How to find a boat yard near Galveston where I can refit a boat?

[babyhauler]

Hi I see people on youtube working on their own boats in boat yards. I saw some boat yards even let people live on their boats while doing this?

I have tried searching online and cannot find out if there are any boat yards near Galveston that let you do this?

Recommendations please.

[SailingHarmonie]

I don't have a specific recommendation for you, but is there anything keeping you from simply phoning the yards and asking their policies??? That has always worked for me, and it gets you the most up to date information.

There are places where it is very hard to find DIY yards. Sometimes because of local environmental regulations, sometimes because of local business practices. Yards that do all or most of the work with their own employees are less likely to allow DIY than those that have contactors do most of the projects.

[GreenWave]

Originally Posted by SailingHarmonie

I don't have a specific recommendation for you, but is there anything keeping you from simply phoning the yards and asking their policies??? That has always worked for me, and it gets you the most up to date information.

There are places where it is very hard to find DIY yards. Sometimes because of local environmental regulations, sometimes because of local business practices. Yards that do all or most of the work with their own employees are less likely to allow DIY than those that have contactors do most of the projects.

This x 100. There are a few places in Galveston area depending on boat size and what you want to do. Call. Few boatyards keep their websites up to date.

[Fore and Aft]

Babyhauler, another YouTube fantasy that is not reality. Sure you can stay on your boat while working on it, but it depends what work your doing. Painting, varnishing, fiberglassing or sanding the interior and your going to have to be a hero to want to stay onboard. The smell of paint or resin in a confined space is usually overpowering. Not to mention fibreglass dust is incredibly itchy and makes your skin break out in a rash. Working on the deck is easier as long as none of the dust gets below.
Cheers

[babyhauler]

clarify, I don't want to live in the yard while working on boat, I just noticed some boatyards allow that.

I am curious if I can find a DIY boatyard in galveston area close by. I want to commute to it from where I'm living to do work and then go home every night.

[Mickeyrouse]

Two yards in Galveston to check on: Pier 66 and the yard that used to be Payco, which I think is now called Galveston Boat Yard (or something similar.) when the Paynes still ran Payco, I know there were boats there LONG term( multiple years.)We stayed on our boat while hauled out there, but it’s worth a call.

[Mickeyrouse]

There is also a boat yard up at Dickinson Bayou. Never been there, and don’t know the name. The boatyards at Clear Lake definitely don’t permit DIY work.

[babyhauler]

Dickinson Bayou, I found a place called Safe Haven Shipyard. Has a simple website that says they allow self-maintenance!

Copied from their website: "Nestled within Galveston Bay, at the entrance of Dickinson bayou. Safe Haven shipyard provides year-round haul outs to commercial and recreational boats. We permit our clients to self-maintance at no charge, additional services are available upon request. To schedule your haul out please contact our office."

Moderators nailed me on a different post for sharing a link so I'm not including the link, but it's easy to find with a quick search!

Thanks for this! It's within easy commute distance. I will also try to find another similar. It would be great to have 3 or four DIY boat yards to choose from.

[Mickeyrouse]

Good luck on your project. Just as an alternative, if you’re looking at a really long-term project, you don’t really need a boat yard. Our boat sank in a hurricane almost twenty years ago, and I had a four-year re-build re-fit. I found a place with electricity behind a fence five minutes from our house. Got a yacht hauler and 100 ton mobile crane to get her in and out. Don’t imagine I saved any money versus four years of yard lay days, but the proximity to home and local suppliers-in those we had a West Marine 10 min away- was worth far more than the excess.

[babyhauler]

great idea mickeyrouse. like a private boat yard

[Mickeyrouse]

There’s also a yard over at Port Bolivar that works on shrimp boats, crew boats, the occasional yacht. Strikes me as a rough place, and may be on the wrong side of Bolivar Roads, but could be worth checking out. Port Arthur may be too far, but there is a yard on Pleasure Island (mis-named) that handles boats about to 32 ft.

[Ryban]

Originally Posted by Fore and Aft

Babyhauler, another YouTube fantasy that is not reality.

I think that's a little dismissive, and not my experience. A lot of those people are cruising out of the country and all the boat yards I was at in the Caribbean and Panama when I was cruising didn't care if you worked and lived on your boat while it was on the hard. It's generally the only option when you're cruising, so they'd be turning away a lot of business if they didn't allow it. But you're right, there are few things more miserable than laying down in a hot boat in the tropics after a long day of sanding fiberglass.

In the US it can be a more challenging, but like others have said, call around and just talk to people.

[Fore and Aft]

Ryban you have taken my words out of context. What I was trying to say was if you think you're going to buy a junker boat and start fiberglassing and painting the interior then roll out the sleeping bag and sleep on the settee at night you might need to rethink things.
Being dismissive of YouTube is my default setting. A lot of us professionals hear it daily how so and so did it on YouTube. Well that's fine but you need to do your own investigation and get some experience before you start parroting what you watched online.
Cheers