The Queensland sun is hard on a boat. It cracks upholstery, fades gelcoat and cooks the canvas, and a hailstorm can do more damage in ten minutes than a season on the water. A carport over the boat keeps all of that off, and it is easier to load up under a roof than in the rain.
The mistake we see most is a carport sized from the boat’s advertised length, which is the hull alone. On the trailer, the boat is longer, taller and often wider than people think. Here is how to measure it.
Length: hull plus trailer plus motor
- Measure from the tip of the trailer drawbar (the hitch) to the furthest point at the back, which is usually the outboard leg or the swim platform.
- Measure with the outboard tilted the way you store it. Tilted up, it can stick out further than when it is down.
- Add room to walk around both ends, and to close a gate or roller door behind it if there is one.
- If the car stays hitched to the boat under cover, measure the car and boat together.
As a rule, a boat on its trailer is a metre or more longer than its hull. A tandem carport, one car or boat behind the other, often suits a long, narrow driveway.
Height: the highest fixed point
Measure from the ground to the highest point of the boat as it sits on the trailer. That might be the windscreen, the bimini frame, a T-top, rod holders, a radar dome or the aerials. Then add clearance so you can back in without watching the roof, and so the roof beam is clear when the trailer bounces over the driveway lip.
Folding the bimini or dropping the aerials before you back in buys height. If you will not do that every time, size the roof for it up.
Width: room to walk and work
Take the widest point of the boat or the trailer mudguards, then add room on each side to walk past, open the car door, wash the hull and reach the trailer winch. Posts should sit where they will not catch the trailer as you reverse in on an angle. A wider span with posts set back keeps the opening clear.
Which style suits a boat
- A freestanding carport goes anywhere on the block and can be built as tall and long as the boat needs.
- A flyover carport fixed to the house gives height without the roof meeting the gutter, and suits a driveway beside the house.
- A carport attached to a shed gives covered parking with lockable storage for the fishing gear next to it.
- A gable roof gives the most height in the middle, which suits a boat with a tall centre console.
Height near the boundary
Tall carports bring in the siting rules. Under the Queensland boundary allowance, a carport can sit within the side or rear setback only up to 4.5 m high with a 3.5 m average, and for no more than 9 m of total length along that boundary. A taller carport moves in from the boundary or needs a council approval for the siting.
Logan
- An open carport up to 6 m × 6 m and 3.5 m high may be built right to the front boundary under the Logan Planning Scheme. A boat carport taller than 3.5 m in the front setback needs a referral to council, with a council fee of $869 in the 2026-27 register.
- On acreage, all sheds and carports together can reach 150 m² before stricter clearances and a 5.5 m height limit apply, and over 300 m² the work needs council assessment.
Ipswich
Ipswich City Council’s parking local law treats a vessel over 9 m, or a trailer standing on its own that is over 5 m long or 3 t, as a heavy vehicle, and one heavy vehicle can be kept on a house lot only under a permit renewed each financial year. If your boat is that size, check the permit before you plan where it lives.
Gold Coast
On the Gold Coast a carport in the front setback is assessed by the City case by case and is not allowed as of right. It is generally kept to about 3 m to the fascia, or 3.5 m to a gable ridge, and 6 m wide. A tall boat carport usually fits better beside or behind the house.
Wind and engineering
A tall, open carport catches more wind than a low one, so the posts, tie-downs and footings are engineered for your site’s wind rating. Taller posts mean bigger footings. We build in genuine COLORBOND® steel and BlueScope steel framing, and the engineering goes to the certifier with the approval.
Bring your numbers to the quote
Before we come out, measure the boat on its trailer: overall length with the motor, the highest point and the widest point. We check those against the driveway, the turn in from the street and the council rules for your lot, then design a carport that fits the boat, not just the hull.