Client Testimonials

Great stay as always. Excellent staff – very helpful. Look forward to the next visit!

Simply superb as always. Very nice to be met at Berth by a helpful member of staff. I wont be telling too many people as it’s not easy to get a berth here and I don’t want even more boats trying for Berths!

Thank you for a great stay as usual – such friendly staff, nothing is too much trouble. We love the herb garden, a great addition and very useful!

Always friendly, always helpful. My go to Marina for the Western Solent

5 stars plus. Thanks to the team, always so friendly 🙂 we always recommend you!

I would like to thank you for all the work you have done to make the re-rigging of Ganesha a great success. You managed the work very well, and kept us well informed.

We are very grateful for all your efforts to make our stay at the marina a very pleasant one.

I just wanted to let you know that I was really impressed by the lift team. They were professional, courteous, and very helpful. All in all, a pleasure to meet them and have them work on the boat.

TOCCATA FPB 64

Sue, Brian and Dominic,

As Sue knows, I am the owner of FPB 64 TOCCATA, which recently completed a two-year stay in the Lymington yard. I am writing to express my appreciation for the outstanding level of service we received from Berthon during our stay. From our arrival at the marina in November 2018 through our departure a few weeks ago, and including a surprisingly long stay in your brilliantly timed customs yard, we were fortunate to be able to take advantage of Berthon’s own craftsmen, a number of subcontractors in Berthon’s ecosystem and the overall sense of safety and security knowing that our boat was in good hands while we were thousands of miles away.

Toccata recently arrived back in the USA via ship and it was both a relief and not surprising at all that she arrived with all work having been performed well and ready to head off on her next adventure.

We regret that we were not able to retrieve TOCCATA ourselves this year but will always appreciate our time with Berthon and in Lymington itself and hope our paths will cross again one day.

Windsong Malo 36

A quick line to say that, after an uneventful trip down to Cornwall 2 weeks ago, we have Windsong safely moored at Mylor Yacht Harbour.

Now that we have left Lymington, at least for the time being, I wanted to record my thanks for the way that we have been looked after by your business over the last 18 months.

Sophie was great to deal with and very helpful on our purchase of the Malo 36; Matt Hart and Jim Catterall (and their teams) were excellent and both went the extra mile in helping to manage the re-fit of Windsong over the last winter whilst we were in Portugal – for longer than intended because of the Covid-19 pandemic; and Luke Machin and his team were unfailingly helpful and good humoured in resolving issues in the marina. Berthon rightly has a good reputation in the market and we experienced this quality across the business during the past 18 months.

Many thanks to you and everyone who helped make our stay at Berthon a pleasure.

Best wishes

October 2020

Footloose Windy 37

I should have written earlier regarding my Windy 37 to thank your staff for the help given.

I bought Footloose through your brokerage in 2006 and have since had many hours of fun. As I live on the East Coast with no shore power, I fitted a generator firstly to top up power and secondly because I have always worried about the fact that all of the batteries are shut in the engine compartment and I have never worked out a proper Plan B for access, should the batteries fail.

After sixteen years, I finally had the occasion to wish I had sorted a proper plan earlier. For the first time since owning the boat I managed to leave the batteries in the ‘on’ position and, having not fixed an issue with the generator properly over the winter due to Covid, found myself with no battery power.

I called your office for advice and was told to expect a call back shortly from the engineer who was off site; I was very happy to receive a call within fifteen minutes. Not only was it a prompt call back, but it was from Tom Wright who I understand is an engineering specialist within the Berthon group. I had managed to get myself out of ‘Jail’ by that point and will not bother you with the detail other than to say fortunately the Volspec engineer attending the boat the week before had not been as stupid as I; and had turned off the generator isolator – which was the unfinished winter job and also located in the engine compartment.

I would ask that you pass my thanks on to your receptionist who used her initiative to get Tom Wright to call me. Tom had a ready solution that I did not need to use, but which will be duly noted so that, should I be so stupid again, I do not find myself in the same position.

Many thanks and best wishes to you all in these strange times, although around here brokerage boats are flying off the shelves which I hope is the same for you.

August 2020

Tyne and Wear Fire & Rescue VT Halmatic MkIII Rigid Raider – Fire Boat

I wish to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude for the works you have undertaken on Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service’s behalf for the refurbishment of our Fireboat “Fossway”.

