Abersoch Boatyard (Services) Ltd

News

This is the page where you get all the news about whats going on in the Yard, Abersoch and beyond!

July 2009

6th July 2009

TORNADO!!! - Well sort of! - As we were winding down for lunch today and were surveying the yard before going inside we looked accross towards the Harbour Hotel and were treated to something that we don't see very often, two funnel clouds which over the course of a couple of minutes formed and then dissipated probably somewhere over Porth Neigwl. Personally I have never seen this sort of cloud here in Abersoch before, I have seen them in Tampa Bay, Florida as a child on holiday but did.t really appreciate how awesome they are. I guess it didn't touch the ground as there were no cows or pick up trucks being swirled around, but still, an awesome sight.

The funnel cloud forming over Porth Neigwl.

1st July 2009

Ah a new month is upon us, the sun is shining and the weather is hot, as some guy once sung. The schools break up in a couple of weeks and we are all gearing up for what looks like being a busy 8 weeks. Today however it's all a bit too much, the sun has made it too hot to work, the fridge is working overtime trying to keep the beer cool enough to drink and as ever we have our trusty Duckhams thermometer out in the sunshine doing its stuff. Most people will grumble that the temperature is always taken in the shade, however it's a rare thing for us to be working in the shade and with most of the UK being gripped by a heatwave we aren't any different up here! As you can see from the photo below we have reached the dizzy heights of 41 degrees, or about 106 in old money, either way it's too hot!

Hot enough....oh I think so!

June 2009

11th June 2009

STOLEN - It would appear that someone has stolen Huw's ham sandwiches which he left at the top of the stairs this morning whilst getting milk and papers. If you have seen his ham sandwiches or have any information on the theft of the sandwiches please contact us here at the yard. You may receive a reward.

A ham sandwich like the one stolen.

11th June 2009

Concrete Ahoy! - At long last we have a clean and tidy area to work on outside the shed. After some early starts this week we have now completed our task and the concrete is almost set enough to be driven on. It looks great and will be invaluable to us for valeting boats and generally making our work much cleaner. As well as laying the concrete we have also re jigged a couple of hosepipes and will be installing another hose at the end of the yard either later this week or early next. Oh, how rock and roll are we!

Lovely concrete, good for working on, keeping things clean...and burying things in...

Lovely concrete again, complete with a drain and a brush, for brushing things!

8th June 2009

Concrete a go go! - Well at long last we have started the latest boatyard project and we will be laying concrete in front of the shed tomorrow afternoon which will make our working area a much nicer place and should eliminate all the puddles and nasty muddy area where we do most of our work. Obviously we need to clear the old concrete away and get the ground prepared for the arrival of several trucks full of concrete, so we have yet again enlisted the help of our good friend and all round nice guy David "Fritz" Williams who is a dab hand with a digger. Below are a couple of pictures of what he managed to achieve this afternoon.

It looks a bit of a mess now, but soon it'll be lovely!

Making sure that the ground is up to the job!

6th June 2009

Too good to last! - Well that was that then I guess, nice week, crappy weekend. The weather has turned somewhat overnight into this morning, having gone to bed with the fan keeping me cool I woke up at about 3am snuggled under the duvet absolutely freezing with rain lashing down outside. It has been showery for most of the morning and although it is forecast to perk up for a while this afternoon I can't see it myself. Still on the bright side we will probably have an early finish to our day! Today also sees the first Abersoch 10k race which is expected to attract lots of nimble people who enjoy running around in the rain. Even with the £1000 prize I can't see the attraction myself. Still it's all in aid of a good cause, which is never a bad thing. Good luck to all those running.

The Timcast has been lacking this last couple of weeks. Last week I didn't really see the point, most of the forecasts that I had seen and everyone else had seen predicted a scorcher of a weekend and most people had already decided well before Thursday that they were heading to Abersoch for the weekend, and with the light winds it really was busy out there on the water. This weekend saw the complete opposite of last weekends forecast, with some weather agencies issuing severe weather warnings....it's June for goodness sake, how severe can it possibly be?

