First Boats at the marina - 56K good luck

[googledude]

bboy850:

I have no idea what he does for a living. He has his personal assistant come down and handle all the business with the boat and drive it back to the eastern shore. No one has ever met or even talked to the actual owner.



Tasty:

YEP! That almost sounds like taking your $800K, putting it in a cardboard box on some street corner, and calling it a bank! But all in all the system works out pretty well. It`s just for winter storage. The guy has a lift at his house where he keeps the boat(s).



Mrecktid:

I don`t believe it`s orange peel. I did do some research into it after doing his boat. Before they are painted they are fitted with this honeycomb type foam material that is painted on top of. It`s the shape of the honey combs that make the paint look like that. It is NOT supposed to turn out like that, but it does (just like factory painted cars have orange peel...but they shouldn`t!). But all in all there is no correcting it from what I`ve looked into and asked around about. That`s just the way it is.



Saltydog:



You`re tellin me! That has already happened. Since I just got myself together and started detailing full time (about 2 weeks ago) I pretty much was able to start off at the marina. I knew I would get slammed like this so I sort of planned around it to start when I did. That way I didn`t have a bunch of regular`s with cars that would have to be pushed to the side. I leave my trailer down at the marina and all, all I bring down is gas. They give me water. So it works out. I am booked for 3 weeks right now with boats, and I`m sure that list will get longer over the weekend (when everyone is at the marina). I`m not complaining at all, it is just unfortunate for all the folks that walk up and want their boat done to be launched into the water like THIS weekend (always the story so far), because there is NO way I can get to it.



Gotta get to work, I`ll check back later.

[General Lee]

Nice work Mark, Glad to see your buisness is really taking off. Looking forward to seeing more boats.

[imported_n1976jmk]

what kinda money do you get for doing those boats because a few people have asked me if i would do a boat and i just didnt know what to charge?



thanks,

jon

[googledude]

Originally posted by n1976jmk

what kinda money do you get for doing those boats because a few people have asked me if i would do a boat and i just didnt know what to charge?



thanks,

jon



The market is pretty high around here, at least AT the marina. A few of the detail shops charge between $8 - 12/ft, although my prices AT the marina ar higher. The going rate down there (what people are USED to paying) is around $600/boat. These boats average in right about 32 feet. I did the first for $550, including cockpit wipedown, the second for $250 including cockpit wipedown and carpet shampooing, the thrid for $624 (strictly a wash and wax, the buffer didnt even come out) and I did one today (33`) for $550. I`ve got a 28` something or other to do a full detail on for $650 which includes waxing the bottom of the hull, rub rail down, top side, as well as cockpit cleaning and wax and cabin cleaning and shampooing. Hope that gives you some outlook into the pricing structure. Here I have the competitive edge because there are not many detailers in the area, and I am actually AT the marina versus having to take the boat to a shop. The detailer that was down there for the past several years charged prices very similar to mine (although due to gas price increases and product price increases I am charging SLIGHTLY more (not much)). For me to quote $600 for a boat is what people already expect so I`m just more or less continuing.



Thanks for all the comments guys! (and gals of course)

[GlossyTundra]

WOW what an old thread! Nothin like reviving a 3yr old thread.



So what kinda power does that Sunseeker have? I didnt think the 52` came with triples? Yanmar? Volvo? Cummins?



That is some great work and that Sunseeker is one beatuiful boat. I have ridden on a couple, and you better belive for the money vs. the length of boat you get, it better be nice.

[imported_Surfer]

WOW what an old thread! Nothin like reviving a 3yr old thread.



So what kinda power does that Sunseeker have? I didnt think the 52` came with triples? Yanmar? Volvo? Cummins?



That is some great work and that Sunseeker is one beatuiful boat. I have ridden on a couple, and you better belive for the money vs. the length of boat you get, it better be nice.I know the Sunseeker 48 could be optioned with tripple diesels, We had an 82ft Italcraft, well grandparents did, not me lol. Don`t recall thE size of the diesels but it was damn quick for it`s size, topped somewhere around 40 knots which is hauling for an 82 footer. Got some pics somewhere.

[DETAILKING]

Looks great! I can definately appreciate the work involved when detailing boats! Makes me dread the start of spring sometimes.....haha

[googledude]

Looks great! I can definately appreciate the work involved when detailing boats! Makes me dread the start of spring sometimes.....haha



All in all it is a lot of work, but IMO when you put it in perspective it is no different than doing other jobs. As I see it, instead of finding 3 $200 vehcile details to do in a day, I must only find one customer with a boat to fill that spot for $600 in the same days work. I find that I can usually fit 2 full details in one day because of travel times to locations and being able to detail boats keeps me more central to one location, which I love. It`s my favorite time of year!

[imported_JoshVette]

If you don`t mind me asking, how long does it take you and how do you base you pricing??



I`ve got a 31` coming up and another smaller like 15-18` or something and I`ve never done a boat yet.....



Thanks, Josh

[googledude]

By myself a 31-34 foot would take the entire day. It was surprising to me when I first got into it, how long it actually takes to detail a boat. Depending on the condition I charge between $21-24 per foot plus a flat rate of $75-100 for cabin work.

[Grimm]

Good lord, that is an awful procarious way to hold up a six figure boat!!