the default per-foot rate if the contract is “about that”? You can. You will be more honest with last year’s total billed.