Robertsons Boatyard

Our next Boat Clinic session is another you won't want to miss. Come along and meet Graham Walters, he will be talking about his experiences rowing the Atlantic. Graham completed rows with a crew in 1997 and 2001 before repeating the feat single handed in 2004 and 2007. The 2007 crossing was in the 1960's built "Puffin", which Graham restored himself. In 2017 Graham set off again in another vintage boat, "Khaggavisana", in an attempt to become the oldest person to row the Atlantic solo (at 69) and the only person to have completed 3 solo E-W Atlantic rows. Find out what happened and learn if/when/why another attempt might lie ahead.

Here's an inspirational story from the other end of the country. How would you fancy sailing around Britain without stopping and without assistance? Tricky enough, now think about doing that in a 60 year old, 16ft-long open dinghy. See more of their story here : https://nipegegiroundbritain.com/

It's been a while since we last posted a mug shot. Here's one of our lovely Claudia Myatt designed mugs passing The Needles Lighthouse. A beautifully calm early morning start to a cross channel trip. Have a safe crossing little mug and crew-mates.

You'll want to put this one in your diary. Our next Free Boat Clinic, on Wednesday 3rd July, features a special guest speaker. Des Pawson MBE is one of the world's leading authorities on knots and sailors' ropework. A researcher and historian on the subject, he is the author of many books and papers. A great opportunity to get an insight into the fascinating world of ropes, everyone welcome - spread the word. Tea and biscuits provided too.
https://despawson.com/

Who would want to build a boat? How do we get from a paper design to a completed hull? What else needs to happen to get a boat ready for its champagne moment at launch? Come along to our next Free Boat Maintenance Clinic to learn the answers and listen to Alan recount some tales from our boat building experiences. Free to attend and everyone welcome, hope to see you there.

Replacing a rotten plank from a wooden clinker dinghy means using some of our more traditional skills. Steaming the new wood and bending to match the curves and shape of the old wood takes time and care, but worth it in the end.

Congratulations to TJ for successfully completing his Woodworking Machines Regulations & Competency Training. Well done TJ! Also many thanks to IBTC in Lowestoft for providing the training. www.ibtc.co.uk

Thank you to Claudia Myatt for hosting a very popular Boat Clinic for us last week. A very enjoyable session. Next month, it's back to Alan for an insight into "How we build a boat". Put the date in your diary, more details to follow.

Doesn't she look beautiful? Here's Blue Shoal heading off for the season after a spell in our workshop. Works included: scrapping off the old antifoul, 5 coats of primer and new antifouling, varnished superstructure and re-painted topsides. Topsides had a complete change from classic white to this lovely shade of blue - "Squall Blue" if you were wondering. Looks great on the water, love to see a reflection in the paintwork!

Quite a lot has changed over the last 109 years, but we're proud that the boatyard is still here!

We're excited about our next boat clinic session - it's something a little different. On Wed 1st May we will be welcoming local artist Claudia Myatt to host the session, entitled "Illustrate your Log Book". As always, free to attend and open to all. However, for this session, so that we can get the Sprat Shed set up in advance, it would be useful if you could message to let us know you are coming. Please share to anyone you think might be interested. Have a look at Claudia's website https://claudiamyatt.co.uk/ or Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/claudiamyattillu stration/ As Claudia says "Art is not just for artists", come and give it a go!

One of our team will soon be heading off on a grueling cycling challenge to raise funds for local Ipswich based charity, FiND. James will attempting to cycle from Amsterdam to Paris over the May Bank Holiday weekend, completing the 380 mile journey in just four days. We're proud of James for taking on this challenge for such a good cause and wish him safe cycling - we need him back in one piece! Visit James' fundraising page here: https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/thema neatingsquirrels Find out more about FiND here: https://www.findipswich.org.uk

For those of you with an on board GPS that is over 10 years old or which hasn't had its software updated recently, please be aware of this safety bulletin issued by Maritime & Coastguard Agency. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/ …/MSF5029_R0516_GP…

We love "Little Hillyards" here at Robertsons 👍

Some shots of our new landing craft in action. Transporting a new gearbox out to one of our residential barges.

Don't forget our next Free Boat Maintenance Clinic is coming soon, Wednesday 3rd April. Also, take a look at some of our upcoming topics. Everyone welcome.

Did you know we have one of the largest slipways in the area? Here's a photo of our current visitor, a lovely 23 m barge in for some maintenance and work on her propeller.

Trouble within - when did you last check your keel bolts? We thought we'd share some pictures of keel bolts recently removed from a wooden boat. Whilst the visible ends looked OK, you can see how most had significant corrosion and some had completely failed. We believe the bolts were about 20 years old. We've attached a quick checklist for boats ashore. If you have any concerns about the state of your keel bolts, just let us know.