Hello I am taking my boat to Baja Naval Ensenada for some maintenance wondering if anyone has any recent experience with them? Thank you.
Seems like the deal is to have an established list, get it quoted, limit change orders as much as possible, and to be regularly in attendance at the yard.
Background - we need to schedule some routine maintenance and a few improvements before the end of the year. I engaged two yards in Puget Sound - one which I used previously for a quick “in and out”; another recommended by a trusted friend. Yard 1 was going to send me an estimate (never received), and yard 2 was thinking my punch list would take 3 weeks to complete and we would need to be off the boat (understandable policy). Three weeks of lodging in the summer will be a considerable expense, and we have WA sales tax of around 10% where these yards are located.
On to Baja Naval…
I am a details guy and I spent considerable time reading what customers had to say about Baha Naval. This research led to the decision that I needed to reach out to Baha Naval, as they are on our cruising route.
I have been communicating with Baha Naval for about 2 weeks. My initial contact was via submission of an inquiry on their website one evening after business hours. I sent a detailed punch list in the comments. The next day, I received a polite personal response. Thank you for your inquiry, we have time on the schedule for your job and we can do most of the work. Please give us a few days to work up an estimate.
About a week later, I received a detailed response, with thanks for my patience. Each item on my punch list was clearly addressed. An email exchange led to a 40 minute phone call with Diego Fernandez this last Thursday to “fine tune” what I wanted and discuss the schedule. We had some specific requests and Diego met or exceeded expectations. For example, I asked for his permission to sleep on the boat in the yard, in the earlier email. Diego said we could sleep on the boat, they could provide water and pump out service, use the marina showers and bathroom, use the lounge with WiFi. We spoke about the jobs to be completed, sourcing specific parts and materials, and bottom coatings. Diego was genuine, professional, and there was no salesmanship. I felt like I was making a friend and I relaxed. Diego told me to talk to my wife and he would be available for questions. I got out my calendar and asked him to schedule the job on the spot.
Diego offered some scheduling advice based on “big deal” local events, and we scheduled an arrival date to the marina and a haul out the following Monday. Diego explained the next steps in the process, including a deposit, assignment of a project manager, and timeline. After the call, he followed up within 15 minutes with an email containing more information that he offered during the call (surveyor contacts and local information).
Later in the day, I received an unexpected email from the Baha Naval harbormaster. The harbormaster confirmed our arrival date to the marina and provided some requirements to enter Mexico. Included were 3 attachments - an Ensenada harbor satellite photo with Baha Naval clearly marked; a marina satellite photo; and a marina map with our slip assignment marked. We have been boating for years and have NEVER received as much arrival clarity and detail from a harbormaster.
Baha Naval is executing exactly what I want to see at this stage of the process - high levels of responsiveness and attention to detail. We are confident to leave the myriad resources of Puget Sound, pass a couple dozen or more yards on our way south, and schedule with Baja Naval. Hopefully I can come back here, later in the year, and share the great results.
Following. Helpful thread, particularly for those of us in San Diego.
I'm facing a big decision around whether to replace or upgrade our current vessel. She'll need bottom paint next season, and if we decide to keep her we'll think seriously about removing the teak decks, fixing/extending the swim step, possible full hull/topside paint, maybe a solid flybridge top, re-bed windows, etc... none of this is tremendously complex (unless we want the swim step to function as a hull extension, which we might), so BN seems like a good candidate compared to the San Diego yards.
Or I could try to chip away at it myself, but it's a *lot* of hours...
Well, La Costa's labor rate is in the $20/hr range. If your time is worth less, then by all means, do it yourself.
Rebed windows and paint of topsides is tough to quote. Hull and bottom are okay to quote. Removing the teak decks should be fairly comfortable to quote. Hard-top can run the gamut depending on what you want (lighting, ability to support a person to install solar, antenna, etc.).
My suggestion would be to take a ton of pictures and ask for quotes for the bottom hull, and to remove the teak decks and glass-over with non-skid paint. I would bid to Baja Naval and La Costa Boatworks (the folks who have worked on Weebles and done a decent job). I will tell you that Guillermo is not as responsive as Baja Naval, but his word is golden. Docks at Baja Naval suck, but at least they have docks. With La Costa, would have to stay at Cruiseport 3/4 mile away. Take a trip down and meet both Diego and Guillermo. Review the pricing. Meet the workers. La Costa and Baja Naval each have their benefits. Quality of work will be similar with both. Haul/Lay-days at La Costa are higher because they rent yard space. Labor rates at Baja Naval are higher and they seem to bid based on a slight discount off SoCal pricing whereas La Costa bids based on hours expended against $20/hr. If you need welding/Stainless Steel, Alberto at La Costa will knock-out small stuff whereas Baja Naval will contracts out everything. If you need mechanical or electrical work, be very specific with your questions - who will do it, what is their hourly rate, what is their experience with your exact work. Both Baja Naval and La Costa have basic mechanics/electricians, but if you need anything more than Circa 1995 work, it will be sub-contracted out, likely to the same people. Ask about how each charges for parts and materials.
If you need to stay on your boat, Baja Naval is a much nice place to stay. There are pluses and minuses.
Depending on how much work, La Costa will need a good 3-4 month lead time to accomodate you; Baja Naval a bit less. Both will take much longer than you think.
Of course, let me know if I can assist.
Peter
I've hauled out at Baja Naval several times over the past 20 years and have generally been happy with their work and pricing. Compared to Newport Beach the total cost for a bottom job is about 50% less and the paint quality is much better than what is available in So Cal. They have been good at keeping to a schedule and it's definitely convenient to stay on board on the hard.
The one problematic experience was that they cut and removed all the messanger lines in my mast when it was removed for painting. Peter will remember the aggravating day when he graciously helped me remove the rats nests that were due to their trying to run new lines with an electrician's fish tape.
Overall, I will go there again and it's a nice excuse to the wife for me to have a short sail down to MX for a week.
Roger - Saga 43 sloop
Jeff
With your experience and background you’d be a great judge - how would you compare Baja Naval to those in the Seattle area?