Closing One Chapter, Building the Next
Hello again. We hope you enjoyed the Christmas festivities and managed to take a well-earned break from winter boat maintenance plans.
As the year draws to a close, we’d like to thank you all for your continued support, custom, and trust. This has been a significant year for us, marked by the purchase of our own building — something we simply couldn’t have achieved without you.
Owning our own home gives us a solid foundation to continue doing the work we love, while supporting your future plans, trips, and adventures for many years to come.
“The Box”
As mentioned in an earlier newsletter, we’ve stuck with a wooden box design to house the entrance, offices, kitchen, and toilet. This layout worked extremely well in our Dartmouth loft, as it maximised the workshop area and allowed us to create the largest possible loft floor.
We’ve carried this concept across to the new space, creating a welcoming entrance area, two offices, a kitchen, and a toilet, while keeping the workshop open, efficient, and focused on what matters most.
The new box layout
“The Wine Cellar”
We’ve also opened up the stairs to the downstairs store. Once complete, this will be a south-facing, fully plastered and heated space, racked out specifically for winter storage.
The new store is large enough to provide more than double the racking capacity we had in Dartmouth — a significant step forward and a hugely useful space for us going forward.
The new “wine cellar” storage
Leaving Dartmouth
As we prepare to leave Dartmouth, it’s hard not to feel a real mix of emotions. This has been our home for a long time and the place where so many sails were cut, repaired, and finished, and where many of the relationships we value today were built.
The loft’s last fully operational day was Tuesday the 23rd of December, marking the end of a chapter that has meant a great deal to us.
On the 27th, we began packing up the Dartmouth workshop, starting with the bench/raised floor. We intend to reuse as much of this timber as possible, so it has been carefully dismantled to allow the builders to reassemble it efficiently in the new space.
Packing up…
Looking Ahead
As we turn our focus to the weeks ahead, our priority is getting the new loft up and running as smoothly as possible. The plan is for the new floor/bench to be built during the first week of January, with the second week used for varnishing the floor, installing the machines into their pits, and transferring all sails and covers currently in storage into the new storage room.
During this early part of January, we’ll be split between Dartmouth and Brixham, with plenty of van trips back and forth. We’ll absolutely still be around, but we appreciate your patience while we complete the move.
While there is still work to be done, we’re excited about what this new space will allow us to do — improving efficiency, increasing capacity, and continuing to deliver the quality and service you expect from us. We look forward to welcoming you into the new sail loft in the new year and sharing the next stage of the journey with you.
A Quick Note on Contact Details
One small issue we’re currently dealing with (and hoping will be short-lived) is that the new site does not yet have fibre-optic internet installed. This should be resolved very soon.
As our phone system has been internet-based for several years, we’ll be keeping the same number, but we may be without our landline for a short period until the connection is live. In the meantime, the Contact Us page on our website lists our mobile numbers and email addresses should you need to get in touch.
There will be one final update like this in January, hopefully confirming that the move is complete and setting out our confirmed contact details. Please keep an eye out for it.