Here in N. FL. its sometimes an adventure getting anything done on "One
o' them damn sailboats". I went to Carabelle, Fl to get my mast
stepped. The woman told me "We aint never done that afore" so I asked
about their insurance and remarkably thye had it. The mast steppers
were a crew of 3 oyster shucker drop outs who musta given up cuz the
oysters were smarter than them. They decided to sorta use the travel
lift but couldnt figger it out so they just used its cross beam. They
found two pieces of old rope lying round on the ground and tied em
together, threw em over the cross beam, other end went to the bumper of
on old truck painted with camo colors. The bumper was tied on with an
equally ragged piece of rope. They tied the rope around the mast near
the spreaders, revved up the truck so it belched oily blue smoke and
slowly pulled it up the ramp and miraculously my mast rose to vertical.
Cuz the only thing they destroyed was the VHF antenna I gave em each a
tip and saw em all take off for the bar. I think it cost maybe $120.00.

You should check around - you may be asking for something that the
marina doesn't normally do. They may be quoting for renting a crane
or towing the boat to another facility, or hiring a rigger. Or they
may be quoting for both unstepping and stepping. Or they may just be
expensive.



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?

On Fri, 27 Jan 2006 08:43:18 -0500, Jeff wrote:

You should check around - you may be asking for something that the marina
doesn't normally do. They may be quoting for renting a crane or towing
the boat to another facility, or hiring a rigger. Or they may be quoting
for both unstepping and stepping. Or they may just be expensive.

Good point. Don't call a marina. They're basically property management
companies. Call a boatyard or shipyard.

If you're in New England, you're within a day's sail of some of the best
boatyards in the world. Let your fingers do the walking...

Or tell us where you are, and what kind of boat you have. Someone here
is likely to have a recommendation for you.

Matt O.

I'm in the New England - those prices seem pretty good. A lot less than
I pay. I bet the actual bill would have been higher with the "extras".
Face it Tom, nothing about owning a boat is inexpensive. Marinas -
especially where it snows - are a tough business. A lot of expensive
real estate and a lot of fixed costs have to be spread over too few
good sailing days. I've never met a rich marina owner.

I agree that you should get a really good and expensive boat. That's
what I did. Then a $400 dollar mast stepping charge is only a tiny
percentage of the boat's cost. It feels better that way! Hell - I
didn't even blink at the $1500 shrink wrapping charge this winter.

If you want to save money - charter. You can charter a beautiful
Hinckley 42 for less than $5000 a week and pick it up in Southwest
Harbor. At the end of the week just tie it up and let someone else
clean the head and fix the broken radar.

Carl

Shrink Wrap? No thanks,,

I have "wraped" every boat I ever owned by myself. And they were just as
well protected as "shrink wrap".

$400 to step a mast? Nope, no way. Takes me about 15 minutes. Ain't about
to pay $400 for 15 minutes.

Heck, the guy who operates the crane down at the ship loading place will
pull up the mast for $50.

And he is a heck of a lot better at operating the crane than the dope at the
overpriced marina.

Hey,, you can throw your money where you want.

Not me.


"Carl" wrote in message
ups.com...
I'm in the New England - those prices seem pretty good. A lot less than
I pay. I bet the actual bill would have been higher with the "extras".
Face it Tom, nothing about owning a boat is inexpensive. Marinas -
especially where it snows - are a tough business. A lot of expensive
real estate and a lot of fixed costs have to be spread over too few
good sailing days. I've never met a rich marina owner.

I agree that you should get a really good and expensive boat. That's
what I did. Then a $400 dollar mast stepping charge is only a tiny
percentage of the boat's cost. It feels better that way! Hell - I
didn't even blink at the $1500 shrink wrapping charge this winter.

If you want to save money - charter. You can charter a beautiful
Hinckley 42 for less than $5000 a week and pick it up in Southwest
Harbor. At the end of the week just tie it up and let someone else
clean the head and fix the broken radar.

