Boat Yard Experiences

[Acadia426]

I ran out of time, this year, because of family commitments. So, I didn't do some of the spring-ready tasks that would normally be done by the owner of a vessel. I hired a local yard to do the work, and oh my, to my surprise, the billing system is more than creative.

Besides charging a questionable number of hours to do the work, there's that yard labor rate. Yikes!

And, then there's a charge for "shop supplies" in addition to the "parts"
charge.

And, there's a fanciful creation - the "administrative fee."

Oh, and let's not forget the "environmental fee."

Has anyone else had these kind of experiences with your favorite yard (no hint of sarcasm there)?

[Jd1]

Yep, all those charges are regular charges at my yard.

[john61ct]

You've obviously been grossly undervaluing your DIY time!

[Jammer]

What matters is the overall hourly rate, not how they break it down into labor, shop supplies, environmental, etc. Around here it's $125 an hour (per worker).


In some states, they're required to charge for shop supplies separately from labor because the charges are treated differently for tax purposes.



They will count time starting when they decide to work on your boat and include all the time required to get out tools and materials, walk out to the boat, do the work, put everything away, and clean up the shop afterwards. This is customary.

I don't think anyone is getting rich by running a boatyard.

So yes, you've been undervaluing your own labor..

[belizesailor]

In most USA yards, yep, thats all common.

Outside the USA, not so much, and WAY less expensive.

Regardless of where and rates, its best to confirm the details & prices up front, and then stick around to supervise the work. Otherwise....expect to be surprised! 🤯

[john61ct]

I doubt Finland, Holland Germany etc are much cheaper than stateside.

[Acadia426]

Thank you all for your thoughts and experiences. I've learned this:

#1) My DIY time is not worth the $.52 an hour I thought,
#2) Sailing requires DIY commitment and is never-ending,
#3) It's good to have others share your misery, and
#4) It's good to avoid that misery as much as possible.

[Colin A]

Originally Posted by Acadia426

I ran out of time, this year, because of family commitments. So, I didn't do some of the spring-ready tasks that would normally be done by the owner of a vessel. I hired a local yard to do the work, and oh my, to my surprise, the billing system is more than creative.

Besides charging a questionable number of hours to do the work, there's that yard labor rate. Yikes!

And, then there's a charge for "shop supplies" in addition to the "parts"
charge.

And, there's a fanciful creation - the "administrative fee."

Oh, and let's not forget the "environmental fee."

Has anyone else had these kind of experiences with your favorite yard (no hint of sarcasm there)?

Really depends on the yard. I know some smaller ones that charge just straight hourly plus materials but that has become somewhat rare.



There are all kinds of different ways to bill and some yards are more creative then others. When I used to do work on my own I charged a flat hourly rate (about 20% less then the yards since I was working out of a truck) plus parts at 10% over what I paid. Really I was under paying myself doing that. The last shop I worked at did hourly plus parts at MSRP (or MSRP less 5-10%) then a shop supply charge of $10.00 for under $500 of work and an additional $10.00 for each subsequent $500. They also added an EPA fee of 2.3% as I recall. Which was made up but sort of based on reality. As I recall it was the cost of saftey Kleen for the year for oil removal etc. plus a little extra just because.



I have known plenty of guys who have gone out of business under charging. Mostly they have both too low an hourly rate and don't count hours properly. But some yards take that too far the other way. A certain yard I worked for had a policy of charging full labor rate plus environmental and shop fees from the time the tech received the physical work order till the time he brought it back to the service manager. This meant things like oil changes were often billed at 2-3 hours (including things like finding the right oil filter driving the golf cart too and from the boat etc). As to getting rich that particular yard owner did quite well.



About 6 months ago I was talking to a project manager that does new yacht builds and major refits. He said in the US he finds it funny how some yards will always under quote and overbill etc. He gave an example of a refit quote that went out to major yards nation wide. He said the California yard was the lowest but in his experience they have never billed out for less then 20% more then they quote. He said the Maine yard had cheap per hour rates but the time put them well over and other time estimates essentially making them equal in overall costs. And the FL yard was decent on labor but super expensive on hauling launching lay days and other add on's.



That said there are reasonable people out there it's just tricky to find them. And when you do they are often fairly busy.

[Acadia426]

Thank you, Colin, for your well thought-out and analysis of yard work. I appreciate having your insight in this.

[danielamartindm]

Originally Posted by john61ct

You've obviously been grossly undervaluing your DIY time!

AND if you do your own repairs and something goes wrong with them, it's nice to have the idiot who did them close at hand!

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by danielamartindm

AND if you do your own repairs and something goes wrong with them, it's nice to have the idiot who did them close at hand!

Why? Do you assume they will do it right on next attempt?

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

Why? Do you assume they will do it right on next attempt?

No. (Does the yard always get it right when they take a mulligan?)


Everyone makes mistakes. I figure I can **** up my boat myself for $125 an hour or whatever.

[Nicholson58]

Same program in the Caribbean. We are in Trinidad and the rates are lower but all the accounting is the same.