Travel Lift at
ABYC
NOTES
• This is the informational presentation made in November, with a few additional slides at the end explaining the thinking behind some of the other options
• Specifics on financing (borrow, lease, etc.)will be laid out by VC-Finance, and form part of any formal proposal
• Thanks to all those who have contributed to the research and plans
Erik Dullerud & Paul BrennanVC Marine & Rear Commodore
Why even think about it?
We have considered this in the past, at least twice. Since then:
Safety is on everyone’s mind, and riding, pulling, and pushing
cradles with 5+ ton boats in them remains a risk
Annual crane rental costs have increased steadily
Modern designs have bigger sterns and don’t sit well in railway cradles;
very few new boats go to railway
Average boat size keeps getting bigger
We are actively rebuilding our walls, and
a slip for a travel lift can be included at reduced cost
Our demographics are maturing; two solid days of high-
paced haulout is a lot
People are interested in leaving spars up year round
Some members want shorter season, others want longer
What we need from you
• HONEST INPUT
• SUGGESTIONS
• IDEAS
• ALTERNATIVES
Overview
• Travel lift and hydraulic trailer work together
• Travel lift moves boat between water &
cradle
• Trailer moves cradle to location in yard
• <10% of time (X-large/special boats), travel
lift moves boat to final location (stands or cradle)
• Process is relatively slow
• ~30 minutes/boat
• as opposed to 7-12 minutes/boat for crane or
railway
Travel Lift
Trailer
Considerations
• SAFETY
• COSTS & PAYMENT
• TIME & SCHEDULE
• EFFORT
• STAFFING
• FLEXIBILITY
• MAST UP STORAGE
• SLIP LOCATION
• YARD LAYOUT CRADLE MANAGEMENT
• SUMMER LAND USE
• “ALL HANDS TOGETHER” AT LAUNCH & HAULOUT
Safety – Travelift & Trailer
• No boats lifted more than 4’ off ground
• SLOW movement
• no chasing tag-lines through the parking lot
• Slow lift, precise adjustments
• Not impacted by wind
• No chance of spinning
• No riders
• Separate control over bow and stern,no heavy loads on boats/pads if boat comes down off level
Crane & Railway Cost
• 2014 Total: $50K
• 2015 Total: $56K
• Railway operations & maintenance $9.2K
• Crane Rental
(including trailer & forklift): $47K
• Expected to grow ~5%/year
Travel Lift Cost
• Quoted equipment can handle up to a Beneteau 50, more than currently required
• Initial Investment: $410K
• 25T Travel Lift (new to 10 years old):
• $100-160K, average: $130K
• Slip: $90K
• 15T Trailer (new): $40K
• Tow vehicle (used): $20K• can also be used to plow snow
• Steel cradles for those that don’t have: $90K• $1500 x 60
• Feet on existing cradles: $17K• $125 x 150
• Minor re-grading of lot: $23K
• Ongoing operation & maintenance $15K
• Fuel, preventive maintenance, inspections, repairs
• Lead bosun is primary lift operator – portion of salary
• Insurance – no change
• Expected to grow ~5%/year
Paying for Travel Lift
• Initial Capital Investment: $410K
• Borrow or lease funds @ 4.5%
• Pay down capital as fast as we can, at a rate so
that
Travelift (Capital + Interest + Operating Expense)
is the same as
Crane & Railway (Operating Expense)
• Keeping Travelift annual cashflow the
same as projected Crane & Railway
Until it’s paid off …
Compared Annual Expenses$000s; Assumes 5% annual growth in expenses
55.9 58.7 61.7 64.8 68.0 71.4 75.0 78.7 82.686.8
91.195.7
0.0
20.0
40.0
60.0
80.0
100.0
120.0
Crane & Railway (all Operational Expense)
55.9 58.761.7 64.8 68.0
71.4 75.0 78.7 82.686.8
40.2
25.7
0
20
40
60
80
100
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027
Travelift
Operational Expense Interest on Capital Capital Paydown
Compared Cumulative Costs$000s; Assumes 5% annual growth in expenses
56
115
176
241
309
380
455
534
617704
795
890
443477
509542
574605
635664
692 719
744 769
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
1000
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027
Cumulative Cost
Crane & Railway Travelift
Schedule
• Today:
• Two very busy weekends (4-5 days total)
• Railway and two cranes operating simultaneously
• Any serious issue could throw us into another day• Weather, equipment failure, accident
• Significant cost overrun!
