Another beautiful boating season is upon us here in the pacific northwest. The boatyard is busy with mid season repairs, annual maintenance, and pre-purchase inspections.
Our local yacht brokers are hard at work matching both new and experienced boaters with their dream boats.
Specialty Yacht Sales – Coastal Craft 45 IPS Flybridge
This spring Specialty Yacht Sales has continued to expand their fleet with both quality pre-owned and brand new vessels including this awesome Coastal Craft – she looks even better inside. I’m a sailor at heart but this beauty makes me want to turn on that engine and cruise in comfort and style. Specialty is your go-to dealer for Coastal Craft, Marlow, and Hunter. Specialty does a great job with ongoing support and maintenance, and they know how to be your champion throughout the brokerage process if it’s a pre-loved boat you’ve got your eye on. Really friendly team, and good neighbors too!
Visit their website for more info on what they currently have available!
Fraser Yacht Sales – 2019 Jeanneau, Sun Odyssey 440
Fraser Yacht Sales is Western Canada’s exclusive dealer for several quality names in boating including the always impressive Jeanneau sailboats and powerboats. Our current fave in their line-up is the Sun Odyssey 440. She’s a stunner with sleek lines and high end construction – we love seeing the newest Jeanneau designs coming in and out of the marina while we work, there’s something so graceful about these boats, and the Odyssey is no exception.
Visit their site for a closer look, and for info on their other vessels – Azimut, J Boats and more, these guys get all the toys.
Yacht Sales West – Dufour Grand Large 430
The Maritime Market & Marina where we operate is also home to Yacht Sales West, they’ve got the lead on Bavaria, Dufour and more. Check out this incredible yacht in their collection this summer the Dufour Grand Large 430. The layout in this thing is really well thought out, and their unique designs make the interior so spacious! Not to mention the incredible finishings – this thing makes my house look like a cardboard box.
These guys are all boaters and they really know their stuff – check their site out for some really well curated brokerage boats, and the new shiny ones as well.
Those are just some of the great brokers we’ve got here on Granville Island; check out the Maritime Market & Marina directory for more of the local dealers with boats in our marina. It’s a fun afternoon to come down and have a look at whats on offer, and who knows maybe you’ll find the one.
That’s a snapshot of our favorite boats coming in and out of the creek – what else is going on? Well as usual this time of year we are treated to a parade of smiling folks in full survival gear out to catch a glimpse of orcas in the strait, or tour the local sites! The whale watching has been awesome this year for both Wild Whales Vancouver, and Prince of Whales who both operate out of the Maritime Marina just next door.
Vancouver Water Adventures tour boat off on another fun trip!
In direct opposition to the survival suits, the other foot traffic through our yard is primarily flip flop based – Vancouver Water Adventures continues to send waves of people out on the water by any means necessary – paddle boards? Jet Skis? Island tours? You bet! If you want to be on the water you better believe those guys will get you there in the most fun way possible. Eco-marine is no slouch in that regard either, they can outfit you with all the gear you need… including kayaks which I have to convince myself not to buy every summer when I remember how much fun it is. Gotta save that cash for upgrades to my little Catalina. For now, I’m satisfied renting my paddling vessels from them – oh plus they give me a nice refresher each time I go out which I need more than I’d like to admit after our long off season – wait… which way do I push the paddle to go backwards again?
We’ve got lots of water related fun on offer based on Granville Island, including rental boats, charters and cruises! Check out the Maritime Market & Marina marine activity directory to see what other adventures you can find here…
Speaking of my Catalina, she’s now nearly leak free after hauling her out again at the beginning of this season. It’s been a real learning experience working on her, repairing the keel, hunting for leaks, gutting and replacing everything that wasn’t fibreglassed down… I never could have done it without the endless and sometimes unsolicited help from our resident technicians. I remember that first haul out when she was just an insurance write off that I’d picked up for pennies. What the heck have I gotten myself into? But before the day was out I had Robbie from RR Yachts showing me how to properly apply bottom paint, Geoff from Superstition walking me through fiberglass application, Skookum providing much needed last minute supplies, Bernard from Blue Marine listening closely to my poor swamped outboard and giving me his most optimistic diagnosis, and of course our awesome customers coming up with tidbits of brilliance as folks came out of the woodwork to support my crazy endeavor. A few years and many weekend trips later and she’s still floating, so they must have given me pretty good advice.
