Quba came on board in April to shoot their summer collection onboard Grayhound. Click here to go to Quba’s website to see the final pics.

It was such a fun couple of days and Grayhound looks stunning we think in the photographs. We are hoping to facilitate more photo shoots in the future, the hair and make up, and production team all stayed on board which made life easy for the gruelling schedule. Quba’s new summer range looked great. Thanks Quba for using Grayhound and being such great sponsors. We fly your flag in every port, here is a clip of Channel Island TV spotting my dad hoisting the flag http://www.channelonline.tv/channelonline_guernseynews/DisplayArticle.asp?ID=505250

http://www.classic-sailing.co.uk/news/great-success-grayhound-first-charter-voyage

WATCH THIS FILM TO SEE WHAT WE GOT UP TO IN THE BRETON PORT OF BINIC LAST WEEK. THANKS TO OUR LEGEND CREW FOR MAKING IT SUCH AN AWESOME WEEK.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqpK9ojuPms&feature=youtu.be

SHORT FILM OF THE INTERIOR OF THE GRAYHOUND CLICK HERE

Plymouth Yacht Haven Marina April 1st 2013 for hull inspection and re paint. 

We are wrapping up warm in this cold Easterly chill, out on the hard in Yacht Haven Marina. 

We have a busy week ahead us us re painting Grayhound’s hull so she is looking at her most spectacular for her season start on the 3rd of May. The wood burner is all keeping  Malachi and I  cosy inside while the boys tackle the hull. Fish pie in the oven for later lets hope the wind eases during the week. Good to have Grayhound in a new place and see her out of the water we can reflect on all our hard work over the last two years. Now she is a fully functioning vessel she is so easy and comfortable to live and work aboard.

If you are interested in booking a voyage then take a look at the video we had made click here this gives you a glimpse of her interior lay out and accommodation area.

It is now February and we are in the middle of a cold snap, the wood burner has been on non stop and we are warm and snug on board. We are even better than that because this week the Galley area has been finished and we have moved back into our cabins and our amazing new space. We decided to put in a stainless steel work top which looks fab with the stainless oven and hob. The chunky industrial style suits us and is practical for all the work that will take place in the galley. John and Marcus have been working with panache to make the galley beautiful, thanks boys very much appreciated by the cook…

They have used Oak and Opepe to trim the stainless.  Being sailors we know what it’s like to be at sea and work at sea so we have incorporated into the interior design all the aspects we could think of that makes life on board easy and practical. Being our home, care has been taken in how it looks and lasts, John and Marcus never fail to amaze me with their ability to add such natural style into the wood work to make it look very organic.We will reveal some pictures of the Saloon table and the accommodation area soon. In the mean time i just can’t stop baking cakes …………

Blog by Freya ‘The Ship’sCook’

Micheal Young Grayhound’s 1st Mate

We are very happy to announce our 1st Mate for our new sailing season. Micheal will be joining the team in March and we believe he will be a superb mate for Marcus and Grayhound. Micheal is in his mid twenties and was brought up on the wild southern Irish coast , in Bantry Bay.

He has grown up with traditional craft and for the last ten years has been sailing and laterly skippering the local Long boats which in effect are a mini version of Grayhound. He talks the lugger language, is fun to be around and hungry to sail and work on a bigger ship. Micheal is also a cruising instructor and last summer was teaching RYA courses to students from the West Cork Sailing Centre. We are so excited to be working with Micheal and look forward to sailing around the Atlantic with him next year.

DIRECTORS CHOICE: Sail with us on Grayhound’s Maiden Voyage

Classic Sailing Directors Adam and Debbie Purser were first to sign up as crew for Grayhound’s Maiden voyage. This is a totally unique ocean going charter vessel which we have watched being built and we are thrilled to be able to come sailing with Marcus, Freya, the new mate Micheal (pronounced ‘Mihall’), deckhand Charlie and upto 6 Classic Sailing customers.  We have never sailed a lugger, let alone a three mast lugger in all the years we have spent sailing and skippering traditional boats. Debbie had already written ’2013 Goal – Learn to Sail a Lugger’ in her diary back in December.  We are dying to try out the amazing interior too.  If you have ever wondered how to make a brand new wooden ship vessel feel like a cozy, ocean going  home for a young family, professional crew and guest crew, then come and be impressed.

Introductory Offer of £299 for 3 day Weekend Voyage & Champagne Supper

Like many of you – getting 10 days away from the office was never going to happen, so we have shortened Grayhound’s first voyage to make it more accessable to a wider range of supporters.  The other benefit is we can offer it at a more affordable price of £299.  Maybe champagne is a bit out of historic character to toast the future for this brand new wooden working boat, but we are going to do it on the last supper anyway because we like an excuse for popping corks.

Maiden Voyage Goodie Bag for all and FREE smock for 1st ‘Small’ Sailor to book !

