Engine Replacement Costs

Trying to keep track of costs during the repowering project was challenging enough because of "minor" charges being presented and paid off in cash often with no receipts during busy and demanding times.  To compound the challenge, some charges were presented in US dollars and others in Mexican pesos.  Because I express all costs in my spreadsheet in Aussie dollars I was forced to deal with an AUD-USD exchange rate that ranged from below .82 to above .94 during the span of the project. 

Having said that, the following is a summary of the repowering costs in Aussie dollars (AUD):

1. Engine Purchase and Preparation:  $17,052 ($13,392 USD)
2. Engine Spares, Crating, Shipment to San Diego: $1,333
3. Truck Transport San Diego - La Paz: $916
4. Hardstanding: $1228  (Includes haulout, 3 days on hardstand, labour for antifouling, cutlass bearing and propeller shaft)
5. Propellers Shaft: $675
6. Engine Bed Preparation and New Instrument Panel: $1686
7. Engine Installation: $3822

That yields a total of $26,712 AUD, or  $23,774 USD using the current exchange rate of .89.

The actual engine installation, leaving out the measures taken to deal with the bent propeller shaft, came in at $24,809 AUD.

I'll make some remarks on the costings.

The engine purchase costs (items 1&2) included "extras" such as the PSS dripless packing and the bronze high rise exhaust, as well as enough spare filters, belts, impellers, etc to get me back to Australia.  Also, not explicitly stated is the invaluable service that was provided to help me select the engine and its options.  I would not have known about the proper engine sizing, which gear option to choose, about the 8 degree coupler angle and its advantages, the high exhaust riser option, choice of instrumentation, etc.  Even after the installation I am getting a lot of help with propeller matching issues.  Anyone who thinks that he can put together an engine order from working with a web site is asking for big trouble.  It was my bad luck that the exchange rate of the Aussie dollar dipped from the high .90's to about .82 at the very time that I was paying for the engine in US dollars.  To add insult to injury the exchange rate climbed back to over .94 after my payments.

In my opinion the most difficult part of the repowering was the engine bed preparation, which involved lowering the engine beds and changing their angle.  In this Mac, one of the principals of Marina de La Paz, provided invaluable assistance when he quietly designed the new beds, complete with drawings, and built a jig on short notice only a day or two before he departed on a long holiday to the U.S.  Mac's work was the foundation for the engine bed preparation work that came in at $1686, including about 3 days of labor for the fabrication of the new cockpit instrument panel.

The charge for the actual engine installation work by Marina de La Paz came in at a remarkably low $3822.  This included tasks such as removing the old Sabb engine and then towing Pachuca back to her pen and 20% of the cost of a steel crane built for the job of lowering the new engine into the boat.  Joel, the chief mechanic, did the installation at a charge of 45 hours at $31 per hour.  The hourly cost of his colleagues was only $10 per hour.

I told Neil, the other principal of Marina de La Paz, how happy I was with the installation charges and more important, how happy I was with the quality with the work.  I cannot envision a better installation job done anywhere else in the world, and I will recommend Joel and his team at Marina de La Paz to anyone who asks.

And speaking of Neil, he's another factor that does not show up in the ledgers.  I thanked Neil for acting as interpreter, counselor, and de facto project manager.  He was my "go to" person with problems ranging from an obstructive Customs service to finding skilled specialists in carpentry, fiberglassing, and boat electrics.  I really don't know how I would have fared without him.