FAQs

Our clients often tell us they want their time on the water to be easier—and that is why we focus on making things simple.

Whether starting from scratch or working with what's already there, we believe it is important to consider the "big picture" or design, in order to make sophisticated systems as easy to use as possible.

Current codes represent the boating industry's best practices. By knowing the codes, we can provide you with designs and installation that take advantage of the most recent technological advances while ensuring that whenever and wherever you need work done in the future, the knowledgeable technician will be able to understand your system quickly and accurately and will know how to work with it.

The marine environment will exacerbate weaknesses in your vessel's systems—and rarely at your convenience. It is important for your safety and comfort that your boat's systems are reliable. Excellent workmanship, quality components, and an integrated system are your best offence.

In recent years, multi-vendor integration protocol (e.g., NMEA 2000) has been developed so that components from different companies can work together. This is good news for you, because the company that makes the best AC & DC panels doesn't necessarily make the best chartplotters. Whether we are building a whole system or integrating with existing components, we can pick and choose the best components for you and your boat.

We work with quality marine components, such as electronics from Raymarine, Garmin, Furuno, Maretron, Lowrance, Simrad, and Icom, and electrical components from Ancor, Bluesea, Xantrex, and Mastervolt. Contact us for our complete list of vendors.

No matter how big or small the job, we are committed to doing it right the first time, to minimize future expenses and loss of days on the water. Since each vessel is unique—shaped by existing systems, use, weather, etc—doing it right the first time can sometimes mean dealing with the unexpected.

We provide an estimate, based on the expected number of hours, and keep in close communication with you throughout the project. If new factors are introduced or your needs expand as the project unfolds, we'll consult with you to determine how to proceed.

Pacific Yacht Systems is based in Richmond, BC. With our fleet of fully stocked service vehicles, we can attend to boats at any location in the Lower Mainland; on special request, we will consider travelling to other areas of coastal BC. You can also bring your vessel to our facility at Skyline Marina, which offers haul-out services and docking slips.
 

Pacific Yacht Systems' guiding principle is to give our clients what they need to make boating simple. Whether you want design, installation, service, support, or the whole solution you get professional attention based on:

• Consultation and assessment
• Recommendation
• Implementation
• Follow-up

We work on powerboats and sailboats. No boat is too large or small. No job is too large or small. Each job is unique. What they have in common are our clients. We work for people who value professional expertise, client-focused service, dependable workmanship, and quality components.

Owner-installation, or installation by a non-certified third party, limits the warranty on your electronics to product replacement or repair. Installation by a certified installer, such as one of the professionals at PYS, gives you additional coverage for onboard labour and also includes some travel and mileage costs.

In addition, the rigorous certification process ensures that certified dealers are trained and tested for both installation and service on the manufacturers' latest products and technologies.

Pacific Yacht Systems is a service-based company. Our efforts are focused on designing systems that meets our clients needs and installing systems using the best standards and practices in the industry.  We believe that in order to truly service our clients installation needs to the fullest, we can not be retailers at the same time.

We will coordinate your marine equipment purchases, whether we refer you to one of our trusted retailers or work with your preferred supplier.  We want you to understand the benefits of each product and will ensure that you get a competitive price. And we deal with retailers who value after-sale support.

PYS tries to include the actual photo of each of our customer’s vessels, as part of their testimonial.  In the absence of a suitable photo, we substitute the closest available representation of their vessel.  This is for illustrative purposes to our website viewers.  Substitute images that we use are from the same manufacturer but may not always be the exact model and year and may not show the options and accessories we mention, installed.

Pacific Yacht Systems uses its technical expertise and hands-on experience when designing marine systems or when providing solutions to maximize your boating experience and to improve your boat’s safety. Although PYS does not sell products, we can keep you better informed and maybe even help you in making your purchase decision.

The product reviews on our website include a summary provided by the manufacturer, where available, and the pros and cons of each product, submitted by PYS and the online boating community.
 

When each product review is posted, PYS adds a list of pros and cons based on our experience and research. In addition, visitors to the site can submit their own pros and cons, comments, and/or vote on pros and cons that have been submitted. You can see which pros and cons more people agree with by the number next to the pro/con; a positive number means most people agree with the point, whereas a negative number means people generally disagree with the point.

We choose to highlight products for a variety of reasons. Typically, a product is reviewed because it is innovative and would add value to the boating experience.

Submit ideas for products you would like to see reviewed to productreviews@pysystems.ca .

If you treat your power system and electronic components as if they operate independently of each other, you might be compromising the performance of your vessel and, potentially, even your safety.

Think of the power system as a good, strong foundation. You need to have safe, effective, and sufficient means to generate, store, and distribute enough electricity to meet your needs. If you want to add components to an existing system, we need to make sure your foundation can bear the load. And vice versa—if you're starting with the foundation, we want to make sure it can accommodate future growth.

Electronic components should also be integrated with one another. Autopilot and chartplotters can work independently at a basic level, but once they are networked, their value to you exceeds their individual capabilities.

Even if we are only adding only one component or fixing a malfunctioning one, we look at the whole system. Does your vessel generate enough power to service the component without adversely affecting existing electronics? Will the component be more effective if it is integrated with other components? Pacific Yacht Systems takes a big-picture approach to your boat.

In the last few years, there has been an explosion in technical advances in the electrical and electronics fields, and rapid change continues. In 2008 alone, 25% of the ABYC codes changed. These fields have become too specialized for a generalist to be able to help you take advantage of these advances.

The American Boat and Yacht Council (ABYC) has been developing and updating the safety standards for boat-building and repair, including electrical systems, for more than 50 years. ABYC is actively involved with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). They offer training and certification programs for marine technicians.

The National Marine Electronics Association (NMEA) has worked since 1957 to promote the integrity of the marine electronics industry by developing industry standards and furthering the skills and qualifications of technicians through education, communication, training, and certification.

Our certifications and membership in these two organizations indicate to our clients that we are dedicated to best practices; and that we incorporate the newest technical advances into our work.