Local News

Seago 150 and 175 Newton Lifejackets including Junior Lifejackets

Updated Safety Notice – Additional Information

We have become aware that some Seago 150 and 175 lifejackets including Junior lifejackets may have a defect which could result in serious injury.

This led to a number of lifejackets being recalled in May 2008

Seago Yachting is extending the recall of Seago 150 & 175 Newton and Junior lifejackets to include the manufacturing quarter of II/07. The lifejackets affected by both recalls all bear the following marks:

IV/05, I/06, II/06, III/06, IV/06, I/07 and II/07

The lifejackets are marked with the manufacturing date on the reverse of the white labels found sewn into the lifejacket below the inflation system.

If you own a Seago 150 or 175 Newton or Junior lifejacket then please check the manufacturing date as described above.

The lifejackets were sold in chandlery shops, marine retail outlets and marine websites throughout the United Kingdom and Europe.

If you have an affected lifejacket then PLEASE STOP USING IT IMMEDIATELY. Please remove the gas cylinder from the inflation system and return the lifejacket only to:

Seago Yachting Ltd, Mullany Business Park, Golden Cross, Hailsham

Sussex BN27 3RP. The jackets will be tested and serviced any faulty jackets will be replaced.

If you have any queries please contact Seago on 01825 873632.

By Jane Honey

STUNNING images of the Tamar Valley are to be displayed in a highly unusual setting in West Devon at the end of this month.
The exhibition is to be staged inside the workshed at Weir Quay Boatyard, to be cleared of boats, timber, paintpots, varnish and a lot of dust specially for the purpose.
The boatyard has been transformed during the last seven years by its present owner, Michael Hooton, and is now a profitable business employing seven local people.
The exhibition idea was sparked by the illustrated tide tables the boatyard has been producing since 2001.
The tables have featured work by Tavistock-based Ian Heard, Richard Allman and most recently by Tamar Valley artist Rita Smith.
The tide tables have now become a valued and distinctive booklet for the sailors and yachtsmen navigating the Tamar estuaries.
Michael said: ‘We believe this is the first time that the visual arts have been used to add brand value to a company in the marine industry and it’s certainly the first time in this country that the arts have been used to enhance the presentation of hydrographic information.
‘It may be that our example will be followed elsewhere and that increasingly, people will try to develop creative ways in which to present dull tables of figures.’
Michael said having given and received commissions from three Devon artists, it seemed appropriate to provide an opportunity for the boatyard customers, local mariners and the community at large to see more of their work.
The two-week exhibition is called ‘Watching the River Flow’.
Michael said: ‘The boatyard is making available its workshed for the purpose. At the moment it’s still full of boats, until a week before the exhibition, when we are taking them out and getting the vacuum cleaners into the workshed, putting up panels for the paintings and lighting.
‘The artists have been asked to provide between 12 and 15 paintings about the river, so there will be a total of about 40 original works.
‘September is the only month of the year when it is commercially possible for the boatyard to clear its shed in this way — there is a brief pause in the time-table between completing the servicing and re-fit work on local yachts and hauling out the boats again for the winter lay-up from October.
‘The timing also coincides with the open studios programme of the ‘Drawn to the Valley’ artists, to which all three exhibiting artists belong.’
The exhibition will enable the artists to work at the boatyard during the exhibition and introduce visitors and members of the viewing public to their work and how it is produced.
Michael said ‘Watching the River Flow’ was part of the boatyard’s continued drive to revitalise the historic Tamar Valley.
‘The Tamar was one of the busiest rivers in the country in the middle of the 19th century — it was busier than the Mersey,’ he said.
‘Anything we can do to start bringing a bit more life and regeneration to the river is a good thing, otherwise it will ultimately just silt up.’
‘Watching the River Flow’ at Weir Quay Boatyard runs from Saturday August 30 to Friday September 12, between 10am and 6pm daily.

With Solent boatyard bills soaring, YM's production editor Kieran Flatt explains in Sea change (p58) why, over the years, he's downsized from posh marina to swinging mooring. This year, he reckons he'll save another £1,000 by moving his yacht 170 miles west from Portsmouth to the rural idyll of Weir Quay, on the River Tamar.

Here, his boat will serve as a country cottage for weekend getaways. As an extra bonus, Kieran is looking forward to exploring a whole new cruising ground on his doorstep. Every sailing trip will feel like a 'proper holiday' he says.

Of course, there are drawbacks, as well as plus points. It's a long drive to Plymouth and he can't just pop down to check the boat before a gale warning. But making savings demands sacrifices. Sailing, after all, is a luxury. But we mustn't get trapped into feeling guilty at enjoying the Great Escape - casting off to leave behind our land-bound woes.

