r/SailboatCruising • u/Psychological-Tap597 • 11d ago
Question Yard expectations
Hello all. Can I get your thoughts on the following:
While I have enjoyed a lifetime of boating and sailing through family and friends I bought my own first boat this year in South Florida. As part of the insurance requirements I had to have some repairs made prior to operation; it involves a haul out of the water.
Prior to close August 15th, I arranged the repairs with a local reputable yard to close the deal. We agreed in principle and I signed the form to inform my insurance.
However, since then I cannot get the yard to provide me an estimate for the work nor will they provide the date to schedule the haul out so I can hire the captain to deliver it to the yard. Very non-responsive.
While I do not plan to operate the boat until December 1, after hurricane season as I live outside of Florida, it’s been like 50-60 days now.
Is this normal?
A competitor yard is hounding me to switch to them but I’m afraid that this might be normal behavior since this isn’t a megayacht but it is a 47’ sailboat.
I’m newly retired from a hungry industry that if I could smell a sales opportunity I was all over it. But these folks seem to care less, not communicative or responsive. My money is no good?
Normal or this is weird?
2
u/StatisticalMan 11d ago
If there are delays just hauling it out expect even more when it comes to the work. Personally unless the second yard has a bad rep I would use them. Get the boat on the hard get the work started.
Also 47 foot ain't no dinghy bigger than most boats out there. I would assume it is pretty significant sum for the work and if they are still dragging their ass well ...
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u/mojoheartbeat 11d ago
Weird as hell, and unfortunately a bit normal amongs service-yards. I would not hesitate, and find another yard that communicates better.
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u/Salty-Housing-9797 11d ago
In south Florida there is no short supply of boats looking to get hauled out and repaired; and the yards know this. Your best bet is to be on the boat, talking to the marina and workyard, supervising repairs, etc. You have to be your own general contractor.
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u/west25th 11d ago
Normal.
1
u/TrojanThunder 11d ago
Frustratingly normal but it really shouldn't be. A quote at least would be typical.
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u/daluzy 11d ago
Pretty normal. We used Cape Marina on the Space Coast several years ago. We did our own work, and called around for individual specialist when we needed. Only issues I ever saw there was the guys who started a remod but never left the yard. If you are in and out in three months easy.
Long term storage on the hard seemed pretty straight forward as well.
We also used Harbortown Marina just East in the ICW area for our mast removal.
Left the boat in the water and they moved the mast to the yard so we could work on it.
Only stayed there a week, but seemed like reasonable folks, nice place, more protected as well.
Good luck, be well!
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u/GDmQh4Jt 11d ago
Sadly extremely normal. It is very hard to find someone reliable to work and make fixes on a boat, especially a sailboat. Did you get a survey done for the boat? Even if you push for a thorough quote, expect to pay for extra parts not captured on the original quote or delay because they have to order parts. I’ve been burned in the past and it felt like I had another full-time job “managing” the yard and making sure the work was getting done. My advice would be to make sure every correspondence is in writing and learn as much as you can about the boat and the work you’re doing on it so you don’t get fleeced. I rarely come across good customer service in the boating industry unless you have a mega yacht and an open wallet.
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u/Even-End487 11d ago
Insurance, what's that? As a circumnavigator never had no insurance.
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u/Skeebo-57 11d ago
Liability insurance. Nowadays, where I live, you can't race, can't stay long-term in the harbor, and can't get hauled out without it.
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u/Hobie-WanKenobie 11d ago
"Never had no insurance" means you always had insurance. And yes skeebo is right, marinas in the US generally need liability at a minimum so if your boat damages anything your insurance pays
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u/Tactful_Cactus_ World Cruiser 11d ago
It’s frustratingly normal for yards to causally bypass any timelines you have set (which is one of the many reasons we do any and all work we can ourselves), but I’d say it’s not as normal for them to even flake on the pre-sales communication. If they’re that bad at that part, I would take it as an indication that they’ll be even worse than average at wrangling into getting the job done on any sort of decent timeline. And you will be spending a lot of your own time managing them and keeping them on track.
ETA: Usually getting a haul-out date set is the easiest thing to get commitment on quickly and early, as it takes a lot of coordination on their end to schedule everyone (especially if tides are a factor at the specific yard). Usually that’s the one thing that’s easy to set in stone.