SHELTER ISLAND MARINA & BOATYARD IN RICHMOND, BRITISH COLUMBIA, PURCHASES NEW MARINE TRAVELIFT 75 BFMII

STURGEON BAY, WI (September 22, 2015) – Marine Travelift Inc. announced today that Shelter Island Marina & Boatyard in British Columbia, Canada, has purchased a new 75 BFMII mobile boat hoist. The machine, delivered earlier this month, is designed to handle powerboats, sailboats, tugs, fishing boats and patrol boats approximately 80 feet (24 meters) in length.

This is the fifth Marine Travelift machine for Richmond-based Shelter Island. Founded in 1978 on the south arm of the Fraser River, this full-service facility is one of the largest yards on the Pacific Coast, and it operates two of the largest Marine Travelift mobile boat hoists along the western seaboard. It can lift vessels from 20 to 130 feet, it provides long- and short-term storage for hundreds of boats, and it boasts more than 8,000 linear feet of freshwater moorage.

“With more than 20 acres of boatyard accommodating more than 400 vessels, it’s imperative that we have reliable and efficient equipment to keep the yard operating smoothly,” said Terry McPhail, Shelter Island’s president. “Marine Travelift has always provided the newest technologies. Given the success we’ve enjoyed with our previous four Marine Travelift hoists, and the great local service from Kendrick Equipment, we were pleased to order another machine.”

Shelter Island’s new 75 BFMII features two-speed hoists, which allows operators to increase lifting speed for more efficiency when the machine is in high demand and in the Pacific Northwest’s greatly fluctuating tides. It also has Marine Travelift’s signature top beam extension. With this innovative feature, the top beam is moved forward, providing additional clearance while the boat is supported in the slings.

This allows the boatyard to lift a much larger number of sailboats without needing to adjust the vessels’ rigging. There’s no need to dismantle the forestay, which reduces stress on the mast and gives greater ground clearance to the keel during lifting. It also allows the yard to handle recreational and commercial power vessels that have larger, higher superstructures.

“Shelter Island hauls a lot of larger sailboats, including race boats, and the top beam extension makes handling them a lot easier — and quicker,” said Dave Marshall, sales manager at Kendrick Equipment.