We even had an afternoons boating ourselves this week. We took some friends, my lovely wife and our Ocean Kayak rep Justin out for a bit of fishing. Justin did very well and caught lots of Mackerel, which is lots more Mackerel than he has caught on his own boat, and not through lack of trying! We did all the usual boaty things, went to see the seals , but no dolphins, had a bite to eat, took photos and then came back in and went to the pub. It was my first proper boat trip this year and I can see why you all love boating down here!

Little Timmy News - I have had word that he is now eating solid food and he will be coming to the yard for good in a couple of weeks, so watch out if you come down, he's only small! How small I hear you ask, well the photo below should give you some idea of how small.

Yes he really is that small!

3rd June 2009

SCORCHIO!!! - Well that just about sums up the last seven days. It has been rare to see a cloud in the sky over the last week or so. We have also discovered that the mysterious orange ball in the sky is called the sun, and it either makes people lobster pink or a nice golden brown. Our bbq went well last weekend with around 30 people turning out to enjoy a burger and a beer. For all of you that missed out I am sure we will be having another bbq soon enough. Sunday saw me having a day off to go and watch the Touring Cars at Oulton Park with another 35,000 people, which was just amazing. The journey back was amusing too, watching the 26 mile queue from Chester almost back to Colwyn Bay, as we flew down the other carriageway. The water has been flat for a while now and even our weekdays are busy launching at the moment and we are on around 235 launches for the season so far, so it is shaping up nicely for a bumper season. Other than that it is business as usual, with lots of work to be done fixing boats, tractors and trailers! Hopefully the weather will continue, but with this being the UK it probably won't last, and if it does we'll have hosepipe bans in a week or two!

Three of the top touring car drivers, l-r, Matt Neal, Fabrizio Giovanardi and Andrew Jordan

Tim Harvey's Porsche Carrera Cup car, he is very very quick!

Dave Pinkney's Honda Civic after a brush with a wall...ouch!

May 2009

28th May 2009

BBQ's, E Bay Shops and more Touring Cars - Only a couple of days left until our fifth birthday BBQ, turn up, bring your wife (or someone elses), beer and we'll do the rest! We have also started an Ebay shop in which you can find all sorts of goodies. We only opened it two weeks ago and already it is attracting lots of new customers. At the moment we have mainly Yamaha service items on there, but as we are able to we will be putting up some Humminbird electronics along with some general chandlery items which we think will appeal to most boaty people. If there is something that you need and you don't see it in the shop, please let us know and we can arrange to get you whatever it might be that you need. With most of the items in the shop we offer free postage, so the price you see is the price you pay with no hidden extras. Alternatively we can arrange for you to pick your purchase up from us here at the boatyard. Remember for all our existing customers you will recieve a 15% discount on all Humminbird and Geonav equipment purchased in June to celebrate our 5th birthday! And finally, more touring car action this Sunday at Oulton Park in Cheshire, and being as its our local circuit I am taking the day off on Sunday to go and watch, normal service will still be going on at the yard with Huw and Nicko driving the tractors and Emily on the phone!

27th May 2009

Well doesn't time fly when you are having fun. It's a big weekend here at the boatyard this weekend, we are celebrating our fifth anniversary of owning the yard. As a thankyou to all our customers we are holding a bbq on Saturday afternoon / evening so come along and bring some beer and we'll provide the food. It's nothing fancy just a bite to eat and a few beers and a bit of a social gathering for our customers who have supported us over the last five years. To be honest it doesn't seem like two minutes ago since we took over, the last few years have just been a blur, but we've had a great time building and growing the yard over that time and we have some more improvements in the pipeline over the next couple of months which will improve the facility that we offer a bit more.

Big thanks for all those who have supported us over the years it means a lot!

