Are Marina Slips with Dock Boxes Worth It?
Marinas look for ways to make money and create a better customer experience. That means nowadays you can find marinas offering different options, services, and facilities for both potential and existing customers. Finding the best marina at the right price for your needs is key to a wonderful boating experience wherever you are.
A lot of boat owners wonder whether marinas that offer dock boxes offer good value. They wonder if marina slips with dock boxes are worth it.
Well, it depends. A well-built dock box can be a great place to store things that you don’t need to take with you on the boat. They can also keep things out of the sun and away from saltwater.
If you’re looking for a marina slip with a dock box that is worth the price, there are things you need to know. Finding the right size and material is key to getting the most out of what you’re paying, and it will offer the best protection for whatever it is you end up storing inside.
Here’s some information on what to look for in a dock box and how to know whether it’s worth it at the end of the day.
Choosing Between Different Dock Box Materials
If you go on to a lot of marina websites, they’ll tout that they have dock boxes available on most of all of their slips. With a bit of extra cost, customers can have access to a convenient storage unit. Sounds great, right?
One thing you should be aware of, though, is that not all dock boxes are built the same or built with the same materials.
Most are made of polyethylene. These plastic boxes prevent most of the water from getting in, but they fade over time and can end up looking a bit run down if they aren’t well-maintained. As they fade, they could end up discoloring any fabrics like life vests that you’re keeping in the dock box.
Wooden dock boxes look nice, but they also need a lot of maintenance to stay in good shape. Located so close to the water on a marina slip, they’re going to need regular waterproofing and will need to be refinished to stay looking fresh.
They’re also never 100% waterproof. When it rains hard or water splashes around your marina slip, you can count on at least some water getting inside. Additionally, rodents know that marinas have food and other things they love, so they’ll come around to try their hand getting on boats or into dock boxes.
They’ve been known to chew through wooden boxes to get at perishable items.
Fiberglass is another option for a dock box. These are higher-end boxes that look great and will probably come at a premium at your marina. They do, though, offer better protection than both plastic or wood, and they’ll withstand the weather and water beatings better over the years.
Most modern boats are made of fiberglass, so you know they will do well in high-water environments for a very long time.
How People Get the Most Out of Their Dock Boxes
What do people use them for? How do I know if I really need one?
Owning a boat is already expensive. Many people are surprised at just how much marinas charge to use a dock box. Typically, dock boxes will run you several hundred or more than a thousand dollars a year in rental charges. It’s not chump change.
You want to know that you’ll get the most out of it and use it enough to justify the price.
Here’s how people use their dock boxes to make boating life a lot easier:
- Store cleaning supplies – Boaters have to put a lot of work into keeping their boats in good condition. If you’re on a saltwater slip, you’re going to need to wash your boat thoroughly very often, if not every time you go out on the water.
No one wants to carry all of the towels, wax, disinfectant, brushes, and everything else you need to clean your boat effectively. Storing it in a dock box is a nice way to keep things organized and prevent cleaning supplies from spilling and contaminating anything onboard.
- Watersports items – If you have a dock box that’s big enough, you can store skis, ropes, deflated tubes, boards, and other large items there to free up space on your boat. Sometimes you want to take a nice, relaxing ride on your boat or you’re sleeping onboard and you don’t want to be tripping on skis.
You also may not want to schlep them home after every trip, and leaving them on the boat is sort of like asking someone to come and steal them.
- Fishing gear- Fishing supplies are another item people love storing in dock boxes because it’s not something you always use on the boat. When the weather is great for fishing and you have a crew of people who want to go, you can simply grab the poles, bait, tackle boxes, and other supplies out of the dock box instead of loading and unloading your car every trip.
- Cooking supplies – If you have a boat with a kitchen, bathroom, and other facilities, dock boxes are a terrific staging point where you can take what you need and store what you don’t. That includes things like plates, bowls, and glasses for when guests are on board, as well as cooking tools you don’t use all that often.
At the end of the day, dock boxes are worth it if you are constantly wishing you had more space or are getting sick and tired of loading and unloading your car every time you go to the marina.
Check with your marina to find out how much they’ll charge to rent a dock box, what material it is, and what’s allowed inside. Some marinas will even let you paint and decorate them to make them your own.
