On a chilly January morning, 30 gaffers gathered at the Berthon yard to be shown around their state of the art facilities and see all aspects of boat repair, maintenance and refurbishment is carried out. We all types of boat being worked on, from a stripped out wooden West Wight One Design having frames and planks replaced as an apprentice project, to a super yacht refurbishment.

This fascinating tour gave us an insight into the care and attention to detail which goes into so many of the specialised tasks of boat maintenance and it was very interesting to have a tour of the yard on a working day.

Committee member, Jeremy Retford, who organised the event said, “I am very pleased that so many Solent members supported this event and that they were then rewarded by such a comprehensive and interesting tour of the Berthon shipyard by John and Keith, followed by a good lunch at the nearby Mayflower Pub”.

Many thanks to Berthon for their hospitality, to our tour guides John and Keith, in-house photographer Harry Shutler for these terrific photos and especially Jeremy for organising the tour and subsequent enjoyable lunch.