16th May 2009

A Trip Out, Ocean Racing, Touring Cars and, oh yes, more wind! - Well lets start at the beginning of all that with our trip out. Nothing particularly exciting in that you'd think, and you'd be right there wasn't. But it was however the only day of the week that we could go out on the water to fix a few items on a boat on the moorings. The winds were light and from the South West which made it lovely and flat. Jobs completed we went for a quick spin round the bay, then back to the yard just in time to close up and pop for a pint, all in all a jolly afternoon. The 7th Leg of the Volvo Ocean Race starts later today from Boston, which I will be racing in. Sounds good but it gets better, I'll be racing from my computer in the office. The guys who organise the real race with the real boats have also developed a virtual race which anyone can compete in, so long as you have a computer and access to an internet. It's good fun, but very addictive, and you get to race against the real boats without the hassle of getting wet or any risk of sinking in the mid Atlantic! There are over 200,000 virtual boats set to take part, and "Timmys Tub" is hoping for a good result! Check out the website and get your boat entered. Volvo Ocean Race Game.

Looking at the weather for this weekend we are probably going to close tomorrow, Sunday, as the wind is set to be strong again and it will more than likely rain quite a bit too. So I'm all set for the third event or the Touring Car season at Donnington Park. I've always been into the Touring Car series, it is so much more fun watching real cars, and there are always lots of crashes, which makes for great viewing. Although there is only one real manufacturer team there are usually around 20 cars on the grid and with them all being so closely matched the racing is close...often a bit too close!

Jason Plato leading the last race at Brands Hatch doing around 100mph into the first corner and being hit from behind by Jonny Adam. Plato finished second, and was then handed the race win after the stewards deemed that Adam had gained an unfair advantage. It looked awesome on the telly!

ITV 4 have over 6 hours of live coverage of the racing on Sunday starting at 11:45 am, and the coverage also takes in othere series such as the Ginetta Juniors, with drivers as young as 13 taking part, the Ginetta G50 cup, Formula Renault, Porsche Carrera Cup. It's well worth a Sunday afternoon on the sofa with a few cans of your favourite tipple. See the race schedule here.

Oh yes and it has got windy again!

 

12th May 2009

Different day, different wind - It is sometimes difficult to explain to people how rough the bay can get when the wind blows. When it blows from the prevailing direction (South West) the bay never really gets particularly rough, and even when the wind strength gets up to a force 4 - 5 it is still boatable as the waves are usually smallish with a long time between each wave. However when the wind blows from an Easterly quarter as it has been for the last couple of days, it makes the bay a horrible place to be. The waves tend to heap up and have a very short time between them making it very choppy and not boatable. I ventured up to the yacht club this morning and took a couple of photos that demonstrate the power of an Easterly! Enjoy.

Lots of white water on the beach.

It would be "bouncy" to say the least on a boat!

The yacht lifting its nose is about 30 feet long

A nice view towards Llanbedrog head, the boat nearest the camera is 35 feet long. Imagine the stresses and strains on both boat and mooring!

 

10th May 2009

It won't be so windy today - Well it isn't windy today, it's not great, but it sure isn't windy. We are trying to make the most of it before it goes East and picks up again. Still there is some nice sunshine forecast for the next few days, so we should get some work done outside...hurrah!

8th May 2009

When will it stop being so windy? - Many people have over the years have made fun of my chunky figure, however this week it has proved its worth. If I were any lighter I am pretty sure I would have been blown away, the wind has just got stronger and stronger over the course of the week with gusts of up to 41mph at the weather station up the steps outside West Coast. We can only assume that it is much windier out on the moorings and beyond. The weather station in Aberdaron has recorded a 56mph gust, which is more than enough to blow waife like girls from Cheshire clean off their feet and onto the floor. Hopefully it will stop being so windy in the near future and we can enjoy the sunshine that is here!

3rd May 2009

Tims Animal Hospital - So there we all are sat having lunch and some of our good friends James and Sophie are tinkering on their boat when all of a sudden James' mum comes in and informs us all the their little dog, Dinky is having puppies in the back of the car. James and Sophie were well aware that Dinky was pregnant, but thought that the pups were due at the end of May, not the beginning! So a couple of hours later we had two dinky dinky dogs and a very proud mum. The pups are a boy and a girl, the boy has already been named "Little Tim" and the girl is awaiting a name. Suggestions by e mail please!

Dinky dog, and two pups!

Dinky dog with Little Tim(black and white) and the as yet unnamed girl pup.

