Here We Go! Cutting Boatyards Out While Doing Bottom/Topsides Work

[Chotu]

I have had so much trouble with marinas/Boatyards that i’m swearing them off.

Time to become self-sufficient.

this winter, I was supposed to stay at a marina. However, they decided not to take me after i arrived in the harbor.

I checked every marina in the area and none would take me. Who cares? Their loss. I saved $5000 by not getting a dock this winter. and you know what? It was much better. I don’t even like docks. I just thought you needed them in the winter because that was the common sentiment.

The next thing to work on being self-sufficient with is doing bottom maintenance and fixing hurricane damage on the topsides.

yes, you can find a sand bar or a mud flat that dries out and put the boat on that. However, you can’t really reach everything. Franziska ran into this problem as well and tried to solve it with the underwater bottom paint that got all stuck in her hair. no I don’t think I’ll be trying that. Much respect to her for taking one for the team and trying that.

To do the bottom, i need to raise the boat’s waterline by about 30 inches (less than a meter)

to do the topsides work, i need to raise about 12 inches to keep paint from getting wet at the waterline when painting.

First, i was considering these and almost bought them. I was supposed to get them this week. 4000lbs lift each.



however, I had some concerns about rigging them up. I was going to tie them together and inflate but I don’t think that would get the bottom of the boat out of the water. I confirmed this with the company that manufactures them. They suggested a different shape. Some round cylinders. But the round cylinders are very expensive. they would also have blocked 5 feet of the work area. Not ideal.

I canceled this purchase to keep thinking about it because there is no rush.

I have been thinking this spring I will just go to a sandbar and do everything. But I will still miss that spot on the bottom that touches the ground. on my boat, that spot is right where the dagger boards exit the hull. that is assuming it balances perfectly. What are the odds? It probably wouldn’t anyway. It would probably tip back toward the stern and a very large section will be on the ground. Not ideal for applying bottom paint.

SO… some new ideas have been coming to mind. I was thinking about some kind of cradles. but the requirement is whatever I have have to be demountable, broken down and stored in a locker and it can’t weigh much at all.

what I was thinking of is putting the bows on a beach and propping up the sterns with a pair of cradles. alternatively, I could also use 4 cradles on my lift points and go all the way up evenly if i found somewhere nice and flat to do this. however, the local topology is pretty much a sand beach and a drop off in many places.

so I began to wonder if I shouldn’t get some of these. (pic attached)

they break down. They don’t weigh very much. But they also seem incredibly difficult to work with as the boat is coming down with the tide. Not sure how I would work them to get them in the right spot and keep the boat in the right spot as well.

this problem has to be solved. I have wasted tremendous time dealing with marinas only to get nothing. still haven’t been able to do my bottom paint in years. it’s time. it’s time to do this without marinas.

any other outside the box ideas? It’s a brainstorming thread. Those are my ideas. Even some ideas on how to work with the jackstands a little better as the tide goes out would be good. I am picturing using ropes to hold them in place under the boat but I don’t know. still might come down crooked.

I was also thinking you could make 4 very long pole gantries and use load tie down straps around the hulls.

Anyway, any thoughts?

[rslifkin]

If you've got a fairly flat, fairly solid bottom, you might be able to place some kind of stands or jacks under the boat and just lift the whole thing out of the water supported by the bottom. Kinda like setting it in a dry dock, but you'd be lifting the boat with the supports instead of placing the supports and removing the water.

[Montanan]

Hang a sling from the underside of a bridge and haul the boat up.

[Weatherbird]

What about some type of bag filled with water and strapped around the bottom of the hulls? They're neutrally boyant till the tide is out, you don't have to worry about positioning, and they stow easily when not in use.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by Weatherbird

What about some type of bag filled with water and strapped around the bottom of the hulls? They're neutrally boyant till the tide is out, you don't have to worry about positioning, and they stow easily when not in use.

wow. interesting idea.

filling something with water is a whole new way to look at it.

[SailingHarmonie]

Large, high quality fenders will easily support your boat. Tie two or three under each hull, and settle down on them. They have the advantage, one you are settled you can add and subtract them by inflating and deflating as needed. A wide footprint on the bottom means they will not sink in as much as other solutions.

