How much does winterization cost, boaters? Below is this years $1500 quote for a 22” Cobalt. Seems like every year it goes up and up and up.
Ballpark- this is about double what my local marina would charge, based on labor and oil/coolant prices. Eastern NC here.
Upstate SC with a 20′ Regal… and that’s too much, even using with the dealership
Well according to their own invoice, you could do it yourself for $450, buying the same marked up parts they are selling you. You could probably actually do it for $300 yourself, if not less.
Understood and wish I could. 1) not my skill set and 2) the yard we dry stack in doesn’t allow work like this to be done in yard by owner or other provider. I don’t own a trailer so can’t drag it to someone else.
A bit hosed.
yea but you still need to do 50-75% of that maintenance every year anyway ( filters, cleaning etc)
this yard is just doing it for him at mechanics rates with the tools and know how and experience to not fuck up or make a mess
Guy I have do it charges me $125 to antifreeze/fog the engine and I change the fluids myself for about $200. I run exclusively rec fuel so I pour a bottle of stabil in it and run it for awhile. Pull the battery and put it on a tender myself. 18ft open bow inboard. No idea what people pay for for summer prep. I fire it up and put it in the lake.
You can skip the Stabil if you’re using rec fuel. You may get some minor degradation over the winter, but nothing crazy. I’ve never noticed a fuel issue with my big blocks after a winter of just sitting.
I’m in Michigan. My haul and spring launch, winter storage on the hard, winterization, and shrink wrap on a 38′ Chris Craft Commander with a flybridge is $2300. You’re getting hosed.
At minimum, learn to change your own oil. That’ll probably knock a few hundred off based on their rates.
Once you learn how to work on your own boat you can probably winterize your boat a lot faster than a boat yard mechanic. All boats are different so mechanics waste time figuring out where things are on a new to them boat. Especially if you have interior stuff to winterize.
If they’re pulling the out drive off as quoted, I would be replacing the bellows.
The work outlined seems reasonable, but the pricing is at a steep premium rate
I am going to say they aren’t pulling the whole outdrive.
The cobalt has either an Alpha II or Volvo SX outdrive, they have zerc grease fittings for dealing with greasing the gimbal.
They’re pulling the lower end and checking the impeller, making sure the outdrive is straight when the wheel is straight, and hitting a few zerc fittings with grease, and calling it $500 of labor. They’ll probably poke the bellows for you with their finger and make sure it’s still soft. It’s a 20 minute job.
Should you save up for a trailer? Winterizing a boat is not difficult. Plenty of videos out there. You will be rewarded with knowing more about your boat and have the satisfaction of knowing it’s done correctly at a reasonable price. Antifreeze, oil and filter etc. are inexpensive. Storage options will open up with a trailer. Good luck.
Not a savings thing per se – no where to store it. Oh, the same place I pay $425/mth for dry stack would happily charge another $200/mth for trailer storage however. lol…
Unf then it takes towing balls which I don’t have. Boats never left Lake WA and I’m super happy w that. The only real alternative to cost savings here is to sell her.
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