Haulout Woes

[Bad Obsession]

I need to haul my boat out to do the bottom this year (probably could have done it at the end of last season). I thought that I had a haul out date at the Colonial Beach Yacht Club but they said that I would have to postpone my haulout because they don't have enough jackstands. It is interesting that they said this because it was only said after they asked "Are we going to be doing the work on your boat or are you doing the work on your boat?" Strange Concidence.That is one problem with my area. It is so hard to get anyone to do anything when it needs to be done. I am not sure what I am going to do now. I am tempted to check over at Cobb Island but I hate to make the 40 minute trip by river over there and then drive the 1.3 hours back and forth everyday from Colonial Beach while I am working on my boat (Darn gas costs too much to do that).I may be able to get a later haulout date at the Colonial Beach Yacht Club. They did say that they should have something by the second week in April. April is such a bad month for me because of work scheduling. I had to press it to May because it will be really tight and I will loose some sailing time.Sad thing was that I took a week off from work to do a bottom job and a few minor things to my boat. I know that if I work consistantly I can finish it in 4 days (1 to scrape and sand and 3 to paint two coats of paint).The only other marina in Colonial Beach with a lift is really hard to deal with (Stanford's Marina). I went to school with the guy who is running the yard and last year they said that they couldn't haul my boat there because their insurance won't let me work on my own boat (I know that was crap). A lot of people who keep boats in Colonial Beach don't haul out there due to the way the Marinas act.There is another marina that is about a 15 minute drive from Colonial Beach called Harbor View. My uncle hauled a Cataina 27 with a 4' draft out at that marina about 15 years ago but I am really leary of going back into Maddox Creek with my Catalina 30.I refuse to go to Dahlgren Marina because they have messed me over in the past and they continue to mess over people who do business with them (I am sure that they will be out of business someday soon because of the way that they run things).I really wish that my boat was in an area where people competed for your business! If it wasn't such a drive and I didn't have ties to the community I would move my boat down river to Kinsale!Okay, enough of my rant. Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

[elle]

You have options

I'm just down the river from you in the No. Neck.Do not go to Harbor View...you will become tide bound...if you can get in at all. They are also not sailboat friendly...used to keep boats there.Port Kinsale Marina on the Yeocomico (off the Potomac) is an easy sail for you.It is about a 45 -50 min drive from Colonial Beach. I recommend Krentz Marina in Harryhogan (also on the Yeocomico...$$ more reasonable than Port Kinsale.(depends on the size of your boat..).but you will have a bit longer drive.There are others.....but these are the closest.....elle

 

[Joseph Shirley]

Can't Colonial Beach Yacht Club set you up on wooden 4X4

Poppets? They have been in use ever since boats have been hauled, and well before yards began using jackstands. Where boats in the north are stored on sidetracks (Common before the use of travel lifts) thats all they ever used. A competent yard would have no problems setting you up that way.2 years ago a lot of boats in La Paz Mexico, stored on jackstands, fell over in a hurricane because of the wind and the rain. The rain softened the sandy gravel and the leeward jackstands just sank in the soil.--- so although they are quicker (and better if protected from being swallowed up), the aren't the only way to support a boat.

 

[Benny17441]

Everything is relative. Here in Florida, marinas that

do not let you work on your own boat at their yard are the norm. I have sailed the Chesapeake and I got the impression that compared to Florida the marinas there were very reasonable in price and excelled in services. It is fact of life that those customers that provide the marina with most of their income will get preferential treatment. My advice would be not to take it personal as it probably isn't. If bottom job scheduling and sailing time are important then pay to have the work done; if you can work around your schedule and the loss of sailing time is not that important then wait and do it yourself at your leisure. Complicating your life with a long commute time to another marina I would not consider a good option. I once put a price on my sailing time; prorated the cost of the boat, dockage, maintenance and valued my time at half of my job's earning rate and found out that it made more sense to pay someone to do a two day job than to do it myself in four days not mentioning the aches and pains. By the same token I will tackle myself a number of jobs that I know I can do faster than it would take me to line up someone else to do it. Go ahead and rant and vent all you want here but at the marina be friendly have a smile and pretend you don't have a care in the world.

 

[Doug Burton]

Sad

But it seems marinas are hard pressed for money just like most people or any other biz these days. Trouble is they seem to be biteing the hand that feeds them. Ranting sometimes is good to let it out, but sometimes in the end you just have to do what's best for you. Don't burn any bridges and just do what in the long run is best for you. A friendly marina, that is close, that you had to pay 1 time for a bottom job is better than commuting to someplace cheap with negligable services. It's a tough bull it.

