ARDFERN ROADS AND SUNDAY CHANDLERY OPENING UPDATE

 TRAVEL TO AND FROM ARDFERN

AS many of you will already be aware, Argyll like many other areas of Scotland has been hit by some torrential rainfall in recent weeks.

The result of this has unfortunately caused some major road closures in the Ardfern area and as such is causing a great deal of disruption to the business and local community.

The diversion route via Loch Avich and Taynuilt.

At this current time the A816 is closed south of Ardfern due to a large landslide and north of Ardfern at Kilmelford, due to the failure of the main road bridge in the village, which has now had to be demolished.

Argyll and Bute Council state that ‘work on the bridge in Kilmelford is progressing well and a temporary structure should be in place within a matter of days.’

In the meantime, the recommended diversion route is via the C29 Loch Avich road and B845 Taynuilt road, however it should be noted that this route is very narrow in places, unsuitable for heavy goods vehicles and can easily get congested.

Once the Kilmelford Bridge is passable, the recommended diversion route to and from Ardfern will be via the A816 from Oban.

Surveying work has begun on the Bealach landslip on the A816 between Ardfern and Lochgilphead, with the Council planning to make a temporary alternative road via an existing forestry track, in order to effectively bypass the section of road affected by the landslip, which they estimate will take approximately 4 weeks to put in place. However, works can only start, once land agreements and various other technical matters have been completed. Ideally the council are then looking to start this work in parallel with stabilising the hillside and removing the material that has been washed down the Bealach, with the aim being to repair and reopen the original road once this is completed.  

Landslide at the Bealach.

We would suggest that any customers visiting their boats in the coming weeks are aware of the road conditions at the time of travelling and plan and re-route journeys accordingly by checking for updates with Traffic Scotland at www.traffic.gov.scot and on the Argyll and Bute Council website at www.argyll-bute.gov.uk/service-status

 

CHANDLERY AND OFFICE OPENING

During this period of disruption, due to the difficulties for staff travelling in and out of Ardfern, we may have to close the chandlery on some Sundays, the first one being this Sunday 22^nd October. However, rest assured that boats and the yard will be checked during the day.

In between the challenging weather conditions, James and the workshop team are progressing well in getting boats ashore for the winter, along with getting winter maintenance jobs well under way.

As always we thank you for your patience with these trying matters and hope you have had an enjoyable 2023 boating season with us at Ardfern.

 

Andrew and Joanna Ashton and all the team at Ardfern.

 

Raymarine Roadshow 2023 Thursday 27th April, 10am-4pm.   Save the Date: The Raymarine Roadshow 2023 will be at Ardfern Yacht Centre on Thursday 27th April 2023  between 10am and 4pm. This is a great opportunity to view the latest Raymarine products as well as chat to Raymarine technical consultants on any issue to do with Raymarine products on your boat, whether it's an existing installation or a planned upgrade in the near future.  Also here that day will be representatives from the RNLI to provide information and advice relating to all aspects of staying safe on the water. You can get lifejackets and safety gear checked over, discuss safety issues with the RNLI Water Safety Officer and help support this invaluable service for sailors by purchasing  merchandise or making a charitable donation. More updates and information about the Roadshow will be available over the coming weeks - follow our social media content on Facebook and Instagram to keep up to date with our news.

 Ardfern Yacht Centre will be closed on Monday 19th September

Following the announcement that Her Majesty the Queen's State Funeral will be taking place on Monday 19th September, as a mark of respect, our marina office and chandlery will close at 10:00am for the rest of the day, while the workshop will be closed all day.

We will be open again as normal on Tuesday 20th September.

Our thoughts are with the Royal Family at this time.

 AYC NEW FACILITY BLOCK NOW OPEN FOR EASTER 2022

New Facilities Block at Ardfern Yacht Centre

The all-new customer facilities block at Ardfern, which includes new toilets, showers and laundry facilities will open on Thursday 14th April in time for the Easter weekend.

Along with cosmetic and heating improvements, the new much improved modern facility sees larger and extra showers in both washrooms, together with separate staff facilities, while in the larger laundry there is a new drying and washing machine now in place. The ice machine will also be located in the laundry and will be returning following a major refurbishment shortly after Easter.

Improved washrooms see additional showers

We would like to take this opportunity to thank our all-local building and plumbing team, Aidan Gregory and Alex Samborek, along with all their staff and contractors, who have provided an excellent service to Ardfern over the winter months in tackling the project, often in the worst of Argyll’s weather, and for completing the build in such a timely manner so that it is ready for Easter.

