Refit Pitfalls

going to cost you to be in a full-service yard, but if you’ve got an owner that says, “OK, we want you 3,000 miles away in six weeks time, and we want you to get all that work done in four weeks,” then you’ve just got to say, well,

I need help with this, and go into a fullservice yard and get it knocked out. • I like going to a yard where they have their guys and I can pick and choose from the team they have and also bring in the guys I know. There’s a lot of IT guys you want to bring in, or special carpenters or touch-up guys — you know them, you have a relationship with them. I find that I like bringing in my own crew.

With yards being so crowded these days, do you make an extra effort to stay on their good side?

• If you go into a yard and you’re organized, and you’re not yelling and screaming at shipyard workers, and the work generally gets done, and you pay on time, and everyone is happy, then you will have a good rapport with that yard, and they’ll certainly welcome you back. These days, because they’ve got so many boats out there looking for space, they started to vet captains and owners to make sure they pay on time, and they’ll be the first people they let in. • The most important thing is that

you pay your bills on time, and you make sure you pay for the work that’s been done. There’s too many stories out there where people start haggling after the work’s done. There might be a problem with quality and all that, that’s fair enough, but these guys that try to cut the bill down after it’s all done just to get a better deal really screw the industry up, I think.

What are the challenges of bringing your own subcontractors in?

• One problem is insurance requirements, because a full-service yard has their contractors vetted and it takes a while to get another contractor vetted at a full-service yard — if they will do it. They may say, “We’re a fullservice yard, we have someone who can do the job, there’s no need to bring someone in.” I had to go through three different carpenters before I finally got one, and we found a roundabout way to get him in. But they made it so hard — they wanted him to go through an

OSHA program, and then insurance. ... I ended up moving facilities to get the contractors that I wanted, because of the relationship and the quality of work that I had with them.

PHOTO CAPT. JEFF WERNER

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Scope of work, cost, time: Change one, change all.

There are many possible pitfalls during the refit process, and the two most aggravating are going over budget and missed deadlines. Given the three constraints of project management — scope of work, cost, and time —there is an old adage regarding the quality of work during a refit: Changes to any one constraint require changes in the other two constraints or quality will suffer. For example, if the scope of work is increased, the cost of the refit will increase, and so will the duration of the refit.

PLANNING

Determining a realistic scope, maximum cost and time frame during the refit planning process is the most critical step for staying on budget and on schedule.

IMPLEMENTATION

Once work begins, the project manager, captain, crew, and refit yard team must all have access to the detailed work list produced from the scope of work. This checklist breaks down all the work to be completed into manageable tasks for a given day or days, and helps pinpoint any potential cost and time overruns.

MONITORING

Unforeseen problems are part and parcel to refit work. Installation complications, supply chain issues and poor time management can all lead to scheduling delays and increased costs. Diligence in monitoring and immediately finding solutions to these roadblocks will help minimize their impact.

The ultimate goal of a successful refit is a yacht owner who is satisfied with the quality of the work. The project manager and captain will have worked long hours to assure the vessel was launched and did sea trials on time and on budget. The payoff will be a happy owner or happy guests on the first cruise after refit.

JEFF WERNER HAS BEEN A YACHT CAPTAIN FOR MORE THAN 30 YEARS. HE IS A CERTIFIED INSTRUCTOR FOR THE RYA, USCG, AND U.S. SAILING, AND OWNS DIESEL DOCTOR (MYDIESELDOCTOR.COM).