Boat Ownership & Moorage in Gig Harbor, WA

If you’re thinking about moving to Gig Harbor and you own a boat, there’s another question you may need to answer right alongside where you’re going to live:

Where are you going to keep the boat?

Gig Harbor is built around the water, but moorage here isn’t one-size-fits-all. Some slips are leased. Some can actually be purchased as individually owned real estate. Some marinas offer covered moorage, some allow liveaboards, and some are better suited to transient or short-term stays.

And depending on the size of your boat and how often you use it, permanent moorage may not even be your best option.

If boating is an important part of the lifestyle you’re moving here for, I recommend figuring out the house and the boat strategy together rather than buying a home first and dealing with moorage afterward.

Do You Need Waterfront to Own a Boat in Gig Harbor?

No.

Buying waterfront with your own dock can be wonderful, but it’s only one option.

Boat owners living in Gig Harbor may choose to:

• Lease permanent marina moorage
• Purchase an individually owned boat slip
• Trailer and launch their boat as needed
• Buy waterfront with an existing dock
• Use a permitted mooring buoy where appropriate
• Use transient moorage when visiting by boat

The best option starts with one question:

How do you actually use your boat?

If you want to be on the water several evenings a week, having permanent moorage nearby may be worth a lot to you.

If you use a smaller boat a handful of weekends each year, trailering may give you more flexibility without the ongoing cost of a slip.

And someone with a larger sailboat or yacht is going to have an entirely different set of needs.

LEARN MORE ABOUT MOVING TO GIG HARBOR: https://whatsgoodgh.com/relocation

Renting a Boat Slip vs. Owning One

One thing people relocating to Gig Harbor may not realize is that some local moorage can actually be owned rather than leased.

At most marinas, you rent a slip from the marina operator and pay monthly moorage.

But Gig Harbor also has condominium-style boat-slip ownership.

Murphy’s Landing

Murphy’s Landing is one local example of individually owned moorage. Instead of simply renting space from a marina, you purchase the slip as real estate and become subject to the marina association’s dues, rules, and governing documents. 

Harborview Marina

Harborview Marina is another local example of condominium-style owned moorage and also offers covered slips.

If you’re considering buying a slip rather than leasing one, ask:

• What are the monthly association dues?
• What do the dues include?
• Are there adequate association reserves?
• Have there been recent or anticipated special assessments?
• Can I rent the slip when I’m not using it?
• Are liveaboards allowed?
• Who maintains the docks, pilings, and utilities?
• Can I sell the slip independently?

Owning isn’t automatically better than renting. It is simply another way to secure moorage.

Can a Boat Slip Be an Investment Property?

In some cases, yes.

Some owners purchase boat slips even when they don’t plan to use them personally all the time.

At Murphy’s Landing, for example, owners can rent their slips subject to association rules. An owner may rent a slip while between boats, while traveling, or potentially purchase one specifically as an investment.

If you are considering a boat slip for investment purposes, look at it the same way you would any other real estate investment.

Consider:

• Purchase price
• Association dues
• Property taxes
• Potential assessments
• Rental restrictions
• Realistic monthly rental income
• Vacancy
• Demand for that particular slip size
• Maintenance responsibilities
• Future resale market

A boat slip may be an asset that can be rented and resold, but that doesn’t mean rental income or appreciation is guaranteed. 

Boat slips cannot be financed. They are cash only deals so you need to keep that in mind when considering it as an option. 

TWO SLIPS CURRENTLY AVAILABLE (8/17/26): 

3901 Harborview Drive Unit: A7
3901 Harborview Drive Unit: B25

Will Your Boat Actually Fit?

This is one of the most important questions to answer before renting or purchasing a slip.

Don’t assume that a “40-foot slip” automatically works for every boat someone refers to as a 40-foot boat.

Know your actual:

• Length overall (LOA)
• Beam
• Draft

You also need to understand the individual marina’s rules about overhang.

For example, at Murphy’s Landing the boat itself must fit within the slip. A dinghy may extend out over the water as long as the boat fits when the dinghy is out of the water, but nothing can overhang into the walkway.

Depth matters too. Most slips at Murphy’s Landing have approximately 10 feet of depth at low tide, but depth should always be confirmed for the individual slip, particularly for deeper-draft vessels.

These are questions to answer before signing a lease or purchasing moorage.

What Utilities and Amenities Should You Look For?

Two slips with similar prices can offer very different boating experiences.

Before comparing moorage, ask what is actually included.

Things to consider include:

• Fresh water at the dock
• Shore power and available amperage
• Whether electricity is included or separately metered
• Parking
• Guest parking
• Gated access or security
• Restrooms
• Showers
• Laundry
• Clubhouse facilities
• Pump-out access
• Storage
• Wi-Fi
• Nearby repair and marine services

What About Covered Moorage?

