Where Do You Keep a Boat You Actually Still Use?

There is a difference between storing a boat and parking one.

Parking is a gravel space and a tarp. Storing is somewhere the boat comes out of ready to launch, without a season of Florida sun on the gelcoat and salt air on the hardware. If you are still using the boat, the second one is what you want, and it costs less over five years than the first one plus a re-gelcoat.

What does outdoor storage actually cost you?

Ultraviolet light and salt.

Sun degrades gelcoat, chalks the finish, cracks vinyl seating and destroys canvas. Salt air works on every piece of metal on the boat, and coastal Volusia has plenty of it. A cover slows it down and does not stop it, and covers themselves tear, pool water and chafe the rubrail.

Then there is rain. Every open boat left outside collects water, and a bilge pump on a battery only works until the battery does not.

None of that happens indoors.

What makes a unit big enough for a boat on a trailer?

Two numbers, and most people only check one.

Length is the obvious one. Our vaults run 15x35, 15x38 and 15x43, which covers most trailered center consoles, flats boats, bay boats and a good many bigger craft with the trailer tongue included.

Height is the one that catches people out. A boat on a trailer with a T-top, a tower or an outboard tilted up is taller than it looks on the driveway. Our doors are 12 and 14 feet tall with extra tall ceilings behind them, which is what makes the difference between a unit that fits your boat and a unit that fits your boat if you drop the T-top first.

Measure to the highest point on the trailer, not to the gunwale.

Why does a power outlet change what the space is for?

Because it turns storage into somewhere you can work.

Every unit here has a 120V outlet and its own lighting. That is enough to charge batteries, run a vacuum, run a polisher, put a light on an engine cowling, or spend a Saturday on maintenance without hauling the boat home first.

It is also why these spaces suit project cars, race cars and anything else that needs attention between outings, not only boats.

When is a vault more than you need?

If the boat is a jon boat on a small trailer that lives happily behind the house, this is more space than the problem.

If you want a month to month arrangement, this is not it either. These are six and twelve month terms with a one month security deposit, which is what keeps the site the way it is. Short seasonal parking is a different product.

And if you are storing an RV, call before you rent. Enclosed RV storage is available here, but length and height have to be checked against a specific unit rather than assumed.

On the water in southern Volusia?

New Smyrna Beach Boat & Storage Vault is at 1245 Canal St, with easy access from US Highway 1 and a short drive from I-95, minutes from the Atlantic and the Indian River Lagoon. We serve New Smyrna Beach, Edgewater, Oak Hill and southern Volusia County.

Gate access starts at 4AM and runs to 10PM, seven days a week, which is the detail that matters if you fish. The vaults are climate controlled and drive-up, with roll-up doors, bright LED lighting, 24 hour security cameras and exterior lighting across the site. There is management on site.

Availability here moves and some sizes run a waitlist, so call (386) 388-5399 before you plan around it. Tell us the length and the height at the tallest point and we will tell you which vault fits.