Bali Haul Out Methods: Travel Lift, Slipway and Crane Compared

Written and maintained by the Bali Shipyard Build Desk · last reviewed 19 August 2026

“Can you haul my boat” is a question with four different technical answers in Bali, and picking the wrong one wastes a yard window. This is how each method works, what it loads, and where it fails.

Travel lift

A wheeled gantry straddles the vessel over a lift pit, passes slings beneath the hull, lifts, and carries the boat to a hardstand position. It is the default for most modern hulls because it is quick, it puts the boat where the work is, and it leaves the hull accessible on all sides.

Constraints:

• Beam through the gantry. A hard limit. This is what most commonly excludes catamarans.
• Weight. The lift’s rated capacity, with a real margin — not the boat’s brochure displacement but its loaded weight.
• Sling positions. Slings must clear shafts, struts, stabiliser fins, transducers and speed logs. Where the builder documented lifting points, they are used; otherwise a plan is drawn from the general arrangement.
• Depth at the lift pit at the tide state on the day.

Marine railway slipway

The vessel is floated onto a submerged cradle which is then winched up rails. The cradle carries the hull along its length rather than at two sling points, which is why it suits heavy displacement, long-keeled hulls and timber vessels that do not appreciate being suspended.

Constraints:

• Cradle fit. The cradle must be built or adjusted for the hull form; a poor fit is worse than a sling lift.
• Approach depth at the rails, which is tide-dependent at most Bali facilities.
• Occupancy. The slipway is shared infrastructure, so long stays are discouraged or charged accordingly.
• Access. Working around a hull on a cradle is more restricted than on open hardstand blocks.

The full comparison for lay-up purposes is in slipway versus hardstand.

Mobile crane

A road crane lifts the vessel from the water at a quay and places it on the hard. It is the flexible option: it works where there is no travel lift, it can be brought in at short notice, and it suits tenders, dive boats and small craft.

Constraints:

• Lifting points. The vessel needs documented, structurally adequate lifting eyes or a proven strop arrangement. Improvised lifting points are how boats get damaged.
• Reach and radius. Crane capacity falls off sharply with radius; a crane rated for the weight may not be rated for the weight at the distance required.
• Quay strength and access for a heavy road crane.

Tidal careening and grids

The vessel is settled against a wall or on a grid at high water and dries out as the tide falls, giving access to the underwater body for a few hours. It is inexpensive and genuinely useful for inspection, anode changes and small antifoul touch-ups.

Constraints: working time is set by the tide, not by the job; the hull must be able to take the ground safely; and no coating requiring extended cure can be applied. It is a maintenance tool, not a refit tool.

Diver work afloat

For hull scrubs, propeller cleaning, anode changes, inspection and video survey, a diver is faster and costs far less than any lift. What it cannot do is anything requiring a dry surface — which means all coating work, all laminate repair and all fastening work.

For a boat working hard in Bali’s warm water, scheduled diver scrubs between annual haul-outs are one of the best-value maintenance items available, because fouling costs fuel continuously. That fits into the calendar on yacht maintenance Bali.

Comparison at a glance

Method	Suits	Cannot do	First thing to verify
Travel lift	Most GRP, aluminium, planing hulls	Excess beam or weight	Beam through gantry; loaded weight
Slipway	Heavy displacement, long keel, timber	Long stays; open access work	Cradle fit; approach depth
Mobile crane	Small craft, tenders, emergencies	Large or unlifted-point vessels	Lifting points; crane radius rating
Careening / grid	Inspection, anodes, touch-ups	Coating systems; structural work	Tide window; ability to take ground
Diver afloat	Scrub, props, anodes, survey	Anything needing a dry surface	Visibility and current

How the method changes the scope

The lifting method is not a logistics detail; it shapes what can be done. A boat on a slipway cradle cannot easily have its blocking moved to coat the areas the cradle covers. A boat careened on a tide has hours, not days. A boat on hardstand blocks can have those blocks moved as a scheduled event so the entire underwater body is coated — which is why hardstand is the default for any serious coating programme.

Deciding the method belongs at scope stage, alongside draft, tide and slot planning. Those are covered in dry dock planning: tides, draft and booking windows and on the main Bali haul out and dry dock page.

Preparing the boat for whichever method is used

• Mark sling or cradle bearing positions on the hull in advance, in something that survives a pressure wash.
• Have the general arrangement available so blocking can be planned against structure rather than guessed.
• Agree tank state. Fuel and water change lift weight materially on a mid-size vessel and change draft on the approach.
• Retract or protect vulnerable fittings — transducers, speed logs, stabiliser fins — and tell the lift crew where they are.
• Clear the decks of anything that can move, and secure hatches.
• Brief the crew on where nobody stands: never under a hull while slings are taking or releasing load.

These six items take an hour between them and remove most of the risk that a lift carries. They are also the items that get skipped when a boat arrives on a tide with the lift already waiting, which is an argument for arriving early rather than exactly on time.