Charter Company - The Nanaimo Yacht Charters & Sailing School

About Us

Our management team delivers memorable charter holidays on a fleet of well maintained sail and power yachts. We are the only Charter Company in BC with a full-service yacht repair / yacht-maintenance division, boatyard with an 85 ton Travelift, and Marine Store on site. For more information about our Yacht Services, Stones Boatyard, and The Marine Store at Stones Boatyard, visit: www.nanaimoboatyard.ca.

WHO ARE WE?

In April 2023, long time owners Ian and Shari MacPherson sold Nanaimo Yacht Charters to Tony and Mike Harris, Ken Schley, and Andrew Babuin.

The Harris’s are known for their history in the auto and cellular phone businesses. Mike oversees the Harris Auto Group and Tom Harris Cellular. Their Auto Group has eight dealerships that represent 11 OEM brands. Tom Harris Cellular is Canada’s largest Telus Authorized Dealer, with 51 locations in B.C. and Alberta. Mike also owns OK Tire (Parksville), Parksville Qualicum Self Storage, and Oceanside RV Sales and Consignment. Tony has also expanded into real estate development.

Ken Schley’s experience and success with Quality Foods is well known, and he continues to run Kelland Ventures. Kelland Ventures is a large property holding, management, and development company. It also includes a hospitality division featuring the Qualicum Beach Inn.

Ken owns the meticulously restored S.S. Minnow, the original vessel from the iconic TV series Gilligan’s Island. Ken also holds the Canadian distribution rights to Sealegs amphibious boats through Vancouver Island Marine Sales & Service.

Andrew Babuin was a Major Account Manager with Finning Canada, and a long-time family friend of the Harris brothers. He has a vast experience in serving customers and he aims to provide our clients with the best services that we can offer.

We have recently been asked to work with Transport Canada in promoting safe boating in the rental boat fleet:

Launch Course

Below is just a snippet of some of the world’s best cruising ground along the Sunshine Coast and through Desolation Sound onboard the Beneteau 40 – ‘Baraka Too’.

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Reg Speers

2021-09-13

We absolutely loved our experience with Nanaimo Yacht Charters! A professional and caring staff who really went out of their way to ensure we had a wonderful trip. I would recommend this company to anyone wanting a great experience chartering a boat on the west coast of Canada.

cameron walker

2021-09-11

I have chartered from many of the local yacht charter companies and Nanaimo Yacht Charters was terrific! They were very organized with pre-boarding details and providing the briefing details by video, so lots of time is not wasted before departing. They were very responsive to all issues and helpful in providing guidance and advice on planning etc.

Colleen Westeinde

2021-09-04

Look no further if you’re looking for a great sailing holiday! The boat is in great shape, the customer service before & during has been outstanding, our instructor (Darren) was fantastic and the available destinations are amazing!!!

michael keane

2021-08-31

Ask for Andy… My wife and I just finished our IYT day skipper certification and were onboard with Andy Deotter for 4 days. The material is normally covered in 5 days but due to COVID and some constraining timelines Andy was able to certify us in 4 days… he kept a great pace of material and is hands down a great teacher and navigator. He explains the material well, is very calm and uses fun ways to help us understand the lesson. On top of that we also needed to bring our kids (5 & 9) and Andy was great with them too. We am hoping to move on to the Yachtmaster course next and will ask for Andy.

Angus Morrison

2021-08-28

We had the trip to define Summer 2021 aboard Cool Runnings, a Hunter 33. Just wrapped up today, everything was thought of, whenever you thought “Would be nice to have a…” you found it in a locker. Boat was extremely clean and well organized, and the staff very supportive when we encountered a tough situation. We’ll be back.

beamreachingmarla

2021-08-27

Great access to many sweet anchorages, islands, marine parks.

Peter Hennig

2021-08-25

We have been with the Nanaimo Charter & Sailing School for all of our qualifications and charters. The team is fantastic, the instructors extremely competent and the fleet in excellent condition. Anyone who is looking for a charter or want's to get into sailing - go book with them!

Shevy Levy

2021-08-19

Pros: Tony was an amazing skipper. Probably the best we ever had. Cons: 1. The powerboat we have chartered had many issues which we had to fix by ourselves, 2. Poor instructions on the boat equipment, 3. Not enough beddings and towel supplies for our trip. 4. Huge hidden costs that were not communicated to our group before the trip - almost 20% more than the original quote.

Edith Eaton

2021-07-31

Had a great experience teaching two fellas from Alberta on the Catalina 36. Thank you NYC for setting this up. I was so relieved to know my students were vaxxed. Looking forward to the next course. Edith Eaton CRYA Yachtmaster NYCSS Instructor