Where the boat lives is often the largest non-loan line you can change without selling the hull. BoatCost uses three storage modes. This guide explains what those modes stand for, what they leave out, and how to use a real marina sheet instead of the default.
Open the ownership calculator and toggle Trailer at home, Wet slip, and Dry stack on the same boat. Watch the fixed pile. Then read the contract language below so you know which fees the model never sees.
Trailer at home
A trailer at home is modeled as $250 a year in warm states and $500 in cold states. That is a planning stand-in for lights, bearings, a tire, maybe a storage-lot fee — not a marina invoice and not a new trailer payment.
You still need a tow vehicle, a hitch, a place to park 22–40 feet of tongue and hull, and a Saturday morning. Those costs are real and mostly outside the calculator. If you pay a storage lot or HOA fee, put the annual total in the slip / storage override. The override wins, including 0.
Trailering wins when:
- The boat is short enough and light enough for the truck you already own
- Ramps near you are usable on the days you actually go
- You do not need a 15-minute walk from the car to a ready boat
- Winter layup is a driveway or barn, not a heated shed you have not priced
Trailering loses when the truck is a new loan, the ramp is a two-hour wait, or you stop going because launch day is work. Cost per outing will tell on you.
Wet slip
Annual wet-slip cost in this model is length × slip per foot per month × months in the water.
Coastal states with high demand in the planning table — Florida, California, New York, Massachusetts, Maryland, Washington, New Jersey — use higher per-foot rates. Gulf and Florida boats stay in the water 12 months. Cold New England and Great Lakes states use fewer months in the water and add winterization.
Those per-foot numbers are planning defaults, not a rate sheet. A 32-foot cabin cruiser in a high-slip state can grow a five-figure slip line before fuel. A 20-foot bowrider in the same marina is still billed by length, not by how often you fish.
What marina contracts often add that the formula does not:
- Liveaboard fees
- Electricity metered or at a flat monthly
- Parking passes for cars and trailers
- Dinghy or kayak storage
- Required insurance limits and additional-insured endorsements
- Haul-out or hurricane prep as a separate yard ticket
- Sales tax on the slip in some jurisdictions (confirm locally; this page does not quote a tax)
If the quote is $1,800 a month including electric, put $21,600 in the annual override and ignore the per-foot default. Do not multiply a summer monthly by 12 if the yard bills six months and a winter storage contract separately.
Dry stack
Dry storage in this model is length × dry rate × 12. It is often the middle path: less bottom paint than a year-round wet slip, more forklift dependence than a trailer.
Yards differ. Some include a set number of launches. Some bill every splash. Some will not launch in high wind. The calculator cannot model “the forklift is booked Saturday.” It can hold your annual number if you add launch fees into the override.
Dry stack still needs insurance, and some policies treat rack storage differently from a wet slip. Ask the insurer; do not assume the planning premium covers a forklift ding.
Winterization and months in the water
Cold New England, Great Lakes, northern plains, and mountain states add 350 + 8 × length for winterization in this model. Warm states add $0. That is a climate switch, not a shop manual. A 32-foot cruiser in Michigan still needs a real yard quote.
Months in the water change the wet-slip formula. A six-month northeast contract and a twelve-month Florida contract are different products. If you keep a New England boat in the water year-round with a bubbler, your invoice will not match the default months — use the override.
See winterizing a boat for the work behind that line.
When a cheap slip is the expensive boat
A discounted slip two hours from home is not a 12-month convenience product. You will go less. Cost per outing will rise even as the storage line falls. The same is true of a free family dock you never have time to reach. Price the slip you will actually use, not the slip that wins an argument in January.
How to decide on one boat
- Enter the boat you will actually buy on the ownership calculator.
- Set length to the number the marina bills (often LOA including pulpit or swim platform — ask).
- Toggle trailer vs wet vs dry.
- Paste a quote into the override.
- Divide annual all-in by outings.
If trailer storage makes the boat cheap only because you will go six times, a club may still win on buy vs rent. If the slip makes the boat expensive but you live aboard weekends and go 40 days, the slip can be the rational line.
State pages such as sailboat in Massachusetts and pontoon in Florida start with different months-in-water and slip-rate assumptions. The sailboat and pontoon hubs list every state. They are still defaults.
Contracts worth reading before you sign a slip
Ask for, and read:
- Term and early-termination rules
- Electricity and liveaboard definitions
- Storm or haul-out obligations (who pays, how fast you must move)
- Insurance minimums
- What “length” means
- Whether the rate is seasonal or annual
None of that is in the calculator. All of it changes the real number.
Pros and cons
Trailer
- Lowest modeled storage line
- You control the schedule
- Hidden truck, hitch, and time costs
Wet slip
- Boat is ready
- Bottom paint, zincs, storm exposure
- Highest modeled storage line in high-demand states
Dry stack
- Less growth on the bottom
- Launch constraints
- Fees the monthly rate may not include
Who this is for
- First-boat buyers choosing a 22-foot lake boat vs a coastal console
- Owners deciding whether a promotion slip is cheaper than keeping the trailer
- Anyone whose dealer skipped parking entirely
Alternatives
- Asking the marina for last year’s total billed (best)
- Mooring + launch service (put the annual in the override)
- Boat club vs buying if parking is the product you did not want
- Dry stack vs wet slip contracts for deposit and insurance language
FAQ
Why does changing states change the slip line? Each state has a planning per-foot rate and months-in-water value. They are not marina quotes.
Can I set storage to trailer and still enter a lot fee? Yes. Use the slip/storage override for the lot.
Does the model include a new trailer loan? No. Add the trailer price to the boat price if you are financing it, or keep it out and be honest that the payment exists.