• Future:
• 230 boats @ 30 minutes/boat = 115 hours
• 16 days for launch, 16 for haulout = 32 days
• 4 days/week for 4 weeks in Fall• Possibly shorter during launch, with longer days
• Likely centered around our current days
• Owners need to be present for an hourin spring, an hour in fall
Effort
• Today:
• All hands on deck for 3 days
• ~250 people x 3 days = 750 person days
• Hard physical work
• Plus mast stepping & unstepping
• Future:
• 32 days x 6 people = 192 person days• Lift operator, trailer operator, two helpers,
boat owner, rider
• Mix of staff (yard) and volunteers
• Fewer masts removed
Staffing
• Operators
• Yard Bosun(s) and volunteers
• Wash Crew
• We could add one more to team
• An extra paid minimum-wage cheaper than
truck service
• Operator Training:
• Weekend course for lift
• Half day course for trailer
Flexibility
• Today:
• One launch date, one haulout date• Limited flexibility for some railway boats
• Future:
• Members can choose longer vs. shorter season• Seniority can be used to give first choice
• Generally last out, first in, with ability to delay by moving
• Wooden boats can be left in slings overnight
• Haulouts for survey or repair becomeeasy for any boat
• Summer on-shore storage practical for any boat
Mast Up Storage
• Travelift can lift and trailer can carry boats
with mast up
• No extra lifting time
• On largest boats, the owner may have to loosen a
backstay to clear the cross-bar, and use a halyard
as a temporary backstay
• Most of our yard area would support
mast-up storage
• Some areas have trees, and wouldn’t
be good for mast-up boats
Slip Location
• Proposed slip location
• At end of railway• Lots of maneuvering room for travelift
• Not our prime real estate
• Long staging dock
• Reasonable dredging done from shore
• Allows for a staging dock, facilitating entry/exit from slip
• If we build in summer, we can completely close railway,
• If we build in winter, we can shorten rails for final launch by crane
or travelift
• Other locations considered and not preferred
• Beyond Mast Crane
• White wall, midway between Blue and Green docks
Proposed Location…
Side View 1
Side View 2
View from Water
Yard Layout
• Yard layout completed
• ALL current boats accommodated
• Room for 24 additional boats,
• 8 @ 30x11’
• 16 @ 35x12’
• Regrading of railway area to bury rails and reduce slope
• No requirement for levelling area beside blue wall
• This is a POSSIBLE layout, to show capacity
• It is NOT a final layout, which would depend
on members preference for earlier/later haul/launch
Layout
Layout – Blue Wall
Layout – White Wall
Layout – Southwest
Layout – Coatsworth Cut
Layout – Drysail
Layout – Railway
Layout
Haulout Sequence
• Considerations:
• Fill the perimeter as much as possible
• Balancing:
• Parking & boat access for those still sailing
• Access to stored cradles
• Maneuverability around the yard
• What follows is only one idea
• Will differ depending on fleet makeup
• Haul/launch druthers
• Learning
Haulout Sequence
Haulout Sequence
Haulout Sequence
Haulout Sequence
Haulout Sequence
Haulout Sequence
Trailer Handling
Cradle Management
• Today:
• All out one day, most put away one day
• Big forklift rented
• Future:
• Batches of 1-2 days of cradles pulled out in advance for assembly
• No need for big forklift
• Tractor moves one cradle at a time to loading area after trailer removes last one
• Planning needed – better access tocradles, perhaps shorter vertical pilesinstead of two long rows
Summer Land Use
• With all cradles moved to folding steel, the
space for cradles in railway reduced by 80%
• No ways required either …
• Fewer masts down means fewer mast sheds
• This would increase available land East of the
driveway in the summer
All Hands Together
• Today, we have almost everyone at the club at the same time for 3-4 days a year
• Our two annual all-day work parties come closest to this
• One option would be to increase the number of all-day work parties
• Give people more opportunities to work together
• More time spent to keep up on maintenanceand the club looking great
• More flexibility in attending
• Could have two/year, member’s choice, mandatory?
