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Marsamxett Harbour
Hauling out at Manoel Island for the winter? The yard lifts and blocks off your boat. A fitted cover keeps her clean and dry on the hard until she goes back in — and contains the dust if work is being done.
Manoel Island, joined to Gżira by a short bridge, is home to the busiest yacht yard in Malta. Boats are lifted out, blocked off on the hard standing and left there through the winter for antifouling, engine work, osmosis treatment or simply storage. Slots run from autumn through to spring and the yard fills early, so most owners have booked their lift long before they think about a cover.
A boat on the hard is more exposed than one afloat. It sits higher, it catches the full wind across the island, and in a working yard it collects grinding dust, overspray and blasting grit from the boats around it — on top of the Saharan dust that arrives with the xlokk. A shrink wrap cover on the hard keeps all of that off your gelcoat, teak and canvas for as long as she’s out.
Around Gżira
The usual problems
In a busy yard that’s normal. A sealed cover keeps the neighbouring overspray and grinding dust off your boat — and if your boat is the one being worked on, a containment enclosure keeps your dust off theirs.
A lay-up cover framed over the boat on her cradle or blocks, vented for heat and damp, and finished with a door so contractors and surveyors can get aboard.
Containment for below-waterline work can be built around the hull on the hard. We work to the yard’s own rules on who does what, and the enclosure is designed to suit the contractor doing the work.
The approach
A yard has its own rhythm — lift schedules, access lanes, hot works rules and which contractors are allowed on site. We fit around it rather than the other way round. That usually means wrapping in the gap between the boat being blocked off and the first contractor arriving, so nobody is waiting on us.
On the hard we frame from the cradle or blocks up, skirt the cover down towards the ground so wind doesn’t get under it, and leave clear access to the stands and keel blocks for the yard’s own checks. If the boat is moving back into the water mid-season, we can cut the cover back to the waterline so she can be lifted without starting again.
Before we quote
At Manoel Island we survey once she’s lifted and blocked off, in the gap before the trades arrive. We measure the vessel, work out the frame, the film area, the vents and the doors — and the number you get back is the number you pay. No provisional sums, no “subject to access”.
A typical lay-up on the hard. Illustrative figures. Your own survey happens in Gżira — or starts from photos, if you’d rather.
Start from your phone
Not every Gżira job needs a visit to get going. Send a couple of photos and tell us your lift date at the Manoel Island yard and what work is booked, and an installer will tell you what’s involved — including when shrink wrap isn’t the right call.
Whole item in frame, plus one close-up of the access side.
WhatsApp or email, with your lift date at the Manoel Island yard and what work is booked.
Approach, timescale and a price, in plain English.
Finished covers
Tight, smooth, framed clear of the boat and welded into one skin. This is the standard every Gżira cover is fitted to.
Questions from Gżira
Yes. We agree timing and access with the yard, then fit the cover once your boat is blocked off. If you haven’t booked your lift yet, do that first — yard slots go before cover slots do.
No. A lay-up cover can stop at the waterline so the hull stays accessible, or we can build a full enclosure to the ground if the antifouling is being done inside it.
Not always. If you want her back in the water still covered, we can trim the cover so the lift slings can go on. Most owners take it off at relaunch, and we take it away.
More than a berth afloat. Boats ashore on the island catch the full wind across it, which is why we skirt the cover down and band it to the cradle rather than leaving the bottom edge open.
Send a photo, the length and where she is. You’ll get a straight answer on the approach, and a fixed price after the survey.
Quick quote
Tell us what
needs covering.
