Mexico Got Expensive...

[Rick D]

...I just went out to get a bottom paint quote and was floored to see the labor for my boat was $2000. That is twice what it was last year at this quality yard. And, that does not include materials nor disposal. Darn! I was going to take it down for some some special work, but I'll check locally first. Good for MX, not so good for US.

 

[Rich Stidger]

WHAT?!!

Good grief, Rick, that is a ton of $$!!

A fiberglass and paint shop at my boatyard charges about $15/ft plus list price for the materials. For a 40.5, that's like under $1000, including materials.

For even a $1000 I wouldn't consider jobbing that out. I can lightly sand with a vacuum sander provided by my yard ($0) and roll on one thin coat of ablative paint (one gallon, WM on sale) for about $120. My time- about 12 hours.

Of course I am a confirmed DIYer.

Are prices really that high on the west coast?

 

[Rick D]

I Paid About $2K...

... a tad over, for two coats of paint two years ago. Good for two more. That was a very competitive bid. That included materials and the junk charges.

 

[jeff.jellick@jfshea.com]

Let us know

...I just went out to get a bottom paint quote and was floored to see the labor for my boat was $2000. That is twice what it was last year at this quality yard. And, that does not include materials nor disposal. Darn! I was going to take it down for some some special work, but I'll check locally first. Good for MX, not so good for US.

Rick,

Let us know what you find out about local yards. I have a 2006 45 Center Cockpit located in Long Beach that will need the bottom done next spring.

Thanks,
Jeff

 

[tommays]

I thing your going to find that CA is far more strict about HAZ-MAT in that they have real strict dust collection and disposal rules



In the modern age here in NY they more or less build a spray booth around a bridge to blast and paint it



Tommays

 

[Calif. Ted]

I've been paying $1200 (everything) at Dana Point Shipyard for 2 coats Petit Trinidad with a third at the water line on a C270. Last time was 2 years ago, getting 3 years between hauls. Hard to believe they'd want twice that for your boat Rick, but maybe stuff has taken a big jump. Yard manager was named Steve if you want to call them for a quote, they start getting slow for the holidays.

 

[newly anonymous]

bad timing?

A lot of south-bound boats are congregating at the border presently because they can't go south of Ensenada until November 1st, at which point their insurance carriers decide that hurricane season is over. What that means for the Ensenada yards is that it's prime season, and therefore time to charge prime rates. I'll bet that if you wait until sometime in February you'll be able to negotiate low season rates.

 

[Rick D]

Thanks, Ted

There is also one in Newport Beach that is very competitive. Here I hauled at an old family-run yard in Wilmington who did a great job and treated me very right. While their up-front quote was a bit higher than some, they had ample opportunity to ram it to me on other items that came up, and did not. That's worth a lot to me. And, they even returned phone calls!

The Mexican yard also has a good reputation and is very professional. I still have two years left on my bottom; I was just beginning the process now since I'm considering a strip, dry and barrier coat. Here, the lay days for drying would kill you and the removal is problematic because of strict particulate regulation. They also tent in MX but the regulatory cost is, I'm sure, way less and so is the labor. Also, I don't want to be an early-adopter of new bottom paint California formulas.

 

[Calif. Ted]

Re: Thanks, Ted

Yeah, the newport yard is reputed to be a good deal, I'm confused about the new paint regs. I thought they were supposed to kick in 2 years ago, but that was only for SD. I'm not looking forward to having to strip everything and go to some paint that MAY not be as effective.

 

[Rick D]

Re: Paint Formula

Yeah, the newport yard is reputed to be a good deal, I'm confused about the new paint regs. I thought they were supposed to kick in 2 years ago, but that was only for SD. I'm not looking forward to having to strip everything and go to some paint that MAY not be as effective.

Well, I'm just guessing that the regs will be more severe at the time I haul. I think they are already requiring less copper content and suspect they roll in over a couple of years. Of course, copper is expensive too, so there is an additional motivation.

I just don't want to be one of the first guys trying out new formulas in real-world conditions. The last field test I am aware of was six and nine months. Since we do our bottoms every three to four years, that's hardly a full test.

 

[Larry Malmberg]

Mexico Boat Yards

Rick D., if you have done some research on local ship yards please share your findings. I'm in Shoreline too, a Catalina 38, and will need a haul out and new bottom soon as well.

Larry Malmberg

 

[Rick D]

Larry, The Yard I Used

...was Colonial in Wilmington. I had used them many years ago and have returned to them. They are excellent and are recommended by a lot of boating professionals. They use a railway to haul, so you have to time your arrival for draft reasons. They are not and will not be the cheapest, but the work they have done for me is so good as to encourage me to continue returning. The reason I am looking now to Mexico is the nature of the work I'm contemplating and a resistance to being the beta user of bottom paint formulae. Before I selected Colonial last time, I did send out bids and surprisingly got a few back. Colonial was competitive. They may have turned out better than that because I have yet to haul and not find something else to attend to, as this last time. But, they treated me better than right on the supplemental items when they could have had me over a barrel.

 

[ITMaster]

Well I Guess I Don't Have Much To Complain About

The yard here charges $8.50 a foot to haul, pressure wash, block and relaunch. That's about $350, plus they have an environmental charge that runs about $20 or so for them to shovel up the junk the washer knocks off the bottom, and the paint runs me about $120 a gallon and I use 2 gallons. I thought that I had something to complain about, but I'll just keep quiet. Sorry for your strict regs out there :cry:.

 

[Calif. Ted]

Re: Well I Guess I Don't Have Much To Complain About

It's a double edged sword all right, it's apparent that coastal waters are cleaner and Whales, Dolphins and gamefish seem to be getting more plentiful, but some things are too stringent by far. Large areas are being placed "off-limits" to any fishing and you can be cited for letting the sanding dust from your brightwork blow into the water. Anyway my point is that it's tough on the yards and boatowners here, it's getting to be a major investment just to maintain a boat here.