Quote:
Originally Posted by Gripfast
Just recieved a quote for replacement of the standing rigging on my boat. She is an 04 Beneteau 361. I am in the Middle Chesapeake Bay area of Virginia and thought it would be competitive there, But I really dont have any experience in the cost of this work and have nothing to judge it with.
Cost to unstep and restep while on the hard by my yard is around $2,400, cost to repalce the rigging is $6,800. So, $9,200 is my final cost. I really expected less and am surprized.
Do any of you folks have any experience in rerigging similar sized, (36 ft.) sloop rigged boats?
Thanks in advance for your opionions, advice. |
Do it yourself and don't un-step the
mast. You can save at least 60%.
I re-rigged my 43' sloop in
Tonga, at
anchor (after a
shroud failure on the
passage from NZ). We had assessed the failure and decided that all the shrouds should be replaced (they were 17 years old). We decided to leave the headstay and back stay as is).
There being no
marine services in Nukualofa I had no choice but to do the work myself with supplies I could
import on short notice.
I talked on the
phone to Southern Spars in
Auckland and they agreed to make the shrouds and turnbuckles and ship them by air to me in
Tonga.
I spent two days going up and down the rig measuring and photographing the ends (which required that I remove each
shroud, one by one) and preparing a 5 page Word document with the specifications for the
replacements. This I emailed to Southern Spars on Monday morning when the Telecoms Office opened, along with credit card information.
The replacement shrouds and turnbuckles arrived on Nukualofa the following Friday. The cost was under $3000 including
shipping. This was for rod rigging!
I spent the next several days up the mast passing down old shrouds and installing new ones, one by one, with the mast standing. Some customization was required (with a grinder) and two shrouds had to be sent back for shortening (due to my measurement error), this took another two weeks for the round trip.
At one point I
recall being at the mast
head in the bosun's chair with a new cap shroud in my hand ready to be installed (after passing down the old one) and thinking, "What the hell am I doing? I know nothing about this."
But it worked, and we still have these shrouds 20 years later. We replaced the backstay and
head stay in
Australia a year after the Tonga
refit.
On another occasion, in
South Africa, I hired a crane, pulled out the mast, and disassembled it on the lawn of the Richard's Bay Yacht Club (on saw horses I made). We repainted the mast, boom and pole, and while at it, had all the rigging pieces inspected and dye tested for cracks, of which none were found. Then we re-assembled the rig and with another crane, re-stepped the mast. The crane costs were $146.
So, bottom line, with about week's work on your part you can save a huge amount on your re-rigging. You just have to take the responsibility and do it.
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