The Best Prices in the Business

Everyone doesn’t own a Swan, Hinckley, East Bay or Hatteras-quality yacht, nor can they afford to pay the extreme cost usually associated with properly maintaining a yacht of that level. But every owner wants the best quality he can get for the best price. With many years working on quality-built yachts, we feel our niche in this market is to offer exceptional yacht services and results to yacht owners that normally can’t afford, or justify, paying the typical top-shelf rates for those services. Our main goal is to meet Swan, Hinckley, East Bay or Hatteras standards of workmanship at prices that most yacht owners would agree is far below what they would expect to pay.

With our modest 2000 sq. ft.shop facility situated away from expensive shoreside real estate, we are in a better position to keep our fees a little lower. Though we still have much of the same overhead as a large boatyard, relatively speaking, it is certainly not near what they might need to cover. As a result, we are able to charge between 60-75% of what you’d normally expect to pay at that full service yard, that’s loaded with high overhead and huge equipment, extremely high property taxes, costly DEP requirements, harborside leases, major equipment, etc. They have no choice. They HAVE to charge $85-100 per hour for their professional services. And you really can’t blame them. It’s perfectly understandable. The costs are outrageous in running a full-service boat yard. So, by limiting the types of services we offer to those that don’t require extreme investment, like travel lifts, tractors, cranes, etc., we are able to keep our fees more reasonable.

We are fully insured, carry Workers Compensation coverage, and are registered with the State of Connecticut, as required of all marine professionals in the state.

Our regular 2008 service rate is $66/hr.

For larger projects, hourly rates may average as low as $49/hr, for example, on man-hour intensive brightwork restoration projects, or those on which we use apprentice help.

Our primary service area is from Norwalk to Guilford. However, we do travel further up and down the shoreline (and beyond), when it makes sense for us, and the boat owner. Travel time and expense is added to our fee. In many cases, on a one or two day project, it may make perfect sense to have us travel to you. But, when jobs start to turn into week-long or longer projects, like in the case of a brightwork restoration, the savings realized by using us, is often offset by the travel cost. Hence, bringing the boat to us in Milford probably makes more sense. We can get you set up at one of the area marinas, where there will be dockage fees, but can still save you money in the long run. And logistically, with our large shop and extensive equipment right in Milford, we can be much more productive. In the end, it may make better sense.

We charge $50/hr for travel (outside the Milford/Stratford area) for smaller projects, plus $.49 per mile. Larger projects are usually estimated ahead of time based on anticipated hours. These normally include travel time and expense charges. In most cases, we offer a flat rate quote, not just an estimate. Nearly everything is specified in our quote. So, there are rarely surprise charges. And, in the unlikely event that we find a surprise ourselves once we get into the project, that would not have been possible to know at the quotation stage, we will call you immediately and give you your options and our recommendation as to how to handle things. Any extra time required on a project that is the result of discovery once the job is pulled apart will usually be charged at a lesser hourly rate (averaging about $50/hr). We offer this lower rate to be sensitive to a yacht owner’s unplanned added expense and with the hope it will promote continued use of our services further on down the line.

For large projects, we offer free quotes to boat owners within our main service area. Feel free to call for an appointment. We’ll meet you at your boat and go over the whole thing with you (if you are available to be there). A detailed written quotation will be presented shortly thereafter. For projects outside of our area (eg. Florida), we’ll work with you by phone, fax, email and pictures to give you a rough estimate.

We offer flat rates for the following services:

Bottom Preparation—Sailboat $4/ft. Powerboat $6/ft includes light sanding, brush off, wipe down with solvent. If old paint is peeling and needs to be scraped and/or have edges faired, hourly rate applies. Any materials necessary are additional.

Bottom Painting (Roller)— Sailboat $10/ft or Powerboat 12/ft (+ prep charges above) including masking at waterline and apply 1 coat. Paint and materials are additional.

Apply 2nd coat Sailboat $5/ft Powerboat $6/ft

Running Gear (props shaft, struts etc.)— prep and painting is separate and charged by the hour

Compound or Cleaner Wax Topsides— $11/ft Sailboats, $13/ft Powerboats

Wax Only— $8/ft Sail, $9.50/ft Power

Compound & Wax (both)— $16/ft Sail, $19/ft Power

All Brand Winch Service and LEWMAR WINCH SERVICE SPECIAL

Our $56.95 service deal on LEWMAR 2-speed winches will be running all season. It applies to all 2-Speed Lewmars up to and including size 40. There is a one-pair minimum. If, for some reason, you have the winches off the boat, that’s even better. We can then do an even more thorough job in the shop, with no threat of dropping one of the many small parts into the drink!

A complete disassembly, comprehensive scrubbing and cleaning of every part, inspection, lubrication, replacement of pawl springs, and reassembly normally takes about an hour per winch for a size 40, depending on condition and size. At normal industry rates, that’s about $80-$95 per winch.

Our rates for larger, more complex Lewmars are also discounted some this year. But, winches over size 40 start to get more and more involved as the size goes up from there. The time necessary to clean them thoroughly grows exponentially as the size of the winch goes up. So, we charge for larger winches based on actual time spent, but then charge a lower hourly rate (for Lewmars) than our advertised $66/hr rate. On average, a number 55 Lewmar winch takes about an hour and a half or so to tear down completely, thoroughly clean every piece, inspect, replace all pawl springs and reassemble. If they are particularly gunked up, it may take longer. 3 speed Lewmar winches can take nearly twice as long to service as a similar sized 2 speed. Other brand winches are billed based on actual time, at our regular low-industry rate, but still, reasonable.

Any parts or supplies necessary are charged additionally. Pawl springs are always replaced on winches that haven’t been serviced for awhile, but the cost for those is minimal—under $2 per spring. If the winch has been serviced regularly, it’s unlikely many other parts will be necessary. A service kit, costing approximately $30 will likely be needed for 2 size 40 winches.10 pawl springs are included with these kits. For service that requires more than 10 springs for two winches, the additional springs are charged out individually, as needed. As long as we don’t find any broken parts or extremely worn gears/spindles, that is about the extent of typical parts charges.

NOTE: Parts for older series winches are sometimes no longer available.

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NOTE: Pricing samples and/or guidelines for Chartering, Captaining, Deliveries, Sail Instruction can be found on each’s respective web page in other parts of this site.