Covered moorage is available in Gig Harbor, but not at every marina and not for every vessel size.

Local options with covered moorage include facilities such as:

• Gig Harbor Marina & Boatyard
• Harborview Marina
• Peninsula Yacht Basin

Murphy’s Landing is uncovered.

If covered moorage is important to you, make that one of the first requirements in your search rather than assuming you’ll be able to find it later.

GET ACCESS TO ALL OF SARAH'S GIG HARBOR FIELD GUIDES: https://whatsgoodgh.com/guides

A Quick Overview of Gig Harbor Marina Options

Murphy’s Landing

Individually owned moorage. This is one of the local options where slips can be purchased rather than simply leased. Liveaboards are permitted subject to marina rules and capacity. The marina also offers owner amenities including a clubhouse, kitchen, showers, laundry and gated access. 

Please Note: 

Harborview Marina

Condominium-style individually owned moorage with covered slips. https://harborview-marina.com/

Gig Harbor Marina & Boatyard

Offers covered and uncovered moorage, short-term and long-term options, and on-site haul-out, mechanical repair and marine-service capabilities. https://gigharbormarina.com/

Arabella’s Landing

Offers permanent moorage as well as reservable overnight moorage. Permanent availability can involve significant waitlists, particularly for certain slip sizes. https://arabellaslanding.com/

Harbor Place Marina

A smaller permanent-moorage option within Gig Harbor. https://www.harborplacemarina.com/contact.html

Peninsula Yacht Basin

Located toward the north end of the harbor and offers covered and uncovered moorage for a range of vessel sizes. https://peninsulayachtbasin.com/

Jerisich Dock

Public transient moorage in downtown Gig Harbor rather than permanent boat storage. This is useful for boaters visiting downtown or staying for a limited period. https://www.gigharborwa.gov/797/Jerisich-Dock

Because availability, pricing, rules and vessel-size limits change, I recommend checking directly with the marinas before making plans.

Current Gig Harbor marina resources:
https://www.ghdwa.org/on-the-water

Can You Live Aboard Your Boat?

Maybe.

Liveaboard policies vary considerably from marina to marina.

Some do not allow liveaboards at all. Others allow them but cap the total number or charge additional monthly fees.

Murphy’s Landing, for example, currently allows a limited number of liveaboards and charges an additional monthly liveaboard fee.

If living aboard is part of your plan, ask about it before choosing the slip.

Questions to ask include:

• Are liveaboards permitted?
• Is there currently room under the marina’s liveaboard limit?
• Is approval required?
• Is there an additional fee?
• Are there minimum vessel standards?
• What amenities are available to liveaboards?

Don’t find the perfect slip and then discover you can’t use it the way you intended.

What If You Want to Trailer Your Boat?

Permanent moorage isn’t necessary for every boat owner.

If you have a smaller boat, use it less frequently, or like the flexibility of launching in different parts of the South Sound, trailering can make a lot of sense.

There are public boat launches throughout Gig Harbor and the surrounding peninsula, with access around:

• Gig Harbor Bay
• Wollochet Bay
• Point Fosdick
• Horsehead Bay
• Purdy
• Fox Island
• Key Peninsula

One of the biggest practical considerations is parking. Some launches have dedicated trailer parking, while others have very limited roadside or shoulder parking. If you’re planning to launch regularly, that can make a big difference in how convenient a particular ramp actually is.

You’ll also want to pay attention to the tides. Some local launches are much easier to use at certain tide levels than others, so checking the tide chart can become part of your boating routine.

This is also something worth thinking about before you buy a house.

If you plan to trailer your boat most weekends, the distance and route between your home and the launch you expect to use may matter more than you initially think. A launch that looks close on a map can feel very different when you’re towing a boat behind you.

There are also some advantages to keeping your boat on a trailer. You can rinse it thoroughly after being in salt water and have easier access to the hull for cleaning and maintenance, rather than dealing with the marine growth that comes with keeping a boat in the water full-time.

And trailering gives you more options.

You aren’t limited to Puget Sound. You can load up the boat and head to one of the many freshwater lakes around the area for a completely different boating experience.

So when deciding between permanent moorage and trailering, I’d ask yourself:

Which option is actually going to make it easier for you to use your boat the way you want to?

For current public boat-launch locations and information, visit the Pierce County Boat Launches page:

https://www.piercecountywa.gov/4522/Boat-Launches

Permanent Moorage or Trailering: Which Is Better?

There isn’t one right answer.

Permanent moorage may make more sense if:

• You boat frequently
• You want spontaneous evening access
• Your vessel is difficult to launch and retrieve
• You don’t have space for boat and trailer storage
• You don’t want to tow regularly

Trailering may make more sense if:

• You boat less frequently
• Your boat is relatively easy to launch
• You have storage at home
• You want to launch in different areas
• Permanent moorage costs or availability don’t make sense for you

A simple way to think about it:

If it’s a gorgeous Tuesday evening and your boat is already sitting five minutes away in the marina, how likely are you to use it?

