NEWSLETTER JUNE 2008

Safehaven exhibit at sea work 2008

We  our usual pilgrimage to the Seawork show in Southampton this year. We exhibited two vessels, the St Malo pilot boat was taken there prior to her hand over in France. Eric Geille, the chief pilot in St Malo was with us for the duration, and the sailed her back to France after the show. Eric was justifiably proud of her and is very pleased with both the vessel and his experience in building her with us, commenting in a letter to us: 

After visiting Ireland to trial the CORK pilot boat in September 2006, I was very impressed by the sea keeping and the tremendous strength of the boat . Following this trial I asked Frank if he was willing to increase the level of fit out to a higher standard, and importantly if he would be prepared to incorporate the compulsory build and specification changes required to make the boat conform with the French maritime rules. He accepted the challenge. Now that our boat is launched and completed, I can already say that the boat has answered all our wishes regarding performances, speed and noise levels, and to the level of finish I can say it has been really successful. I wish to add also that it was a pleasure to work with Frank, who is a man passionate about the design of the boats he builds, and able to answer all the wishes of his customers.

President, Chief Pilot

Captain Eric Geille

We also exhibited the Portland pilot boat which was bought down for the week of the show, both were very well received, the St Malo craft being highly praised for her exceptionally high level of internal fit out and engineering.

Mark Dixon's Wildcat 40 is LAUNCHED 

She has a very high level of fit out, with a large amount of unique features incorporated into her. Powered by twin Yanmar 480hp engines.

Below, Mark Dixon's new WILDCAT 40 'DARK STAR' being tested offshore in gale force 7.

We made a video of the trials which you can see from this link- -  SEE THE VIDEO

                                     GARRY LAVER'S NEW WILDCAT 40

Garry Lavers Wildcat 40 has commenced construction, her superstructure is built and we have just started on her hull, in golden yellow it is going to be very striking, powered again by Yanmar's 480hp engines she will be a full motor yacht version with fly bridge.

                                                                        Her twin Yanmar 480hp engines are fitted now

LA CHEVALIERE, The new Interceptor 42 'pilot' for the Port of St Malo, France.

We recently launched the St Malo pilot boat. She is a resounding success, fabulous looking with her black window surround, enhancing her graceful lines even further. Fast, at 24.5kts light (lightship 15,650kg) and 23.5ts fully loaded with 1800 litres of fuel ( fully loaded 17,500kg), she has exceeded her contract speed by 1.5kts. She is very refined and quiet at speed, with 79db being recorded in the main cabin at 20kts. Her fit out is to an exceptionally high standard, with a full wood effect laminate replacing carpet, and fully lined with white vinyl above. Her engineering is again to a very high standard  that conforms to the French Marine Marchande rules divisions 222+236. In addition the hull has now achieved full plan approval from the classification society-'Bureau Veritas'. Below are some photos taken during her initial set of sea trials.

She has been sea trialed now in some dirty conditions, below are some photos, We also made a short video which can be seen from this link- SEE THE VIDEO

On a calmer day, her graceful lines can be appreciated.

For a full report click on this link

We made a pilot boarding video when we Had the Malta pilot's over to see their new pilot boat. The Gleann Mor and her crew demonstrated her alongside handling in a force 7-8 Easterly blow for us and we captured some good footage. See the video.

  Safehaven win contract for the Port of Sines in Portugal ’s new pilot boat

Following an International tender in 2007 Safehaven Marine, builders of the Interceptor range of Pilot Boats have been awarded the contract to supply an all weather pilot boat to the port of Sines in Portugal . Safehavens new Interceptor 55, a 16.5m pilot boat based on their successful Interceptor 42, featuring the same deep V twin chine hull that provides excellent performance and seakeeping. The second vessel was ordered following the success of the patrol / passenger vessel Orca, featured earlier in the year, and now operating successfully off the wild west coast of Scotland for her owner Angus Cambell, commenting ‘We are very happy with the new vessels performance and her seakeeping,  having been out in up to 35kts of wind in her I can find no fault in her abilities and look forward to continuing the St Kilda run in her over the coming year’

The Port of Sines in Portugal’s vessel differs in being of heavier build and displacement, and having an aft configuration of wheelhouse, Safehaven’s modular mould design allows the vessel to have several different configurations to suit the vessels intended operational requirement, with the design being fully customizable. The vessel will be powered by Scanias D16 V8 engines rated at 600hp, she will have an operational speed of 23-25kts on a 24,000kg displacement. Delivery is scheduled for the end of the year..

Latest pictures 5/July/08

Above and below, her large, spacious engine compartment.

Her MOB recovery system is hydraulically operated, and can be used in addition to MOB recovery, lifting floating objects from the water. The platform extends down 400mm below the waterline.

Big 150x150mm transverse frames at 500mm spacing's combined with a 10,000gm2 bottom laminate and a 8,000gm2 side laminate at the boarding area gives her tremendous strength. The hull has been built under survey and to full Lloyds plan approval for her hull construction.

