Boatyards in Malta: where to haul out and how to choose

Every boat in Malta comes out of the water sooner or later: for antifouling, for a survey, for a repair below the waterline, or to spend the winter ashore. Where it comes out depends mostly on its size and weight, and on how far the yard is from your berth.

These are five yards we work in. The figures are the yards’ own, taken from their websites at the time of writing. Capacities change when a yard buys a new lift, so confirm with the yard before you book.

In short

• Match the lift to the boat’s real weight and beam (its width), not the brochure figures.
• Ask how many days ashore are included and what each extra day costs.
• Ask whether your own contractors may work in the yard, and on what terms.

Three words you will hear

A travel lift, or travel hoist, is a frame on wheels that straddles the boat, lifts it in two slings and drives it ashore. A slipway is a ramp with a cradle on rails: the boat floats onto the cradle and is winched up. The hardstand is the open yard where boats stand ashore on cradles or props, the steel frames and stands that hold them upright.

The yards, one by one

Manoel Island Yacht Yard. On Manoel Island, off Gżira, in Marsamxett Harbour. The yard lists a travel hoist with a maximum lift of 75 tons, and seven slipways for vessels up to 50 m and 500 tons. It can work on boats afloat up to 100 m and has its own workforce across the trades. It is the nearest yard to the marinas at Msida, Ta’ Xbiex and Pietà. Website: yachtyard-malta.com.

Kalkara Boatyard. On Kalkara Wharf in Kalkara Creek, inside Grand Harbour. The yard hauls boats of up to 40 tons and moves them to their place on a hydraulic transporter, standing on steel cradles. It offers free moorings for boats waiting to come out, winter storage, and metered water and electricity. It lists CCTV and a night guard. Website: kalkaraboatyard.com.mt.

Bezzina. The yacht yard of Salv. Bezzina & Sons is at Coal Wharf in Marsa, at the inner end of Grand Harbour. This is a ship repair yard that also takes yachts. It lists mobile travel lifts up to 30 tons, slipways for boats up to 23 m long and 7.5 m in beam, mobile cranes up to 200 tons, and floating docks for ships. Website: bezzinagroup.com.

MMH Marsa. The Mediterranean Maritime Hub, also in Marsa. It lists two travel lifts, of 300 and 700 tons, able to lift yachts up to 13 m in beam and 60 m long, and covered sheds that the lifts can reach. MMH describes itself as a hub: it provides office and workshop space for specialist subcontractors and says it runs an open management model. Website: mmh.com.mt.

Palumbo. Palumbo’s Malta yard is in Grand Harbour and is built for superyachts. It lists a 420-ton travel lift and three dry docks of 100 m and 140 m, one of them covered. A dry dock is a basin that is closed and pumped out so the ship sits on blocks. For an ordinary cruising boat, one of the other yards will be the natural choice. Website: palumbosy.com.

These are not the only places to lift a boat in Malta. Between them they cover everything from a small cruiser to a superyacht.

How to choose a yard

Lift capacity for your boat. Start with weight. Use the loaded figure, with fuel, water, tender and everything you have added since the brochure was printed. Then beam: the boat has to fit between the legs of the lift. On a sailing boat, ask whether the backstay or forestay has to come off to clear the lift’s crossbeam. On a catamaran, beam decides everything.

Hardstand time. Ask how many days ashore the lift price includes, what each extra day costs, and whether there is space for the weeks you want. Know the daily rate before the boat comes out, not after a job has overrun.

Distance from your berth. The boat has to get to the yard and back, and each trip needs weather and someone to drive it. A boat berthed in Marsamxett is a short hop from Manoel Island and a longer trip round Valletta to Grand Harbour. A boat in Gozo has a passage to make before it reaches any of these yards.

Contractor access. Of the five, only MMH’s website says anything about outside contractors. Ask each yard directly: may your own contractors work on the boat, do they need to register or show insurance, is there a fee, and what are the working hours? Ask about power and water at the boat, and any limits on sanding and spraying.

What the quote includes. Lift, pressure wash, cradle or props, days ashore and relaunch should each be named. If one is missing, it is extra.

When to book

Spring is when everybody wants to come out, so the yards fill up before the season. Autumn and winter slots are easier to get, and the work is not rushed. If you want antifouling done in April or May, ask for the slot at the start of the year.

How we fit in

We work at every yard in Malta and Gozo. We book the slot with a yard that has the right lift for your boat, tell you which one and why, and meet the boat at the lift. Stephen Duffy, who runs Yachting.mt, ran a boatyard in Mallorca before this, so he has stood on both sides of the lift. The work we do while the boat is out is described under antifouling and haul-out.

If you are choosing a berth as well as a yard, our guide to the marinas covers that side.

What happens once the slot is booked, step by step, is in hauling out in Malta.