 

[sailaway78]

Same everywhere

I think this is the norm everywhere. The only marina left in Slidell that has a travel lift after Katrina, has tripled their prices for yard work. Last time I had my boat out the yard rates were ten bucks a day for DIY. Was over there a few days ago, as I need to do a bottom job. Yard rates are not one dollar a foot a day. A marina over in New Orleans said their rates were 15 bucks a day, but I could only get in on a pre set date, and I could only have four days in the yard. I am still looking.

 

[Ross]

I must have died and gone to sailboat heaven!

If I need to have my boat launched, I talk to Stan and tell him I am ready to launch and he tells me a time within a couple of days. Haul out is the same way. He will leave the boat hanging in the slings if I only need a few hours. If I want him to do the work I have to ask nicely. I don't know what their hourly rate is because I never had to ask.

 

[CharlieCobra]

I'd like to be able to FIND a spot to pull mine.

There's no yard space for DIY up here except one place that wants $1 per foot per day. Let's see, two months....., nah.

 

[Rob Hessenius]

Northern Advantages

Throughout the years I have seen numerous post pertaining to the ability to find available land to haul your boat. Then you throw in the costs, daily, by the foot, by the sq ft. Then you have to find a location that will allow you to do the work. It seems as if people have to move their boats almost a hundred miles to find an appropriate marina. Space is readily available to all of us northern sailers. We do pay for land storage, but there is no gun to our heads to get back in the water. My area marinas are friendly, in most cases they are friends too. I have never been to PNW, but I would have thought there would be marinas everywhere. Chesapeke area the same way. I know land is valuable and its getting tougher to make money, but it should not be at the expense of pissing off your customer base.  I truly am envious of people that can sail year around. maybe someday that will be me.

 

[elle]

Skilled labor (and the equipment to go with it) isn't cheap

I work part-time at a well-established privately owned marina.The marina has 104 wet slips, yard storage, Awl-Grip painting, a cabinet maker, certified Yanmar engine guys, certified Garmin guys, huge travel lift (new one coming this month)....pool, cafe, and supports 14 families with health ins (keeping the guys healthy is a good thiing for the marina).Their rates are not exorbitant...in line with the land trades in this part of the country....You will get what you pay for...these guys are skilled, educated, and know their trades. Why should they get paid any less than a land electrician or mechanic? Oh...you can also do your own work at this marina, also....elle......

 

[higgs]

Great Lakes

..or at least Lake Michigan and the Us side of Ontario. The vast majority of yards allow you to do your own work and usually have a "latest" launch date like June 1, giving us plenty of time to prep the boat. I store at my club for $16 a foot which includes mast down and up, haulout and launch, and access to a pressure washer, which, I have to operate myself. For that price, I do have to actively assist in all phases. I have to launch by June 1. Oh yeah, I can do a mid summer haul out for bottom cleaning which is included in the $16 a foot. Another little bonus - if one pays for four years up front, the fifth year is free making storage for my 34 under $450 a season. I can usually start working on the boat seriously by the last week of March and often launch the last week of April. Dockage costs me $1500 for the season and can stay as late as November, though I pull mid October. In addition, my senior membership - at $550 a year - entitles me to unlimited free pump outs and unlimited free ice.The downside is I have to put in 10 hours of work at the club per year. Can you imagine been expected to work?Maybe I can't sail all year, but I do have this advantage.

 

[Bad Obsession]

The Jury is in and.....

I am going to wait until April to haul my boat. I hope that things work out. Marinas aren't hungry for money because they have enough business. It is funny to hear that because in the summer it is easier and cheaper to get work done, at least around here. What a pain!

 

[Warren Milberg]

A suggestion....

I obviously don't know the condition of your boat and how much work it will need, but four days sounds like a lot of time to me to scrape (I assume you are NOT intending to totally remove your old bottom paint). I like Cobb Island (email Jim Seamans as he keeps his boat there and can give you needed details) and so I would suggest loading all your equipment on your boat, motoring over to Cobb, get hauled, and start working. Stay overnight on your boat. Get up early the next day and put a coat of paint on. Go have some lunch. Come back and put the second coat on -- most bottom paints will dry in an hour or so on a warm day that is not too humid. You should be able to get 2 coats on in one day with ease. Seems to me you could have the whole job done in 2 or maybe three days and have some fun sleeping over in the process.