The tough part is scheduling and finding a boatyard if there’s not one close.
Your nautical mileage may vary
Hourly labor rates are $0, I share ownership with 2 other people and we all pitch in.
That way it includes going to buy the paint and sandpaper, putting the boat in a drydock or otherwise on land, finding and dragging out the tools and getting power to them, drying the boat, cleaning it, eating, toilet breaks, taping off the edges etc, letting the paint dry, cleaning up everything afterwards, putting the boat back into the water and probably tons more that I missed.
x5 sounds about right for this one.
Sanding takes multiple person-days and can be the wrong method (depending on details). Media blasting (like soda) is much preferred but requires machines and infrastructure to collect the run-off. In ideal situations, sanding is not necessary at all.
It can be several boat bucks, or just about a hundred dollars. It depends.
For a 40' sailboat it doesn't take multiple person days, it takes about a quarter of a person day. More if you really have to take off a lot of layered up material. And you're right, blasting would work better in that case.
Last time I had it done it was $6450 including tax. 7 boat bucks.
1. In the fall, drive the boat onto the hauler's trailer, unstep the masts, and transport it to the yard. Place on blocks and pressure wash.
2. Winterize the boat, wait for spring.
3. In the spring, break out the shop vac and sander and sand the hull. Since it's a multi season ablative paint, don't sand it all off--just enough to smooth it out and get the dried, hard top layer off.
4. Roll on a coat of paint.
5. When the truck arrives to splash the boat, slap some paint on the spots where the stands' pads were, and where the blocks were under the keel.
6. Step and rig the masts.
7. Splash the boat and go sailing.
Steps 3-7 take place on two consecutive days, along with a bunch of other maintenance activities.