We talked to a lot of people while we were looking for Fintry. Even
considered building new in a low wage place.

There are places where you can get perfectly satisfactory work at wage rates
that are much less than USA -- Spain, Turkey, Brazil, and Poland come to
mind. There are yards in all four that build commercial vessels and some
yachts. They do have the problem that English is not their first language
but their work can be first rate -- if not the equal of
Swan/Hinckley/Campers, at least as good as the next tier. You can find them
in magazines such as Work Boat, Professional Mariner, Maritime Journal, and
International Tugs and Salvage.

Then there are places that do speak English and are cheaper than the USA.
Wage rates in New Zealand dollars are nominally a little less than in USA
dollars, and the Kiwi dollars is at $0.63 US. Canada is also a lower wage
place. We're having a lot of work done in England, where the net is around
2/3 of USA rates.

I would not pick Venezuela right now as a place to have work done -- the
political situation is difficult. Trinidad, I don't know. The key, of
course, is the people you'll actually be dealing with -- know your vendor,
get references, and so forth. Remember, too, that if you get in a dispute
with the yard, you'll be the foreigner in a local court, paying a local
lawyer. A boat is difficult to remove from the scene if things don't go
well....

Also, budget for a substantial weakening in the USA dollar against many
currencies. I'm not a currency specialist, but I watch currency rates
(especially the pound right now) and I wouldn't be shocked if the dollar
weakened 25% against the world. This will, of course, help our exporters,
but it makes work done abroad more expensive.


--
Jim Woodward
www.mvFintry.com


..
..
"Skip Gundlach"
.due.to.spam wrote in
message ink.net...
We've heard repeatedly that there are craftsmen in these countries who
work
for what to us here in the 'real world' is not even peanuts.

Are there any recent experiences here to tell of such craftsmen in the
fields of electricity, plumbing, electronics, joinery, paint, fiberglass
fabrication or other marine niceties?

If so, what did you have done, and what was the end cost, if you're
comfortable sharing that experience? Were you happy with the outcome,
regardless of the cost? Had/have you priced comparable work in other
locales to be able to say whether it was a bargain, or of particular
craftsmanship, or both?

Thanks.

L8R

Skip and Lydia, preparing to buy the boat, but expecting to need upgrades
and improvements to current states