Help! I'm Being Taken to the Cleaners!

[Bigman99]

Originally Posted by deckofficer

$4000, this is why I don't gamble, I lost this game of guessing the amount. Being off by a smidge over a factor of 2 makes me feel rather out of it. I'll bet Bigman99 would have gladly accepted the $1875 figure I pulled out of my tail pipe.

Oh I sure would have.

[deckofficer]

Was that the amount (around $2000) you were expecting? That is what I would have expected and with the $4K bid, I probably would have turned around and made the same post you did. BTW welcome to CF my friend.

[Capt.Don]

Could you do hourly, not to exceed 40 hours, since some of the guesses were 3 days? If he gets the work done in less, you only pay for the actual time? Also limits your exposure.
Don

[hellosailor]

Forty hours? That's almost as absurd as expecting anything more than "twist and tape" work for $18 an hour.

I can see ten hours being enough time, if they guy moves his butt, clocks off for lunch and potty breaks, and hits no snags. Twenty hours, two long days, damn well ought to cover it unless he's totally anal and hand-fabricating every wire tire and holding clamp.

Forty hours?! At forty hours, I'd install a video surveillance system and then sit back to watch the tape and see just wtf he was doing. Forty hours, and he'd better be hand-fabricating a gawdawful lot of parts and having custom-bespoke wiring jackets made up with flameproof harness covers.

Hundred dollar an hour labor is NOT supposed to be doing things on island time. Bigman, nmaybe that's just what it is up there, but lordy, that sounds like time to get out the cattle prod and keep asking "How much did you say?"

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by Bigman99

Not an independent

There is an existing VHF being replaced by the new one. Antennae already on the mast.

Raymarine X5 wheel pilot. No rudder sensor required.

There are three open breakers in the panel. And yes about the amps.

Thanks

OK, that's starting to sound a lot easier. Wheel pilot and antenna in place is much easier than a hydraulic drive AP and no antenna. I must have missed which AP it was. My bad.

I'm thinking maybe 16 hours +/- for a proper job? Less for a poorly thought out fast install. Assuming there is a box/location for the new battery etc.

[deckofficer]

hellosailor, you make me feel better about my 25 hour guess, but I don't know the boat and if he is going to do fancy cabinetry building the control heads into them or just bolting external with brackets.

[Bigman99]

Originally Posted by deckofficer

Was that the amount (around $2000) you were expecting? That is what I would have expected and with the $4K bid, I probably would have turned around and made the same post you did. BTW welcome to CF my friend.

Yes, 2k was exactly what I was expecting. Glad my reaction would have been shared by someone else as well. And thanks for the welcome

[Bigman99]

Originally Posted by Capt.Don

Could you do hourly, not to exceed 40 hours, since some of the guesses were 3 days? If he gets the work done in less, you only pay for the actual time? Also limits your exposure.
Don

That is the agreement we have in place. Hard to know how honest the guy will be but he has a good rep. Plus I'll be "hanging around" if you know what I mean.

[Bigman99]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

Forty hours? That's almost as absurd as expecting anything more than "twist and tape" work for $18 an hour.

I can see ten hours being enough time, if they guy moves his butt, clocks off for lunch and potty breaks, and hits no snags. Twenty hours, two long days, damn well ought to cover it unless he's totally anal and hand-fabricating every wire tire and holding clamp.

Forty hours?! At forty hours, I'd install a video surveillance system and then sit back to watch the tape and see just wtf he was doing. Forty hours, and he'd better be hand-fabricating a gawdawful lot of parts and having custom-bespoke wiring jackets made up with flameproof harness covers.

Hundred dollar an hour labor is NOT supposed to be doing things on island time. Bigman, nmaybe that's just what it is up there, but lordy, that sounds like time to get out the cattle prod and keep asking "How much did you say?"

See? I'm not crazy!!!!!!!

[deckofficer]

Originally Posted by Bigman99

Yes, 2k was exactly what I was expecting. Glad my reaction would have been shared by someone else as well. And thanks for the welcome

Maybe time for a 2nd bid?

[Bigman99]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

OK, that's starting to sound a lot easier. Wheel pilot and antenna in place is much easier than a hydraulic drive AP and no antenna. I must have missed which AP it was. My bad.

I'm thinking maybe 16 hours +/- for a proper job? Less for a poorly thought out fast install. Assuming there is a box/location for the new battery etc.

Location for the battery has been found but there is a bit of fabrication to mount it safely and solidly so that adds some time

[MarkSF]

Lots of unknowns here. I must have spent 80 hours altogether, installing my Lowrance HDS-5M chartplotter and Standard Horizon GX2150 VHF with AIS.

