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Looking for a Boatyard in San Diego

NGB

Member II
I am looking for a boatyard that provides good work and good customer service. I want my E28's bottom painted and an estimate on some other hull work. I called one yard and it took over a week to get an estimate. I called the yard that painted it last time, and they never even returned my call.

I have been sailing out of San Diego only a couple of years and am not that familiar with who gives good value for the money. Can anyone recommend a reliable and reasonable yard in San Diego?
 

Jim Mobley

Member II
Shelter Island Boatyard

Hi Gary,

I can give a lukewarm recommendation for Shelter Island Boatyard. We just had our Ericson 29 in for a survey haul out, bottom paint and gate valve replacement.

The bottom paint was $870.00 for our clean and unblistered hull.

They also replaced three through hull fittings and replaced the gate valves with ball valves. Labor was 2.5 hours @ $70.00/hour. Work was done nicely, but they left debris in the bilge.

In general the work was done just fine and the boat was back in the water when promised. But, the boat was completely covered in sanding dust and I mentioned the mess in the bilge.

We didn't shop around for price as we were in the process of buying the boat and the yard was the most convenient for us, the broker and the surveyor.

Jim Mobley
S/V Sea Myst
1975 Ericson 29
 

rgoff

Member III
Decent labor rate ($70/hr) at Shelter Is. compared to the only shipyard in Dana Point, which is $105/hr!! Guess that comes from being the only shipyard in the harbor.
 

NGB

Member II
Thanks for the info. I am talking to another yard at the moment. If I don't like what I hear from them, I will give Shelter Island a call. The $70/hr. rate is the lowest I have heard of so far.

Congratulations on your new boat, Jim.

I am not surprised the hourly rates are higher in Dana Point than in San Diego. I was talking to a friend who has a boat at Newport, and his slip fees are more than twice what mine are on Harbor Island. These economics make my two hour trip to get to my boat much more bearable.
 

Lew Decker

Member III
SD boatyards?

You might try Driscoll's in Mission Bay. I keep my boat there but haven't hauled out yet. I don't know what they charge but they seem to be customer friendly.
 

Jim Mobley

Member II
Shelter Island Boatyard

Just to further clarify, the bottom paint was done by Shelter Island Boatyard directly. The gate valve replacement was done by a sub-contractor, Viking Marine Services. Viking on their invoice letterhead indicate that they are "In the Shelter Island Boatyard," so they may do all of this sort of work there.

Also, all of the work was arranged by the broker, Cruising World Pacific, and we may have received special rates because of that.

As an aside, we were very well served by Cruising World Pacific, both Bill and Frank went out of their way to make purchasing the boat easy and have saved us money on upgrades and other work that we're having done. And all for a sale that wasn't making them a lot of money.

Jim Mobley
S/V Sea Myst
Ericson 29
 

NGB

Member II
I appreciate the advice. I have decided to go with Driscoll on Shelter Island. The price is right, their location is convenient to mine, and they have a good reputation.
 

Geoff Nelson

Member II
Outrageous slip fees

Wow- Dana is twice as expensive as SD? That really surprises me. I thought SD was as expensive as it gets (twice what you pay in Alameda). I am at Sunroad (which is the most expensive in SD) but I thought Cortez was also a rip and couldn't find anywhere else that had slips.

Sunroad is like $17/foot. Cortez was around $15. Mission Bay is $11 I think. Ballina Bay in Alameda was $8.50/foot.

Maybe there is a corrolation between wind and price... the lighter the wind the more expensive the slips?
 

Lew Decker

Member III
Slip rips...

Slip fees are a universal agony for boat owners who are on the financial edge (like me). My boat was originally at Harbor Island where they were ripping off the PO for $18/ft./mo. I bailed out as soon as I took possession and got a slip over at Driscoll's in Mission Bay. I pay about $10.50/ft. but there is an extra charge for electricity and the total bill works out to about $11.90/ft. No pool, no jacuzzi, no fancy ship chandlery, one sleazy deli around the corner, wooden docks with splinters, lousy water pressure, excessive bird poop in the fall, no bay sailing for days when I don't want to thrash around at sea, and I'm right next door to the long arm of the law. Bottom line? I love it. I don't want to have to pay for any of the niceties. People in my financial straits are sailors, after all...Not yachties.
 

Martin King

Sustaining Member
Blogs Author
You think San Diego is bad, try Newport Beach-a waterfront truly bent
on squeezing out regular working stiffs like me and catering to the
filthy rich. My old POS slip there was renting for over $900/month
when I left 4 years ago. That's for an ancient 30 ft sagging wooden
dock with no amenities, no parking, and electrical that worked on
good days.

Martin
 

Geoff Nelson

Member II
Mission Bay slips

I have been contemplating moving to Mission Bay.

Pros:
cheaper by far
shaves 2+ hours off a trip to Catalina each way

Cons:
Facilities in poor conditions
tweakers
poor (no) security- getting an outboard ripped off will pretty much kill any cost savings as I see it.

Has anyone had any security problems? What about other facilities (pump out, a chandlery of any sort, etc.)

Anything I am forgetting (like no racing)?
 

Lew Decker

Member III
Tweakers???

There are a few more pros to being in MB.

Quiet
Good security with the lifeguard station a stone's throw away
relaxed atmosphere
Ocean sailing a 5-minute putt-putt away
Nice cove in which to drop the hook 3 minutes away
Interesting boats being hauled out at Driscoll's
Close to sailing off La Jolla
Nice neighbors, at least where I am
Good fireworks all around on the 4th
Close fuel dock
Sleazy deli has live music on weekends
Good Kayak shop
Clean water
Good fishing
Restaurants rate from 0 stars to 5, depending on wallet
Great dinghy sailing

Come on down...
What are tweakers?
 

Geoff Nelson

Member II
Tweakers/riff-raff

Hi Lew,

Thanks for that. Yeah- the quiet would be nice too... I can throw rocks at the airport from where I am and I know about the dinghy sailing- I race 5o5's out of MBYC a couple times a week. The tweakers are the meth-heads that I know hang out there, living on their boats/bikes. I think Seaforth is the bigger problem.

Do you know if Driscoll's has openings?

Thanks,

Geoff
 
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