How much should I be budgeting for yard work

[apoc]

My 2010 Beneteau Oceanis 31 will be rounding 15 years old next year, and I think it is time to visit a yard and pay for some work that I can't do myself (skills, time, or energy). I'm struggling with how much to save to prepare my wallet and my wife's mental health from sticker shock.



The boat is in Annapolis but I could move it to get less expensive labor pricing.



Anyone who can help provide a rough order of magnitude of costs for the following would be much appreciated:

1. Drop keel, sand/soda blast, and reepoxy
2. Replace standing rigging
3. Replace all navigation and anchor lights with leds
4. Replace chartplotter with modern system
5. Replace older bits of running rigging (blocks, traveler car, etc)
6. Replace yanmar 3ym20 mixing elbow and remove and clean heat exchanger

I would also appreciate any yard recommendations. Thanks in advance!

[Greg Brannon]

This link will take you to a page with a button to Washburn's Boat Yard's latest rates. Washburn's is in Solomons. I'm not suggesting you go there, but it should be a good rate comparison for other nearby places to help you make a decision. Also in the area are Zahniser's (now a Safe Harbor Marina) and Spring Cove Marina if you want to check rates at others.

Also check out Herrington Harbour not too far south of where you are.

Good luck!

Greg.

[pjShap]

I've been very happy with the work and pricing at Oak Harbor Marina, in Pasadena MD. (410) 255-4070. If you're still in the thinking stages, you might be able to ask for a simple rough estimate. You will also get a truly honest opinion on whether the work is necessary/justified.

[leecea]

We recently paid $9500 to replace standing rigging on a 36' boat in roughly your area.

I'm thinking that the chartplotter could be a can of worms depending on what else you already have and how integrated you want things to be.

[Orion Jim]

How long is a piece of string?
Unless you are considering extended offshore cruising your standing rigging should not have to be replaced so soon unless you have known issues. Perhaps have a rigger inspect what you have and offer recommendations.

What would be the motivation to “drop” the keel? This should be totally unnecessary unless you have known issues or have suffered a hard grounding. If there are rust indications it can be soda blasted along with the hull if you feel the barrier coat has been compromised or you wish to strip all the old bottom paint and add/renew the barrier coat and antifouling. You stripped keel must be IMMEDIATELY sealed after soda blasting if it is iron or lead.

Converting to LED’s will mostly depend on the fixtures chosen as they vary widely in price.

A MFD upgrade will once again depend on the unit chosen and whether you will update all you instrumentation at once as compatibility varies.

Running rigging and tackle upgrades are dependent on your choices once again, pricing varies widely.

The engine work will depend on whether the the relatively simple job goes to plan or Murphy law kicks in and the estimate goes out the window.

That being said you may be looking upwards of twenty grand if you decide to do all you mentioned, while sitting back observing others perform the work while writing checks.

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by Orion Jim

What would be the motivation to “drop” the keel? This should be totally unnecessary unless you have known issues or have suffered a hard grounding.

Suspect this is one of the lift keels Beneteau made. Popular in the UK.

The standing rigging is a tricky one, but if you have the budget to do it now, that's it for another 15 years. Ours is 13 years old and I thinking ahead but we may do it in a couple of years. This Autumn I plan to have a rigging inspection done to see what the riggers think. Local firm with a good reputation and a key to our marina so no incentive to take the mickey.

What are the sails like? that's another big ticket item which is easy to overlook as the degrade slowly and you don't notice until you are sailing sideways.

[Pandor]

I agree completely that “dropping the keel” is not something you need to worry about unless you are experiencing a particular problem. It is not a maintenance issue to undertake every so often.

That said, I do need to drop the keel on my Beneteau and the boat is currently in Annapolis. Watching all the horrors on YouTube makes me want to go to someone who has experience dropping and rebedding (more than “yea… I think I can do that.”)

Does anyone have any knowledge of yards in mid-Atlantic US with the required level of expertise?

[donradcliffe]

15 years is a good time to replace standing rigging. Best to drop the mast and address any inspection/corrosion/wiring/led light/shiv/instrument/spreader issues while it is down.

Drop the keel if there is significant corrosion around the keel bolts, or rust stains on the outside of the keel-hull joint. You may have to deal with corrosion of the threads in a cast iron keel.

Led running lights should be a minor project.

I would consider upgrading to Harken traveler system if you have French or Lewmar system.

A "modern" instrument system may not get you any new functionality.