Procedure :

Order mount for plotter. Install to pedestal. Install chartplotter at helm, wire to breaker. Install VHF.

Connect NMEA 0183 cable between plotter and VHF. Find that there are no AIS targets on plotter. The VHF DOES get position data from the plotter for DSC. Mess about for hours with settings, consult useless manuals. Go home.

Search the internet fora. Contact Lowrance and SH supports concerning wiring of NMEA 0183 interface. Get incorrect answer from Lowrance support. Get what turns out to be correct answer from SH support. Consult electronic engineers at work, who are in agreement with SH. Go back to boat, rewire interface, now it works. AIS is working!

Now for the NMEA 2000 interface to the Garmin NMEA 2000 speed & depth transducer.

Install network. Hurray! The speed log and depth display on the Lowrance. However, the speed reads 20% high. More calls to Lowrance support. Turns out, I need to calibrate the knotlog. However, Lowrance didn't include the calibration routine. I need to get a Garmin chartplotter, or the GMI-10 display.

Order GMI-10, cut hole, install. Cool, GMI-10 displays depth, GPS speed, knotlog speed. Go sailing, select calibrate, get message "cannot communicate with device". Call Garmin support. They suggest updating firmware or faulty cable. To update firmware, I need to buy a network updater.

The next time I go sailing, I just happen to have the plotter switched off when I give the calibration routine one last try on the GMI-10. Works perfectly.

Welcome to the wonderful world of seamless integration of marine electronics.

[hellosailor]

Not being crazy is a serious handicap these days. Pay the man in Confederate Dollars and just give him your best "I'm Mel Gibson, You're Crazy Not Me!" look and tell him four thousand dollars is four thousand dollars, what's the problem?

Yeah, deck, I forgot that up in Canada, there are great craftsmen who hand-weave the stranded hand-tin-plated wires before they custom cast the insulation over them. That's an old skill only the indigenous peoples have, and if you look really lcosely at the strands of wires, you'll see animal totems stamped into them eery few centimeters, so you can tell exactly who wove the wires.

What, you think I'm making that stuff up? Like a crazy man? <VBG>

Hand-woven bespoke wiring, every yacht should have it. And custom sculptured battery plates, of course you'll need lexan battery cases and interior lighting so people can SEE that you don't just have plain flat plates in there....

"HEY, MOE!"

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by MarkSF

Lots of unknowns here. I must have spent 80 hours altogether, installing my Lowrance HDS-5M chartplotter and Standard Horizon GX2150 VHF with AIS.

Procedure :

Order mount for plotter. Install to pedestal. Install chartplotter at helm, wire to breaker. Install VHF.

Connect NMEA 0183 cable between plotter and VHF. Find that there are no AIS targets on plotter. The VHF DOES get position data from the plotter for DSC. Mess about for hours with settings, consult useless manuals. Go home.

Search the internet fora. Contact Lowrance and SH supports concerning wiring of NMEA 0183 interface. Get incorrect answer from Lowrance support. Get what turns out to be correct answer from SH support. Consult electronic engineers at work, who are in agreement with SH. Go back to boat, rewire interface, now it works. AIS is working!

Now for the NMEA 2000 interface to the Garmin NMEA 2000 speed & depth transducer.

Install network. Hurray! The speed log and depth display on the Lowrance. However, the speed reads 20% high. More calls to Lowrance support. Turns out, I need to calibrate the knotlog. However, Lowrance didn't include the calibration routine. I need to get a Garmin chartplotter, or the GMI-10 display.

Order GMI-10, cut hole, install. Cool, GMI-10 displays depth, GPS speed, knotlog speed. Go sailing, select calibrate, get message "cannot communicate with device". Call Garmin support. They suggest updating firmware or faulty cable. To update firmware, I need to buy a network updater.

The next time I go sailing, I just happen to have the plotter switched off when I give the calibration routine one last try on the GMI-10. Works perfectly.

Welcome to the wonderful world of seamless integration of marine electronics.

AHHHH.... Finally a realist! I amend my quote back up to 40 hours after being reminded....

[perchance]

The $100 dollar an hour rate you were quoted doesn't all go to the technician. The Marina takes the bulk of that for overhead and profit. The tech might see 25% of that. Most marinas that allow outside contractors to work in their yards will insist on a piece of the action and the contractor passes that on to the customer. If you can move your boat off site to have the work done, say at a public wharf you may get a fully qualified tech. to do the work for a more reasonable hourly rate.