I've always been a trailer boat guy, 4 years ago I bought a 40' silverton 40 convertible and repowered it with diesel. I got the boat for a "good deal" since it was a auction lien sale. I pulled the boat out, new bottom, props, bearings, i installed perkins diesel w/ twindisc transmissions, put in a diesel genset, new transducer, etc. Due to my military status I was able to secure a slip at MCRD boathouse marina. I was paying just under 300.00/month for a slip. also, military is exempt from paying the luxury tax described in prior posts. hull cleaning ea month was 77.00 plus every three months all new zincs so about 130.00 every 3 years you have to haul out, new paint at the tune of about 2k. sounds pretty good right? well, it was pretty good compared to civilian slips, I was very lucky, but even at that discount, it was a money suck. always something going wrong with the boat and working on it from the slip was a pain, birds shitting all over the boat non stop, sometimes rats would invade the slip. I recently sold the boat and they sailed it to Mazatlan mx. (thank God). I do not miss having a boat in the slip one bit. I thought it was going to be so much easier being closer to the water i would fish more, but it really wasn't. it was a PITA hauling ice, gear, etc to the boat via dock cart. being on base i had to go pick my crew up at shelter, public dock, etc. your bound to fuel your boat on the water. insurance is expensive, surveys suck and are expensive. constant maintenance. I'm lucky enough to have a property where I can store a large trailer boat. I now have my most recent Blackman 26 flybridge. it's on a trailer and I work on it at my leisure, it's not accruing fees, or rotting on the water. I don't think I will go the slip route ever again. The main benefit of the slip, IMO is the boat. Boats you can't trailer are the best for the ocean because they are big and beamy, trailer boats are small, but worth it IMO. My 2 cents.
. Being in a slip would be pretty cool. I've had my 25' Davis on a trailer since 1998, but then again I generally don't mind towing. I think that it really boils down to a life style choice and what headaches you want to deal with, they both cost $$$. Then again, if you are in a slip, you wouldn't need a large tow vehicle (although a lot of us already have one) and it's maintenance, maybe eliminate the trailer & it's ongoing maintenance until you need to replace it, etc....endless ways to analyse it.
