C-Forum

Hey Folks,

Curious how all you cboaters living in apartments or condos handle the washing, drying and storage of boats and gear in compact spaces. I'm sure some of you have some good tips and tricks! Let's hear 'em and or see 'em.

I'm currently lucky enough to have a decent sized garage but it could be useful info.

Let's see...

College - had a van, left the boats in it (including when I lived off-campus in an apartment. There are quite a few benefits to having an extended E-350;) )
After college:
-1st apartment - only had two boats, kept them in the "main" room (it was a studio... so there was only a bathroom and the rest of the place)
-2nd place (cottage type) - in the basement. Not ideal, but it worked, and was easy access to water (renting somewhat winterized camp on a lake. Rustic, but nice to be able to put on a drysuit and work on moves when i was home).
-3rd - apartment attached to someones house, was able to stick two boats under cover out side. Others had to stay at my parents 4 hours away.
4th was a house, outside but under cover for long boats, and on screened porch for the rest. This is also where a lot of the work on the Maven was done...

Then I wound up with a barn and they lived there until we built a house and I added a covered boat rack to it to keep the boats out of the sun and elements.

GSG wrote:Hey Folks,

I'm sure some of you have some good tips and tricks! Let's hear 'em . . .

Easy! You make friends with a boater who has five acres, lives 10 minutes from the Chem. takeout, and has a big enough rack to transport your boat as well as his own.

Drying gear in a small apt: I installed an extra shower curtain rod along the center of the bathtub for hanging drippy gear. Spray everything down with Mirazyme after trips. A dehumidifier also makes drying way faster. Store everything in a sealed Rubbermaid tub so it doesn't stink up the place.

Boats, I volunteer with a local outing club and they let me keep my boats in their storage shed. Though, my living room contains a lovely Millbrook Shacho at the moment.

Pierre LaPaddelle wrote:

GSG wrote:Hey Folks,

I'm sure some of you have some good tips and tricks! Let's hear 'em . . .

Easy! You make friends with a boater who has five acres, lives 10 minutes from the Chem. takeout, and has a big enough rack to transport your boat as well as his own.

I'll be sure to remember you said that!

i high jacked this photo from my club site.

It's been quite a few years since I was in a similar situation, but the solution that I used then to store boats was to leave what I was currently paddling on the racks on top of my car. To protect the boat (in this case, a slalom C-2) from UV degradation, I cut-down a plastic tarp to the proper size to just fit over top the boat. Using tarp material and duct tape I formed short "nose cones" on each end of the tarp that held it firmly on bow and stern and then just threw a length of bungee cord over top from each rack to hold down the middle. It was possible to drive with the tarp on the boat, but typically I took it off when we drove anywhere to avoid the inevitable flapping noise.

As my wife and I were paddling daily year round - twice a day during the racing season - being able to take the tarp off and on quickly was a requirement, and having the boat live continuously on the car was actually a convenience. However, we did store other boats that we paddled less regularly (i.e. two C-1s and an OC-2) in storage available through our local paddling club.

Paddling gear came into the apartment with us after each paddling session and went into the shower with us. After a thorough rinsing (and a occasionally a good wash, shampoo works pretty well!) we hung the gear up to dry inside the shower.

John