                 SECOND PILOT BOAT FOR THE PORT OF PORTLAND ORDERED

The Port of Portland have given the Interceptor 42 Pilot boat a fine endorsement by ordering a second vessel. The second vessel will be designed to be a multi purpose vessel, capable of operating as a back up Pilot boat, patrol boat for use by the port authorities and local police force, as a passenger vessel for crew transfer and as a survey boat for the port. She will be powered by the same Volvo D12 engines and Twin Disc gearboxes as used in the previous vessel ‘Culverwell’ to ensure ease of maintenance and spares availability, and as much commonality in equipment as possible has been achieved. The second vessel is due for delivery in the first quarter of 2009. With a second Interceptor 42 being ordered by the Port of Bayonne in France, following the successful near completion of the French port of St Malo , the Interceptor range is now established as one of the leading pilot boat designs in Europe .

MALTA'S new Pilot boat for the Port of Valentia,  

The Port of Valletta in MALTA have ordered an Interceptor 42 pilot boat. She is now well under way, her hull and superstructure are now fully completed

Above and below. The Malta pilot boat progresses well. Her internal fit out in the fore cabin is completed and flow coated white (latter than pics shown) The engines have arrived and her main and lower fendering is completed.

Port of Dublin's second pilot boat under construction

Below, the Port of Dublin's second pilot boat under construction.

                          ORCA II COMPLETES HER DELIVERY VOYAGE

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Below are some final pictures of the Interceptor 55 Orca II fully completed just before she left for her long voyage home to the Outer Hebrides. Her crane is in operation and her tender can be seen being launched. 

Delivery voyage from Cork, Ireland to The Isles of Harris, Outer Hebrides, 8^th February 2008

Angus kindly sent me a letter about his experiences with Orca, an Interceptor 42 and his impressions of Orca II his new Interceptor 55.

Hi Frank

Well we arrived home safely on Wednesday after a good run up from Cobh when we left on Sunday

To recap on our relationship with Safehaven Marine, we first took delivery of our first boat an Interceptor 42 called ORCA in Feburary 2005. We used her  to do day trips to the Arpeligo of St Kilda which is 50 miles due West of Harris,  where we are based, itself some 50 miles from the Scottish mainland. We knew from our experience of fishing there that we would need a very good hull to do the proposed trips out to St Kilda, and as the Interceptor had very good reports we decided to go with it

On our delivery trip we had a good run up to Kilkeel where we had to call in for fuel but the next day was very poor weather with force 9 (45 knots NW wind) reported at Rathlin Island, but after consulting with friends who fished the area we decided to do the run across the North Channel, where we had wind against tide conditions making the sea very high and lumpy. As this was our first trip in a fast boat we were a bit apprehensive but our fears were unfounded as the boat proved well capable of handling the conditions on her beam, and we were able to hold a speed of 15 knots across the Channel where we called in to Tobermoray for the night The next day was fine with a 4 hour run back home to Harris.

Over the next 3 years the boat has proved very successful on the St Kilda run with us being caught out a few times with poor forecasts and returning with  force 8-9, 35 to 40 knot winds and big Atlantic seas on the beam on one occasion, but the Orca has been a fantastic vessel and I would have no problem in recommending the 42 to anyone interested in building one. In 2007 we were over the moon when Frank told us he was building a 55 foot hull based on the 42 design and we had no hesitation in placing an order for the first one so Orca II was born . 

On Our trip home we left Cobh on Sunday morning at 8am with frank Escorting us out to Roches Point where we waved our goodbyes and after a run up the coast in force 5, 15 to 20 knot Southery winds we called in to Bangor Marina for the night, leaving again at 6.30am for Islay . The weather on Monday was fresher with force 7-8, 30 to 35 knots of SW wind and we were about half way across the channel when we had to take over from the autopilot as we were getting into about 2.5- 3 mtrs of Northwesterly swell as well, and at 18 knots the pilot was starting to struggle with the conditions, but hand steering was very easy with the power steering  making finger tip work of the handling . The boat was very good in these conditions with us just dipping the nose into the back of two waves which I must say I have never done on the 42 but as the 55 is much heavier this may be the cause, again we pulled back to 16 knots and never had any more problem with it happening . Our course took us up through the Great Race at the Corryvrecken and although it was lumpy the conditions were considered favorable due to the tide being in the right direction again the 55 was very good in these short/steep 2m seas giving choppy conditions, so we carried on to Tobermoray for a fuel stop. After fueling in Tobermoray we discovered a small leak on one of the Scania engines cooling pipes so we had to get it welded and this set us back a couple of hours and as the forecast was giving 50 knots plus and it was getting dark we hummed and hawed and eventually decided to stay where we were, and this is when I realized that the most dangerous thing with the interceptor range is that you get the feeling you can go anywhere, invincible in other words and this definitely can lead to trouble. The forecast proved correct with 67 knots recorded at Tiree so we stayed until Wednesday morning when we had a Force 6, 20 to 25 knots N Westerly wind which the 55 handled very well on the shoulder and with the speed set at 16/17/knots we were home in Tarbert at 13.30 a trip of 5 hours

We start our trips to St Kilda in April so I will report then when we can try her out in some Atlantic swell and we can see how she performs with passengers aboard

Regards

Angus

Angus's brother with ORCA II in the background on her mooring on the Isles of Harris, this photo was taken incidentally during a casting shot, as Orca II is about to become a film star featuring as the rescue boat out in Hurricane conditions in VOLVO'S new television advert.

 'NITROX'

'Nitrox' a Genesis 37 sports flybridge version has been launched for her owner Neil Faulkner. She is a sail away version, Neil will be undertaking her internal fit out himself, but in all other respects she is fully completed. She is fitted with a single C9 Cat at 575hp and in her black livery she looks very striking. SEE MORE INFO HERE