A friend of mine told me that boat projects take more time because of the supply chain. “You’ll see, she said, you’ll spend more time ordering and replacing parts than you think.”
Ordering pieces online is fine when you know exactly what you need. When building piping and plumbing, or looking for a resin system for fiberglass, understanding the interdependance betwen products and having a physical sense of quantities is extremely helpful.
It is useful to find good local suppliers, close enough so they can be drove to every week. It helps if there is a good stock of pieces and a good return policy. Viewing pieces, comparing them with existing material on the boat, is extremely helpful and reduces the errors in the implementation of designs.
Your weekly drive to the store may even yield some advice on parts of the project. Furthermore, a good return policy may help you experiment with various pieces when you are not certain of what would work. After I found a good hardware store with such return policy, it became part of the implementation process to try a few pieces and figure out what works best.
Moreover, ordering pieces takes time. Not everything is in store and thus planning work for 5-6 days while critical pieces of a system are missing will help. During projects, I had “dry days”, mostly related to painting and cleaning, because I was waiting for critical pieces to arrive.
Below, I provide a list of local suppliers that were critical during boat projects. I also provide a second section of « international » providers, meaning that they deliver beyond the local neighborhood. I had no rebate whastoever. These companies are just managed by good folks that help projects.
Québec City Suppliers
- Quincaillerie Martin is an hardware/fiberglass store dedicated to all sailing. They have an excellent return policy, a good quantity of general pieces, and a (roughly) 5 days supply chain for specialized parts.
- Spécibois as a specialized sawmill. They provide quote fasts and have several wood essences.
- Atelier Mécanique Boivin for a machine shop. Their focus is on cars and trucks, but they can deliver specialized metal parts fast.
Montréal and Surroundings Suppliers
- Manao Nautique: a great shop. They did a paint job and minor repairs on Jean-du-Sud.
- L’Entrepôt Marine: a general supplier of boat parts.
International Suppliers
- Darkglow Engineering (UK): they design folding propellers.
- Lakestern Gear (UK): they provided the shaft clamp, shaft and sterntube.
- CCI Composites (ON): they designed the rudder on Jean-du-Sud.
- Voiles du Suroît (QC): they crafted the mainsail on Jean-du-Sud.
- Techni (UK). They ship DIY guardrails kit worldwide.
- Hedson (US). They make tiller heads.
Want to Know More?
Have a look at the « boatwork » section of this website for more practical tutorials and techniques.