(This post was written back in April, but I never got around to publishing it. The publish date reflects when it was written, not when it was posted)

Being the shoestring sailor that I am, once in La Paz I immediately embarked on finding the most economical solution to getting my rudder fixed. I found that there were huge inconsistencies in pricing from one yard to the next, much more than I have ever seen when comparing stateside yards.

To save the cost of the haul-out, part of me wanted to try and remove the rudder and then have someone do the welding whilst it was out of the water. Unfortunately too much resided on getting the proper geometry…and I wasn’t sure that I’d even be able to get the skeg bushings removed with the boat in the water.

Some of you may be thinking to yourself that I’m being excessively frugal about such a critical repair. Maybe, though in my experience a lot of services that are catered to Americans/foreigners in Mexico are going to be priced accordingly. They don’t necessarily offer higher quality – though they are usually more easily accessible and have more aesthetically pleasing facilities.

So I began hitting up each yard to find out the bare minimum pricing for haul-out. My initial intention was to get pulled out of the water and on the hard for 5 or so days. I’d do all the work and bring in a welder or pay the yard for that.

For anyone looking to compare prices for this type of thing, the details I received are as follows. In order to get in contact with these places, use the excellent directory published by Club Cruceros:

Abaroa Boatyard | Topete & Navarro #2635

Generally regarded as the most economical operation in town. I received two estimates from two different people. The first was $750 for haul-out & 3-4 days on the hard, I do all the work.

The second was $22/foot for haul-out/re-launch and it includes bottom paint ($726 for me). They wouldn’t offer a discount for foregoing the bottom paint. Once on the hard they would estimate repair costs. $150/day if I want to do any work at all to the boat myself.

Note: we could live on the boat while it’s out of the water.

Why I did not choose Abaroa: If I needed bottom paint this yard might have made sense, but I didn’t. I also felt their $150/day charge for doing my own work to be absurd. Naturally they weren’t willing to offer an estimate for the job, but more concerning was that they also were not willing to offer an hourly labor rate. They essentially wouldn’t talk pesos until I had paid for the haul-out and bottom paint.

That would have been okay if they were charging reasonable rates for fixed cost jobs, but I found out from a fellow sailor that they charge $225 to install a thru-hull which is a bit exploitative (in the end he paid the daily rate to work on his own boat and had it installed in 45 minutes).

Marina Del Palmar | Topete & 5 De Febrero

$990 for haul-out/re-launch, they would offer an estimate for work once it’s out of the water (seems they wouldn’t let me work on the boat myself)

Why I did not choose Palmar: The cost of the haul-out/re-launch was indication enough of their pricing.

Marina Fonatur | Rio Nilo & Piramides

$516 for haul-out/re-launch (150 pesos/foot) + 13.45 per day (7.50 pesos/foot).

Owned by the government, so there are some hoops. I could work on my own boat and could live on it for 2 or 3 days but not more. In order to do a haul-out, you must have a Mexican address or know someone with one that is willing to take on the liability of your boat. I didn’t so couldn’t use them.

Why I did not choose Fonatur: By default…without a Mexican address (as evidenced by a phone/utility bill) I wasn’t able to go here.

Atalanta Marina | Marina Palmira

$429 for haul-out/re-launch + $11/day for storage + $20/day to work on the boat + $50/day to rent a generator (no power is provided otherwise). Conveniently located next to La Paz Cruisers Supply and some other marine services.

Notes: Cannot live on boat while in the yard. Work hours are 8 am – 4 pm.

Why I did not choose Atalanta: For dry storage this place has good pricing but add in the cost for the generator/working on your own boat, limited working hours and the extra expense for a hotel…just didn’t make sense.

Bercovich Boatyard | Carretera Pichilingue KM 8 (~Mexico 11 513, just passed Hyatt/Costa Baja)

$396 + tax for haul-out/re-launch, cost of repair assessed after getting pulled out of water.

Bad location, a few miles out of town. I almost didn’t make it here due to the ambiguity of directions. Click here for it’s precise location on Google Maps.

Notes: $6/day/person for living on boat.

Why I chose Bercovich: I negotiated directly with the owner and he just seemed the most straightforward and reasonable. In the end I was very happy with the work they did. Given the way he was talking about what needed to get done, I felt confident that I could pay his guys to do the repair and that he wouldn’t over-charge me.

Turns out that was right, all told I paid $761 out-the-door, ($260 for the repair side of the bill), which included:

• Haul-out/re-launch (via one of their two rails)
• Six days on the hard, living aboard
• Significant amount of grinding/welding also added a couple gussets to the structure that I requested)
• Significant amount of sanding/fiberglass work (much from when the rudder over-deflected and got chewed up by the propeller while backing down on the anchor in Cabo)
• Barrier coating
• Ablative coating
• Ability to work on the boat as much as I wanted throughout the process without incurring extra fees (nothing extra for using their electricity)

It’s possible that Abaroa would have offered fair pricing on the repair – but considering Bercovich charged me nearly the same for all of the above as Abaroa charges for a thru-hull install…well that fact alone pretty much speaks for itself.

The guys that Bercovich employs are top-notch. I was most concerned with the quality of his welder. Turns out he had worked for 10 years at a US military contractor in Camp Pendleton before the US deported him. He showed me an example of some of his work and it was very impressive. The fiberglass guy also did excellent work.

Also of note is that the Bercovich yard uses a rail system, meaning that they have the capability of pulling much larger vessels out of the water than most yards. From what I understand they have pulled vessels over 100 feet out of the water. There was a very large catamaran getting some work done when I first pulled in.

So I’m back in the water, rudder welded and ready to move on with the journey. Just a few last things to do on the boat and we’ll be ready to start crossing the ocean!