How much should I be budgeting for yard work

[thinwater]

A contrarian point of view.

1. Drop keel, sand/soda blast, and re-epoxy. Only if there is a known problem. In fact, hard grounding in the Chesapeake are rare. Plowing mud does not count.
2. Replace standing rigging. Sailing in the Chesapeake is pretty light duty for most people. But a good inspection is certainly smart.
3. Replace all navigation and anchor lights with LEDs. Do you sail many hours at night? Probably not, remembering that motoring does not count (alternator is running). Few Chesapeake sailors do. The anchor light is probably the only one that gets many hours. Instead, focus on cabin lights, which represent far more hours and more Ahs to the typical Chesapeake cruiser.
4. Replace chartplotter with modern system. 2010 is modern. Chesapeake navigation is dead simple, and I did multiple navigations of DELMARVA, one mostly by inner passage, before GPS existed. Most days I don't even turn the plotter on. You barely need it and what you have is fine. This upgrade is just for fun.
5. Replace older bits of running rigging (blocks, traveler car, etc). Probably a few, but go by condition. Many blocks will last twice that.
6. Replace Yanmar 3ym20 mixing elbow and remove and clean heat exchanger. Yup, good maintenance. However, the upper Chesapeake is weak brackish (it's running 9% of seawater today) and does not deteriorate or scale up at nearly the same rate as full saltwater. Ask around for local knowledge.
   

Annapolis is not freshwater, but it isn't seawater either. There are very few rocks to hit and navigation is simple. We don't have fog as a rule. Most of us seek available shelter and avoid sailing in conditions that are hard on the boat and rigging. Kind of silly to beat it up, really. Thus, not all forum conventional wisdom applies.

[leecea]

If you do decide to get work done in a local yard you could consider mid-summer as a good time. We enjoy the boat less in the full heat of summer and you may find more availability if you book a summer time slot now.

[Pete7]

Ok,

Its not a lift keel then and since the hull to keel joint looks okay, no need to drop the keel.

The choice is you grind it down to cast iron or you pay a yard or if its allowed an outside contractor. Note you will need to check grinding antifouling off is allowed wherever you lift out. Rules are getting tighter each year.

Your keels look like ours did a couple of years ago, only we have two to deal with. The solution was patch paint one and grind the other down to steel.

Weapon of choice is an angle grinder and a viscous looking wire wheel. Don't pussy-foot about, you need get on with it and you are hardly going to damage a piece of cast iron.

You might try something like these too. I haven't used them, but may next month when doing ours again.

https://www.tooltime.co.uk/products/...angle-grinders

You will need a respirator and should make some effort to collect and dispose of the dust with a large tarp on the ground.

Wash afterwards to get the salt out of the cast iron, a pressure washer will do nicely. It will flash rust, don't worry about this. Instead paint on a rust killer. It will be very thin and watery. Allow to dry and it will go black with a hard surface. Rust killer is an acid so be careful. Once dried hard, paint with either an epoxy paint or I use Internationals Primocon and try for 5 or 6 layers. Then antifoul on top. Should be good for 5 or 6 years before you need to do it again, but may need the odd touch up on a few spots which is easy enough to do.

Don't worry about the bottom of the keel. You can scrape that mid season with a snorkel if you want, but in a low salt water environment weed won't be too bad. We go up river every year for a few days and that does a wonderful job of cleaning stuff off, along with drying out on a sandy river bed.

Pete

[JPA Cate]

Don't worry about the bottom of the keel. You can scrape that mid season with a snorkel if you want, but in a low salt water environment weed won't be too bad. We go up river every year for a few days and that does a wonderful job of cleaning stuff off, along with drying out on a sandy river bed.

I love it when you can get mother nature to do your anti-fouling for you.

Ann

[apoc]

Originally Posted by Pete7

Ok,

Its not a lift keel then and since the hull to keel joint looks okay, no need to drop the keel.

The choice is you grind it down to cast iron or you pay a yard or if its allowed an outside contractor. Note you will need to check grinding antifouling off is allowed wherever you lift out. Rules are getting tighter each year.

Your keels look like ours did a couple of years ago, only we have two to deal with. The solution was patch paint one and grind the other down to steel.

Weapon of choice is an angle grinder and a viscous looking wire wheel. Don't pussy-foot about, you need get on with it and you are hardly going to damage a piece of cast iron.

