Marinas have traditionally been associated with docks and ropes, however in recent years dry boat storage (or drystack) has grown in popularity in the Australian market, particularly for those with small to medium sized boats.
Why? Dry boat storage presents a more affordable, low-maintenance alternative to leaving your boat exposed to the harsh Queensland elements. Your boat is instead stored securely in a covered facility on a boat rack. A simple phone call to the marina before you leave home and your boat will be sitting in the water alongside a pontoon waiting for you and the family when you get there. You don’t even get your feet wet. It’s a great service many boaties are taking advantage of.
It might seem a little ironic to keep a boat out of the water, but the reality is the advantages of dry stack far outweigh the disadvantages:
1) Convenience
Keeping your boat in drystack saves you an enormous amount of time compared to towing your boat to and from a ramp. You also save all the money that would have otherwise been spent on a trailer, fuel, and the need for a heavy duty towing vehicle.
Swing moorings might suit certain boat owners, but they create obvious access challenges, and the fact that they remain unsupervised for extended periods of time is cause for concern.
2) Less maintenance and chance of deterioration or damage
Storing your boat high and dry keeps it protected from harsh weather conditions – there is no need for regular cleaning, detailing and antifouling. You also avoid deterioration caused by ultraviolet rays, dust, mould, and the ever present threat of the seagulls marking their territory! Consequently, preserving your boat in dry storage will ensure the value of your boat remains higher for a much longer period of time.
3) Overall costs of boat ownership are reduced significantly
As touched on above, dry storage eliminates the need for expensive maintenance like annual antifouling, as your hull is not exposed to conditions that cause corrosion and growth.
4) Security Guarantee
Theft or vandalism of your boat becomes just about impossible once it’s up off the ground. Just about every dry storage facility in Australia is monitored by round-the-clock surveillance, giving you peace of mind that your boat is always safe.
5) Better for the environment
The dry storage method is not only a better use of space, but moving more boats out of the water means less oil, fuel and sewage leaking into our waterways, and it reduces the impact of toxins from anti-fouling paints.
Gold Coast City Marina at Coomera offers a state-of-the-art secure storage facility for up to 250 boats, to a length of nine metres or 12 tonne in weight. Completely undercover, it’s one of the most modern facilities in the southern hemisphere and includes the world’s latest development in marine forklift trucks that quickly and safely lift the vessels in an out of the water. For those of you with larger vessels, including boats with flybridges, external dry storage racks are also available for boats of up to 37ft in a safe and secure area. All you need to do is bring the picnic lunch (or order a picnic lunch to go from the on-site restaurant Quarterdeck Kitchen & Bar), step aboard, cast off and if you need fuel there are diesel and unleaded fuel bowsers on the way out of the marina. There’s even a customer lounge with toilets and showers where you can wait for friends or family. And when you return you just tie the boat up to the pontoon and the marina crew will do the rest, or if you want to wash the boat down yourself they will put it on a wash down cradle and when it’s dry it will be put back in its storage rack. This fantastic service allows you to enjoy a lot more boating and a lot less hassle, which is what the team at GCCM are all about.
For further information call Gold Coast City Marina & Shipyard on (07) 5502 5888 or email reception@gccm.com.au
