What happens to boats in winter storage when a marina is sold?

Buying a marina in the off-season means boats you do not own are stored on the site; ask your lawyer where responsibility sits. Each one sits in a cradle or a shed because its owner trusts the marina to look after it until spring. If the sale closes midwinter, ask your lawyer what happens to those storage contracts. A well-documented handover gives those owners clear information, and records the condition of each boat.

Read the storage contracts

Ask for every storage agreement and read what it promises: the location, the services included, who is responsible for damage and what the owner may do if the marina changes hands. Note which agreements are written and which are only a handshake. Your lawyer can tell you what binds a new owner and how to document the rest.

Take a physical inventory

Walk the yard and sheds with the seller and record each boat, its owner, its location and its condition, with photographs. Compare the result with the paperwork. A boat with no contract, or a contract with no boat, is a question to resolve before closing, not after.

Prepaid fees and spring commitments

Some owners may have paid for storage and spring launch in advance. Agree how the buyer is credited for work not yet performed, and list every promise: launch dates, commissioning, repairs or washing. Our page on how to keep slip holders after buying a marina covers the same relationship in the summer season.

Tell the owners

Write to each owner before or at closing. Say who the new operator is, who to call and that their storage arrangement continues. Ask your insurer to confirm that coverage for stored boats is in place from the first day.