Our History
Early 1980, on the lovely shores of Ladysmith Harbour, there was a colorful collection of pleasure craft and commercial mariners. Boats were moored at Manana Lodge (now Page Point), at Ivy Green Marina (now Oak Bay – Ladysmith Marina), at CZ Log Dump (now the location of Ladysmith Maritime Society), and a few at the Government Dock or on private moorings.
In 1983, a number of sailors and ‘wanna-be racers’ formed a loose group called the Ladysmith Sailing Association. Many of the power boaters belonged to Mt Brenton Power Squadron. However, in order to take advantage of officially sanctioned sailing races as well as reciprocal moorage opportunities, a formally recognized yacht club membership and reciprocal docks were required.
It was the creativity, enthusiasm and passion of these various groups of hardy mariners that inspired the idea and eventually led to the formal organization of the Ladysmith Yacht Club. Funded in 1985, LYC boasted fifteen Charter Members.
As the membership grew, the Yacht Club realized it needed a place to call their own. An owned waterfront land based property was not affordable, but that did not damper the creative spirit of the members. In fact, the challenge of not having a land based property, ultimately lead to the idea of building a floating clubhouse.
The enthusiasm from the Club membership became palpable and carried the concept of a floating clubhouse, from the drafting table to the final design and costing. However, there remained one important missing component, that is the availability of reciprocal docks. LYC could not have reciprocal moorage unless the Club had something to offer other participating clubs. So, the search to locate some suitable docks was added to the list of activities that needed to be done.
From there, thousands of volunteer hours were spent brainstorming and implementing creative fundraising initiatives. Many hours were spent in back-breaking work parties to build the clubhouse and obtain suitable docks. Conceivably, every step towards achieving this ultimate goal could have qualified as a show stopper. For instance, memorable was the hair-raising two-day transit of “new to us” reciprocal docks from Nanaimo through Dodd Narrows. That initiative by itself could have won top honours as a show-stopper.
The LYC Clubhouse was officially opened to much fanfare in 1998. and sadly, after more than 26 years we had to let it go at the beginning of 2025. For the time being, most of our club events are held at the Diamond Hall on Christie Road. This is the perfect opportunity to take time to consolidate and begin thinking about how to ensure a bright future for the club.
We are celebrating 40 years of operation in 2025. Our club has grown to about 175 members and continues energetically promoting an annual schedule of fun-filled cruising destinations and events, educational nights and monthly social gatherings.
Come for a visit, shake out those sea legs with a walking tour of our wonderful Heritage Town of Ladysmith [LEARN MORE]