Boat Dock and Lift Education

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What do you need to know about docks and lifts to get started? Let us help you! First, gather your watercraft specifications and your watersite conditions (PDF).

Then ask yourself, should I dock my boat in the water or should I dry-dock? If you are leasing a slip, do I need marina or condo association approval? Finally, if you are exploring several different alternatives, make sure to ask these Questions for Competition.

In the past several decades, many types of boats have been designed and manufactured with the intention that they NOT be chronically water stored. Unlike larger cruisers, these watercraft are best performing when not bottom painted and left in the water.

After sitting in fresh or saltwater for several months, these boats are fouled with sea growth, muck, zebra mussels or crustaceans, decreasing the performance of the watercraft. Outdrives and jet drives can be so fouled as to fail to function properly, and in ALL cases, chronic water storage decreases the life and value of the boat significantly. In extreme cases, hull blisters or delamination – a separation or bubbling of the fiberglass layers – can occur. The solution is to trailer, rack store or otherwise dry-dock your boat.

There are several types of boats whose value and function especially require dry-docking: personal watercraft, jet boats/outboards/sterndrives, offshore performance boats, or any other specialty watercraft that depend on speed and performance. Generally speaking, large displacement-hull cruisers - those that do not try to get up on to the water and skip along or "plane" - do not seek a dry-docking solution. They are simply painted and remain water stored. All the remaining watercraft benefit greatly from dry-docking when not in use.

Aside from saving the boat hull and drives, proper dry-docking also greatly enhances access to the watercraft for boarding, fueling and maintenance. Plus a dry-docked boat needs no lines or bumpers and avoids scrapes and bruises from bouncing around in a tied-off wet slip mooring. The Jet Dock drive-on docking system accommodates all these needs.

When leasing a slip in a Marina or waterside Condo property, it will sometimes be necessary to obtain an approval from the organization before using a boat lift in their slip.* Most marinas in most cities, states and countries have no prohibition on the use of a boat lift in their slips. However, in the interest of aesthetics and protection to the infrastructure, some DO impose conditions or restrictions on what type of lift can be used or how it may be attached.

The Jet Dock System is widely approved as the ideal boat lifting device for use in marina slips. Unlike constructed boat lifts, the Jet Dock is simply tied into place (PDF). Your Jet Dock will require no pilings or metal brackets, causes no alteration to the existing dock, and does not rest the weight of the lift or boat on the marina structure. It is also not prone to causing damage to the marina infrastructure at times of no-water conditions, floods or storms. Finally, the low-profile design of your Jet Dock will not obstruct your fellow boaters activities or block their view.

Click here for a PDF to see an example of an approval letter from a Marina community association.

* An approval for a boat lift when contained within a legal, permitted marina or condo slip tends to rest with the marina or condominium boards. Little, if any, city or state permitting applies to boat lifts being used inside of an existing slip. See Legislation and Permits.