30th April 2009

Swine Flu News - Whilst the world is going into meltdown about the fact that some people thousands of miles away have died because they have caught a cold from a pig, we have found the perfect cure on the Internet. I'm not sure it is available from all good retailers, or in fact any retailer, good or bad, but we like the idea! Enjoy!

22nd April 2009

Photos at last! - After some time I have managed to get a photo editing package installed on the old computer which now means I can add new photos onto the site again. So watch out over the next couple of weeks as we update the photos on the website, hopefully bringing it bang up to date, and giving you guys another veiw from the Soch! Anyhow, I'd best sort out a story with some photos! A couple of weeks back our beloved Land Rover was to be treated to a lick of paint on the rear axle, making it look good for the new season. As usual the job turned into a massive exercise in patience and planning, and we replaced some bearings, a stub axle some seals, all the pistons in the brake calipers and all the seals for the calipers, all the brake pads and we even managed to give the calipers a coat of paint too! See the photos below....see what I've done there! The more observant of you will have also noticed that the Land Rover has now gone from being a pick up to a van, making it much more usable. Of course we have added a few trinkets along the way including some massive rear worklights, our flashing beacon and a set of spots on the front, all in all making it a jolly nice piece of kit. It might well have a colour change soon as well!

Look a new photo!

And another!

13th April 2009

What and Easter! - Well who'd have thought that we would have ended up with such a glorious Easter bank holiday weekend. It felt like the world and his wife had made the journey to Abersoch this weekend, and even now, 3.30pm on Monday aftrenoon the place is still heaving. There isn't a table to be had on the Vaynol patio and the sun is still shining. We had an awesome weekend too with nearly 40 launches over the weekend and only one or two very minor problems which didn't compromise the service that we offer. Saturday was nice and sunny but there was a chill in the breeze, whereas Sunday was as close to flat calm as it gets, and it was more like and August bank holiday weekend, but without the rain! Everyone who went boating had an awesome time and many came back looking rather red! So our first busy weekend of the year and what have we discovered. The bbq works well. I look like a cock in a Range Rover. The new boat arrangement works well and everyone seems to have had a fantastic weekend!

1st April 2009

I thought long and hard this morning about trying to play an April fools joke on someone this morning, but just couldn't come up with anything that hasn't been done a million times before, so I came to work early instead and had my laptop stolen...or so I thought. It turns out that Huw had taken it as his April fools trick on me, but gave the game away with his laughing. So what news? Not much othere than the weather, which yet again seems to have turned out rather nice again. We are busy preparing for Easter which seems to have crept up on us rather quickly this year. Most of the boats that are required for Easter are now ready, but if you do have a boat on Park & Launch with us and you plan to use it over the Easter holidays, and you haven't let us know yet, then please drop us a line, as I can see that we may well be rather busy over the next few weeks! If you aren't one of our customers yet...why not...you don't know what you are missing! If you fancy becoming one of our Park & Launch customers then give us a call as we still have a few spaces left for our season which is already underway. Our number is 01758 713900

 

March 2009

18th March 2009

Well its been an age since we have updated the website so over the last few weeks we have been busy changing the layout of the site to take into account all the changes that we have made to our business over the last six or seven months. On the whole not much has changed here in Abersoch, the tide came in and went out a good few times, we had Christmas and New Year, which were nice. It was bitterly cold through most of December and January, then it was wet for a bit and now the sun has come out so we had to sit outside on this afternoon with a cup of tea and an Eccles cake....nice!

Which brings us nicely into the 2009 season. Most of the campsites are now open and there are a few people round and about which gives the village a nice early season buzz. We are open pretty much seven days a week now and are gearing up for our new season which kicks off on the 21st March this year, giving everyone the maximum possible time on the water.

So enjoy the newly improved website and more importantly enjoy your season in The Soch!

Other news includes the Timcast, which will be back tomorrow which will give you the lowdown on what the weather will be doing over the weekend, and so far it looks like it could well be a great first weekend for Park & Launch.

By the way, we still have spaces available for the 2009 season, so if you fancy a spot in the best yard around, then get in touch we will sort you out with a spot for the season.

We are still building the website so there will be bits of it that don't work just yet, but check back and over the next couple of weeks we should have everything sorted, up and running. Enjoy!