Google "inflatable jack bags" Fire departments use similar and they fill them with water, becasue they have a ready supply of pressurized water available. Easy to find a solution that lifts dozens of tons.

[Chotu]

fenders! dual purpose, so saves a lot of weight!

really getting somewhere here.

maybe some 36” fenders

[MicHughV]

do one hull at a time, that way most of the weight of the boat will be on the hull still on the ground at low tide, then place a few of those inflatable bags under the other hull and it will give you enough clearance to do the bottom other than where the bags touch, but you can shift those to a new location the next day.
four days at low tide will do the trick

[MicHughV]

I should have mentioned the bags need to be position under the hull or tied there before the tide receded

[Chotu]

I think I agree with the bags/fenders as lifting bags rather than flotation bags.

if it takes 4 days that’s still way faster than traveling to whatever place could haul the boat, getting hauled, doing the work, then going back in

I haven’t found specific bags or fenders yet. I am wondering which ones to withstand the pressure. One hull should put about 9000 pounds on one of these things.

[SomeGuyInaShirt]

I'm assuming a full or 3/4 keel so why not just beaching legs and dry out on an intertidal zone? Prior to touchdown you could position some 4x4 timbers beneath the keel using ropes on either end to get access to the bottom of the keel.


Curious. Why did they refuse you at the marina?

Also, hope you get a monster anchor with all the money ur saving on your marina fees.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by SomeGuyInaShirt

I'm assuming a full or 3/4 keel so why not just beaching legs and dry out on an intertidal zone? Prior to touchdown you could position some 4x4 timbers beneath the keel using ropes on either end to get access to the bottom of the keel.


Curious. Why did they refuse you at the marina?

Also, hope you get a monster anchor with all the money ur saving on your marina fees.

Bad assumption on the keels… see below my name and the avatar of the Flying Dutchman over to the left? Performance catamaran. So no keels.

Also, sounds like you’re describing a method for a monohull? “the keel?” “legs?”

They refused me at one marina because they don’t take boats on the dock in the winter if they can help it. kind of exposed. At another marina it’s because they were afraid my boat would pull the docks away. At the one i was support stay at, the guy is known as the local dbag and i guess i caught him at the wrong time of the month. Slips and slips free this winter, but none for me. changed his mind when i arrived after talking about it since august.

as for all the haul out marinas: there are i think 5 or 6 between nyc and canada that can haul me.

*we can take you but it’s $2000 to haul plus 2x our yard fees and you can’t work on your boat
*we don’t have time
*…. no response to calls/emails
*….no response to calls/emails
*we can take you sometime in fall 2024 but you can’t work on your boat
*all sounds great!!!…. then no response to calls/emails

I guess you don’t know me very well. I have slept at anchor more nights in my life than I have on land. And I’m not kidding. Not exaggerating. That’s true. I didn’t need to buy a new anchor with my savings on the dock. I already had one. Not sure why anyone would go out without a good anchor. That doesn’t make any sense to me. my anchor has held through a category 4 hurricane way up a creek in florida and many tropical storms as well as a near hurricane strength nor’easter this winter at anchor. gusts to 70mph but not sustained. i think it’s fine.

88lbs Rocna with 3/8HT chain and 1/2” nylon bridle.

[Kettlewell]

An alternative idea is to ask around some commercial yards where they might be willing to haul you with the fishing boats, etc. They tend to be pretty rough, but they also typically leave you alone. Another option is other industrial sites like port facilities along the waterfront. When we had a cat with two long fixed keels I dried her out on sandbars many times for general scrubbing and inspection, but it is tough to have enough time to do extensive work or painting unless you are someplace with really big tides. Plus, you need a bottom that isn't too soft or you sink right in, plus you have to wait for the bottom to dry enough, plus you need harbor authorities who won't take exception.

[s/v Jedi]

Why not just jack the boat up using small bottle jacks?

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

Why not just jack the boat up using small bottle jacks?

seems reasonable. I was just trying to get a little extra boost so I had more time. was trying to raise it a bit higher than bottle jacks