Travelifts, blocking fees, the bottom job checklist, and the work order discipline that keeps a week-long project from becoming three.
The most common reason is bottom paint. Anti-fouling paint degrades and loses effectiveness over one to two seasons, depending on paint type, water temperature, and how much the boat moves. A boat that sits in a warm-water slip in Florida needs fresh bottom paint more often than one sailing Pacific Northwest cold water. Most sailors on annual schedules haul once a year; biennial is defensible if you're in cold water and using ablative paint correctly.
Surveyor inspections before purchase require haulout almost universally. A competent marine surveyor will not complete a purchase survey without seeing the bottom, and that means the boat has to come out. This is the buyer's expense and entirely worth it — the bottom of a boat reveals a great deal about how the boat has been maintained and whether there are osmotic blisters, structural issues at the keel joint, or damage that's been painted over.
Repair work below the waterline — hull damage, thru-hull replacement, propeller shaft work, rudder repairs — obviously requires haulout. Some sailors also haul for winter storage in climates where freezing water is a real risk, though heated wet slips and deicing systems have reduced how often this is strictly necessary in moderate climates.
The travelift — a wheeled gantry that straddles the boat and lifts it on two wide fabric slings — is the standard at most full-service boatyards in North America. The slings go under the hull at predetermined points (usually specified by the boatbuilder for the model), the boat is lifted, and the travelift drives the boat to its blocking position in the yard. The process takes ten to thirty minutes depending on yard traffic and boat size.
Railways are the older alternative: a cradle on a rail system that the boat is floated into, then winched up the incline. Rail systems are slower, require careful cradle fitting to the hull shape, and are more common at smaller yards or older facilities. They work well for boats that fit the existing cradle designs and are sometimes preferred for older wooden boats where a fabric sling placement creates specific pressure point concerns.
Dry stack storage is a fundamentally different concept: forklifts rack fiberglass powerboats in a multi-story storage building, launching and retrieving them on demand. This is not relevant to most sailboats (masts and overall height make it impractical) and is primarily a powerboat service. You'll see it at large marina complexes in Florida, the Gulf Coast, and increasingly in California.
Arrive at the haulout slip at the time the yard specifies — not "around" that time, but on time. Travelift operators run scheduled slots and delays push everyone's day back. If you're going to be late, call ahead.
Most yards will want your engine running or will want someone at the helm to control the boat in the slip while the travelift is positioned. Know where your sling points are before the operator asks. Sling placement is critical: wrong placement can hull-pressure a deep-keel boat or cause the bow to drop if the aft sling is too far back. For unusual hull forms or boats with encapsulated ballast, tell the operator in advance and show them the sling point marks if your builder provided them.
Once the boat is in the air, the travelift drives it to the blocking position. Yard workers set jackstands and blocking pads — the boat is typically blocked at specific structural reinforcement points on the hull. If you've been hauled before and know where the good blocking points are on your specific boat, speak up. This is not the time to be passive. A jackstand placed under a hollow section of fiberglass hull can cause damage under the boat's weight.
Before the travelift operator walks away, do a quick visual inspection: is the boat level? Are all jackstands in firm contact? Is there a safety chain or tie-down on the boat if your yard requires it for wind events? Get this confirmed before the travelift pulls out.
Many yards — particularly in the Northeast and Pacific Northwest — now restrict or prohibit owner-performed labor in the yard. This is a meaningful policy change from even ten years ago, when owner labor was standard and expected. The reasons are a mix of liability concerns, insurance requirements, and union or workforce protection considerations at larger commercial yards.
If doing your own bottom job matters to your budget, ask before you haul. "Do you allow owner labor, and if so, what work is permitted?" is a legitimate question. Some yards allow all non-spray work (sanding, painting by brush and roller, hardware installation) but prohibit spray painting. Others prohibit all owner labor entirely. Some charge a daily "use of yard" fee for boats whose owners are working on them.
This matters significantly: having the yard do a full bottom job on a 40-foot boat typically runs $1,500–3,500 in labor depending on region, versus the cost of materials only (paint, sandpaper, rollers, tape) if you do it yourself, which might be $500–900. The difference is real money over a lifetime of boat ownership.
The per-foot-per-month storage rate is the headline number, but it's rarely the whole story. The actual cost of a week in the yard — which is what a bottom job typically requires — includes:
A "cheap" yard with a low storage rate can end up more expensive than a pricier yard when all the fees are totaled. Ask for a complete quote that includes all fees before you commit.
The bottom job is the main event for most haulouts, but the time out of the water should cover more than just paint. A systematic inspection while the boat is on the hard takes a few hours and catches problems that are invisible while the boat is afloat:
The launch is the reverse of the haulout but with one critical additional step: before the travelift lowers the boat into the water, start the engine. A dead engine on a boat that's just been launched, with yard workers waiting and the travelift tied up, is an uncomfortable situation. Verify that the engine starts and runs normally while the boat is still in the straps, above the water.
Equally important: check the bilge sump for water before you leave the dock. A thru-hull fitting that was leaking slightly before the haulout, disturbed during yard work, or incorrectly reinstalled after a repair can begin flooding the boat immediately after launch. Stand at the boat for fifteen minutes after launch before going anywhere, bilge pump on automatic, and watch for water. Every sailor has a story about the boat that launched and sank at the dock because nobody checked.
Get the boat away from the yard dock as soon as it's practical to do so — other boats are waiting. Have your departure route planned, your lines coiled and ready, and don't use the launch slip as a post-launch project staging area.
Get everything in writing. Every piece of work beyond the base haulout, storage, and launch should be on a written work order with a scope description and an estimate before the work begins. This protects you and the yard — misunderstandings about scope are the leading cause of disputed boatyard bills.
The "while we're in there" dynamic is where boatyard costs balloon. A yard worker notices something while doing your authorized work, mentions it to the dock master, and suddenly you're getting a call about a problem that needs to be addressed while the boat is still out. Some of these are legitimate; some are upsells. Your defense is simple: "I'll need that in writing with an estimate before I authorize it." Any yard that resists this is not well-run.
When you pick up the boat, review the final invoice against the work orders before you pay. Line items that don't match your authorized work orders should be discussed before payment, not after. A reputable yard will walk through the invoice with you. Take the invoice and work orders home and keep them — they're part of your boat's maintenance history and matter for resale value.
For provisioning before and after a haulout, see Fuel and Provisioning. For choosing the right facility in the first place, see How to Choose a Marina.