We hauled out at Nanaimo Boatyard (“NB”) at Stones Marina.
Our first time at this boatyard, we had heard good reviews from friends, their
prices were better than Vancouver area and, importantly, they have a large
Travelift, so we would not have to remove our backstay.
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| Now that's a dirty bottom... |
Our plans were fairly simple: (i) haul out and pressure wash
the bottom (by NB), (ii) wetsand/clean the bottom then 2 coats of bottom paint
(by us), (iii) replace 3 zincs (by us); (iv) fair keel’s very minor nick (by
NB) , (v) repack stuffing box, check stern tube hose, and consider dripless
stuffing box (by NB), and (vi) if time, polish hull (by us).
We booked a nearby motel, not being sure what it would be
like to stay aboard at this boatyard. Turns out, this was not necessary. The
boatyard allowed staying aboard and would have been perfectly comfortable, with
good showers, etc. Oh well, next time….
The haul out (and splashing back in) was the most careful we
have yet experienced. The yard very organized. The pressure washing was
definitely the best we have seen. But the better surprise was how quickly NB
staff got onto the items we requested them to do. Half a day into the haulout,
the stuffing box was shining, repacked and with a new stern tube hose (turns
out, after measuring, they determined a PYI dripless box would not fit), and
the keel was faired and sanded (as I said, it was minor: it only cost $42 to
repair!). Meanwhile, David was still scraping/sanding the bottom, and Michelle
polishing! After two nights (due to low tide, we had to haul out/in in the
later afternoon), we were finished.
Very impressed with Nanaimo Boatyard at Stones Marina.
After splashing back into the water, we spent an evening at the Nanaimo Yacht Club's reciprocal docks (good facilities), then had an excellent sail across to Howe Sound -- so much faster with a clean/smooth bottom!), where we recovered in Port Graves for 2 nights (we were tired!) before returning to our home dock at VRC in Vancouver.