You might try something like these too. I haven't used them, but may next month when doing ours again.

https://www.tooltime.co.uk/products/...angle-grinders

You will need a respirator and should make some effort to collect and dispose of the dust with a large tarp on the ground.

Wash afterwards to get the salt out of the cast iron, a pressure washer will do nicely. It will flash rust, don't worry about this. Instead paint on a rust killer. It will be very thin and watery. Allow to dry and it will go black with a hard surface. Rust killer is an acid so be careful. Once dried hard, paint with either an epoxy paint or I use Internationals Primocon and try for 5 or 6 layers. Then antifoul on top. Should be good for 5 or 6 years before you need to do it again, but may need the odd touch up on a few spots which is easy enough to do.

Don't worry about the bottom of the keel. You can scrape that mid season with a snorkel if you want, but in a low salt water environment weed won't be too bad. We go up river every year for a few days and that does a wonderful job of cleaning stuff off, along with drying out on a sandy river bed.

Pete

Thanks you! This is fantastic advice. I'm saving this for the future. Cheers!!

[Thomas1985]

That’s a lot of work. I’d maybe try to prioritize the repairs then start doing 1 or 2 a year and/or take on a couple yourself.

That’s going to be a big invoice if all done by yard at once.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by apoc

Thanks everyone for the helpful responses. To the one snarky reply about "sitting back and writing checks", I am in my mid thirties and work full time. I would love to do this work on my own, but I don't have time. Between my day job, serving in the Army Reserve, and raising a two year old, there isn't a lot of free time available for projects. It's important to know when to spend money to buy back your time...

Indeed.
I’ll gladly pay an outside professional, to do a job, I could do myself - if he charges less* than I do, for my professional services.


* His total charge is less, than I could earn, in the time it would take me to DIY.

[apoc]

Originally Posted by Pete7

Ok,

Its not a lift keel then and since the hull to keel joint looks okay, no need to drop the keel.

The choice is you grind it down to cast iron or you pay a yard or if its allowed an outside contractor. Note you will need to check grinding antifouling off is allowed wherever you lift out. Rules are getting tighter each year.

Your keels look like ours did a couple of years ago, only we have two to deal with. The solution was patch paint one and grind the other down to steel.

Weapon of choice is an angle grinder and a viscous looking wire wheel. Don't pussy-foot about, you need get on with it and you are hardly going to damage a piece of cast iron.

You might try something like these too. I haven't used them, but may next month when doing ours again.

https://www.tooltime.co.uk/products/...angle-grinders

You will need a respirator and should make some effort to collect and dispose of the dust with a large tarp on the ground.

Wash afterwards to get the salt out of the cast iron, a pressure washer will do nicely. It will flash rust, don't worry about this. Instead paint on a rust killer. It will be very thin and watery. Allow to dry and it will go black with a hard surface. Rust killer is an acid so be careful. Once dried hard, paint with either an epoxy paint or I use Internationals Primocon and try for 5 or 6 layers. Then antifoul on top. Should be good for 5 or 6 years before you need to do it again, but may need the odd touch up on a few spots which is easy enough to do.

Don't worry about the bottom of the keel. You can scrape that mid season with a snorkel if you want, but in a low salt water environment weed won't be too bad. We go up river every year for a few days and that does a wonderful job of cleaning stuff off, along with drying out on a sandy river bed.

Pete

How long after power washing should I wait to apply the rust killer? Is there a maximum time?

[bgallinger]

I paid a boatyard to drop the keel on my Hunter 34 and I did it against their advice. They said it was a waste of cash, and wow, they were so right!!

[senormechanico]

Wife's Alzheimer's has me stuck on land.
When I saw the title of this thread, the first thing that came to mind was,
"What is the going rate for a professional gardener / weeder person?"


Agggh.

[Sailshabby]

Head south to Deltaville. Bit of a drive but much cheaper.

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by apoc

How long after power washing should I wait to apply the rust killer? Is there a maximum time?

The surface needs to be dry so warm weather helps. Tend to leave ours overnight, hence the flash rust. The rust killer will dry in a few hours and you will see it change colour from milky white to a black colour. Some may need a sand or wash afterwards, but with Kurust I just paint over the top. International Primocon also dries quickly so a couple of coats a day possible in warm weather.

Pete