Thomas Wentworth wrote:
I am re-entering the world of cruising. It has been a number of
years. My base is New England.

In the last few days I have been brought to the point of absolute
insanity by two of the local marina's near me.

Today, I called a marina to inquire how much it charged to step a
mast. I explained to the woman on the phone that a boat hauling
truck would be bringing my boat [ I don't own the boat yet, I was
seeking the info so that if I make an offer I would know what the
charges would be ] to the marina where it would be launched.

At first she seemed evasive. She didn't seem to want to answer my
question. She kept saying she was looking for her "paper". Finally,
she said it would be $6 per foot of the boat when the boat was
dropped off and another $6 per foot of the boat when the boat was put
in the water. I asked, why are you charging twice. The truck is
bringing the boat, it will go right in the water. She then said "you
are upset by how much it cost". I tried to explain "I can't be upset
since I never knew what the cost was to begin with".

After she started telling me how I feel about issues I never asked her
about, I asked what was the charge to step the mast. She said around
$400 dollars. I almost fell over backwards.

Then, I hung up the phone.

Is this the way of the world in cruising? Have all the marina's
become thieves?

Most marinas here in the UK have a fixed charge for winter storage,
water-to-water, and it assumes the mast will be left up whilst the boat is
on hard standing.

If you want the mast unstepped and re-stepped, using the marina staff only,
it will probably cost you an additional £150, depending on size of course.
On that basis, to simply step the mast, leaving it loosely supported, and
assuming you, the owner, will do the tweaking and tuning, takes about 20
minutes plus the use of the crane, and I think about £50 would cover that.
Ask the yard to set the mast up and rig it properly, and the cost could be a
lot more, but very few owners would rely on the yard staff to do this to
their satisfaction.

Launching the boat from a trailer, and stepping the mast, assuming a 30-35
footer, is done on a "time and materials" basis, and my own experience of
this is that assuming they have a substantial crane, and don't have to hire
one, the whole job takes around 30 minutes with a competent crane man. On
that basis, your $400 seems excessive, even allowing for depreciation of the
equipment, crane etc.

It would seem to me that a small boatyard would do a better job, more
cheaply and more effectively.

Dennis.