• All thoughts welcome
Next Steps
• VC Finance to propose financing for the up-
front cost
• Loan for slip, lease for equipment?
• Confirm that we will be able to get a permit
• Consider all your input
• Go to membership with
recommendation for approval
Appendix – Other Options
• The following slides list some of the alternatives to a travel lift and trailer that we have considered, and their relative advantages & disadvantages
• The first slide summarizes:
• Red text is generally larger disadvantages
• Orange text is generally smaller disadvantages
• Black text is neutral
• The remaining slides provide a bit more info on each option
Summary
ConsiderationsDo Nothing (Current)
Travel Lift& HT
Mobile Crane To HT
Fixed Crane To HT
New Railway Cradles, Ways, 2 Hyd. Trailers
Shift Small Boats Back to existing
Rail
Risk Medium Low Medium Low Medium Low Low? Medium
Haulout / Launch timing flexibility VeryLimited Moderate Moderate Moderate Moderate VeryLimited
Large/Special Boat Capability AsAtPresent Better Limited Limited AsAtPresent AsAtPresent
Emergency Haulouts Partial Yes Partial Yes Partial Partial
Effort High Low Medium Low Medium High
Days Required (twice/year) OneWeekend One Month 3 Weekends One Month 3-4 Weekends OneWeekend
Cost Dependancies Variable costs climbing Largely Fixed Costs HybridLargely Fixed
CostsLargely Fixed
CostsSmall boats
declining
Proven Solution Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes
Capital ($K) - 410 205 420 600+? 50
Annual Operating Cost ($K – current) 56 15 40 15 10 52
Do nothing (current)
• Continue with crane and railway as we are now
• No capital required
• Actual operating cost in 2015
• Accept moderate risk inherent in both
operations
• high lifts
• wooden cradles moved by hand
• Accept that we have no emergency haulout for
our largest boats
Mobile Crane to HT
• This approach brings in one medium crane for a weekend and a small crane for two weekends (for launch, and again for haulout)
• rather than a large crane and a small crane
• uses two hydraulic trailers to keep up with the crane, replacing crane reach with hydraulic trailer
• Capital expense:• TWO trailers & tow vehicles
• feet on existing steel cradles
• new cradles for current railway boats
• Operating expense:• Two trailers & tow vehicles
• 12 days medium size crane rental
FixedCrane to HT
• This approach installs a 20T permanent crane, like our drysail cranes, but with 5 times the capacity and a height to handle masts-up
• Using it requires tag line people and people to steady the boat going into the cradle, so effort higher
• This system can’t carry a boat at all … so will require large powerboats etc. to be managed with trailer, increasing trailer size as well.
• We could speed up this process with a second trailer, getting it down to 3 weekends
• Capital expense:• Same as travelift/trailer option, but replacing travelift with crane
• Operating expense:• Same as travelift/trailer option
New Railway Cradle Design
• This approach designs new cradles for large or stern-heavy boats
• Longer cradles (12’ or 14’), made of steel and/or aluminum
• Movable rear sling to support sterns until pads in place
• UNPROVEN solution
• Capital expense:• New cradles or at least new uprights and sling for every current
crane boat in club
• Trailer(s) to move boats from railway car to other parts of property
• Improvements to existing railway cradles to increase safety
• Operating expense:• Railway car and trailer/tow vehicle
Shift some crane boats to railway
• This reduces our growing crane costs slightly, by
moving some of the boats that could be put into
the railway there
• Happened in the past; the candidates for existing
railway are rarer, as new designs are stern
heavy, and average boat size is growing
• Capital expense:
• New wooden cradles for the moved boats
• Operating expense:
• Slight decrease in crane rental, on the smaller crane