Getting sick and tired of having to try and find a mooring for your boat? Fed up with cleaning the bottom all the time and having to worry about whether your mooring is safe enough during a storm – or for that matter a hurricane?

Well all those problems go away when you use the Boatport at the St. George's Boatyard which has Bermuda's first and only dry stack boat storage system.

Craig Faries, who along with Edward and William Lawrence owns Boatport, said: "This is ideal for a boat owner. You can take out your boat and then when you have finished just bring it back to us and we will haul it out, wash it down with fresh water and put it away."

And it only takes a 15 minutes!

Mr. Faries said: "It is basically a marina on land. You pay a monthly fee and it doesn't matter how many times you want to take your boat out. There is no extra cost. This is just like having your boat in a marina except your boat doesn't stay in the water."

And all those worries about your boat when a major storm or hurricane hits the Island also go away – as was proved during Hurricane Igor last month.

Mr. Faries said of how the dry stack system performed: "It was very busy with the passing of Igor, but at the same time very enjoyable! We had no damage to any boats stored in either the Boatport or the Boatyard so I and my customers were very happy. This proves that the rack storage system is very safe and effective for storing boats during the passage of a hurricane indeed!"

The Boatport's hours are in daylight, seven days a week.

"For instance a customer came back late last night he left his boat tied up (to the floating dock) and when we came in this morning we picked the boat up, washed it off and put it back in the rack. He is someone who probably takes his boat out three times a week.

"A number of people use their boat in the evenings several times a week and they call us ahead and ask that their boat be put in the water so that when they get here all they have to do is jump in the boat and off they go. They go for a spin for a couple of hours and when they come back, if we are here, we haul it out, and if we are not here we pick it up in the morning and wash it down and put it in the rack."

The rates are $20 per foot, per month and includes unlimited, on-demand launching and hauling with a fresh water hull wash before the boat is put into its rack.

There are extras as well like washing down the decks and cabin, refuelling the boat and even stocking your ice chest.

"We also deliver and pick up boats from various parts of the Island," said Mr. Faries.

"We will also deliver the boat right to the customer. We put it over and drive it to wherever you want to get on. This is all about service – we want to make it easier for the boat owner to enjoy himself."

The Boatport started operation in May this year.

But it has been years in the making.

The premises are on the old Meyer facility in the East End on St. George's Harbour. Mr. Faries has run his boatyard on the adjacent property for over 20 years. "I have had a long and good relationship with Meyer," he said.

"We went into operation in May this year but before that we had been dreaming about something like this for years.

"We went to many seminars and talked to many companies which built racks and forklifts. And after years of planning and dreaming we have finally done it."

The design of the dry stack boat storage system is based on a time-proven system used throughout Florida and the Great Lakes for the past two decades.

"The forklift came from California and is specially made for this," said Mr. Faries.

With Boatport an owner never has to have a mooring and forget about the days of taking a small punt out to your boat, getting in it, leaving the mooring and going back to the dock to pick up your friends and ice chests.

Those days are gone.

"The main advantage of Boatport is the simplicity of it. Here you drive down to the dock and your boat is waiting."