Cowichan Bay Maritime Centre

Cowichan Bay Maritime Centre We are an active community-based working not-for-profit maritime museum. It's all here in the quaint seaside village of Cowichan Bay, British Columbia.

From a condemned fuel loading dock to a museum, the pier now houses "Galleries" rich in maritime history. With a reputation for excellence, the Maritime Centre offers hands on courses in traditional boat building techniques and restoration. Skillfully hand-crafted models of historic ships are housed in the museum at the end of the pier. Activities are for any age, sea-farer or land-lubber alike. JOIN US in celebrating our history. . . become a member, volunteer or simply participate!

Tickets are on sale for our Indigenous Salmon dinner on June 26th! Join us for a lovely meal on our waterfront outdoor p...
05/29/2026

Tickets are on sale for our Indigenous Salmon dinner on June 26th! Join us for a lovely meal on our waterfront outdoor patio with food lovingly prepared by the Joseph Family! This is our third year collaborating with the Joseph family to host this dinner and it has always been a delicious meal and a beautiful atmosphere.

The event kicks off with a Cocktail hour at the end of our Heritage Pier. Come enjoy local wines from and soak in the beauty of Cow Bay before sitting down on the waterfront patio portal to enjoy a beautiful plate Salmon Dinner featuring locally sourced ingredients including salmon from

Tickets are limited and can be purchased from us in person at the Cowichan Bay Maritime Centre or Via E-transfer (must include Name of attendees, phone # and email in E-transfer notes) Tickets are $65/each or $390/table of 6.

ONLY A FEW SPACES LEFT! Join us for a week of summer fun at the Cowichan Bay Seaside! Campers will be immersed in a week...
05/28/2026

ONLY A FEW SPACES LEFT!

Join us for a week of summer fun at the Cowichan Bay Seaside! Campers will be immersed in a week of nautical fun and education! Enjoy beach adventures, crabbing, boating in our wooden rowing boats and in the Cowichan Search and Rescue Boat, Learn some basic woodworking skills, play lots of fun nautical themed games and get crafty.

Spaces remain in the week of August 10-14 (older kid camp for ages 9-12) and week of August 31-Sept 4. camps run 9am-4pm Mon-Fri. Registration details all found on our website . All other weeks are full, contact us to be added to waitlists.

https://www.classicboats.org/campfun

Announcing the 38th Cowichan Wooden Boat Festival! Join us at the Cowichan Bay Maritime Centre June 27th for a day of na...
05/27/2026

Announcing the 38th Cowichan Wooden Boat Festival! Join us at the Cowichan Bay Maritime Centre June 27th for a day of nautical fun! Our theme for this years festival is 'Stories from the Salish Sea' !

Participate in beloved activities like Seagull (motor) racing, Brown Bag Dinghy Races, kids boatbuilding, watch Steam Engine demonstrations, listen to live music, hear from nautical speakers and more!

Appreciate the craftmanship of a collection of Wooden Boats in the water and on the hard including , The Oldest Canadian Built Sailboat SV Dorothy, The Iconic Canoe Cove Built double-ender Torhavn and more.

As always the festival will be full of good eats! We kick-off Friday Night with our Indigenous Salmon dinner hosted by the Joseph family (tickets must be purchased in advance, limited tickets available). Then start your morning right with the dragon divas pancake brunch, enjoy our beloved Chowder Contest for lunch and come back in the evening for the McCandless family band, beer garden and BBQ dinner! a

There are lots of exciting elements that we will be announcing related to the festival in the coming weeks - make sure you are following us here so you stay in the loop!

https://www.classicboats.org/38th-annual-cowichan-wooden-boat-festival

Tyally is out of the water for her yearly haul-out here on our Marine Slipways! Get in touch to book your haul out and g...
05/17/2026

Tyally is out of the water for her yearly haul-out here on our Marine Slipways! Get in touch to book your haul out and get your boat in ship-shape before cruising season!

May long weekend means we are slowly transitioning into summer mode here at the Maritime Centre!Starting tomorrow we are...
05/17/2026

May long weekend means we are slowly transitioning into summer mode here at the Maritime Centre!

Starting tomorrow we are extending our hours and opening 7 days a week! We hope you plan a trip to Cowichan Bay and stop by the centre soon!

Yesterday was an exciting day for us here at the centre! We celebrated the launch of our 12ft Tyee (Ned Painter Design) ...
05/10/2026

Yesterday was an exciting day for us here at the centre! We celebrated the launch of our 12ft Tyee (Ned Painter Design) lapstrake boat! This boat was a labour of love started in the fall by shipwright Mark Ruten and a class of keen boatbuilding students. The Tyee was then finished by a team of CWBS volunteers led by our shop manager Myles.

We of course had a launch ceremony and put ‘Lucy’ (named after one of the course participants) into the water! She sits pretty and rows like a dream! We all had lots of fun playing around in the boat and seeing her in the water after months of hard work.

The boat will be raffled off to support our boatbuilding efforts and will come with a highliner trailer. (raffle tickets should be available any day now!)

Bring your mom for a day in Cow Bay. All mothers are given complimentary entry today! Enjoy a walk on the pier and grab ...
05/10/2026

Bring your mom for a day in Cow Bay. All mothers are given complimentary entry today! Enjoy a walk on the pier and grab a treat or meal from one of our neighbours and enjoy a waterfront picnic on the patio!

We are sad to be saying goodbye to our Executive Director Sylvia Berryman who is retiring this summer. Sylvia has been a...
05/09/2026

We are sad to be saying goodbye to our Executive Director Sylvia Berryman who is retiring this summer. Sylvia has been a strong leader for the CWBS over the past 5 years and we have big shoes to fill!

We are currently seeking a new Executive Director to lead us in our operations at the Cowichan Bay Maritime Centre. We are accepting applications from experienced community leaders, please see job poster on our website or Indeed for more information and to apply.

https://www.classicboats.org/workwithus

After months of work the Tyee is finally going in the water! Join us today (Saturday May 9) at 3pm at the Maritime Centr...
05/09/2026

After months of work the Tyee is finally going in the water! Join us today (Saturday May 9) at 3pm at the Maritime Centre pier for her launch! Refreshments and camaraderie to follow!

We are so excited for this years Lapstrake boat raffle (ticket sales will start soon!)Not only will the winner take home...
05/02/2026

We are so excited for this years Lapstrake boat raffle (ticket sales will start soon!)
Not only will the winner take home the Beautiful Ned Painter Tyee Lapstrake but included with the boat is this awesome trailer from Highliner made custom to fit the Tyee! We are so grateful to the folks at highliner for donating the trailer, the raffle fundraiser is so important for us to be able to continue building classic wooden boats and their support will make the fundraiser bigger and better than ever!

Highliner is a BC company that has been manufacturing trailers since 1978, they use exclusively galvanized steel for maximum durability. Their generosity and community along with their commitment to quality is something we truly respect.

Also big thanks to Mike Webb for delivering the trailer from Vancouver.

We cant wait to launch the tyee as well as start selling tickets!

A new bright and colorful addition to our gift shop is these beautiful beaded earrings made by Rama! Stop by to check ou...
04/27/2026

A new bright and colorful addition to our gift shop is these beautiful beaded earrings made by Rama! Stop by to check out our gift store full of beautiful treasures made by local artists

Address

1761 Cowichan Bay Road
Cowichan Bay, BC
V0R1N0

Opening Hours

Wednesday 10am - 4pm
Thursday 10am - 4pm
Friday 10am - 4pm
Saturday 10am - 4pm
Sunday 10am - 4pm

Telephone

250.746.4955

Website

https://linktr.ee/cowichanwoodenboats

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