Settled in for Its Long Winter Nap

[MN Ryan]

Yesterday was the day that I hauled our 211 to storage...always a sad day as MN winters just drag on and on.

Unfortunately, time ran out and I didn't get all the cleanup tasks taken care of that I wanted to. I repacked trailer bearings last Sunday, and apparently wasn't careful enough when removing my right front caliper--the fitting developed a leak that I couldn't fix, and try as I might, I could not get it in anywhere, so I have that to deal with in the spring (and had to tow it 200 miles with little/no brake fluid). Grrr.

I had her winterized on Thursday, and they said that everything looked great. I got to check out the new storage facility at the dealer I use--it's pretty **** awesome. You can see my "tiny" 211 sitting amongst all the MasterCrafts. I don't store there as I have a much cheaper option, but it was impressive to check out.

Well, on to winter. The scrubbing and polishing will wait till spring!

[Scooter G]

Dang Ryan, that storage facility is the bomb, looks like something out of Area 51 (not that I've ever been there or know anything about it, nothing).
What is the price tag for a Winter's nestle?
So the guy on the 4th floor, ahhh sorry, I forgot to grab something out of my boat, do you mind... lol

[MN Ryan]

Scooter G I'm not sure exactly what their price is--I need to find out, though. Guaranteed it's more than the $400 I'm paying for heated storage.

Check out this massive fork lift they use to get the boats up there. It's huge!

[Scooter G]

Wow, that thing is beast!
My 1st question would be - "Ever dropped one?"
Probably costs a little more for trailer floor storage, than rack storage, I would think, maybe.

How long are you stuck in storage there, 6 months? $400 seems a reasonable rate for sure.

[MN Ryan]

The manager is a family friend, so he's pretty flexible. I usually drop off in mid-Oct and pick up late-Apr/early-May. The only kicker is it's a 100 mile trek, which is why it's significantly cheaper than storage in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area. It forces a trip to see the mother-in-law.

[bturner]

I was talking to a local ski boat dealer a couple months back, he told me they've been making more money with storage than on the boats for some time now. That dealer has 10 buildings that look to be about half the size of that one, all of them are full every year. No clue what they charge but like Ryan I have a $350 deal in a non heated pole barn with the BIL but it's 2 hours north of me. I suspect the dealer I'm referencing would be at least twice that.

[MN Ryan]

I have to imagine that this place would not have built this facility were it not a lucractive business. The nice thing is if your boat needs some work, you can store it there for the winter, and they can pull it out and work on it when they have time during the offseason--no lost summer time!