Drydock live aboard in Vancouver/Lower Main

[Makr0]

Hey All

This topic may be buried somewhere but I haven’t managed to find it in search.

I’m in early stage planning for purchasing a boat (all signs point to multihull), with the plan to cruise down south for an unspecified amount of time. My wife and are are complete novices with boats.

Whatever we end up getting we will want to fix it up, makes some modifications and do upgrades before we leave. It makes sense to me that I would bring it into dry dock to make these changes as well as ensure the hull is in top shape for the journey.

Are there any dry docks around that allow you to live aboard will you fix up your boat? Does my idea even make sense, should I just Live aboard on water to make the changes, then pull it out for hull maintenance right before we leave?

Thanks for any help, if there is a thread already going on this topic, please point me in it’s direction.

[EngNate]

Shelter Island Shipyard

[BillKny]

Living aboard on the hard is certainly allowed by many yards, but by no means all.

We do it, because our boat is our only home, floating or not. However... life on the hard is NOT one of the highlights of the cruising life. It sucks. If you are out for any period of time, you have no functioning head, and although you might have a working water system you have no usable drains. Using the toilet requires a trip down the ladder to the yard restroom. Washing dishes is not practical, and your AC system doesn't work. If you have water cooled fridges, they don't work.

Some of this can be over come in a fancy yard with enough money by renting cooling towers and black water tanks, but time on the hard is still not fun, and is best minimized.