Exhibition of Paintings about the Tamar River

Saturday 30th August - Friday 12th September
10am - 6pm daily

Private View Friday 29th August 6pm - 8pm

Having given and received commissions from 3 separate regional artists with very different individual styles for our tide tables, it seemed appropriate to provide an opportunity for the WQB customers, local mariners and the community at large to see more of their work. Accordingly, we have invited the Tide Table artists to produce marine work and specifically work on and around the Tamar River for a 2-week exhibition at the Boatyard entitled ‘Watching the River Flow’.

IAN HEARD (WQB 2007)

Nature or nurture – it’s in his bones. The family boatyard in Cornwall has infused Ian’s career as a marine illustrator. After 12 years with Yachting Monthly, he moved his design enterprise to Tavistock and is now best-known for his delightful book, Classic Boats of the West Country

RICHARD ALLMAN (WQB 2008)

Richard is a master draughtsman who has chronicled the changing faces of the City of Plymouth for 30 years. For this project he has worked outside, exploring looser themes and styles inspired by structures, boats and riverscapes between the Brunel Bridge and Morwellham Quay

RITA SMITH (WQB 2009)

Trained at Camberwell and the Slade, Rita has lived and worked around the Tamar for 20 years. The rhythms and shapes of boats out of the water and the elegant lines and patterns of masts and rigging against the Tamar hills and skies have proved endlessly fascinating and challenging.

For more information on the exhibition and the artists please go to our new webpages Art at Weir Quay.

IMPORTANT SAFETY WARNING

Seago 150 and 175 Newton Lifejackets including Junior Lifejackets

Seago Yachting have become aware that some Seago 150 and 175 Newton Lifejackets including Junior Lifejackets may have a defect which could result in serious injury.

The lifejackets are marked with a manufacture date in roman numerals, for instance the last quarter of 2005 is shown IV/05. The quarters concerned are:

     

IV/05

I/06

II/06

III/06

IV/06

I/07

If you own a Seago 150 or 175 Newton Lifejacket including Junior Lifejackets then please check the manufacture date. The lifejackets in question were sold in chandlery shops, marine retail outlets and marine web sites thoughout the United Kingdom.

If you have an affected lifejacket then PLEASE STOP USING IT IMMEDIATELY. Please remove the gas cyclinder manually from the inflation system and return the lifejacket only to Seago Yachting Ltd, Mullany Business Park, Golden Cross, Hailsham, East Sussex. BN27 3RP with your full contact details. A replacement lifejacket will be issued.

If you have any queries then please do not hesitate to contact Seago Yachting Ltd on 01825 873632

A 70-year-old gaff cutter that has had a major refit was blessed and renamed at Weir Quay Boatyard last Friday. The boat was built as Rowan IV on the Clyde in 1938 for a Glasgow surgeon, Dr RB Carslaw, who kept her all his life. She is now owned by retired veterinary surgeon Nelson Bowden, of Bere Ferrers.

She was featured in Dr Carslaw’s book, Leaves from Rowan’s Logs: Cruising the Western Isles and West Coast, and is a Loch Fyne skiff fitted out as a private yacht. She is mahogany-planked, splined above the waterline, on heavy oak frames iwth a teak dog house and superstructure.

The local rector, the Rev Nick Law, performed the blessing on the boat, which was dressed overall, and she was then renamed Darcy Patricia by Mr Bowden’s daughter in the presence of approximately 50 of the owner’s friends and family. She was later launched.

After being bought by Mr Bowden, the boat was out of the water for more than two years. The hull required major repairs, including work on the seams, the stern post was replaced in solid oak and the base of the mast needed major work due to rot. Instrumentation has been replaced and a new rig designed by Ed Burnett, of Totnes, to improve her performance and balance. New sails were also made. Mr Bowden has tackled some maintenance himself but said he had ‘gone out of his way’ to find and use local talent and skills in her restoration and refurbishment. ‘She is a credit to those skills and hopefully is good for at least another 70 years,’ he said.

Mr Bowden has photos of the original launch in 1938 and of Dr Carslaw and his wife, children and dogs on board. The relaunch was followed by a celebration gathering at the Olde Plough in Bere Ferrers.

The boat will take part in the Classic Boat Rally in Plymouth in August, crewed by Mr Bowden and his two brothers, and they will then head west to similar events at Fowey and Falmouth.

A new permanent photography exhibition will be displayed in Calstock Village Hall on the 19th April 2008.  This exhibition features work by Malcolm Baldwin, the photographs showing everyday life in Calstock throughout the 1980's.  This is a fascinating project and well worth a look.

100 Years of Calstock Viaduct and the Bere Alston - Gunnislake railway

23 February - 3 March 2008

The spectacular Calstock Viaduct and the highly scenic section of the Tamar Valley Line between Bere Alston and Gunnislake are celebrating their centenaries in 2007 and 2008.

Between 23 February and 3 March 2008, a whole series of events has been organised to celebrate 100 years of trains between Bere Alston, Calstock and Gunnislake and to mark the Centenary of the Callington branch line.

The Centenary itself, 2 March, will see a host of events with ceremonies at all three stations.