Haul-out cost in Central California: published rates

Published haul-out rates in Central California

These are prices that businesses publish on their own websites and rate sheets. We read 2 pages from 2 Central California yards. They are not DockDash prices, and your quote may differ.

Other regions: San Francisco Bay Area, or all of California.

How haul-out is priced

A haul-out lifts the boat out of the water by Travelift or crane so the bottom can be inspected, cleaned or painted. Boatyards and harbor-district yards usually publish these rates.

Per foot of length, often with a minimum. Some yards publish one price for haul and launch; others list the haul, pressure wash, blocking and lay days separately.

What drives the cost

• Boat length, and sometimes beam or weight for multihulls and heavy boats.
• What is bundled: haul only, haul and launch, pressure wash, blocking.
• Days on the hard (lay days) and whether you work on the boat yourself.
• Short-haul (hang in the slings) versus full haul and block.

Length overall vs waterline

Most per-foot prices are multiplied by the boat’s length overall (LOA): bow to stern, often including pulpits, swim platforms and davits. A few businesses use waterline length, which is shorter, so the same rate gives a smaller bill. Before comparing two quotes, ask each business which length it bills on and convert both to the same basis.

Many price lists also change the rate with size: a higher per-foot rate for bigger boats, or a flat minimum for small ones. Where a business published tiers, the tables below show each tier separately.

What’s usually included, and what’s extra

California rules that affect the price

• How often you need a haul-out mostly follows your bottom paint: about 2 to 3 years for copper paint and 5 to 10 years for non-biocide coatings, per manufacturer claims. (Port of San Diego, LA County, DBW and California Coastal Commission, 2019)

Rules change. Check with the harbor or agency before relying on them.

How to read a quote

• Ask whether the per-foot price covers haul and launch, or each way.
• Ask which items (wash, blocking, lay days) are extra.
• Get the price in writing, with what is included, before work starts.

To check a price for your boat, try the service cost estimator; to line up two or three quotes on the same basis, use the quote comparison tool.

Every published price we found

• City of Morro Bay Harbor Department Morro Bay · Central Coast

  • $11/ft — Launch ramp haul-out, per foot (city harbor fee)

  City of Morro Bay Schedule of User and Regulatory Fees and Charges (Effective July 1, 2026), Effective July 1, 2026, read 2026-11-11

• Santa Cruz Harbor Boatyard (Santa Cruz Port District) Santa Cruz · Central Coast

  • $13–$16/ft — Monohull, per ft; $13/ft 2-strap, $16/ft 4-strap; $300 minimum Includes: 2-strap haul, high pressure wash, shoring; haul and launch days not charged as lay days.
  • $16–$19/ft — Multihull, per ft; $16/ft 2-strap, $19/ft 4-strap; $350 minimum Includes: 2-strap haul, high pressure wash, shoring.
  • $12/ft — Short haul / survey haul (hold in straps), per ft, $275 minimum, 1-hour max; extra time $250/hr; pressure wash $1.50/ft extra Includes: Haul, hang, relaunch only.
  • $275/hr — Travelift and crew, per hour, $275 minimum; additional time in 1/4-hour increments

  Santa Cruz Port District FY27 Fee Schedule - Boatyard, FY27 fee schedule, read 2026-11-11

Methodology and limitations

• Sources: only the business’s own website or rate sheet. No reviews, directories, forums or quotes we requested. We did not contact any business.
• Sample: 5 published prices from 2 businesses on 2 pages. This is the set we could find, not a survey or a random sample, and many businesses don’t publish prices at all.
• Dates: we read every page on 2026-11-11. 2 of the pages carry a date or fiscal year, 0 show only a copyright year, and 0 have no date. Each price below shows what its page said.
• How we summarize: prices are grouped by unit (per foot, per hour, flat, per visit, per gallon) and by kind of job, and never mixed. The range runs from the lowest published price to the highest. The median gives each business one vote (the middle of its own range), so a yard with many size tiers doesn’t outweigh a diver with one price. Where a business wrote “starting at”, we used that figure, so real bills are often higher.
• Region pages exist only where at least 3 published prices from 2 or more businesses are available.
• Your quote may differ. Condition, access, season, and what’s included all change the price. Use these figures to ask better questions, not as a price promise.