Rhode Island Boat Yard Recommendations?

[neelie]

I am seeking a yard in the RI area which will store a 50 ft sailboat for 8 months on the hard.

Does anyone know of one which will allow :

a) external contractors to work on boats?
b) owners to work on boats?

[Kettlewell]

Most yards in my experience allow both as long as the external contractors register with the yard, provide insurance, etc. There are so many yards in RI to choose from, but I would recommend contacting New England Boatworks in Portsmouth. Not the cheapest, but if you need work done they have great people on site and on call. They can haul out and store pretty much anything that can float into the marina size wise--50 feet would be pretty average there.

[neelie]

HI Kettlewell
Not the case with the one yardI have contacted - quite the opposite, actually quite aggressive about the no outsider rule. Hey ho.... its their yard, its a free country, they can do as they please - ... hence my original post.

[SailFastTri]

Not in Rhode Island but within 10 miles of the RI border -- check out FL Tripp in Westport, MA. However, your 50 ft boat must be less than 7 foot draft to enter that harbor safely.

[Kettlewell]

Neelie, I'm pretty sure that practice was declared illegal in Rhode Island quite a few years ago. In any case, I see lots of outside contractors working in many yards there. Did you strike out with New England Boatworks?

[S/V Illusion]

I believe it is still illegal in RI to preclude outside contractors but many yards require a commission on the work making it for all intents and purposes difficult. As to where to store/work on a boat, you have a choice which ranges anywhere from Newport Shipyard, a myriad of other Newport marinas, Jamestown marina, a few Brewer yards, Wickford marina, Portsmouth as others have suggested, etc... the list is almost endless... Some may have some limitations but there are many from which to choose.

If you are a yacht club member, that opens a larger list.

[neelie]

Kettlewell - I have not tried the new England boat yard yet. I will do so in the next few weeks.

I am pleased to hear that the banning of external contractors is illegal in RI. The manager of the yard we visited told us point blank that no external contractors were allowed.

Thanks for the advice everyone. I have enough to start looking now.

[Kettlewell]

By the way, I love Tripp's boatyard in Westport, Mass., but unless something has changed there they haul out with a crane, which requires the masts to be unstepped prior to haulout. Also, if it is a heavy 50-footer I'm not sure they can actually do it. They have a marine railway also, but that is only for short-term haulouts. You should check before trying. I have not recommended any Massachusetts yards, of which there are many, because you specifically wrote you wanted to be in Rhode Island.

[terrylad]

New England Boatyard is my recommendation. I live in Jamestown RI and found NEB to be the most accommodating and least expensive of them all. Huge yard. All amenities. They even sent a rigger up a crane to instal a new topping lift and didn't charge me. Very friendly.