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28 March, 2018
As you can see Mike was forever joyful and never was a job too complex. Even his close peers silently and rather jealously lamented when they were too busy on other projects and Mike’s skill was being passed on to younger apprentices. Berthon wishes Mike a fabulous retirement.
22 August, 2017
We head back inside RIPPLE for more bronze floors and brackets It’s been a while since our last update on RIPPLE, our 1925 Berthon built West Solent Restricted Class (otherwise known as Lymington One Design (LOD) or West Solent One Design (WSOD)), as there have been numerous other projects in…
31 August, 2016
The Yacht Restoration Project Continues… The project to restore Ripple (built by Berthon in 1925) continues. With the centreline structure, new laminated frames and bronze floors in place, the next step for Ripple will be to add the Alaskan yellow cedar planking to form the hull of the yacht. Although…
27 February, 2015
The work to restore RIPPLE, a 1925 Berthon built West Solent one design has been progressing with apprentice Lewis Still taking directions from seasoned Mike Prince in the corner of the big blue sheds at Berthon. Lewis, a 2nd year apprentice shipwright comments on the work he has been undertaking…
31 January, 2014
Since the last update to the restoration blog there has been much progress on RIPPLE. We now have all of the laminated frames in the midship section of the boat permanently fixed in place. These have been housed into the keel and then glued using thickened epoxy resin, plus additional…
01 November, 2013
Over the past few months there has been a slight lull in work on RIPPLE because there have been so many other projects at the Shipyard requiring extra hands. Most significantly, the 67’ Mariflex Challenge Yacht which underwent an extensive refit and has now been handed back to a very…
09 September, 2013
‘The frames are made using laminates of iroko machined to a thickness of 5mm. These are then covered with resorcinol glue on all mating faces and bent around a laminating jig; as pictured in the blog. This is then left for the glue to cure. Once the glue has completely…
08 July, 2013
Here is the latest timelapse video of RIPPLE’s transformation by the Berthon Apprentices, with highlights of the framing process mentioned in ‘The most beautiful part of every picture is the frame.’ (G.K. Chesterton) by Jack Gunstone-Smith (Second year Shipwright Apprentice). ‘The most beautiful part of every picture is the frame.’…
30 May, 2013
Jack Gunstone-Smith is serving a four year advanced apprenticeship at Berthon in the Shipwright department. He says ‘I applied for my apprenticeship online, was invited for interview, and was lucky enough to be chosen for an apprenticeship, which was great news as it was something I really wanted to do….
23 May, 2013
By Jack Gunstone-Smith (Second year Shipwright Apprentice) Since the last instalment to the blog, work has been progressing on “Ripple” in leaps and bounds. The new keel timber has been made from iroko hardwood, using templates taken from the original. Although the original timber was one piece the new keel…
26 April, 2013
By Jack Gunstone-Smith (2nd year Shipwright Apprentice) Whilst working on Ripple these last couple of weeks, I have so far removed the keel timber, which involved removing the large bronze keel bolts that fasten the keel to the strap floors, by way of drilling off the heads of the bolts…
28 March, 2013
4th Year Berthon apprentice Jack Hughes signed his name by engraving a new frame for West Solent One Design RIPPLE, as part of the `Made by Apprentices Campaign’ which is a national effort to promote the role and importance of apprentices to business today. RIPPLE is of course undergoing a…
20 March, 2013
Gathering Vital Support by Brian May, MD Berthon Boat Company. On a frosty morning at the end of February Ian Stables, Senior Project Manager at Berthon, and I drove to the quiet sleepy town of Maldon in Essex to visit the legendary Adrian Riva’s boatshed adjacent the River Chelmer and…
26 February, 2013
February 2013 – A Change of Name: Berthon Boatyard owner Brian May has renamed the West Solent One Design W-8 that the Berthon apprentices are currently restoring as an educational project, from DINAH to RIPPLE. Designed and built at the Lymington based shipyard by Brian’s great grandfather H G May…
31 January, 2013
Built by Berthon in 1925 sail number W-8 (originally named Dinah) Refit started October 2012 The story so far: Joel Wootten 1st year Apprentice Painter: I started scraping the paint from the topsides from the port aft end but it was very difficult to start with since I am left…
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