We are back in the water after four days in the boatyard. It feels good to be floating again. Every night when the Coromuels blew the boat would shudder and I had visions of us falling over.

Living in the boatyard wasn’t so bad thanks to our freshwater-flush head and huge holding tank. Some people actually climb down the ladder in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom! During the day we collected wash water in the sinks and drained it at night when we were sure no one was under the drains.

We now have two coats of black bottom paint (with extra coats in all the important places), new flax in the stuffing box, freshly waxed topsides and most importantly a new cutless bearing (yup, that is spelled correctly – it’s a brand name).  Unfortunately the cutless bearing we had bought in the US turned out to be the wrong size so we had to buy one here for twice the cost.

While the boat was being hauled out there was a lot of excitement on where to place the slings because the stickers were hard to see. Mike had the brilliant idea to stick blue painters tape where it can easily be seen from all angles making it easier for the yard crew. This is something we’ll do before getting to the yard next time.

So, what does all this fun cost in Mexico? About 14,000 pesos in yard bills and another 8,000 for antifouling paint. In dollars that is around $1,700. Here is the breakdown. I’m curious how that compares to US prices? Would love to hear your comments!

  • $750 haul out / put in, all labor and consumables (same price if we had done the labor ourselves)
  • $120 new cutless bearing
  • $200 to build tool to pull cutless bearing without having to pull the shaft
  • $45 new propeller key (ours was falling apart – good thing we found it now)
  • $600 for 3 gallons of antifouling paint

Curious about all of our cruising costs? Check out our Dinero page!

Marking the sling location
Pretty barnacles

Pressure washing
Keeping cool
Ice cream man
Removing the Cutless Bearing
Packing the stuffing box (where the propeller shaft enters the boat)
Wax-paper on slings so our new paint-job doesn’t rub off when we get lifted back in the water
Safety First! 🙂
Lunch at the beach bar next door with view of Camille in the travel lift