Epoxycraft
Menu
  • About
  • Epoxy Basics
  • How To
    • DIY
    • Artists
    • Board Sports
    • Woodworking
    • Boat Building
  • Trade Secrets
  • Projects
    • DIY
    • Artists
    • Board Sports
    • Woodworking
    • Boat Building
    • Motorsport
    • Aviation
    • Architecture
  • Meet The Maker
  • News
  • Contribute
  • Contact

Projects: Exploring Suffolk Yacht Harbour
30th April 2021

Image credit: Emily Harris

In the lead up to the summer season, the boatyard services team at Suffolk Yacht Harbour is working around the clock on maintenance and repair jobs, ensuring the incredible boats that come through their doors are ready to go back on the water.

Suffolk Yacht Harbour (SYH) is the leading independent marina on east coast of the UK. Founded in 1967, the 550-berth marina is a hub for cruising, racing and boat maintenance.

Alongside their extensive marina, they also provide boat movement services and two on-site chandleries. But it’s the boatyard services at SYH that we’re shining a spotlight on today.

Led by Boatyard Services Director Joshua Major, the workshop team have over 50 years’ experience working with classic and GRP boats. From minor repairs to full refits, SYH have a state-of-the-art workshop and utilise the latest in marine technology to repair and renovate sail yachts and motor boats.

We managed to pull the team away from their busy work schedule to find out a bit more about the projects they’ve been working on and discover how they continue to manage and exceed boat owner requests year on year.


Ryegate

The team talked us through one of their recent projects; the extensive refit of Ryegate, a classic wooden motor yacht. When she arrived in Suffolk for her renovation, the team sanded the hull back to a bright mahogany, routed out all the seams and splined the topsides in the same wood.

“We renewed her gas system to meet insurance regulations and removed and remanufactured the traditional galvanised rudder and keel shoe.” Corroded and degraded fastenings were also replaced to ensure this beautiful boat is authentically restored to her former glory.

For the Ryegate project, the SYH team used a number of products from WEST SYSTEM on this refit:

  • WEST SYSTEM 105 Epoxy Resin
  • WEST SYSTEM 205 Fast Hardener
  • WEST SYSTEM 407 Low Density Filler
  • WEST SYSTEM 403 Microfibres Adhesive Filler 

Acamar

The team goes on reminiscing about the work done on Acamar – a 26ft wooden classic sailing yacht.

“The topsides were sanded, spot filled and hand-painted using the ‘roll and tip’ method. This method involves someone rolling the paint on for coverage, while a second person follows with a brush to eliminate any roller marks,” explains Joshua Major.

The decks were sanded back and primer applied for a non-slip finish. All the varnish work was stripped back before a layer of Awlwood was applied and the decks were changed to full swept teak with new mahogany cover boards and teak kick rails.

“We stripped the cockpit arrangement and fitted new teak, side deck sloping helm seats.” The aft cockpit locker was removed and the engine box and companionway were repositioned to optimise the space and strop out any excess weight.

Down below, all the interior paintwork and varnish was stripped back and refinished, and a fridge was built and installed alongside a replacement galley sink and pipe work.

The SYH worked with onsite business French Marine to fit a new electric engine and Mr Stainless to make a custom genoa track and fit new, polished stainless window surrounds. Chandlery Classic Marine supplied traditional winches and all new Schaefer deck gear, while the team partnered with Seapower Marine Electronics to fit the wiring loom and convert the dials to a classic style. They also installed period LED cabin and navigation lighting from Classic Marine.

The SYH team also worked with WEST SYSTEM epoxy across the extensive refit, using the following products:

  • WEST SYSTEM 105 Epoxy Resin
  • WEST SYSTEM 205 Fast Hardener
  • WEST SYSTEM 407 Low Density Filler
  • WEST SYSTEM 403 Microfibres Adhesive Filler. 
  • WEST SYSTEM 406 Colloidal Silica

Nauti Bear

You may recognise this next boat from her on-screen feature in ‘From Russia With Love’. Sean Connery gets involved in a typical James Bond high-speed pursuit with a fleet of bad guys on their Fairey Huntsmen, as he races across a Scottish lake on his Fairey Huntress.

At Suffolk Yacht Harbour, the team called upon their traditional boat building skills to restore Fairey Huntsmen, Nauti Bear, back to her true original design.

They started by blasting off the old antifoul with a soft mineral called olivine before revolting the underwater section of the hull and replacing the port spray rail.

Wanting to stay true to the Fairey’s original construction, “We re-painted the top sides and modified the exhaust back to its traditional design,” explains Joshua Major. The team worked with onsite partner French Marine to re-engineer the twin Perkins 200hp engines and install them midships under the cockpit.

For this project, the team relied on the following products from WEST SYSTEM:

  • WEST SYSTEM 105 Epoxy Resin
  • WEST SYSTEM 205 Fast Hardener
  • WEST SYSTEM 403 Microfibres Adhesive Filler 

The Best Epoxy for Boatbuilding

Down at the yard, the team are hard at work on a number of jobs going on. Osmosis treatments, bulkhead bonding, hull laminating repairs and teak and Lignia deck laying. Suffolk Yacht Harbour has a long-standing relationship with WEST SYSTEM epoxy and use the products on all of their work. “As the Suffolk Yacht Harbour refit and repair workshops have steadily grown into the large, modern facility we have today, WEST SYSTEM has remained a consistent and trusted supplier,” explains SYH Managing Director, Jonathan Dyke.

