Reliance upon boatyards?

L

Lizman

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Mooring at Golant, Fowey
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Hello Everyone,

Is there any way to reduce dependence on these people?

I normally overwinter in the water on my swinging mooring. In season, i usually just wander out onto the mud at low tide to keep the boat's bottom clean, but in the summer I had to come out to carry out some work which I partially documented here (successful btw). Anyway, I had a very bad experience with the boatyard which I won't go into here, but it has made me very wary about whether I really want to take the plunge and buy a bigger boat in the next couple of years, which might increase my dependency.

Now, I am already trending toward something which will dry out upright: the Hunter Channel, Westerly Fulmar etc, or maybe another swing keel, or a catamaran perhaps. Am I right in thinking that this type of boat offers a little more independence from the wretched boatyards?

Thanks in Advance
 
Certainly a bilge keeler will allow you to keep the bottom clean and antifouled and inspection of stearn gear rudder etc.But here in Spain you cannot clean off and antifoul unless it’s in a designated area Ikea boatyard,maybe in the UK it’s a possibility
 
To do works involving more than a tide you will possibly require a boat yard unless you 'own' the beach, etc. Possibly best to try a different yard next time. A lot of yards are fairly protective of trades working in their yard if there is already the trades based there.
 
Having lived/sailed in areas without boatyard for leisure craft I had to learn how to do all the work the boat needed myself. So, yes it is possible to be independent of yards. When the boat needed lifting out I hired a crane plus truck/low loader and took it somewhere I could work on it if the harbour would not let me use the pier.
Antifouling and bottom cleaning is becoming a problem now. My solution was Coppercoat as it lasts for years and does not leave significant residue when pressure washed. In warmer water you can swim and wipe it off afloat.
 
Lizman said:
Hello Everyone,

Is there any way to reduce dependence on these people?

I normally overwinter in the water on my swinging mooring. In season, i usually just wander out onto the mud at low tide to keep the boat's bottom clean, but in the summer I had to come out to carry out some work which I partially documented here (successful btw). Anyway, I had a very bad experience with the boatyard which I won't go into here, but it has made me very wary about whether I really want to take the plunge and buy a bigger boat in the next couple of years, which might increase my dependency.

Now, I am already trending toward something which will dry out upright: the Hunter Channel, Westerly Fulmar etc, or maybe another swing keel, or a catamaran perhaps. Am I right in thinking that this type of boat offers a little more independence from the wretched boatyards?

Thanks in Advance
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Very few jobs HAVE to be boatyard - most others depend on you, your skills, your available time and your incinations. For example I have installed diesel engines myself, re rigged the boat myself, copper coated it myself, done all the electronics myse;lf. Living away from the south coast ( thank god) I use a couple of clubs who lift out and provide diy facilities, so the only time I have used a boatyard in the last 30 years has been for an osmosis job, and I would DIY that now I understand what is involved.

Its absolutely nothing to do with boat size, but drying out undoubtedly makes DIY easier.
 
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A lot of clubs have facilities such as lift-out or posts, but I can't think of a problem I have ever had with any boatyard over the course of fifty years. They usually seem to be staffed by committed people and we have usually tried to get to know them personally to some extent, so I would say you must have been unlucky.
 
Clubs are the answer, although they vary hugely in terms of the facilities they offer. However if it is haulout services you need rather than all the other trades I really don't know what your problem is. You have a number of choices where you are and many of them allow DIY. What gets expensive and potentially troublesome is paying trades to maintenance and replacement where labour cost are high and the nature of the work means lots of opportunities for potential disputes. Having said that in the 40 odd years I have employed trades and had things made/ installed etc I have had only 2 disputes and whilst unpleasant at the time the actual sums involved were relatively trivial and more a matter of principle (getting ripped of!)
 
Thanks for the suggestions.

Sorry i didn't make myself clear. The problem wasn't with the trades, there aren't any on this yard, its with attitudes. They put me hard up against a tree line when I told them multiple times that the work I had planned would involve dropping the mast (other things followed!)
Yes, I've been doing all the work so far on my own, such as dropping the mast, once while she was still afloat, and another time in this yard in order to cut out the old beam and laminate a new one in its place. Also took the stern gear off and re-bedded the stern tube (the boat was slowly sinking!) not long after I first got the boat.

