Shipwright & Gelcoat Repair: Dockside Rate Guide

Shipwright work is the most visual trade on the dock — the finish shows, the difference between a good job and a great one is measurable in gloss, and owners know it. It's also the trade where a photo-rich quote wins the job outright.

What clients ask for most

• Gelcoat chip, gouge and scratch repairs.
• Polishing, compounding and cut-and-polish restorations.
• Blister surveys and osmosis treatment.
• Prop-shaft, strut and rudder fairing.
• Major laminate and structural repairs, usually after an incident.
• Teak deck care and re-caulking.

Indicative dockside rates

Ranges we see quoted across Sydney yards and mooring fields:

• $95–$150/hr for repairs carried out in situ at a berth or hardstand.
• Chip and gouge repairs from $200–$400 per area, colour-matched.
• Full compound and polish from $35–$60 per foot of vessel length.
• Blister and osmosis work quoted per hull after moisture readings — never sight-unseen.

Quoting from photos — and when to go and look

Owners on MarineTasker post jobs with photos up front, and most cosmetic work can be quoted straight from them. Set your expectations in the quote: photos hide what's under the waterline, and some jobs deserve an inspection before the price is final. Saying so in your quote builds trust instead of costing you the job.

Materials, markup and cure time

Colour-matching gelcoat, tints and consumables are real costs — itemise them. Cure and recoat windows also set the schedule: a repair that needs a week of cure before the boat goes back in the water should be quoted with the launch date agreed, not discovered after.

Photo proof and sign-off

Every job closes with before, during and after photos, the owner signs off, and payment releases. The same photos file into the vessel's logbook — which matters most in this trade, because a documented repair history is exactly what a surveyor looks for at resale.

Growing into survey-grade work

A verified history of clean chip repairs becomes the on-ramp to the serious money: structural work, insurance repairs and pre-purchase refits. Founding providers keep a 10% platform rate on their first 20 jobs while that history builds — the cheapest apprenticeship in reputation management there is.