Seattle boatyard doubles in size

SEATTLE – Lake Union Yacht Center, a full service boat yard, has moved its entire operation to a new facility with more than double the square footage of its present location, giving it the ability to haul out boats up to 85 tons and approximately 80 feet in length, the company reported in a recent statement.

The boat yard’s location has changed from North Lake Union to the LeClercq Marine building at 1080 West Ewing Street on North Queen Anne, just east of the Ballard Bridge.

“The demand for our services is so strong that we doubled the number of employees last year and are 40 strong now,” said Geo Tamblyn, founder and owner of LUYC. “We expect to grow again by 25 percent or more in the coming year, so we are delighted to have this new facility, which will allow us to continue to expand and better serve our customers.”

The new facility includes a 100 x 300 foot completely enclosed climate-controlled building that will allow LUYC to serve the larger, long-term refit projects that lend themselves to being out of the water for a period of time, the company stated. The new location will also accommodate a 2,000 square foot paint shed for up to 80-foot yachts. Additionally, the location will also be able to accept semi-truck deliveries of boats, something that was not feasible in the Wallingford location. Boaters who purchase boats on the East Coast can now have them shipped to LUYC and reassembled.

Another important benefit of the completely enclosed building is environmental. The new building contains any industrial pollutants with 100% efficiency, according to the company.

“The regulations for doing work in boatyards are moving toward full enclosure,” explained Tamblyn. “That means tarping off and vacuuming up bottom paint will soon no longer be legal. I’m very proud that our new facility will be ahead of the coming regulations instead of trying to catch up with them and that we will be able to assure our customers that we are doing all we can to protect the environment in which we boat.”

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