Went to a boatshow, met a pirate!

Afternoon folks, time is flying by here at Soch Sails HQ and with one thing or another taking my time over the last month I haven’t had a minute to sit down and let you guys know how things are going. So I’ve found a minute or two just now at the end of my working day and with the sun streaming through my door I figured it was time to sit down.

So, what’s been happening? First up we’ve taken on an apprentice sailmaker to help me out, he’s great. I’ve known Simon for twenty years and he comes from a background of jewellery making and decided earlier this year that he wanted a new challenge. He’s been with us now for two months and is proving to be a very useful member of the team. He has completed a 120 sail order for RC Yachts as well as many of our recent retail orders and under the watchful eye of myself he is nailing our usual high quality sails, albeit a little slower than I’m used to. His attention to detail is great and the speed will improve as he makes more and more sails.

Having Simon around has allowed us to remain open for retail sail orders whilst still keeping the RC Yachts crew supplied, something that makes me happy and has eased my workload considerably over the last few months. If you remember before Christmas we had a bit of a leaky wet house, well it’s looking much better now, we still aren’t anywhere near being back in at the moment however progress is being made and the damaged end of the house has today had some new windows fitted and isn’t far off ready for plastering which is great work from Chris the builder and his team having been presented with a bare shell in the middle of February. Our other project whilst we are out is to bolt on an extension that we got planning for a few years back. This is now almost out of the ground and will start to take shape over the next month or two. As to when we can move back in….who knows, but it will be amazing when we do!

Phoebe in her new bedroom

Hallway taking shape

Big boatyard stuff is starting to gather pace as Easter looms on the horizon, our tractors are all ready to do their stuff, hopefully the weather will play ball too, although it’s currently windy and due to get cold again over the next few days. Hey ho.

I’ve got a small problem with my parents at the moment who are currently stuck in the USA after my dad was taken seriously ill two weeks ago whilst travelling from St Augustine FL to Atlanta GA. He is currently in cardiovascular ICU in Macon GA and whilst he is getting better it looks like he has a few weeks of recovery ahead before he and mum are able to fly home to the UK. So there is a bit to deal with there too, in amongst all the other stuff. But, hey, life would be pretty dull if nothing happened, perhaps if it all happened a little slower that might be helpful!

Soch Sails continues to blossom, we’ve had a positive start to the year and are always pleased to receive your orders for sails and accessories in our inbox. We are pretty much up to date with orders and our lead times are measured in days not weeks for DF sails, IOM sails are maybe a week or two and accessories and RC Laser spares are sent from stock. If you or a friend wants or needs sails to collect at the upcoming DF95 Globals then we have capacity to make them, just get in touch and we’ll make it happen for you. We are trying hard to restock our rig bags for both DF65 and DF95 but everything we currently produce seems to be heading to RC Yachts, I have around 20 bags currently in production for our own stock, they should be with us in a couple of weeks. Likewise with the transmitter bags, I have sent a batch off today in both blue and black.

Regarding the Globals, I might have a well prepped boat for charter if you don’t fancy bringing your own boat. Get in touch if it might help you out.

In the meantime if you need a suit of sails, a rig kit or something else then check out the online shop which is open 247. Also check out some of the sails we have made over the last month below.

Thanks for reading, I’ll try and update a little more often!