I just got back from a visit to the shipyard in the south of England where Distant Shores was built. Northshore, who build the Southerly line of swing keel sailboats is located in the very picturesque hamlet of Itchenor, near Chichester and the Solent. I had two reasons to visit. I wanted to catch up with the shipyard and see how they are doing, and secondly we had a couple of charter guests this year who are considering buying a Southerly. They wanted to see the shipyard and check out the other models. The Southerly line now extends from a 32 footer right up to a 57 currently in build.

I was also interested in how the company was doing in the midst of the world news of economic slowdown. On that front I shouldn't have worried. Even the new plant building that wasn't online when we set sail from the dock in November 2007 was mostly full. Business seems to be going quite well. The UK£ is down against the Euro and the US$, so maybe that's partly responsible, making the Southerly more affordable. At any rate it was nice to see such a busy shop.

The new 57-footer is well under way - the plug is completed and will be moulded shortly. Like all Southerlies, the 57 has a swing-keel and will draw just over 3 feet with the keel up.

Here is the new Southerly 48 in the shop.

The new 48 is much closer to completion. Hull and deck are complete. The interior is coming together and plans are to launch her in late spring. She looks like a very fast and spacious boat. In many ways like a bigger faster version of our 42. This is definitely a boat to watch and I will keep up with this model as she gets further along.