There will be a  ‘goodie bag’ for the first bunch of ‘Virgin Lugger’ sailors to book on this maiden voyage as a one off souvenir of this special event.  Classic Sailing will also have a FREE Seasalt Organic Canvas Grayhound Smock in Breton Red for the first sailor to book who thinks they can fit into a small (mens small Boatmans Smock and would proably fit most women sized 10-14). If you miss out, or you are a wee bit larger than that then you can purchase Grayhound Smocks on our on line shop. See Classic Sailing Shop – Clothing, Charts & Books

Quiz us about future voyages

Whilst a day sail is a good way of checking out Grayhound for a longer trip, this first weekend voyage would be even better as you get to really check out what it is like to sleep on board.  Marcus and Freya have a young son Malachi, and have put a huge amount of thought into how they can make their ship suitable for both families and individuals at the same time, whilst giving everybody a great holiday.  The accomodation is split into three areas, divided by bulkheads (walls).  The skippers family have their own area of the boat.  Each of the two guest cabin areas are spacious and totally seperate and can sleep 4 individuals, or a family with a double bunk and 2-3 single beds for children.  If you have any doubt that this is a ship also for  ‘grown ups’ then check out the beautiful woodwork and ‘tortured oak’ dining table. The twisted grain of the wood looks like a treasure map and the natural holes have been exploited as wine bottle holders.   Its a work of art.

If you have’t sailed with Adam and Debbie from Classic Sailing HQ for a while, then we would also love to see you sail with us.

Stay on for the First Foray to France ?

The 2nd voyage of the year and first Foray to France now becomes a shorter 7 day adventure at a very affordable £499. after trying to visit as many French ports as we can fit in, the finale of this voyage is to be star of the show at one of Brittany’s best kept secrets – the Binic Fish Festival.

See also our photographic competition for Classic Sailing Voucher Prizes worth £50 and £100 on the French voyage.

The eagle eyed sailors will spot that they could now do both these voyages at a price of £798 instead of £1300 for the original 10 day voyage.

Long Weekend on the Cornish Border – Where will we go ?

The voyage starts and finshes at Cawsand on the Rame Peninsula.  This seafaring village on the Cornish side of Plymouth harbour has been a ships anchorage for centuries.  It is also the home port of Grayhound and where the original 1778 Revenue ship Grayhound was built.  Very like our Eve of St Mawes voyages, the adventure starts when you row out to your ship. Grayhound will be at anchor in the bay.  From this advantageous location Grayhound can go West towards Looe and Fowey or East for Salcombe and Dartmouth…and plenty of anchorages in between.

January the 8th saw our lower courses arrive in the Sailtech van. It was a drizzly old grey day but up they went and what a feeling it was for us to see them aloft.Pete and his team at Sailtech have done a fantastic job, only the topsails and gallants left to do !!

Happy New Year to you all. We now can reveal the accommodation area on Grayhound so you can start planning your holiday. We have designed the accommodation space so that it can be very flexible. On a day sail or weekend sail we can accommodate up to twelve voyage crew,on any longer voyage we are restricting it to eight. Some voyages are already booked by whole groups and some by individuals and couples. To Book your voyage call Classic Sailing on 01872 580 022 have a look at all the itinerary by looking at our Voyages page and our schedule on Classic Sailing’s website click here

We can accommodate the following …..

• Two families ( of two adults and three children) one in the Fore Cabin and one in the Saloon
• 4 couples
• 8 singles
• and a mixture of all of the above, have a think about how best it would be for your group to fill the spaces.

National Historic Ships helped advertise a placement for a Dutch carpenter, it was a sought for placement from many companies here in the UK and that said carpenter chose to come to the Grayhound.

Nienke our carpentry student from Holland

Nienke has been here over a month now and has happily settled in. She has been working up forward helping to construct the bunks , she then built the shelves that lie between the bits .

Shelves running up the Bits

In the last week Marcus has given her the huge project of building the companionway staircase, under his supervision she has done a wonderful job.

Grayhound;s Fwd hatch stairs being created in the workshop

In her last placement back in Holland Nienke worked for a staircase builder so had lots of skills in this area already. She has designed the steps to have left and right pads. Marcus suggested to use the waney edge style which runs throughout the vessel.

Nienke is with us on a three month placement

It looks awesome as does the rest of the interior. This year Christmas dinner will be around the saloon table . You all may be very eager to see what we have done inside well all will be revealed soon……………

It is great to be training people again, last year we had three students from the Dournenez boat building college working on the hull of the vessel planking and decking. Throughout that year we also received half a dozen German volunteers through the charity Point Europa. The idea behind the project was to help them gain skills to make them more confident to enter the world of work.

Training with the Grayhound

 Our Sailing Scheme………

We still have one training place left on our sailing scheme. The remaining placement will start in August 2013, the successful student will sail with us for a year, learning, practising and experiencing what it is like to work professionally as a sailor. At the end of the year the trainee will be entered to take his/her RYA Yacht Master exam and then will be ready to set foot into the industry as a confident and experieneced sea farer. The training costs £15 000 for the year this includes all food, accomadation, training and exam. Please contact the Grayhound for more details on 07922 648472 or email freya@grayhoundluggersailing.com