I'm tossing around the idea of buying a bass boat (eventually).

 

I've never owned one - just my little 10ft pond boat.

 

Unfortunately I don't have room to keep it at my house.  The garage isn't deep enough and there's nowhere outdoors to keep it.

 

I'm exploring storage options.  The ones that are closest to me do not have electricity available.  

 

So... help the dumb new guy understand.  Don't I need electricity to plug in the onboard battery charger (assuming I have one)?  That sounds like a really dumb/obvious question.  Would my only option be to bring the batteries home and charge them?  That sounds like a gigantic pain for a bass boat.

 

Anyone else in the same situation?  Other ideas?

2 minutes ago, TNReb said:

So... help the dumb new guy understand.  Don't I need electricity to plug in the onboard battery charger (assuming I have one)?  That sounds like a really dumb/obvious question.  Would my only option be to bring the batteries home and charge them?  That sounds like a gigantic pain for a bass boat.

 

Yes, you need to charge the batteries after every trip.  It would be a HUGE pain to pull them every time. 

I keep, and always have kept, my batteries either on a smart charger in the boat or in my shop hooked up to a smart charger.  Before smart chargers I had a 1 amp trickle charger on a timer to run 30 minutes a day.  If you dont stir the batteries all winter you are going to be buying batteries every year.

 

If you take them out and put them in a shop or garage dont let them sit on the cement you will kill them that way also,  Put them on top of a bench or at least a piece of 2x4

Call around.  Some storage places have a limited number of electric hook-ups, even if not advertised.

A good smart charger is the best investment you can get for your batteries.  Get one form Bass Pro, they have three year warranties and if you keep your receipt they will give you a brand new one when yours go bad and it will go bad.  The last time I exchanged mine they no longer made the model so I got the new model for free.  

Thanks for the replies. I was pretty darn sure that I was asking a dumb question, and already knew the answer. I was just hoping someone had some magic idea I never heard of.

 

I've been calling some of the places and asking, the ones that are closest to my house just don't have electric hookups. Some do, but they are a little farther away.

'little farther' might be well worth it, if cost isn't much greater

23 minutes ago, Choporoz said:

'little farther' might be well worth it, if cost isn't much greater

Yup. I wouldn't fool with moving batteries every time. 

 

The closest ones (without electric) are just 5 minutes from my house. The others are 15 minutes. Not the end of the world. 

Your other option is to bring the boat home the night before you are going fishing and plug in the charger overnight.  Then bring it home and plug it in before you take it back to storage.  You need to charge the batteries, that's for certain.  

Probably the best thing to do would be to buy a new house at the same time, a nice place where you can keep your boat nice and close ?

7 hours ago, TOXIC said:

Your other option is to bring the boat home the night before you are going fishing and plug in the charger overnight.  Then bring it home and plug it in before you take it back to storage.  You need to charge the batteries, that's for certain.  

This is exactly what I do. My HOA doesn't allow me to store the boat for more than 24hrs. I pick up the boat every Friday, plug it in, fish Saturday, plug it in, fish Sunday, plug it in, drive it back to storage and repeat the following Friday

34 minutes ago, slonezp said:

This is exactly what I do. My HOA doesn't allow me to store the boat for more than 24hrs. I pick up the boat every Friday, plug it in, fish Saturday, plug it in, fish Sunday, plug it in, drive it back to storage and repeat the following Friday

That'd drive me batty.

 

...but you gotta do what you gotta do.

 

I admire your dedication!

3 minutes ago, Further North said:

That'd drive me batty.

 

...but you gotta do what you gotta do.

 

I admire your dedication!

The small Lund fits in the garage so that is not a problem. The Predator does not.

2 minutes ago, slonezp said:

The small Lund fits in the garage so that is not a problem. The Predator does not.

...so the small Lund for quick runs after work, the "good" boat for weekends...

 

That would require more planning than I do (my gear stays in the boat), but where you live, it's what you have to do.

 

Up here, you build the 2nd garage around the boat*...with room for future direction changes in boat selection.

 

*or, in most people's cases, around the boat, ATVs, Snowmobiles, lawn tractor, a couple canoes...

 

On 2/28/2018 at 5:30 PM, slonezp said:

This is exactly what I do. My HOA doesn't allow me to store the boat for more than 24hrs. I pick up the boat every Friday, plug it in, fish Saturday, plug it in, fish Sunday, plug it in, drive it back to storage and repeat the following Friday

 

Dedicated. Much respect.

On 2/28/2018 at 8:55 AM, TNReb said:

Thanks for the replies. I was pretty darn sure that I was asking a dumb question, and already knew the answer. I was just hoping someone had some magic idea I never heard of.

 

I've been calling some of the places and asking, the ones that are closest to my house just don't have electric hookups. Some do, but they are a little farther away.

Not a dumb question TNReb, just a logical question to a problem everyone faces with public storage.  Twice I’ve stored by boat, a 20ft Ranger, using public storage while moving and ran across the same situation.

 

One storage facility had power, so problem solved.  The other was an individually enclosed public storage unit. Inside it had a light bulb in the ceiling which was activated by a switch. I jury rigged a solution by removing the light bulb, screwed a plug adapter into the socket and with a flip of a switch my boat batteries were charging. 

Does the storage have a light in the ceiling? If it does maybe something like this

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001F71O70/ref=asc_df_B001F71O705389496/?tag=hyprod-20&creative=394997&creativeASIN=B001F71O70&linkCode=df0&hvadid=167139094796&hvpos=1o2&hvnetw=g&hvrand=5702828913413078786&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9017531&hvtargid=pla-500526566312

I might be in the same scenario. Hoping our local storage facility will have power.

19 minutes ago, Boomstick said:

I might be in the same scenario. Hoping our local storage facility will have power.

Power costs money. My storage yard charges a $30 per month premium for electric hook up. 

10 minutes ago, slonezp said:

Power costs money. My storage yard charges a $30 per month premium for electric hook up. 

I figured as much. I've seen $10-30 typically. But I will need it.