We got bids from a variety of places.
Our budgeted price for the project was $4000.00 dollars.
We are not in any real hurry although we would like to get the deck in right after the engine goes in, but we can wait.December - Currently at Marina Cortez Harbor Island, San Diego, CA
If we could not find a bidder below $4000.00, we would wait till we go to Mexico and get it done. We will be in Mexico in less than two years, or we could just take a sail to Ensenada and have it done.
All the bidders seemed like they were nice guys. A couple I am not sure if they would have done the work or subbed it out or had the shop employee do it.
We did not want to pay for the store overhead or a fancy truck etc. We never did see what they drove, but you get the idea.
As in our dodger we had a man who I think worked from his house in Kearny Mesa. For instance, we got a bid for the handrails on the dodger frame from a store front shop in Point Loma. The price was more than what we paid for our whole dodger frame with those two side handles and a large aft handle.
Most of the cost is labor.
We figured there were a few marine carpenters or shipwrights out there that would be in our price range, and we would have looked for another month or so before giving up, tiring of it.
As it is we do not need to keep looking. This is hard on us and now we are happy with our choice.
We chose Owen for the job. He is a dock mate and we have seen him around for some years now. He gets great reviews from fellow dock mates and his wooden boat looks great.
He seems easy to get along with and knowledgeable. He can walk to our dock from his and we will not be around micromanaging the job.
It seems a win, win and $3415.00 is still a big chunk of change. Just because a couple bids were high does not mean that this one is low. Some of these shops work for large pocket owners. The owners call in from Arizona and want a teak deck in their galley and write a check, then write it off. Dodgers are a lot the same with a lot of owners never doing more than calling and placing the order.
We are in the position of choice as we can wait till we get to Mexico if need be on some items like the deck or dodger but on others we needed to get it done here. Our bow rollers needed to get refitted here. We did not want to use the old setup in Mexico till we could get them done there.
Our bottom job we are waiting until we get to Mexico before we have it done.
The same thing applies to the upholstery on our boat. It is 32 years old, and we have been using it for two years. We are at our boat a lot and it would be nice to get it replaced. Again, we were originally going to do this ourselves but have decided to have it done. We wanted to take an upholstery class but just cannot take the time from work to do it. So, we can wait till Mexico but will try to get an upholstery shop to do it. Our boat mates never went to a marine shop they simply brought their trawler cushions to an upholstery shop and got it done. They look great. Not sure what fabric they used.
If we were to keep looking, we might even find a lower bid however we are comfortable with our choice. A high bid does not always equate to the quality of the job.
In another year or so we will be living on this boat until I am gone from this earth. While a deck is not a necessary item it is something we see from almost anywhere on the boat. Our windows are in fine condition so there is no real need to spend there. I admit if there is some wiggle room, we may replace them with the glass type but not likely. We would not think twice of putting in wood floors in our house so why here, this is more than a day sailor to us.
Now granted we could try to do the work ourselves but if it is going to take a skilled shipwright two to three weeks how long would it take us to do it part time and learn as we go? I will not bore you with our list of ongoing projects – let’s just say no time for that one. Can we also say stress? How much can a couple do and as you all know it takes a toll on us both.
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