Affordable places to restore a boat near Seattle?

[KP44]

Originally Posted by GWilly

You might look into La Conner Maritime. It's about an hour north of Seattle, in La Conner but they have a huge yard and normally let people work on their own boats. I just had my own boat in for work over the winter, and had a great experience with their crew. With the covid-19 going now, you'll likely find many yards are closed to exactly what you want to do. I'd urge you to look outside the Seattle area. There's many nice yards, including LCM in La Conner.

To get to la Conner means navigating the Swinomish Channel. Not a voyage for a novice.
We had everything we needed at Swantown in Olympia. Allowed to do work ourselves and always aware of environment. Good people. That was 6 or 7 years ago.

[goguygo]

Without a type of boat (other than length and budget) as reference, I think you will find any advice to be very general.

The amount of time you can devote to the project, your resources, availability of tools, how passionate or fixated you can be, etc. is going to determine how any of it applies to you.

And are your plans to-

Live on a boat at a marina...

Take a weekend and go over to Gig Harbor...

Power...

Sail...

up and down the coast...

maybe a couple weeks...

could be months...

I'm wanting to get to Vanuatu...

No way, dude I have a job...


My point is that it can be helpful to start with a broad concept, but you will need to narrow down what you are wanting to do.

I have a 40' boat and it's time for a major overhaul and refit. If you are looking for cheap boat, in all likelihood you will have the same.


I'm in the PNW and researched the options for putting my boat on the hard and doing the work myself. All the posts in this thread are similar to my findings, along with a couple others... cradle haul out, transport from the crane to a designated spot, rent or buy stands or blocks, high weekly/monthly drydock costs, restricted work times, limited access to electricity, water, tools, and environmental abatement rules are very stringent (rightly so, in that environment). Don't be surprised when the costs of all that approach or exceed the original "investment".

In my case it made the most sense to have a trailer built for my boat. The cost to build the trailer was 8500.00 (4 axle).

I loaded from a public boat launch a couple miles from the marina I was moored at for the past 7 years, unbolted the flybridge and towed her home to my property. Not everyone has a truck that can tow 20k, but hiring a short haul semi is way less money than boat hauling companies if you have your boat ready to go on your own trailer. Now I can work on my boat whenever I want. No weekly fees, all my tools are 50' away, I can set up the proper tarps and dust collection the way I need. And when I have properly refitted my boat, I can launch and load from public ramps without sling fees, pull out seasonally, service the boat out of the water, change locations affordably (not just the fuel costs or specialized truck transport, but in my case sales tax and out of state registration costs- That could be a discussion for a different thread ).

I'm just offering my anecdotal experience- If you can find a place to live with a place to put your boat and work on it, you may wish to consider a variation of what I'm doing. And hey, if you don't want to own one, I have a really nice trailer that can tow a 40' boat- No problem!

[Cat36Mahalo]

Living on the boat on the hard is not often allowed. Try Mexico

[Sailorman4009]

IF you are not locked into a boatyard in Washington, Try Dike Marine Services in Scappoose, Oregon. Its a work alone boatyard, they have a machinist and shop and they have boat hauling services. Their monthly cost is lower by half of Seattle and they are very accomodating if ya happen to stay more than the nights allowed. I have used them twice and would not go near Seattle on a bet. Not to mention that anything you order for the boat would be tax free. That is ten percent back into the project rather than giving it to the tax and spend Governor of Washington.

[goguygo]

Originally Posted by goguygo

...change locations affordably (not just the fuel costs or specialized truck transport, but in my case sales tax and out of state registration costs- That could be a discussion for a different thread ).

To clarify, the sales tax I was referring to is this:

Boats registered in the State of Washington are subject to sales tax (0.5%) on the value of the boat. Out of state (or Country) boats in the water in the State of Washington for a period exceeding 60 days are subject the same sales tax on the value of the boat.

[johnjuliano]

Boat Haven in Port Townsend reduces prices in the winter and they expect that you will live on board while you work on your boat. Speak with Shannon in the office. She can tell you about when the discounts apply. Electricity is free.

Boat Haven is not cheap, but it is much cheaper than Canal.

One of the things that makes Boat Haven workable is that Fisheries Supply’s free delivery, on web orders over $100, is next day delivery to Port Townsend.

Although it is in BC, I loved Shelter Island Marina in Richmond. It was very affordable, a great environment for living aboard and working on your boat. It is not uncommon for people to live there for more than a year doing a refit before heading offshore again – there can be visa issues.

If Peter Bouwman is still there, he is wonderful to deal with. He has an amazing memory for names.

South Park was affordable, but it was unclear whether one could live aboard. I had a friend who did, but the yard may have just been turning a blind eye.

[johnjuliano]

Originally Posted by goguygo

To clarify, the sales tax I was referring to is this:

Boats registered in the State of Washington are subject to sales tax (0.5%) on the value of the boat. Out of state (or Country) boats in the water in the State of Washington for a period exceeding 60 days are subject the same sales tax on the value of the boat.

There is a waiver available for one year. It is $500, but then the boat may not return to WA state waters for two years.