Seatern is Built |
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| Seatern was ordered in October 2012, soon after the Southampton Boat where Swallow Boats had taken a number of orders. As a result the build did not start until May 2013, and she was inot delivered until the end of December. I visited Swallow Boats three times during the build and spent my time choosing equipment and building the electronics unit (as well as sailing my Seafly and Lightning dinghies). |
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 Build Commences | 
Swallow Boats started building Seatern in May 2013 and I visited them in June to see how the work was progressing and to discuss some of the outstanding issues, in particular the system for raising and lowering the mast. The lower part of Seatern's hull was starting to take shape (Photo album). Matt would not commit himself to when Seatern might be finished, he was trying to recruit another boat builder. However we did talk about completion around the time of the Southampton Boat Show.
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2nd SB visit | 
By my second visit during the build the hull was built up and the interior taking shape
(Photo album).
Still no commitment on a completion date however!
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Boat Show time | 
At the Southampton Boat Show Matt suggested I get Charlotte to send me some photos of the progress. Possibly the Boat Show had slowed up progress, however note that Seatern had been inverted so that the bottom of the hull could be finished and coated with anti-fouling. Now she was back upright. I was beginning to realise that epoxy-wood boats take much longer to build than GRP!
(Photo album).
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3rd SB visit | 
My last visit during the build was on the 11th October 2013. By my last visit during the build then the hull and cabin were fully shaped and the much of the cabin inside painted. I have included more views from this visit in the
Photo album because they show details of the construction which are hidden when the boat is completed. The end of November was suggested as a "definite" completion date.
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Face Book glimpse | 
Matt had informed me by phone that they would not be completeing Seatern until just before Christmas. I got a glimpse of her on the Swallow Boats Facebook page in the background to photos of the new BC25. The latter seemed to be progressing very quickly and I was concerned that the new boat was attracting an unfair share of effort. Matt said that it was because there was room for more than one person to work on the larger boat. There seemed to be a lot to be done if Seatern was to be finished in two weeks as promised!
Still no commitment on a completion date however!
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 At Last! | 
Matt delivered Seatern to Priory Road public hard which is about 80m from my jetty. It was a day later than planned but there had been a storm on the 18th, and the delay suited Matt. We rigged her there and then used my Torqeedo outboard to take her to the jetty. The centre board had jammed up (road debris?) which is my excuse for having to use Matt as a fender. Jon Tipple and Zoe Shelley took
photographs of the event. Seatern looked lovely!
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Xmas | 
My Christmas card design for 2013 featured Matt in his Father Christmas role delivering Seatern. Of course, people got their card a bit late that year!
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Diary/Sailing Log entry
