Yacht Haul Out Cost: What a Yard Period Really Bills (2026)

Updated 1 September 2026. Every figure on this page is a rate published by a named yard on its own website, linked in the tables below, and is quoted in the currency the yard publishes. Yard rates change and many yards publish no date — confirm before you book.

What you are actually paying for

Most owners budget for “the haul out” as if it were one number. It is not. A yard period is six or seven separate charges that arrive on one invoice, and the one people quote in the bar — the travel-lift fee — is often less than a third of the total.

• Haul and launch. Charged per foot of LOA, either one-way or round trip. Almost every yard has a minimum.
• Pressure wash. Sometimes bundled into the haul, often not. Heavy fouling costs extra.
• Blocking and stands. Setting the boat on the hard, and moving the stands when the painter needs to get behind them.
• Lay days. Per foot per day, and at some yards the rate climbs the longer you stay.
• Power, water and waste. Metered or daily.
• Environmental and containment. Ground protection, paint-chip collection, dust disposal, hazmat.
• Contractor fees. If you bring your own labour, most yards charge for the privilege — or restrict what your people are allowed to touch.

Haul and launch: published rates by region

These are live published rate cards, not estimates. Note how sharply the per-foot rate rises with size — the jump is not linear, and it is steepest above 70 feet.

Lay days: the line that quietly overtakes the lift

The lift is a one-off. Lay days compound, and this is where most yard bills go wrong. Two weeks on a 50-footer at $1.25 per foot per day is $875 — already more than the haul itself at most Florida yards.

Three worked examples, built from published rates

1. A 45-foot sailboat, two weeks in Florida, no major work

Note what is not in that number: no paint, no labour, no parts, no haulage of your own contractor. The lift is 32% of a bill that has not yet done any work to the boat.

2. A 50-foot monohull, six months of hurricane season in Grenada

Plus a non-refundable storage reservation deposit of $600–$800, and proof of liability insurance before the boat comes out of the water. Storage is 67% of that bill.

3. A 12-metre yacht, UK winter ashore, October to February

The same boat belonging to an annual berth holder pays £0.70/m/day for the same period — roughly £1,260 instead of £2,556. Where you keep the boat the rest of the year changes the winter bill by half.

Hurricane season storage: the rules are not optional

If you are storing in the Caribbean through the summer, the yard’s hurricane policy is a cost line, not a formality. These are published requirements, not recommendations:

• Welded stands are mandatory at some yards. Jolly Harbour, Antigua states plainly that “standard welding is mandatory through the summer months” — $6.95/ft, with lateral welding at $13.90/ft “highly recommended”. Spice Island welds forward and aft stands on every monohull stored through the season, $250.
• Cradles carry a four-month minimum. Both Peake and Clarke’s Court in Trinidad and Grenada impose it. You cannot rent a cradle for six weeks.
• Tie-downs are billed separately. North Sound Marina in Antigua charges $210 for six straps and $35 for each additional one.
• Insurance is a precondition of the lift. Spice Island requires proof of liability insurance before haul out. North Sound: “all vessels ashore must have third party insurance.”
• Storage costs more in season. Peake charges $0.53/ft/day January to April and $0.58 May to November. Clarke’s Court runs its high season from 1 April to 30 November — which is to say, the hurricane season is the expensive season.
• Cradles run out. Jolly Harbour publishes it as policy: “cradles must be reserved well in advance as they are in limited supply.”

The lines that blow the budget

Contractor fees, and who is allowed to touch your boat

This is the single most under-budgeted item in a yard period, and it is where DIY savings evaporate.

• Rocky Pointe Marina, Oregon charges $30 per hour per man for outside contractors, requires advance approval and insurance verification, and restricts them to work the yard does not itself provide.
• Santa Cruz Port District charges a $250 non-refundable contractor registration.
• Monterey Bay Boatworks charges a DIY administrative fee of $2.45/ft — you pay for the right to do your own work.
• Oasis in Florida bills outside yard work at $125/hr against $90–$100 in-yard.
• 3D Boatyard permits licensed, insured outside contractors but requires that bottom paint be supplied by the yard.

Containment and environmental surcharges

If you are sanding or grinding, expect a second surcharge on top of the first. Rocky Pointe publishes it most clearly: $5/ft for ground protection, paint-chip collection and dust disposal, and a further $5/ft for tarping when aggressive grinding is involved. SEA Marine adds 3% to all labour, service and storage plus 2% shop supplies. Robinhood in Maine adds 3% to all labour invoices. Santa Cruz charges $6.00/day environmental plus $20 hazmat.

Size and tonnage surcharges stacked on the per-foot rate

The per-foot rate is not the whole story once you are over 45 feet. Jolly Harbour adds 15% at 45 feet and 30% at 60 feet. North Sound adds 20% over 75 tons. Peake bills “per foot or per ton, whichever is greater”. Santa Cruz charges $3/ft more for a four-strap lift than a two-strap. Rocky Pointe adds a flat $300 for anything over 45 feet.

