Vancouver, BC - NOT moorage options for small sailboat

[YVRdarb]

Greetings,


I am considering the purchase of my first sailboat and am considering something around 20 feet with a shallow weighted keel.


If at all possible, I would like to avoid full time moorage and I am an urban dweller and (a.) have no place to park a boat and trailer and (b.) have a small car which can not tow such a boat and do not intend to upgrade and maintain a vehicle with the intent just to be able to tow a boat.


Thus I was just wondering if there are any local options available?


I was thinking that there perhaps was a marina around that may offer onsite boat/trailer storage with the option to have the marina launch the boat as/when required or perhaps offer a site truck available for use.


Jericho and a few others have options for smaller and lighter boats.


Any suggestions?

[sv_pelagia]

Doesn't Burrard Civic marina (by Burrard Bridge) have trailered sailboat storage?

[TrentePieds]

I do believe Burrard Marina does have storage for trailered boats, but I also believe there is quite a waiting list. Only way to find out for sure is to phone them.

I'm not sure what is happening at Jericho these days. They had a hard time with storms and floods this winter and may therefore be more than usually constrained. No doubt it will help if you join one of the clubs there.

Reed Point marina on Barnet Highway - twixt Burnaby and Port Moody - MIGHT have facilities for trailered boats, but proceeding under sail alone is forbidden in Vancouver Harbour between the bridges. So that scuppers you for Mosquito Creek. There is no dry storage as far as I know at Dollarton.

Shelter Island (on the Fraser in Richmond) certainly has a large yard, but whether they take new clients I don't know.

In general, you'll do yourself a favour if you list all the marinas in the environs of Vancouver and spend a few hours on the phone getting the word directly from the horse's mouth!

I can say with some certainty that Killer's Cove Marina in Harrison Hot Springs will be able to accommodate you, but that may be too far afield for you.

Bonne chance :-)!

TrentePieds

[TrentePieds]

YVR: I just clued in :-) If you are near the airport, have a go at Shelter Island, and also Ladner and Steveston. If you are on REALLY good terms with people on the south end of the airport or with the SAR people there, maybe something "unofficial" can be arranged ;-)

TP

[sv_pelagia]

Also check with "Lions Gate Marina"... a dry storage/no docks "marina" on North Shore across from Stanley Park. (Probably too pricey... but worth a check.)

[Scorpius]

There's also Sunset Marina up the Sea-to-Sky Highway a ways towards Squamish. It's a bit of a drive to get there but they have dry storage for boats to 25' (meaning they aren't crowded with larger boats) and it's a wonderful base for some great Howe Sound sailing.

https://sunsetmarina.ca/

[sv_pelagia]

Originally Posted by Scorpius

There's also Sunset Marina up the Sea-to-Sky Highway a ways towards Squamish. It's a bit of a drive to get there but they have dry storage for boats to 25' (meaning they aren't crowded with larger boats) and it's a wonderful base for some great Howe Sound sailing.

https://sunsetmarina.ca/

masts down, I expect

[YVRdarb]

Thanks for the replies.

Parking is only half of the problem; it wont do me any good if I don't have a vehicle that can pull it up the ramp.

If I am going to have to upgrade my vehicle, I will just be better off with moorage and all of the pluses and minuses that come along with it.

Has anyone heard of anything along the lines of:

I was thinking that there perhaps was a marina around that may offer onsite boat/trailer storage with the option to have the marina launch the boat as/when required or perhaps offer a site truck available for use.

[bcboomer]

Try Milltown Marina. They have dry storage for up to 30 feet but don't know if that would work for a keelboat.

[jooa]

Just a few thoughts on choosing a marina. What kind of sailing will you do? Burrard is great for day sailing because you can be in English Bay in ten minutes. Other marinas you may have to travel a distance down river, or have to time your sailing around tidal gates, ie First Narrows under the Lion gate Bridge, before you are able to sail, same thing for returning to your marina. If the marina is too far from home it makes use and maintenance of the boat difficult.
If you are a novice sailor and want to get the sailing experience in, then Burrard is excellent for that but you may have to deal with the waiting list. A boat that is close to home allows you to use the boat after work, invite your friends down for a bbq, take a nap on a windless afternoon, after all, there more to owning a sailboat than just sailing.

[Puget Dan]

Join https://www.vikingsailingclub.bc.ca/
They have boats and you won’t have to worry about moorage. Also the cost!
Good luck. That’s the way I started 30 years ago and now have a 38’ Trimaran moored in Anacortes. Good luck

[sv_pelagia]

Originally Posted by Puget Dan

Join https://www.vikingsailingclub.bc.ca/
They have boats and you won’t have to worry about moorage. Also the cost!
Good luck. That’s the way I started 30 years ago and now have a 38’ Trimaran moored in Anacortes. Good luck

Or Jib Set club:
https://www.cooperboating.com/community-and-clubs/

Or Barnet Sailing Coop:
https://barnetsailing.bc.ca/

[Scorpius]

Originally Posted by sv_pelagia

masts down, I expect

re Sunset Marina: Not necessarily. Their photo album shows boats on trailers parked in uncovered parking lots as well a covered storage. And I am sure they have a vehicle capable of launching and recovering via boat trailers.

When I was a kid in the very early 1960's we kept a 10' boat with a 3 horse Viking outboard there at the dock. My brother and I frequently went out after school and on weekends to play around in Howe Sound. How times have changed - and not!

If it's not too far away for you, phone them.

[Leee]

Vancouver has fewer moorage options for boats of all sizes than almost every waterfront city I've been to. It seems that GVRD has the same attitude as the whole of Canada which is "let's do nothing and wait for the problem to go away." Part of the issue is the short length (5 years I believe) of Federal waterway leases and their reluctance to grant more of them, coupled with never-ending environmental reviews. We could use thousands more boat slips.

I suggest buying a centreboard boat of the same length. Any car can trailer it and there are plenty of storage yards around where you can park it.