Boat slip in Seattle

[Rustyf]

I am getting more serious about buying a 34-36 ft. cruiser that I would keep in the Seattle area. With the downturn in the economy I believed that a slip at one of the marinas would be easy to come by. Not so. The waiting periods at Shilshole, Salmon bay and others are literally years the marinas tell me. Any suggestion on what to do?

[blt2ski]

Find a slip in the outskirts where a few more are available, Then get yourself on the list of where you want to be. Took me 14 months for a 30' slip in Edmonds. IIRC 34-36 is 5-8 yrs here. Everett has a few spots in the very back, first come first serve, Kind of a transient dock for upwards of 100 or so. That is where I went initially. They always seem to have something.

Just because it is a down time, folks that hae been on the list, still get first priority, assuming they still have boats etc.

You might also look at some of the YC's locally. Some such as Madenbauer, Seattle Queen City have spots for members. Hard to say how long you will/would have to wait, but still worth looking at too.

Marty

[jrd22]

Check Craigslist, there are private slips that come available fairly often. We rented our slip out this way a couple of months ago. You have to be quick, they go fast.

[djodenda]

Shouldn't be too long of a wait at Everett, and I'll bet that there are slips available in Bremerton.

David

[doubleeboy]

There are lots of open slips at Elliott Bay. The will give you half off second months rent as incentive. No rate increase this year, now about same price as Shilshole. One nice thing about EB is its run by professionals unlike some city marinas which appear to be run by clueless bureaucrats. A number of people are currently leaving EB due to the early morning racket caused by Cruise ships parked near by. If the early morning racket doesn't bother you, you might find a slip available now or shortly.

BTW you can't believe what they tell you at Shilshole about availability. I call one day and get told 6 months likely for a 40' slip, 4 people ahead of me. One week later a guy goes in and gets a 40' , no waiting, no waiting list fee. If you want to be at shilshole, make contact with someone there, get a name and keep talking to them , get on the list if necessary, but keep calling or visiting.

michael