Madrone being lowered onto stands at KKMI
Every year or two, boats need to be hauled out for fresh coats of anti-fouling paint under the waterline. Madrone also had a couple of other maintenance items to take care of, so we estimated that she’d need to be on the hard for about a week.
KKMI’s boatyard in Sausalito is located about 400 yards from the slip we rented over the winter, so we had plenty of chances to watch the operation there. They have a reputation as one of the high-quality boatyards in the area, and we of course love to be in Sausalito. So, it was a fairly easy choice to bring Madrone to KKMI for her haul out.
Using a hydraulic press to remove the cutless bearing in the prop strut
Our list of work items was fairly straightforward. In addition to fresh bottom paint, we decided to raise the waterline a couple of inches in an attempt to reduce the amount of marine growth that attaches to the unpainted hull. We hoped to replace a couple of through-hull ball valves with new ones made from a more corrosion-resistant material. And the seal for our prop shaft had reached it’s recommended replacement interval – since the prop shaft exits the boat through a 2″+ hole in the hull below the waterline, we don’t want to take any chances with stretching the replacement timeline.
Typical scene at the boatyard – KKMI crew working while Angie works on the tasks on our list
In all, Madrone spent a full week at the yard, and our experience at KKMI was fantastic. The yard area itself is tidy, and they are sensitive about the effects of their work on the environment – all water from washing is recaptured and sent to a series of settling weirs and filters, and all sanding is done with vacuum attachments to capture the dust.
Lowering back into the water after a week of boatwork
But what made the yard stand out for us was the team that worked on the boat. One of the owners, Ken Keefe, was our project manager – he is very efficient, super knowledgeable, and gave us daily updates on what would be done and what to expect from the schedule. Mike did all of the work on the prop shaft and seal, and also installed our new ball valves. Roberto handled all of the bottom prep, the painting, and the big job of buffing and waxing our very dirty hull. The lift team of Jesse and Edgar inspire confidence as they move our 35,000lb home around the yard
Everybody at the yard was very friendly and went out of their way to be sure that we had what we needed, that our questions (and we had a lot of them!) were answered, that both we and they were safe at all times, and that the boat was well cared for. There are undoubtedly places in the SF Bay Area where we could have found a less expensive haul out, but at the end of our week we felt like KKMI was an excellent value. We would happily choose Ken and his team to work on Madrone again.
