AYC EARLY SPRING 21 CUSTOMER UPDATE - 1st March 2021

Early morning mist surrounds a Discovery 55 on the slip this morning at Ardfern

SPRING IS IN THE AIR AT LAST - BUT PLEASE BE PATIENT FOR A LITTLE WHILE LONGER

WITH spring now notably and thankfully in the air this week at Ardfern we are pleased to report that the spring work on boats is now well underway.

In the boatyard the workshop team are busy antifouling, polishing and completing engine recommissioning jobs, along with launching vessels and continuing with our winter work schedule in the shed.

As a non-essential retail business the chandlery remains closed for the time being in line with Scottish Government regulations. However, for local Argyll-based customers we continue to offer a click and collect service for essential items from 8.30am to 5pm from Monday to Friday. 

Unfortunately, the facilities block must also remain closed to customers, while ‘shared facilities’ are not permitted under the current Covid-19 guidelines at this time.

While we are all desperate to get back out onto the water in our boats as soon as possible we kindly ask all of our customers to continue to be patient by continuing to adhere to the current Scottish lockdown restrictions, in order to help with minimising the spread of the virus and to help keep our staff, yourselves and our local community as safe as possible. The latest guidance regarding ‘boating during lockdown’ from RYA Scotland is available at RYA SCOTLAND while the Scottish Government Covid-19 guidelines can be found at GOV.SCOT-COVID-19

If you are concerned that you have not been to your vessel for some time, please do not hesitate to contact us if there is anything you would like checking on board such as bilges, batteries, etc and we will be happy to assist you. We can also forward internal or external photographs or videos of your boat if requested.

We sincerely hope that with the UK-wide vaccination programme and the NHS doing such amazing work, that it will not be too much longer before we see restrictions gradually being eased in Scotland and we can all once again return to boating.

For the moment we eagerly await the next announcement by the Scottish Government regarding further details on the ‘roadmap out of lockdown’ that is due in mid-March, and we will be updating you all once dates for lifting lockdown restrictions in Scotland are confirmed, and, when we can hopefully once again welcome you all back to Ardfern to enjoy your boats and the forthcoming sailing season.

Andrew and Joanna Ashton and all the team at Ardfern.