Winter Storage and Haul-Out on the Seacoast: How It Works and What It Costs

Haul-out day is the quiet bookend of the season. The travelift rolls over, the slings go under, and she comes up dripping. Done right, spring starts with a launch instead of a list. This page explains the moving parts, so the first call to a yard goes quickly, and shows the prices yards actually post.

Every price here comes from public sources: the yard's own rate page, linked, with the date we read it. These aren't quotes, and they aren't confirmed by the yards. Facts as of November 3, 2026.

How haul-out and storage work

• Haul-out: the yard lifts the boat out, usually with a travelift or hydraulic trailer, and pressure-washes the bottom. Then it's blocked and set on jack stands, or left on your trailer if the yard allows it.
• Storage: outside, inside cold (unheated), or inside heated. Some yards also offer in-water winter storage or rack storage.
• Spring launch: the reverse trip. Many yards bundle haul, wash, blocking, storage and launch into one per-foot package. Others charge each piece separately.
• Not usually included: winterizing the engine and water systems, shrink wrap, bottom paint and spring commissioning. Those are separate line items at most yards. The winterizing cost guide covers them. For the step-by-step lay-up itself, see the Seacoast winterize and haul-out walk-through.

How yards price it

• Per foot of length overall (LOA): common at Seacoast yards, for example Great Bay Marine, York Harbor Marine and Hampton River Marina.
• Per square foot (length × beam): used by Portland Yacht Services and by Island Marine Service in Kittery. Island Marine Service doesn't post its prices.
• Surcharges: Hampton River Marina adds a 7.5% environmental surcharge. Portland Yacht Services' rate page notes that "all rates are subject to a 3.25% shop/environmental charge." Great Bay Marine charges a $50 fee for haul-out or launch cancellations within 24 hours.

Posted 2026–27 prices (public sources)

Arithmetic, not a quote: a 28-foot boat in York Harbor Marine's Storage Plus is 28 × $52 = $1,456 before tax and extras. At Great Bay Marine, outside on stands, it's 28 × $57 = $1,596.

The same numbers as open data

Prefer a feed to a table? /api/v1/costs/seacoast returns these posted prices, each with its source_url and the read_on date. Add ?loa=28 (your length overall) for per-boat arithmetic, still labeled "arithmetic only, not a quote." The response says plainly that the basis is public sources only.

The yard confirmation idea

Posted rate pages go stale, and some yards don't post at all. So Boat Day lets a yard confirm one fact itself: its winter storage price per foot for the 2026–27 season. That's how it works:

• A confirmed price is published under the yard's name only with its explicit consent, and it carries its confirmation date.
• If a yard hasn't confirmed, the price stays unconfirmed (null). Boat Day never fills in a default.
• Confirming a price doesn't make a yard a Boat Day partner or "verified" overall. It confirms that one number.
• Confirmed prices older than 12 months show as expired.

As of November 3, 2026, no yard has confirmed a price, so everything on this page and in the API is from public sources. If you run a yard, founding yards explains how to take part.

Questions to ask your yard

1. Is the price per foot LOA or per square foot? How do you measure (pulpit, swim platform, engines)?
2. Does the package include haul, bottom wash, blocking, stands and spring launch?
3. Is winterizing included, or quoted separately? Shrink wrap?
4. Are there surcharges (environmental, shop, fuel) or tax on top?
5. When can you haul me, and what's the deposit and cancellation policy?
6. Can I work on the boat over the winter, and when is the yard open?

Timing

Freeze risk comes before many owners expect. NOAA 1991–2020 normals for Greenland, NH put the median first 32°F night around October 8, and one year in ten by about September 27. Great Bay Marine's storage page notes a waitlist for the 2026–27 season. The boat-day planning guide has the full season calendar.

Looking for a yard? The Seacoast yards list shows public listings (unconfirmed, not partners), and the Kittery and Portsmouth storage guide compares the local options.

Sources (prices read November 3, 2026)

• Great Bay Marine (Newington, NH), Boat Storage: 2026–2027 season, Sept 1 – June 30. Outdoor, on-trailer and indoor rates, what's included, the waitlist note, the one-heated-building note and the 24-hour cancellation fee.
• York Harbor Marine (York, ME), Service, Storage & Labor Rates: haul/launch, storage only and Storage Plus.
• Hampton River Marina (Hampton, NH), Pricing: blocks and stands, winter boat-on-trailer storage and the 7.5% environmental surcharge.
• Portland Yacht Services (Portland, ME), Rates: winter storage per square foot and the 3.25% shop/environmental charge note.
• Island Marine Service (Kittery, ME), Winter Services: storage types, season and inclusions. "Call for pricing."
• Freeze timing (read October 30, 2026): NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 U.S. Climate Normals for Greenland, NH, as presented by Harman frost dates for Portsmouth, NH.
• Boat Day open data: /api/v1/costs/seacoast. Same public sources, machine-readable.