Thank you once again.
 
buying a DIY boat is a big step towards independence. Something big enough to cruise, yet small and light enough to trail, maybe with a trailer/slip cradle combo, with a mast that can be self erected. Something that, if you have the space, you can take home. Some folks here might guess what I’m suggesting. It’s a major cost advantage. There are quite a number of small to medium cats and tris that enable you to do this. It’s fair to say they are not ocean cruisers, but they’ll manage a round Britain, it’s been done many times. Second hand prices are reasonable, though of course new ones can be expensive, in terms of cash for waterline length. I have no idea why they’re not more popular. Though come to think about it, it’s a bun fight to buy one, perhaps they are popular, just not to most of the denizens of this parish, who are mostly steeped in Westerlys, long keels, and gaff rigs. Nowt wrong with any of that, I own a traditional boat too. But just a little one. Guess what, it’s road trailable.
 
There is a lot to be said for getting your boat next, or very close, to home for the winter to work on, even if you have to pay crane and truck hire. A friend found that doing some work on the boat in the evenings, and pulling the ladder up after him, made for a pleasant few hours.
 
srm said:
There is a lot to be said for getting your boat next, or very close, to home for the winter to work on, even if you have to pay crane and truck hire. A friend found that doing some work on the boat in the evenings, and pulling the ladder up after him, made for a pleasant few hours.
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Ours is quite low to the ground, no ladder needed. A drawback for some, then😄
 
I see you are quite local to me in Plymouth. Sounds like you had a bad experience. I am 100% happy with my yard and friends who have used other yards in Plymouth have the same experience.
 
Lizman said:
Thanks for the suggestions.

Sorry i didn't make myself clear. The problem wasn't with the trades, there aren't any on this yard, its with attitudes. They put me hard up against a tree line when I told them multiple times that the work I had planned would involve dropping the mast (other things followed!)
Yes, I've been doing all the work so far on my own, such as dropping the mast, once while she was still afloat, and another time in this yard in order to cut out the old beam and laminate a new one in its place. Also took the stern gear off and re-bedded the stern tube (the boat was slowly sinking!) not long after I first got the boat.

Thank you once again.
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Don't judge all yards by one bad experience. The reality is that if you want your boat out on the hard you have to use somewhere that has the facilities to handle the type and size of boat you have. Yards are very experienced in handling boats - as are many clubs. I have run a boatyard and used many others and leave handling to the professionals, but you have to be clear about what you are asking them to do and take their advice as to what is feasible and safe.
 
The Medway has wide range of places to fettle boats ranging from boat clubs with a couple of of piles to lean against or perhaps drying blocks, one or two with a crawler crane and marinas with 50 ton lifting cradles.
The type of amount and type of work permitted really does depend on the organisation running the facility.
Having been in or helped others carry out work in just about all of them, most have been pretty relaxed about owners doing the the sort of DIY that skipper are capable of.
Boat clubs do not seem to worry over much about who does what to a club members boat and most of the less posh boatyards simply want to know who is coming onsite simply for security.
The two more prestigious marinas are little more careful about external contractors and want to know who is carrying out work, probably due to insurance worries etc.
There is a small private yard near me with crane and driver where yachts/mobos are frequently lifted out for long term work and the boat skipper will need to put the slings round his boat, hopefully anybody else hanging around pretending to work on their boat will help with the blocking off.

Suspect the owner of the yard would love see the work on some of them completed this century.
One motor boat has been awaiting "restoration" for a least 25 + years and couple of what appear to be perfectly useable yachts there 3/4 years.
 
Just one thought about Coppercoat: It isn't recommended for mud moorings, because it simply doesn't work - the mud sticks to the CC, and the critters stick to the mud. I'm not sure it's any worse than other antifouling, but it's certainly a waste of money. OTOH, a mate's boat in Chichester Marina was fine with it.

On my old boat, kept on a mud mooring in Portsmouth Harbour, I gave up on antifoul and resigned myself to scrubbing off a couple of times during the season. On Jazzcat, I tried antifoul, but principally because Management didn't like the blue antifoul and red boot top. The barnacles seem to be quite happy with what I put on, so I think it probably won't get done again until it's needed for aesthetic reasons. However, my club has scrubbing grids and jet wash facilities, so an extra scrub or two isn't an issue.
 
I bought a bespoke trailer to avoid yard fees and have the convenience of working on my 26' long keel at home. I soon realised that this was a bad idea as no trade was prepared to do the 50 mile round trip to help me out when I lowered the mast (read, it came crashing down but luckily missed my family who each let go of their rope in time to duck), when I serviced the engine (read, broke the glass anti freeze monitor into the header tank as well as all the little ball bearings), sealed the windows (read, made a real pigs ear of spreading grey sticky sealant everywhere and not being able to get it off) so I am going to buy a Norfolk Gypsy which even I can maintain.
Apologies for any spelling mistakes, I managed to poke my toothbrush into my eye half an hour ago so everything is now blurry... just be happy you are not me 😂
 
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