Entry to the new building is now by access code, with permanent customers and visiting yacht crews able to obtain the current code from the chandlery staff on arrival.

We look forward to welcoming you all back to Ardfern this spring and summer and hope you enjoy using our new facilities.

Andrew and Joanna Ashton and all the team at Ardfern.

New larger shower cubicles

 AYC NEW FACILITY BLOCK BUILDING NOW UNDERWAY 

At long last we will be making a start to our new toilet, shower and laundry facilities block this week.

With this in mind we now have a temporary Portakabin providing toilet and shower facilities located next to the workshop for staff and customers to use. Unfortunately during the demolition of the old facilities block and building of the new block we will be unable to offer laundry facilities due to space restrictions.

The old block has now been cleared out and locked and it will be fenced off this week in order for the demolition of parts of the old building to take place and to allow the footings to be dug out for the extension. This will also mean that car parking in front of the chandlery area will be very limited to allow space for skips and building equipment etc.

We apologise for the disruption over the next few winter and early spring months while the works take place and thank you all for your patience and understanding while the build is underway.

However, we do look forward to bringing you all a much improved more modern facility at Ardfern for the summer 2022 season.

Andrew and Joanna Ashton.

ASSISTANT WORKSHOP MANAGER - JOB OPPORTUNITY

 

Ardfern Yacht Centre - Now Recruiting

ASSISTANT WORKSHOP MANAGER

Due to internal promotion, we are now seeking to employ a new Assistant Workshop Manager.

 

The successful applicant should be familiar with the basics of boating and will assist the Workshop Manager in continuing to provide the high level of service currently offered to customers in our busy boat maintenance and repair workshop.   Previous workshop or engineering experience would be an advantage, but not essential as training can be given.

 

Competitive salary dependent on experience.

 

For further information including an application form, please contact Andrew Ashton by email at andrew@ardfernyacht.co.uk

 

Closing Date 6^th September 2021.

A BUSY SUMMER AT ARDFERN & A CHANGE IN THE WORKSHOP THIS AUTUMN

A BUSY SUMMER AT ARDFERN & A CHANGE IN THE WORKSHOP MANAGEMENT FROM THIS AUTUMN  

A busy summer's evening on the pontoons

It has certainly been a busy time for all at Ardfern and it has been great to see so many customers able to fully utilise and enjoy their boats over the last few months of mostly nice summer weather here in Argyll.

As we now head towards the autumn we would like to remind those customers who would like to stay with us for the winter months and have yet to confirm their winter booking, to please do so as soon as possible as spaces are filling up ashore and in the water on both berths and moorings. If you haven’t already done so please contact Fraser with your winter requirements at fraser@ardfernyacht.co.uk or visit our website to fill in a winter booking form at www.ardfernyacht.co.uk

This autumn will also see a change to the workshop management with Bob Fleck taking a well-deserved retirement from the end of December after 12 years with the company. Bob will continue full time in his role as workshop manager until the end of September, when we are very pleased to announce that James Hoad will step up from his assistant workshop manager position to become workshop manager from 1st October.

In order to ensure as smooth a transition as possible, Bob will be staying with the company on a three-day week basis from October until the end of December to assist James in his new role this winter. Bob will also continue to oversee any existing workshop jobs he is dealing with, while James will oversee all new jobs as required by customers from this autumn.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Bob very much for all his hard work and assistance at Ardfern over the last 12 years, and we wish him well as he returns to his own marine surveying business, ‘Melfort Marine Surveys’. Meanwhile, we very much welcome and look forward to working with James in his new role at Ardfern.

At the same time we will now be looking to recruit a new assistant workshop manager to assist James going forward.

As we return to more normality with the Scottish Government ending ‘level zero’ covid-19 requirements on 9th August, which removes almost all of the remaining anti-Covid measures, we will be pleased to welcome customers back up to the workshop office. However, to avoid any congestion in the workshop office we ask customers to continue to enquire about workshop jobs in the chandlery building in the first instance, just to establish if James or Bob are not already busy with another customer.

With face coverings still a legal requirement in indoor public places in Scotland, including shops, we remind customers to continue to wear masks when entering the workshop office, chandlery building and facilities block.

We wish you all a good end to the 2021 boating season and hope you have a few more enjoyable weeks out on the water before autumn arrives.

Andrew and Joanna Ashton and all the team at Ardfern.

James Hoad will replace Bob Fleck as Workshop Manager