How often do you haul your boat.
- Thread starter BandB
- Start date
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If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
menzies
Guru
I see. I'd forgotten that thread, obviously. That makes this one totally redundant and I wouldn't have started it had I recalled.
Perhaps quantifying here will be of some benefit.
O C Diver
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Minimum of once a year; this year twice. Like to support the small business that is my local boatyard. Also, want to get a feel for everything going on below the waterline before extending the interval. Next year will be over a year as I will be on the Great Loop.
Ted
Ted
MYTraveler
Guru
I have never needed to haul except to paint (the bottom). Given the cost (thousands), at least so far, I have been able to put off hauling for any other reason. Why would anyone regularly haul more frequently? I am sure there are good reasons, just none that seem applicable in the US west coast (eastern pacific).
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- Now boatless - sold 6/2018
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I'm with you, MYT. I don't have the bottomless pockets some on here appear to have, and I get as long out of haul-outs as I can...like about 3 years or a bit less.
MurrayM
Guru
Thinking out loud...anybody use hard bottom paint, dry out in a small bay using beach legs, change zincs, and give it the occasional scrub-a-dub-dub?
Something like this; http://www.yachtlegs.co.uk/index.pl?pageid=5&page=yachtlegs_adjustable&langx=eng
Something like this; http://www.yachtlegs.co.uk/index.pl?pageid=5&page=yachtlegs_adjustable&langx=eng
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markpierce
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Perhaps paranoia. ... With a steel hull, I keep a close watch with annual haul-out bottom inspections. Maintenance is warranted annually. Never had a "no work required" inspection. Am not at a point to feel confident solely with underwater inspections in my cloudy/rich waters.
Paranoia has been known to be costly, but also known to help prevent very costly problems from developing.
Also, by all our hauls being scheduled hauls, with time slots determined in advance, we are out of the water a very short time and we pay lower than peak rates. January, February, June, July and August are the least expensive months in our area. We have had times that the boat was never removed from the slings.
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Do you use hard or ablative?
78puget-trawler
Guru
Unless a bottom is really fouled and wont wash off under way for a bit, I don't see the point in hauling every year unless something else needs doing, like thru hulls, valves or damage etc. Zincs can be changed by a diver and its a lot less costly than a haulout.
O C Diver
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Guess it depends where you are. Haulout, power wash, 2 weeks on the hard, and then splash is <$600. Have some bottom paint and prop speed to touch up, prop is getting tweeked, and boat is getting waxed. Having a diver pull and put back the prop could be 30-50% of the haulout cost. Have to do something with all the money I'm saving on fuel.
Ted
Guess it depends where you are. Haulout, power wash, 2 weeks on the hard, and then splash is <$600. Have some bottom paint and prop speed to touch up, prop is getting tweeked, and boat is getting waxed. Having a diver pull and put back the prop could be 30-50% of the haulout cost. Have to do something with all the money I'm saving on fuel.
Ted
For liveaboards, wouldn't you have to add the cost of lodging to the equation above?
O C Diver
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I don't live aboard. Have been to several yards that allow you to stay on the boat, have shore power available, and a bathhouse while you're on the hard. Services and price are over the spectrum. To me, this is one of the reasons to plan haulouts in advance with yards you have experience with. Also feel that having an on going relationship with the yard gets you better service.
With my local yard, I schedule well in advance, keep my appointments, buy most consumables from their store, and pay my bill promptly. In return, they are happy to see me, give me preferred pricing, and as much or little help as I want on projects. Now I realize that the relationship I have with my yard may be the exception, but if you could have that same relationship, wouldn't you want to support that business?
Ted
We have the same type relationship with our yard. Everything done in the time frame they commit too. Your relationship is the exception but doesn't have to be. Loyal customers find themselves getting excellent service. Like so many things it's all about relationships. The first reaction people have regarding our yard is price and they certainly do their share of multi-million dollar refits. However, for routine work their price is very little more than anyone else's and when you count that they stand behind their work and they get it right the first time, plus discounts for scheduling during their non-peak times, they really aren't that pricey.
Pgitug
Guru
Live in Florida. Diver cleans the bottom every 2 months during the summer and 3 months during the winter. Bottom paint gets addressed every 3 years. Hard bottom paint. The trick is getting a yard that knows how to apply the bottom paint. We go to Sneads Boat Yard in Tampa Bay. They are EPA certified to remove the old paint before applying the new. Kind of nuts to put new $250 per gallon paint over aging paint. Plus the uneven build up. IMO.
SCOTTEDAVIS
Guru
Diver 3 times a year, he replaces zincs once a year. On the hard for bottom paint every 2 years with ablative and propspeed and I do other over the side yard work at that time.
Edelweiss
Guru
Low growth PNW. Haul on a Friday in October, back in on Monday once every 4 years. Power wash, 2 zinc on each shaft, one on each rudder. Yard paints bottom with Petit 60 and good for another 4 years. Diver replaces zincs once per year in between. 
psneeld
Guru
Some yards allow living aboard on the hard.
dhays
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As you point out, you have that relationship, in part, because of you how you treat them. One of my (many) pet peeves is consumers who treat businesses like crap, then expect the business to bend over backwards for them. I am a firm believer in buying local, and treating businesses with courtesy and respect. While it initially may seem to cost you a few more $$$, in the long run I think it can save you money and lots of aggravation.
Poach
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Every 2 years, and that's a stretch since a lot can happen below even in 2 years.
Tom.B
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Every year. If for no reason than to just keep an eye on things. Lots of things that can sink a boat under there if left unchecked. There is also nearly always some project that needs doing where being on the hill is required.
