About Seadogs
Seadogs operate the vessel "Brightwater". She is a very seaworthy Orkney Pilothouse 24. Loads of nav toys, and high-end sonar for wreck hunting etc. Brightwater is a fast and stable boat with full certification.
Seadogs Description
Seadogs operate from the pontoons at Kyle, on the west coast of Scotland. Our present boat is an Orkney Pilothouse 24. This boat is renound for its capability and sea handling. Whilst the boat is designed for 12, we have elected to have her certified for up to 6 passengers.
We can take you or Eilan Donan Castle, Loch Hourn, Rasey and Rhona, or where would you like to go ?
We are an MCA fully certified vessel. Onboard there are full covers on the aft deck, offering protection from the rain.
We have state of the art electronic equipment, including a 'side scan, sonar for wreck hunting etc.
So, fishing, sight seeing, photography, survey, what ever your into, we will try and accommodate you and your friends / family.
Safety equipment includes AIS - a vessel tracking system with live feed, and radar should bad weather come in. Life raft and jackets etc, al the mandatory equipment is on board as required for our MCA certification
Call me, or come down to the boat for a chat.
www. skye-boat-trips. co. uk
See you on the pontoons !
Reviews
Seadogs in the sun. Young family enjoy trip to Loch Hourn đ
Late night tonight ferrying musicians ! Local artists playing on a cruise liner for the guests. Now sheâs off to Stornoway.
âWolfie, you said you untied the stern from the pontoonsâ ? âNow look whatâs happenedâ
Yesterday - scorchio ! Today - fffreezing ! Welcome to the Highlands đ
Seadogs are back in Kyle ! New boat, more fun ! Now coded for 12 people.
Today we put the rest of the pontoons in with the amazing assistance of Marine Harvest who gave us a landing craft and 2 crew to position the system and attach the anchors. Big thanks to Trevor and Ethan. Some very skilled boat driving.
... So, fishing, wildlife tours, photography? Give me a call and letâs do it đ Cheers for now, Hughie
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Water in #5, so head and manifold off to get pressure tested. I think it's an injector sleeve. Major operation on your own in the rain, but, needs must !
Another year dawns, and we all look forward to the season ahead. Seadogs have a new boat. She is a Botnia Targa. A beautiful boat built in Finland. We bought her in Wales and spent 6 weeks getting her back in the water and coded by the MCA. She had been out of commission for 3 years. During this time she was in a building, under covers, so well protected, but needed a lot of work non the less.
All the nav equipment was removed and replaced with touch screen on an NMEA sy...stem. All the bilge pumps and wiring had to be replaced, as were gas lines etc. Bilge alarms and gas detectors had to fitted. Eberspecher heating and ducting was installed, new element in the domestic water boiler. Garmin autopilot was installed after both outdrives legs were overhauled and props dressed and balanced. The hull was glass blasted back to original, then treated with one coat of 2 pack epoxy prior to 5 coats of âcopper coatâ anti foul. All the chain and ropes were replaced as the previous owner had 120m of anchor rope - and a gipsy that only hauled chain ! Bow thruster had to be removed as it was not functioning, it also turned out that the last refit did not include and form of seal - a sinking moment !
Aside from all the major stuff, there was a lot of wee things, and upgrades to lighting etc, but as I was living on the boat I could work away till late and concentrate on the job in hand. I had shore power and heating !
Coding was for 12 which hardly made her heel at all, but I donât want any more than that onboard.
She is a very seaworthy vessel, as I found out coming north ! Ran into 2m seas, the belt of the steering hydraulics came off, and the fuse on the auto bilges went. It was interesting, but having 2 throttles is a life-saver on those situations.
Anyway, she is now in the north, safe and sound for the winter, and looking forward to being back in Kyle again.
Seadogs would like to wish all a good new year and a good season back on the water.
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Seadogs are in Oban ( Dunstafinage marina ) for the winter and will be offering SEA ANGLING trips onboard our new boat 'Otter' She is a Botnia Targa - the "4x4 of the sea". We also do wildlife and pleasure trips. We have a large heated wheelhouse with seating and free refreshments, if it gets nasty outside !
My sort of barometer đ
Off to do sea trials. Did a stability test for 12 persons and well within limits.
Seadogs trips to the castle - 1 hour, or more if you want - see the old ferry, see the seals, give me a call and and come on a trip !
Perhaps a day out to mallaig or Portree or just to go fishing ?
See you down the pontoons !
Kyle today
Some lads enjoying a days fishing !
First day of summer at Kyle
New glass panel this year. All the screens are NMEA networked and info can be moved around or imposed. The analog instruments are all streamed digitally, but the originals - temp, press, taco have all been relocated in case of an emergency. New radar is more precise with a narrow beam, and can be on any screen. Mapping system is G2 vision charts that are just amazing. In a lot of places you can get an overhead view of the harbour before entering, if you haven't been before, it gives a layout of the place. You can also plan your passage on iPad at home, all waypoints etc, then Bluetooth it over to the mac system. At any time the autopilot will look after things - this does not mean you can leave your post !!
Susie Q has been given a new lease of life as "Tarka". She is due a new life having had a long time ashore and having a refit.
Bit if a refit for Brightwater. New leg and stainless props. The props are more efficient than the aluminium ones - we shall see ! Better radar. Having done a radar ticket over the winter I realise the importance of good radar and the image definition. This is, like everything else, linked into the NMEA network and to the AIS. The main panel has 2 Garmin gps - the main one is a 7410 touch screen and the back up is a 750. There is also a DV 55 on the co-pilots side, again... all linked on the network. All the screens can be viewed externally on iPad as the system is bluetooth. With this system I can route plan on the iPad and at the touch of a button transfer it all to the boat. You can even operate the autopilot from iPad if you so desire ! All this dos NOT mean you don't need charts. I always have a paper copy at hand. Some years ago when I was delivering an aircraft to America the GPS system went down 4 hours into an 8 hour flight from Greenland to Canada. Charts and current weather reports, along with a watch and compas, were what got me to Goose Bay. The US military had take control of satellites for a bombing run in A war zone.
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Well, the season is nearly here again ! Pontoons are soon to be back in place at Kyle and a couple of exciting additions for this year. Power is the first thing. We will have 240v outlets on most of the pontoons, along with water.
The next thing is wifi. We have got a fibre connection to the pontoons giving us between 40 and 50 meg download. This is all going in place at the same time and there will be a "hot spot" available for folk to log in and pick up mail etc. from ...the shore-side.
The pontoons now have a full time manager to organise boats and control the comings and goings, so we hope it will all run smoothly !!
Enquiries can be made through the KLCT or Seadogs for any requests or info regarding the pontoons etc.
See you soon. All the best, Hughie.
Visit www.seadogs.scot and see our new web page.
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The office and the view at 5'o' clock.