New dock with lift and cover

Michael T

Good for you Steve - whatever the dream is, you must be livin' it! :-)

luckydog

That was fast, very nice looking job hope you enjoy it. Look you can even walk on both sides of boat nice

Handymans342

This one is for all the stressed out people not in Florida. 

Handymans342

Night shot. Hopefully boat will be in soon with a new cover over the lift and boat. 

TonyWalker

Nice!

halifax212

Handy, why do so many boaters have lifts in your area? I know they keep the bottom clean but is it because of the year round boating or is it the extra salty water in the Gulf? There are no lifts in my area to speak of.  PS spent a week in Tarpon Springs/Siesta Key  last month...great spot.

Dream_Inn

Well, I'll help Handy with that question.  It is for many reason, but in FL it is mainly because of the salt water and keeping bottom clean.  People that leave their boat in the water in FL pay divers to keep their bottoms clean.  That salt water is tough on a boat.  Not sure I'd go to FL looking to buy a boat (sorry guys, don't mean anything towards you), salt water and lots of harsh sun.  Of course Handy is working on both those issues.

My marina is 90% lifts, due to brackish water, tides, and just overall easier maintenance.

Oh, Handy, nice looking lift and great view! (but honestly, I'd remove that fence)

Michael T

Steve, that's AMAZING looking! Good for you - CONGRATULATIONS!

Handymans342

I have 3 dogs, hence the fence DI

raybo3

Cant use lifts around my area because most places take the docks out of the water for the winter. Plus 9' tides are the norm...........

Handymans342

I put in a lift so I could keep the blue hull looking good all year. Also, I wont have to pay to haul her out to clean the bottom or to have it painted. I can service the drives while on the lift. I wont have to rent a slip. Since I use half the fuel of everyone else I am just in a Save, save, save mode. 

halifax212

Thanks for clearing that up for me....the trouble of year round boating  ha!

Handymans342

Oh and since I moved south, no winterization, no storage fees either. 

luckydog

Nice setup Handy

jme097

Thats beautiful sir

raybo3

Now that you have a lift why do you bottom paint? Why not strip the paint and but a nice coat of wax. Might even go a little faster and God knows you need every MPH you can get....... Just say'n.......LOL

Handymans342

Im not painting the bottom Ray, its already painted and lord knows I aint stripping it off. Removing it and I blow you away LOL

rasbury

very nice Handy....I thought somewhere along the line you were going to cover it as well? It's the only way to go on salt, that's for sure....I don't even leave mine is fresh water but then a 270 is a bit easier to handle on a trailer. I have been staying for a week over in that area for the last several years, it's amazing what starts growing on your hull just in that amount of time and different areas grow more or less which I never figured out....great job!

Handymans342

Cover is being fabricated as we speak

Dream_Inn

Al makes a great point.  I have to go under a bridge to get to my marina. VHF always stays folded down (yeah, I know all about range with it down, but it's even worse broken off).  You can usually tell right away the boats from my marina.  When I first bought this boat I snapped off my anchor light (thought it was low enough, but I have a folding one now).

rasbury

Well lets see, broke my tv antenna off within the first couple of weeks and have broken my vhf 2x...should have done a shorter boat!

Michael T

Really guys? You break them more than once? LOL. I go under a number of bridges - I just have a small note by my VV - BRIDGE AHEAD. Of course, now that I've razzed you I will probably knock off my VHF, Radar and Sat. T.V. the next time out!!! LOL :-(

Handymans342

I will let you know when I break mine. LOL

Dream_Inn

Only snapped the anchor light on mine, first day with new boat (actually knew about it but thought it would fit - and to be honest, was replacing anyway with a fold one).  But, for me, you have to put the anchor light and VHF down every time you go back to my marina.  After 9 years, only an anchor light and bounce or two with my 310 VHF (was not all the way raised, so it just banged a little), I don't think that's too bad.  Many of them have been broken in my marina.

Black_Diamond

You could easily add in a small electric actuator to raise/lower the anchor light and antenna. 

rasbury

well Black, since I forget to put it down in the first place, I'm not sure that the effort would pay off! Good idea however.....I need a check list when departing my vessel...

Dream_Inn

BD, sounds like one more complication to break on the boat.  I leave mine down instead and only raise the anchor light when needed, remembering to put back down the next morning.  Usually we have a few of us from the same marina around to remind each other.

Handymans342

Well, made it to the dock yesterday. Waiting on the lift guys to come by today to adjust the lift and then the cover guy can finish. What a process!

Michael T

Steve, looks great. You're going to have fun with that set-up. Good for you!

Handymans342

I cant believe the way they shined up the hull. WOW