Now compare that with hooking up the trailer, loading the boat, driving to the launch, finding parking, launching, and doing it all again at the end of the evening.

Sometimes the best answer is simply:

Which option will make you use your boat the way you actually want to?

Fuel, Pump-Out and Boat Repairs

A few practical things can surprise boat owners new to Gig Harbor.

Fuel

There currently isn’t a public fuel dock in downtown Gig Harbor, so fueling is something local boaters need to plan into their routine.

There are marine-fuel facilities around Tacoma and the South Sound. Here are a few

https://www.tacomafueldock.com/

https://www.fossharbormarina.com/fuel-dock/fuel-dock.aspx

Pump-Out

There are fixed pump-out options at Jerisich dock, and the Maritime Pier, and Pierce County also operates a mobile pump-out service serving portions of the South Sound. https://pumpoutwashington.org/mobile-pumpouts

Haul-Out and Repairs

Gig Harbor Marina & Boatyard offers on-site haul-out, mechanical repairs and other marine services within Gig Harbor.

Because hours and seasonal services change, check current information before heading out.

Current boating-services resources:
https://gigharbormarina.com/

https://www.anchorwatchpnw.com/

What If You Can’t Find Moorage in Gig Harbor?

Don’t assume your boat has to live in the same ZIP code as you do.

If the right slip isn’t available in Gig Harbor, or your vessel doesn’t fit the local options, expand your search.

Nearby alternatives include:

Narrows Marina — Tacoma

Located just across the Narrows, with wet moorage, dry storage, covered and uncovered options, fuel, pump-out and launch facilities. https://narrowsmarina.com/

Port Orchard Other South Sound Marinas

Another logical location to investigate, particularly depending on where you live and where you like to boat.

Depending on the size of your vessel and your boating destinations, additional South Sound marinas may be perfectly reasonable alternatives. https://www.portofbremerton.org/179/Port-Orchard-Marina

If you love a house in Gig Harbor, I wouldn’t automatically reject it because you haven’t found moorage five minutes away.

Sometimes the better solution is to solve the house and boat questions together.

Should You Just Buy Waterfront With a Dock?

For some buyers, that is exactly the dream.

And it can be wonderful.

But don’t assume that buying waterfront means you can automatically have a dock.

If keeping your boat behind your house is important, investigate:

• Whether an existing dock is permitted
• Water depth
• Tidal conditions
• Dock condition
• Shoreline regulations
• Permitting
• Tidelands
• Shared-dock arrangements
• Bulkheads
• Maintenance
• Insurance

An existing dock and the ability to build a future dock are not the same thing. 

If private moorage is a priority, make that part of the home search from the beginning.

🎥  WATERFRONT VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeO56LgpLwg

The Boat Should Be Part of Your Home Search

This is probably the biggest piece of advice I give boat-owning relocation clients:

Tell me about the boat when you tell me about the house.

I don’t only want to know that you need three bedrooms, an office and a water view.

I also want to know:

• What kind of boat do you have?
• What is its length, beam and draft?
• Power or sail?
• Do you trailer it?
• How frequently do you boat?
• Where do you like to boat?
• How close do you want to live to your marina or launch?
• Are you willing to drive 15 or 20 minutes?
• Is owning waterfront with a private dock ultimately part of the dream?

A 22-foot boat you trailer a handful of weekends each year creates a completely different home search from a 50-foot boat you want to use several nights a week.

Where you keep your boat can influence where you should look for your house.

That’s why I prefer to solve the housing and boating pieces together rather than treating them as separate decisions.

Moving to Gig Harbor With a Boat?

If you’re considering relocating to Gig Harbor and boating is an important part of the lifestyle you’re looking for, I’m happy to help you think through both sides of the move.

I work with waterfront property and also represent individually owned boat slips in Gig Harbor from time to time.

Rather than starting with a random list of homes, we can start with how you actually want to live:

Where do you want to boat?

How often?

Where will you keep it?

And what kind of home makes that lifestyle easier?

Planning a move to Gig Harbor?
DOWNLOAD MY GIG HARBOR RELOCATION FIELD GUIDE HERE: https://whatsgoodgh.com/GUIDES

Looking for current boat-slip opportunities or waterfront property?
VIEW CURRENT LISTINGS: https://whatsgoodgh.com/properties

Want current marina, launch and boating information?
https://www.ghdwa.org/on-the-water

Sarah Husby

*Marina availability, fees, rules, liveaboard policies, services and launch conditions can change. Always confirm current information directly with the marina, association or appropriate local agency before making a boating or real-estate decision.