[Fore and Aft]

APOC your mistake with the wife is even mentioning the bill. The wife and I run on the US military policy "Don't ask don't tell" the same goes with her shoe collection. You would be amazed how often "shoes" are on special.
I think your biggest issue will be getting work done in a timely manner. Sometimes paying a little more for the work to be completed in a more professional yard is worth it.
Cheers

[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.

I assumed dropping the keel would be necessary to soda blast the thing back to cast iron. That seems to be a poor assumption. I have attached a photo of the keel, rust is starting to come through the paint, so I figured it is time to have it resealed.
I do plan on having a rigger look at the standing rigging. I figured that if the mast had to come down, it works be a good time to do anything mast related (LEDs, wind sensors if incompatible with new mfd, and furling maintenance).
Keel bolts look fine from the inside and there doesn't seem to be any indication of damage at the place where the keel joins the boat. Never had a hard grounding, only every bumping the mud bouton bottom of the chesapeake


Thanks for the insight, it's truly appreciated. .

[more]

Originally Posted by apoc

I assumed dropping the keel would be necessary to soda blast the thing back to cast iron. That seems to be a poor assumption. I have attached a photo of the keel, rust is starting to come through the paint, so I figured it is time to have it resealed.


Thanks for the insight, it's truly appreciated. .

dont touch keel,soda blasting keel is wasting money. keel drop only if you have problem with bolt.

orbital sander, and phosphoric acid or what you have for rust.
after sander all zinch rich primer must be aplied under couple minute after with nitro clean..
paint by your wish

drill hole for zinc anode to prevent rusting.

dont drop down keel this is not easy job. i see lot time keel pull down gelcoat and huge chunk laminate somtimes 2-3m2

if keel dont move when is boat on crane and you push dont touch

[ranger58sb]

Originally Posted by apoc

My 2010 Beneteau Oceanis 31 will be rounding 15 years old next year, and I think it is time to visit a yard and pay for some work that I can't do myself (skills, time, or energy).

The boat is in Annapolis but I could move it to get less expensive labor pricing.

Anyone who can help provide a rough order of magnitude of costs for the following would be much appreciated:

1. Drop keel, sand/soda blast, and reepoxy
2. Replace standing rigging
3. Replace all navigation and anchor lights with leds
4. Replace chartplotter with modern system
5. Replace older bits of running rigging (blocks, traveler car, etc)
6. Replace yanmar 3ym20 mixing elbow and remove and clean heat exchanger

I would also appreciate any yard recommendations. Thanks in advance!

You might separate those into skill areas... and into jobs done best on the hard and jobs where that maybe doesn't matter much.

Changing nav lights might be possible in slip, even if you have to turn the boat around to access sidelights from a dock. Changing the chart plotter is about electronics and wiring skills, and installers will often come to you (BOE, etc.). Ditto diesel guys. That at least might let you piecemeal your budget, and juggle your down times.

For the chartplotter-MFD thing, you can often separate transducer installation , do that part whenever a haul-out works.

You might check our Hartge Yacht Yard in Galesville. No clue how their prices might compare, but we've gotten good service there.

Originally Posted by apoc

It's important to know when to spend money to buy back your time.

Yes, well said... and thanks for your service.

-Chris

[apoc]

Originally Posted by more

dont touch keel,soda blasting keel is wasting money. keel drop only if you have problem with bolt.

orbital sander, and phosphoric acid or what you have for rust.
after sander all zinch rich primer must be aplied under couple minute after with nitro clean..
paint by your wish

drill hole for zinc anode to prevent rusting.

dont drop down keel this is not easy job. i see lot time keel pull down gelcoat and huge chunk laminate somtimes 2-3m2

if keel dont move when is boat on crane and you push dont touch

This is a great idea and something I could manage. One question, how do you manage to sand/paint the underside of the keel when on the hard? My winter storage location uses large blocks (looks like railroad ties) under the keel to hold some of the boats weight.

[more]

Originally Posted by apoc

This is a great idea and something I could manage. One question, how do you manage to sand/paint the underside of the keel when on the hard? My winter storage location uses large blocks (looks like railroad ties) under the keel to hold some of the boats weight.

40-Grit Corner-Edge Grinding small Flap Disc
treat when is boat in air something ,pay extra and crane move boat in front for side paint and keel change touch location use steel

[apoc]

Originally Posted by more

40-Grit Corner-Edge Grinding small Flap Disc
treat when is boat in air something ,pay extra and crane move boat in front for side paint and keel change touch location use steel

Sounds like I would need a yard with a crane. My current yard doesn't use a crane, they use a large tractor trailer with hydraulic arms to pull boats out of the water. Good tip