Carl

Hi Tom,

I've never "wraped" a boat but I put on my own cover when I had a
smaller boat.Nothing wrong with that. It's just a matter of valuing
your time and having enough left over to sail. It's fine to try to sail
on the cheap but you seem to not be having any fun ("brought to the
point of absolute insanity" in your words).

Take my mast - the one I can't step for $400. This thing is 70 ft with
double spreaders, on a B&R rig. An in-mast furling main and two
headsail rollers (Solent rig). It takes most of the day for me and a
good rigger to assemble and tune this thing. Makes no economic or
practical sense but I love every minute. When I get older I'll go back
to something simpler. It will be cheaper but I'll sure miss having a
big boat.

I also never - absolutely never - calculate the cost per sailing day!

Carl

Thomas Wentworth wrote:
Shrink Wrap? No thanks,,

I have "wraped" every boat I ever owned by myself. And they were just as
well protected as "shrink wrap".

$400 to step a mast? Nope, no way. Takes me about 15 minutes. Ain't about
to pay $400 for 15 minutes.

Heck, the guy who operates the crane down at the ship loading place will
pull up the mast for $50.

And he is a heck of a lot better at operating the crane than the dope at the
overpriced marina.

Hey,, you can throw your money where you want.

Not me.

Carl,,,, that boat you own... it is a SHIP!

For that , I would pay $400 dollars!



"Carl" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi Tom,

I've never "wraped" a boat but I put on my own cover when I had a
smaller boat.Nothing wrong with that. It's just a matter of valuing
your time and having enough left over to sail. It's fine to try to sail
on the cheap but you seem to not be having any fun ("brought to the
point of absolute insanity" in your words).

Take my mast - the one I can't step for $400. This thing is 70 ft with
double spreaders, on a B&R rig. An in-mast furling main and two
headsail rollers (Solent rig). It takes most of the day for me and a
good rigger to assemble and tune this thing. Makes no economic or
practical sense but I love every minute. When I get older I'll go back
to something simpler. It will be cheaper but I'll sure miss having a
big boat.

I also never - absolutely never - calculate the cost per sailing day!

Carl

Thomas Wentworth wrote:
Shrink Wrap? No thanks,,

I have "wraped" every boat I ever owned by myself. And they were just as
well protected as "shrink wrap".

$400 to step a mast? Nope, no way. Takes me about 15 minutes. Ain't
about
to pay $400 for 15 minutes.

Heck, the guy who operates the crane down at the ship loading place will
pull up the mast for $50.

And he is a heck of a lot better at operating the crane than the dope at
the
overpriced marina.

Hey,, you can throw your money where you want.

Not me.

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.

The yards here in Georgia charge around $6-7/foot for a "haul". That
includes the haul out, blocking moving the stands one time and relaunch. A
one way haul without blocking or relaunch is around $3.50/foot. A boom
truck costs about $75/hour and time starts when they leave their yard so
figure $150 minimum . Add probably 20% for the yard markup and maybe
$100-150 for yard labor so $300 to $375 is about right for setting the mast.

--
Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com

"Thomas Wentworth" wrote in message
news:6VdCf.5682$Jn1.898@trndny01...
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?

Glenn,,, just for fun I called around and found a guy who will lift my mast
and set in place. I do the turnbuckles, etc.

The price? $100.

------------------------------------

F'k them stinking marina's. We don't need no stinking marina's.

===============================================
"Glenn Ashmore" wrote in message
news:hHLCf.13866$Dh.5437@dukeread04...
The yards here in Georgia charge around $6-7/foot for a "haul". That
includes the haul out, blocking moving the stands one time and relaunch.
A one way haul without blocking or relaunch is around $3.50/foot. A boom
truck costs about $75/hour and time starts when they leave their yard so
figure $150 minimum . Add probably 20% for the yard markup and maybe
$100-150 for yard labor so $300 to $375 is about right for setting the
mast.

--
Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com

"Thomas Wentworth" wrote in message
news:6VdCf.5682$Jn1.898@trndny01...
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?