June & July Newsletter

A busy couple of months at the boatyard and lots of good weather.

This summer has really started well. Most of the boats are back in the water and it is great to see them being used. The yard participated in the Falmouth Classics and we had a stand on Custom House Quay. The yard entered a hastily got together Deben 4 tonner called Sara in the two races. Sara was suited to windier weather and came last in our class both times, however it was fantastic to see some of the wonderful classic boats on the water. Duncan Skingley entered Sunfish and enjoyed a good performance. We established a tent on Custom House Quay and enjoyed meeting and greeting old and new friends and customers. Baggywrinkles were being made on the stand and well done to Steve, Darren, Mark and Phillipe who knew what we were up to! Wrong answers included Sail Buffers, Ra Ra Skirt, Cargo Net and Cat O' Nine Tails.

The Boatyard Cafe provided a 'cafe in a box' for the stand and we shared some space with Clean Ocean Sailing, who were on the Quay for the weekend along with volunteers spreading the word about their ocean cleanup  (they even managed to squeeze in a cleanup of the harbour in their canoe). Many thanks to all those who came along to say hello. We had Susie Ferris, Duncan Skingley, and Troy Christensen on the stand over the weekend along with pictures from Andrew Massey.

Staff changes

Anne Oliver has joined as Yard Manager at Gweek Classic Boat Yard.

Anne joins us from Falmouth Haven and a career working with boats on the Fal. Anne brings great organisation and enthusiasm to the role and is already known to many of our local boat owners. Please say hello to Anne if you are visiting. 

Lizard Marine will no longer be offering marine mechanical engineering services at Gweek and we are looking to new providers to offer this important service. 

Amanda Champion joins us from a nationwide French polishing company. She previously worked on interior yacht finishes at Pendennis Shipyard and as an antique restorer. Based at Gweek, she is undertaking furniture restoration and yacht interiors. She specialises in wood, leather, marble and composites.

Looking ahead

The Boatyard Cafe now has opened the garden seating area. The menu continues to expand and we are really delighted with the success so far. We now have wireless internet across the yard provided by Wildanet. Fast download speeds are afforded by a direct link to Goonhilly Earth Station. More details can be obtained by visiting www.wildanet.com. Our 35 tonne forklift has arrived from the USA and will be ready for lifting out smaller boats in September. This forklift can lift boats up to 12 tons and a maximum of 30ft. It should improve the lift out process and offer a better service to our customers. Bookings have started to come in for the autumn lay up and undercover space if filling fast so if you do have an under cover project planned please let us know as soon as possible. Please also get in touch to book your space ashore for the winter.

We have had some exciting projects on the yard keeping all the teams extremely busy. These have ranged from repairing a large ferro concrete boat that was damaged in the winter storms to major wooden boat refits carried out by Andrew Massey and Duncan Skingley.

The chandlery has been restocked and we are able to offer great value life jackets as well as many of the bits you may need for your yacht. There is a good selection of nuts, bolts and screws too for any DIY project! If there is anything you need that we don't have in stock, we can order and get it for you normally the next day. 

Houseboats

As the redevelopment of the western area of the yard continues we are looking to offer some new moorings to selected houseboats. These will be ideally suited to wide beam narrow boats and Dutch barges. For more details please contact the office.  

We would all like to wish you a wonderful summer and look forward to seeing you in the autumn.

Mark and Malcolm