So what would you be willing to pay for then ?

Sixpence

Sixpence

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Jim's post seems to have most in agreement about the hourly rate of £30-00 being acceptable, but the next question I would like to ask, is what jobs would you be willing to pay someone else to do at that rate ?.
For example

Engine servicing ?
Scraping and antifouling ?
Fitting radio's and other electronics ?
Anything else ?
 
I would not be very happy paying £30/hour for scraping and antifouling, which is unskilled work. The trouble is that if that is the yard's rate you are stuck with it unless they allow you to bring in your own workman. A man I know gets his sons and daughter's boyfriend to do it in return for sailing trips.
 
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Are you job hunting? /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

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Louise' idea, to see if it's worth going the liveaboard route down there, but maybe /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
So far I've done most of the jobs myself. These jobs include routine mainentance, upholstery (obviously), canvaswork (obviously), very basic electrical stuff (fitting new instruments), headlining, basic woodworkery stuff (lining forepeak and quarterberth, teak and holly floorboards, etc), fitting new loo, fitting new windows etc.

I've bartered other jobs, eg. I'll do some canvas work for you if you come and help me when I do my windows.

I don't touch anything to do with the gas. I ask people who know what they are doing to deal with that.

I've paid SYH to do osmosis treatment on my boat and to make the topsides pretty. I don't regret that one single bit, they did a great job and it would have been much too big a task for me.

I paid others to install my engine, but I do the servicing myself.

I had Lonton and Grey repair my sails during Burnham Week but normally I would make small repairs myself.

Plusses of doing it yourself include:

a) saving money
b) learning new skills
c) getting to know your boat much more intimately than you would otherwise do
d) the more skills you acquire, and the more you know how the boat is put together, the more confident you are that if there were a problem and there was no-one around to fix it, you just might know enough to deal with it yourself.

So, short answer to question:
Would not pay someone else to service engine
Would not pay someone else to scrape and antifoul
Might pay someone to fit electronics if I decided it was too difficult for me

So:
1. If I can do it myself I do
2. If I can't do it myself but I know someone who can and they are open to bribery, job done.
3. If neither 1 or 2 apply, I have to pay someone. But I justify the expense on the basis that I've managed to do so much without paying.

/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
I've been avoiding this kind of thread because thinking about the cost of my engine servicing doesn't make me happy. I got French's to service my (then new) engine for warranty reasons, but now I still get a service done yearly for peace of mind because I seem to average about 250 hours/year. The intermediate oil&filter-changes I do myself. Being no engineer myself it's helpful to have a pro checking things, and he's more thorough (usually) than I could be. Costs an upper & lower limb amputation though.
 
Last years AF rub down and application cost me 80 quid + AF.
which i thought very reasonable.....

Problem this year is that i have moved to Ipswich and have yet to find a man that can at that sort of price /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
 
I usually have the engine serviced just so Simon can afford dinner for a week.

Rigger bloke to make halyards and standing rigging bits.

Mantsbrite are coming in to sort out my battery charger/smart alternator/solar panel/wind generator regulators and switchovers.

I havent found anyone who does a good job of antifouling yet. Mostly poorly rubbed down and faired, paint over emerging rust, and have patchy coverage of the AF. Lynn is the very best at this job, its like watching Canaletto at work.
 
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I havent found anyone who does a good job of antifouling yet. Mostly poorly rubbed down and faired, paint over emerging rust, and have patchy coverage of the AF. Lynn is the very best at this job, its like watching Canaletto at work.

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thats only because you have not seen what i can do with a bit of paint and filler /forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif
 
I met a German couple in the Azores who had kitted their boat out like a mobile yacht service station. They had rented a small building in the marina and were doing repairs to yachts (sailmaking etc).

I asked them about their life and they pointed out that most of the potential customers they meet are on a tight budget. They often work for people who would rather pay them by cooking a meal. The ones that can afford this kind of service are all keeping their boats in marinas while they work to pay for it all.

Paul
 
I would gladly pay for someone to go up the mast (don't do heights), everything else I'm lucky enough to be able to do myself (I am what it says on the tin). Seriously thinking about getting someone to take off the antifoul though.
Bob
 
Have just got three months work - Jan Feb & March but the hours are long and the travelling awful. If I take a day orf to scrub n antifoul, I lose a days pay - I was thinking, "but it's worth it to spend a day out at the boat" -then looked outside. For what I'm paid I can sit in a warm orifice and pay someone else to shiver in the sleet with a dust mask on. Was thinking of paying for the job, as opposed to by the hour. £100 I thought. Feels odd though -as if I ought to enjoy getting cold, wet and filthy. Surely me character's been built by now.
 
I used to do everything myself, until last December when I had the boat worked on full time. More cash and less time was the cause. Now I am back to DIY for everything, but though that £100 was fare enough for a service, as I already had the filters and 5 of 7 litres of oil.... but it looks like DIY rules.
 
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