Dry slips in Cape Coral/Ft. Myers

[Tortuga12]

So, the bug has bitten me hard (my wife, too!) and we are taking sailing lessons and loving it.

Of course, eventually we would like to waste some hard earned dough with our own sailboat, but we can't afford or justify the outrageously high fees for wet slips down here.

There is a good chance we could get the family boat in the future (Gale Force 20', apparently a Chrysler mold), and it's a bit of a pain to rig, so a dry slip would be ideal (and hopefully much less expensive). Anyone know of marinas here that offer them? I see plenty of dockaminiums, but I doubt that these would work well for a sailboat!

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide!

[xort]

Can you store it rigged on a trailer right at a launch ramp? Drive truck to ramp and hook up trailer or perhaps a private operated ramp would have a truck available.
Also, the fork lift system for rack launching boats can usually pick up a boat off a trailer. So you could store the boat on a trailer outside next to a rack launch building and have them pick you up and launch you. This would not be available at many yards so you'll have to search for one that can accomodate your special request

[Tortuga12]

Option 1 is exactly what I'm looking for. Option 2 is probably more than I want to spend, and the dockaminiums around here are all behind low bridges anyway. If anyone can help me locate a marina that offers this, please let me know!

[camaraderie]

Have you tried Ft. Myers Beach Marina...they say they have 200 dry slips.
Fort Myers Marina

[Cruisingdad]

Originally Posted by camaraderie

Have you tried Ft. Myers Beach Marina...they say they have 200 dry slips.
Fort Myers Marina

If I remember right, those are covered for sailboats.

[Cruisingdad]

Your best bet is to look around for a house to put it behind or a dockaminium that is not in use.

The market there is somewhere between tanked and non-existent, so anything a owner can get out of his house will be a relief. We had a neighbor that "rented out" his slip behind his house in the good times. I have been told there are a lot more that will do it in the bad.

I used to live there, and lived on our boat at FMB. I am not aware of ANY place that still does dry-docking there (FMB). There is a place off of Sumerlin where we used to keep one of our fishing boats. It was right next (and part of ) the Marine Max delaership. They kept some sailboats on the hard, but they converted it to dockominiums. Not sure if they stopped dry-docking boats, but I think they did. Call them at 239-481-1132. That is the marine max, but they will know the marina as it is right next to them.

Of course, I have not done this for several years now so my info may be a bit off.

Best of luck,

- CD