It was tongue-in-cheek, but I am quite amazed at the price tag nonetheless. That's basically half the price of what a nice 32-3 costs--especially in this economy where boats are starting to sit for years!
For 17K (or a little more), I would hope to buy a new mast and all new rigging. Last time I re-rigged a boat was in 2019 and it was an 1987 Ericson 38-200 in Southwest Florida. It cost me about $2,100 for all new wire and swaged fittings and the rigger did the work in the yard on the ground. I believe he was supplied by Hayn and he made everything on-site, in his work van. He also came to the boat after to tension the rig in the water.
For what it's worth, I ran a mobile marine repair business (including some sailboats) in the Annapolis area for three years from 2021-2024 and charged $145/hour by the end, so I do think I have a handle on how much things can and should cost in this area.
I will restate that 17K is a very hefty sum for this type work, depending on how exhaustive. My bet is that yards to the south and north of Annapolis like Herrington Harbor would do it for substantially less--I bet even Jabin would have been much less since they have competition between contractors. I push back because I think you paid much above the going rate and I don't want it to scare other Ericson owners from doing this type of work--even those in the Annapolis area.
Did that price include painting I hope? Did it include removing and rebedding chainplates?--which is the real weakness on Ericsons (I know because I broke one on passage that could have taken the rig with it had I not caught it).
But hey, it's your boat and your money and if you got it and don't mind dishing it out, then I can see how one would be happy with having such work done for him, no matter the cost: you can't put a price on peace of mind. I'm glad it worked out for you and that you're happy with the work at Port Annapolis! It is a nice marina and I almost kept (and lived on) another Ericson there in 2022.