There's a particular kind of procrastination that boat owners know well. The last trip of the season is done, the cover is on, and somehow the question of where the boat actually lives for the next five or six months gets shuffled to the bottom of the list. Then the first frost arrives and sharpens the mind considerably.
If you keep a boat around Torbay, Brixham, or anywhere along the South Devon coast, you'll know that options for proper winter storage are more limited than you'd hope. A driveway works until the neighbours start leaving notes. A field works until it doesn't drain. What most boats actually need is a level, secure pitch where they can sit undisturbed and you can get to them when you need to.
What Our Boat Storage Yard Looks Like
Our outdoor pitches are level hardstanding, which matters more than people realise until they've spent a winter watching a trailer slowly sink into soft ground. The yard is fenced and gated, with CCTV running around the clock. It's a short drive from the water, so you're not adding unnecessary miles every time you tow in or out.
The boat stays on its trailer throughout. There's no craning, no racking, no complicated handover process. You bring it in, you park it up, and it sits exactly where you left it.
Getting In and Out Without the Fuss
One thing that catches people out with some storage facilities is restricted access. If the season starts early, or you want to pop in for maintenance, you don't want to be working around someone else's opening hours.
We're open every day from 7:30am to 8:30pm, including weekends. That means if the weather turns favourable in February and you want to get out on the water ahead of schedule, you can tow your boat out the same morning without phoning ahead or waiting for a gate to be unlocked. The same applies in reverse: if the season ends late and you're one of the last ones off the water, you're not scrambling to find somewhere to put the boat before a facility closes for winter.
What Boats Work Well on an Outdoor Pitch
Our pitches suit trailered boats of the kind commonly used around Torbay: RIBs, motorboats, sailing dinghies and small to mid-sized keelboats. If the boat lives on its trailer during the season, it'll live on it here too. Longer or wider vessels are worth a conversation before booking, just to make sure the pitch dimensions are a good fit.
A few things worth doing before you drop the boat off for winter: check the cover is properly secured and won't catch the wind, drain any water that's pooled, and make a note of anything that needs attention so you're not starting from scratch when spring arrives. We can't service the boat for you, but having it somewhere accessible means you can visit and work on it whenever you like during our opening hours.
The Cost and How to Book
An outdoor boat pitch is £120 a month. There are no complicated joining fees or lengthy minimum terms to worry about; storage runs through the winter and you tow out when the season starts again.
If you're ready to sort out winter storage before the cold properly sets in, get in touch with us for availability and to book a pitch. It's one of those jobs that feels much better once it's done.