This project had, as you are aware, many unforeseen problems commencing at first with the outbreak of COVID-19, then the number of unexpected defects that you came across as the project progressed.

I am especially grateful to you for the regular communications with us, keeping us up to speed on how the works were progressing.

On the day of the trials, my colleagues and myself were greatly impressed by the facilities at your yard and of the thorough workout of the vessel and the speed that the issues identified were addressed.

The professionalism and communication throughout the project have been second to none. In conclusion, please forward my thanks to your team for their contribution to making this project the success it is.

Tom Greer, Tyne and Wear Fire & Rescue Service Technical Manager

Berthon were pleased to welcome the Tyne and Wear Fire Boat to our Marine Services Big Blue Sheds this summer for a comprehensive life extension refit, prolonging the service of the boat. Read the full article here.

September 2020

HMS EXPLOIT, P167 P2000 – ARCHER CLASS
HMS EXPLOIT, BFPO 285

Dec 2019

To the team involved

I write to express my gratitude to all those involved in the ship’s work package over the last 6 weeks. The feedback from my ship’s company couldn’t be more positive, and all of the work has been completed to the highest standard. Because of your hard work and professional attitudes, ‘EXPLOIT’ can return to Portsmouth and full operational capacity knowing that we will be ready for whatever comes our way.

We will no doubt see you next year when we return for another ASRP, but until then thank you, fair winds and following seas.

Yours,

James,

LT Rn, Commanding Officer HMS Exploit

HMS SMITER, P272 P2000 – ARCHER CLASS
HMS Smither, BFPO 387

Feb 2020

Berthons,

On behalf of Heslup’s company and myself, I would like to thank you for all your hard work on SMITER during her ASRP.

The level of support we received and the quality of the work was fantastic and, despite the maintenance period being extended, it was nice to see the level of motivation did not drop.

The ship is in a great material state which will serve us well during the following year, and we are very proud to call her our ship; as you should be proud of the contributions you have made.

All the best,

Looking forward to seeing you all next year,

Lt LDL Jones RN

Charles Hunter-Pease Chairman – Royal National Lifeboat Institution

I think the best evidence of the contribution of Berthon to the RNLI is that we’ve had a relationship for 30 years, and during that time Berthon has built 36 lifeboats: Arun, Severn and Shannon.

Berthon has displayed amazing qualities during the build and I think this is down to the team work within the organisation. Every single person in Berthon gets involved and discharges their responsibility to ensure that we receive a world class product. It’s proof because the crews are very proud of the boats that they get and, so far, in the last 30 years.

Berthon lifeboats have saved 584 lives. They’ve also brought ashore something like 20 times that number; so Berthon boats have saved the equivalent of the population of Lymington.

The Shannon has proven to be probably the most acceptable boat to the crews, even before they’ve received it. We took the prototype round almost every station that was possibly going to receive the boat and any views that they had that it might not be the boat for them were completely overcome. It is so versatile, it also gets to the casualty in probably half the time that today it would take a Mersey to get there, and that was one of the principle reasons that we designed the boat; to get to the casualty sooner and to save more lives.

The crews think it’s wonderful. In fact, they’re so excited that they’re always pestering us to know if they’re going to get one and when it’s going to be. Berthon has proven to be one of the best organisations with which we’ve worked; to be able to deliver such a complex product as the Shannon Lifeboat, and I think I go to sea in my little boat feeling that the Shannon will be out there, if I need it, heaven forbid, but the crews will be there to ensure that I am safe”

Dec 2015

Providence 48ft Pilot Vessel

“We decided to refit Providence rather than build a new vessel. Providence was favoured by her crew but let down by ageing machinery and reliability issues and the ships systems were prone to regular failures. Berthon won the tender and proved to be pro-active and keen at all times. They were able to draw from a skilled workforce and complete all the work in-house at their excellent facilities in Lymington. They were able to manage and complete all work in the contract to a high standard and Providence is now good for a further 10-15 years. The new engines make a fuel saving of 20 litres per hour of operation and the reliability of the craft continues to give us peace of mind. Berthon’s thorough approach to aftercare has been impressive too”

Dan Brown

Operational Maintenance Supervisor, APB South Wales.