“WEST SYSTEM is without a doubt the best epoxy for boat building and there is barely a day that goes by when we aren’t using a WEST SYSTEM product in our workshops,” explains SYH Boatyard Services Director, Joshua Major. “We use WEST SYSTEM on both GRP and classic wooden boat repairs and refits; the products are simple to apply and deliver on the high standards we always aim for. More recently, we have found the new G/flex epoxy particularly good for repair work.”


SYH Classic Regatta

Looking forward, Suffolk Yacht Harbour has announced the dates of their annual Classic Regatta, due to be held from 25th – 27th June 2021. The event is the largest classic yacht regatta on the east coast and attracts a fleet of beautifully maintained vessels.  You can find out more about the 2021 Classic Regatta here.

You can find out more about Suffolk Yacht Harbour over on their website.


Share on


Back to projects

Subscribe to our newsletter
Our unique epoxy knowledge and experience, delivered straight to you

Events

RYA Dinghy Show 2023 25th-26th February 2023

What is epoxy?

Epoxy Projects

WEST SYSTEM Epoxy Starts With Clean Packaging & New Spanish Distributor

  • 31st January 2023
Read More

Events & Exhibitions Coming Up In 2023!

  • 31st January 2023
Read More

Basic Techniques of Surface Preparation for Wooden Boatbuilding and Repair

  • 31st January 2023
Read More
1234567
1234567
  • Home
  • Epoxy Basics
  • Projects
    • DIY
    • Artists
    • Board Sports
    • Woodworking
    • Boat Building
    • Motorsport
    • Architecture
    • Aviation
  • Trade Secrets
  • How To
    • DIY
    • Artists
    • Board Sports
    • Boat Building
    • Woodworking
  • News
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contribute
  • Contact
West System
Pro-Set
Entropy Resins
Subscribe to our newsletter
Copyright © 2023 Epoxycraft | Website by MAA
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
Cookie SettingsAccept All
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
CookieDurationDescription
bcookie2 yearsLinkedIn sets this cookie from LinkedIn share buttons and ad tags to recognize browser ID.
langsessionThis cookie is used to store the language preferences of a user to serve up content in that stored language the next time user visit the website.
lidc1 dayLinkedIn sets the lidc cookie to facilitate data center selection.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
CookieDurationDescription
_ga2 yearsThe _ga cookie, installed by Google Analytics, calculates visitor, session and campaign data and also keeps track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookie stores information anonymously and assigns a randomly generated number to recognize unique visitors.
_ga_91ZH5F88XM2 yearsThis cookie is installed by Google Analytics.
_gat_gtag_UA_103456315_31 minuteThis cookie is set by Google and is used to distinguish users.
_gid1 dayInstalled by Google Analytics, _gid cookie stores information on how visitors use a website, while also creating an analytics report of the website's performance. Some of the data that are collected include the number of visitors, their source, and the pages they visit anonymously.
CONSENT16 years 3 months 20 days 13 hours 3 minutesThese cookies are set via embedded youtube-videos. They register anonymous statistical data on for example how many times the video is displayed and what settings are used for playback.No sensitive data is collected unless you log in to your google account, in that case your choices are linked with your account, for example if you click “like” on a video.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
CookieDurationDescription
_fbp3 monthsThis cookie is set by Facebook to display advertisements when either on Facebook or on a digital platform powered by Facebook advertising, after visiting the website.
bscookie2 yearsThis cookie is a browser ID cookie set by Linked share Buttons and ad tags.
fr3 monthsFacebook sets this cookie to show relevant advertisements to users by tracking user behaviour across the web, on sites that have Facebook pixel or Facebook social plugin.
IDE1 year 24 daysGoogle DoubleClick IDE cookies are used to store information about how the user uses the website to present them with relevant ads and according to the user profile.
test_cookie15 minutesThe test_cookie is set by doubleclick.net and is used to determine if the user's browser supports cookies.
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE5 months 27 daysA cookie set by YouTube to measure bandwidth that determines whether the user gets the new or old player interface.
YSCsessionYSC cookie is set by Youtube and is used to track the views of embedded videos on Youtube pages.
yt-remote-connected-devicesneverYouTube sets this cookie to store the video preferences of the user using embedded YouTube video.
yt-remote-device-idneverYouTube sets this cookie to store the video preferences of the user using embedded YouTube video.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
CookieDurationDescription
AnalyticsSyncHistory1 monthNo description
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional1 yearThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
li_gc2 yearsNo description
pvc_visits_11[0]1 dayNo description
UserMatchHistory1 monthLinkedin - Used to track visitors on multiple websites, in order to present relevant advertisement based on the visitor's preferences.
SAVE & ACCEPT
Powered by CookieYes Logo