Woodbridge Boat Yard’s COVID-19 Reaction
The very pretty ‘Black Cat’, another Everson-built boat, preparing for launch without mast or rudder.
Mar 31, 2020
As restrictions continue to tighten, boat yards across the country are hurrying to launch many of the wooden vessels in their care and the boat yards of the Deben are no different. Faced with the prospect of an unknown period of lockdown, maritime businesses are reacting to avoid damage to historic boats.
Speaking to Matt Lis, General Manager of The Woodbridge Boat Yard, he explained the precautions that they have put in place and the reason for their urgency. ‘We are carefully monitoring advice and instructions from health officials and the Government as well as constant consultation with our team. At present, with a workforce exhibiting no signs of illness, in a large, mainly outdoor workplace where we can practice social distancing and enhanced hygiene measures, but with work that cannot be performed from home, we are following the Health Secretary, Matt Hancock’s, instructions to continue work. We have closed public access to our site and cancelled all boat launching activities, with some notable exceptions. We have implemented these measures and taken the decision to remain at work in an effort to discourage our customers from travelling to check on their boats. Our small and professional team can look after the 120+ boats in our care so that all their owners can stay at home with peace of mind.’
Matt explained another step that they were taking to help their customers, ‘Boat yards are very much communities in their own rights and some of our customers have been coming here for over 40 years so in light of the economic uncertainty and changing employment situation that many find themselves in, we have decided to defer a planned price increase that was due to come into place on 1st of April. We hope that by sharing the burden, we can support those who support us.’
There are some exceptions to The Woodbridge Boat Yard’s ban on launching as Matt went on to explain, ‘Wooden boats, particularly the older ones, are vulnerable to drying out if they are ashore over the summer under the heat of the sun. In some cases we have to accept this because boats are in a state of restoration and in those cases we offer them what shade we can to minimise the risk. Wherever possible though we have been rushing to launch these vulnerable, and often historic, boats. It is important to appreciate that these boats are not being launched so that their owners can flaunt instructions to stay at home, this is an exercise is damage reduction and historic preservation. For example, this week we have lifted four pre-war boats that were built here at our yard; two Deben Cherubs, ‘Cherub’ (1924) and ‘Lynette’ (1937), ‘Clytie’, built in 1922 for Sir Clifford Paterson is probably unique for a boat of her age because she is still in the same family and comes home every year to the yard that built her, she’s also thought to be the longest resident boat on the Deben, and ‘Black Cat’ a one-off built in 1937. Perhaps the most famous boat we’ve launched this week wasn’t one of the ones built by us but by Harry King’s yard at Pin Mill; ‘Peter Duck’ was designed by Laurent Giles and built for Arthur Ransome, the author known best for his Swallows and Amazons books. ‘‘Peter Duck’ is built of larch and particularly susceptible to drying out. She’s gone into the water unpainted and without her masts but at least she’ll be safe, it’s a huge relief’, said Julia Jones, another local author and the boat’s present owner.
The team at The Woodbridge Boat Yard had been planning an evening of cocktails and canapés next week at the Classic Boat Magazine Awards dinner in London where the results would be disclosed and they would find out whether another Woodbridge-built Deben Cherub, ‘Ariel’, has won Restoration of the Year in the ‘Under 40ft’ category. The awards ceremony is of course postponed but we look forward to hearing the results which will instead be published in the magazine. We will let you know how they get on.
‘Clytie’, built in 1922 by Everson & Sons, now The Woodbridge Boat Yard, being launched.
‘Peter Duck’, built for Arthur Ransome and named after the title character of his third ‘Swallows and Amazons’ novel.
‘Cherub’, the first of the Deben Cherubs synonymous with The Woodbridge Boat Yard where they were all built.
‘Lynette’, the last of the Deben Cherubs, built in Woodbridge in 1937.