Carport for boat

[Mrd8ker]

Hey guys -

Looking for anyone that has used a heavy duty canopy type carport to park a boat. Garage is too small (epic fail). Having trouble finding affordable indoor parking. Was thinking something like this (http://a.co/2yicftC) could get me through a couple of winters. If there is a make/model to pursue/avoid that would be good to know. Also give me an idea of the climate and part of country your from so I can compare to the elements of the Pacific Northwest.

Thanks in advance. Hope you're floating hours are way up this summer!

CJ

[zabooda]

My boat has been outdoors since I bought it in 2002. I had a decent cover made that is still in use with another five years expected. No hull fading. We have the sun and the heat.

[Mrd8ker]

Thanks Zaboda for the feedback. Last year was the first year my boat was outdoors. I have an evolution cover that did great wicking most of the rain away. Also had a tarp over the top of the cover. The places that the cover touched the upholstery(mostly engine hatch and rear lockers) trapped moisture and I had mildew when I uncovered it this spring. Almost shed a tear. Had to scrub a lot to get the darker spots to fade and then let the sun do the rest of the work. Don't want to run into that problem again. If I don't put a carport of some sort up, I thought about pulling the engine and locker covers off and all of the seats and store them indoors. Will cut down on what could turn black.

[bsharer]

Put a small fan in the boat and run it 24/7. Remove/move seat bases and remove anything that stays wet like a tube, life jackets, noodles, rope. I've got a squirrel cage fan running in mine year round.

[trayson]

You know I live right across the river from you. so obviously our climates are the same. I did a harbor freight tent garage for a few years (not for the boat, but for extra storage). The tarps would realistically last 1 year. Yeah, I could squeak 2 years out of it, but the sun just destroys them. I ended up trying to duct tape my way through the 2nd season.

The best thing we ever did was get a "carports.com" metal carport for the boat. I got a BIG ass one because I used it to replace the abovementioned tent structure and went 21x40 feet. crazy long and crazy wide. but I figured I might as well go as big as I could fit. I don't have any HOA and was able to get away with just having it built. Mine has 1/2 side walls on it. Because mine was huge, it was like $5k. If you were getting something just for the boat it'd be a lot less.

You can go to Carport.com and get an idea of pricing. But depending on the options you chose, you'd be looking at $1500 to $3000 for something that would basically be a "boat garage" that's open on the front. But you could actually go up to around $4500 to $5k for fully enclosed with a 10x10 garage door. That would be pretty badass.

The main vendor around here is West Coast Metal Buildings. They are out of Salem, but do most all the installs around this area.

I can't tell you how nice it is to put our boat under the carport and hang all the wet stuff on the tower, and open up the lockers to air out. Yeah, it's not in a real garage, but it's behind our fence in the back yard and mostly out of sight. I am able to go back there and work on the boat and have either shade or protection from rain. It's obviously WAY more expensive than a "tent carport" but it's also SO much nicer.


Our first boat had to do a winter under the cover and it sucked. even with Damp rid, light bulbs and fans, it got damp in there. I'd have to try to keep the water from pooling with our neverending rain, and I would have to go outside and brush off snow when we got that in the winter. The XLV did better, but even then it was TOUGH to keep the moisture out for the first few months we had the XLV before we were able to get our carport built. And the OEM cover has built in vents and is made from waterproof breathable fabric. But there's no substitute for having a legit carport over it (except a garage or shop of course).

[trayson]

Thanks Zaboda for the feedback. Last year was the first year my boat was outdoors. I have an evolution cover that did great wicking most of the rain away. Also had a tarp over the top of the cover. The places that the cover touched the upholstery(mostly engine hatch and rear lockers) trapped moisture and I had mildew when I uncovered it this spring. Almost shed a tear. Had to scrub a lot to get the darker spots to fade and then let the sun do the rest of the work. Don't want to run into that problem again. If I don't put a carport of some sort up, I thought about pulling the engine and locker covers off and all of the seats and store them indoors. Will cut down on what could turn black.

if you do that, just make sure that the cushions are DRY, DRY, DRY before you put them away. I took mine out of my Supra and put them in the shed only to find out later that they had moisture inside the foam and they were just as bad in the dry shed as they would have been inside the wet boat. it sucked.

[Mrd8ker]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

bsharer - good idea with the fan. I had a bucket of this stuff (http://a.co/ekyJJIz) last year and it helped.

Trayson - thanks for the information. It's the classic debate of store with someone else or store at my house. I have RV parking but no cover. I found a covered RV place in Sheridan (40 minutes from my house) for $84/mo. with valet service. Lowest I have found. Would only be for the "winter" so October to May then the boat would be back at my house. I will do some looking into West Coast Metals. Long term, sounds like the way to go.

[98outback]

Just get a carport and be done.

[trayson]

Just get a carport and be done.

It's a great plan...

[zabooda]

Just get a carport and be done.

Looks better and longer lasting than the fabric carports. Pole building is a possibility.