Fouling penalties

Turn up with a heavy beard and the yard will charge you for it. Monterey bills excessive growth at $110/hr, Berkeley at a flat $200, 3D Boatyard adds $5/ft for severe fouling, and Playboy adds $200 for scraping. Shell Point goes further and requires the bottom to have been cleaned within the last 30 days before you arrive.

VAT, and why a Spanish quote looks cheaper than a French one

Mediterranean yards are wildly inconsistent about this. Alcaidesa and Italmar publish ex-VAT (21% and 22%). La Grande Motte, Port Barà, Marina Palamós and Lymington Yacht Haven publish inclusive. Comparing the two at face value overstates the French yard by about a fifth. Always ask which one you are looking at.

After-hours and emergency lifts

Friday Harbor’s call-in rate is $183/hr against $87 standard. Regent Point charges $235/hr emergency against $135. 3D Boatyard adds a flat $500 unscheduled haul fee. North Sound adds $150 plus a 25–50% surcharge after hours. A breakdown on a Saturday is a materially different price to a booked slot on a Tuesday.

Bottom paint: what an all-in job costs

Bottom paint is usually the reason for the haul, so it belongs in the budget. Published all-in prices vary by a factor of four, and the difference is mostly labour rate and paint grade:

A multihull is not simply wider — it is a different price band everywhere. Santa Cruz charges $16–$19/ft against $13 for a monohull, Monterey charges up to $27/ft against $16, and Spice Island charges $11.60/ft against $8.85 in the 55–64 foot band.

Above 100 feet, the rules change

Published per-foot pricing effectively stops around 150 tonnes. Of every yard we checked, only four publish a real number above 100 feet:

Above that, everyone quotes on application. STP Shipyard Palma operates six travel lifts up to 1,000 tonnes and takes vessels to 120 metres; Monaco Marine La Ciotat runs a 2,000-tonne yacht lift for 45–160 metre yachts. Neither publishes a price, and no yard we found publishes a rate for a lift above 250 tonnes. At that scale the lift is a rounding error against the yard period anyway, and the number that matters is the day rate for the berth and the shipyard’s labour.

How far ahead to book

• Caribbean hurricane storage: yards fill months ahead. Caribbean Compass notes booking in advance is “almost always necessary” at Clarke’s Court. Reservation deposits at Spice Island are $600–$800 and non-refundable, which tells you how tight the space is.
• Florida summer storage: Meridian Marina’s published deadline is 1 June. Marina One is already sold out for this season.
• Mediterranean autumn: nobody publishes a cut-off date, but the pricing tells the story. Marina Palamós charges €20.50 per crane movement in low season and €69.00 in high season — more than triple. La Grande Motte discounts trade rates 20% March to October and 50% in the quiet months.
• Superyacht refit slots: a specialist broker advises 12 to 18 months for a maintenance period and 18 to 24 months for a major refit at a top-tier yard.

How to choose a yard

Cheapest per foot is almost never cheapest overall. Ask these before you commit:

• Is the quoted rate one-way or round trip? Several yards publish both, and the difference is close to double.
• What is included in the haul? Regent Point’s $12–$14/ft covers haul, wash, block and launch. Playboy’s $5.50/ft covers the lift alone, with blocking at $435–$1,050 on top.
• What happens to the lay-day rate at 14, 30 and 60 days? Get the escalation in writing.
• Can I bring my own contractor, and what does that cost? If the answer is vague, assume it is expensive.
• Is there a minimum charge or minimum length? Coral Cove charges a 40-foot minimum. Lymington Yacht Haven has an 8-metre minimum.
• What insurance do you require, and by when? Two Caribbean yards refuse to lift without proof in hand.
• Is the quote inclusive of VAT or sales tax? In the Med this is a 20–22% swing.

Frequently asked questions

Find a yard

ZipYacht lists shipyards and haul-out facilities worldwide, with the lift capacity, beam and draft limits that decide whether a yard can take your boat at all. Browse shipyards and haul-out facilities, or read the companion guide to yacht refit project management if the yard period is a refit rather than routine maintenance.

Running the maintenance schedule that decides when the boat needs to come out is exactly what ZipYacht Management does — service intervals, machinery history and yard-period projects on one screen, $1,790/year plus $189/month. Book a 10-Minute Look.

Related: if the yard period includes a systems refit, yacht security system cost prices the four layers with published retail figures and names who installs them.

Browse shipyards & haul outBook a 10-Minute Look

Sources: rates published by the named yards on their own websites, read 1 September 2026 and linked above. Where a yard publishes no effective date this is noted in the tables. Currencies are as published and are not converted. Rates change without notice — treat these as a planning baseline and confirm directly with the yard.