This year’s focus has been on properly winterizing and sealing her up so I don’t have to run a constant heater in the winter to save my brand new upholstery. Now here’s my little tidbit of advice for you, don’t make the mistake I did, make sure your boat is 100% moisture proof and ready before dropping cash on new cushions! I nearly lost them to mildew after only three months.
I haven’t had a chance to get out on the water with her yet this summer, which is heartbreaking, but I have a good excuse – this year saw the birth of my first child! He’s been keeping me busy but now that he’s a few months old I think it’s time to bring him out on the boat. What do you think, attach a jolly jumper to the boom and let ‘er rip? Hmmm… He’ll be my family’s third generation of sailors, so I think that officially counts as a family tradition. Summers in the Gulf islands are some of my most cherished memories – Can’t wait to see the look on his face when he gets his first breath of sea air and feels that spray on his cheeks.
Are you out on the water yet this year or are you getting distracted by just…one…more…weekend…project? Check out our facebook page and let us know how your summers going! Are you mid project like me? Or are you out there with the wind in your hair enjoying this beautiful west coast summer? Drop us a line, and of course if you need a haul out, just call and ask for Trevor.
March 2018
Price List Update 2018
Winter is behind us, and we are eagerly looking forward to a new boating season! Last year we worked hard at improving our environmental systems, installing larger filtration tanks to increase our efficiency during the busy summer months. We have also upgraded our electrical systems, adding more outlets to the boatyard, for your convenience.
We were happy to see so many of you at our floating show booth during the Vancouver International Boatshow this January.
We moved our booth to the boatyard for this year’s show, and we enjoyed being in the middle of the action, equipped with hot chocolate, free quick-lift draws, and boat show only deals. We had a great time, and even brought out the BBQ on one of those unseasonably warm days. It was especially interesting to get to see all the amazing boats for sale at the floating show, truly impressive.
Congratulations to our five ‘quick-lift’ winners, and thank you to everyone who came by to say hello!
With spring upon us, our reservation list is filling up quickly. Make sure to get your name in early so that you’re ready for this year’s boating season as we are already receiving a high volume of calls.
We’ve updated our price list, note that it includes an increase to pressure washing for the first time in a long while, so be sure to take that into consideration as you budget for your next project. We look forward to having you out with us soon, and thank you for your continued support.
Thank you, from all of us at GIBY!
>>Price List – EFFECTIVE MAY 1, 2018<<
May 2017
Price List Update
Granville Island Boatyard is pleased to say that our brand new 55 tonne travelift has been in daily operation since March 2017, and is running like a dream. With the addition of this state of the art equipment, haul outs with GIBY are quieter, safer, faster, smoother, and cleaner! We have retired our old lift, (though it served us well!) and lowered our emissions significantly as a result.
We plan to continue to lessen our environmental impact this year, with more improvements already underway to build on our existing environmental filtration systems, and improve drainage in the yard.
With spring finally arriving in Vancouver we are experiencing high volumes of bookings, so make sure to call us early to ensure that we can get you out in time for boating season!
Please see our new pricelist effective June 1st. If you have any questions please feel free to call or email us.
Thank you for your continued support of Granville Island Boatyard.
Thank you!
The G.I.B.Y. Team
Pricelist – EFFECTIVE JUNE 1, 2017
FEBRUARY 2017
New 55 ton Travel Lift Coming to GIBY!
Granville Island Boatyard is happy to announce that we are replacing the 50 ton travel lift with a brand new 55 ton Marine Travel Lift, care of Kendrick Equipment. We’re very excited to have this new top of the line machine in operation!
Set up and assembly of the new machine will be taking place from Febuary 27th-March 3rd. During that time, no lifts or launches will be possible, although work can continue on boats already in the yard.
We’ll be back in operation March 4th, so give us a call or book online today for your spring time haul-out with our awesome new equipment!
