Take a look at the latest news from Trafalgar Wharf and The Drystack

GREAT OFFERS FROM NOW UNTIL THE END  OF AUGUST DON’T MISS OUT BOOK NOW!
‘Wash & Go’
Do you need to have a bottom wash or do some quick maintenance? We are offering a lift, scrub, hold for up to 1 hour in the slings and a re-launch from now until August 2014.  A 15% discount will be given on our published rates (extra charge for particularly dirty bottoms!)
‘Maintenance Month’
Are all those little jobs giving you that sinking feeling? Don’t put it off any longer. We have free storage ashore for 30 days, so all you pay for is a lift and re-launch. Available until August 2014.
CALL CORINNE 02392 387833
OR A FREE QUOTE
Our new Boutique Marina is now open and provides a lovely place to moor your boat. With new pontoons, lighting, electricity, water, shiny balustrades and even a ‘party pontoon’ for all those lovely picnics and bbq’s.
The Marina is suitable for boats big and small, motorboats, sailboats and catamarans that are happy to sit in 1.5 meters of water. It offers sheltered and safe moorings, with electricity, water and lighting on our brand new pontoons.
Our Risk Free Guarantee
We’re so confident that you’ll love it here at The Drystack, that if after 30 days you are not absolutely convinced your boat is safer, cleaner, better looked after and better protected from the elements than ever before, and you are not totally convinced that our service is second to none, then not only will we give you your money back, but we will also deliver your boat to any Solent marina or drystack completely free of charge. 
Call Corinne today on 02392 706384 to book your boat in.
Andrew Oats  on his boat Modi  doing some maintenance  with the assistance of his crew
SAILORS DICTONARY…
continued from last issue.H = HEELING. A basic process affecting all sailboats, which begins with the boat leaning over as the wind presses on one side of its sails and ends as the sailboat finally exhibits its natural tendency to come to a state of rest on the sea bottom.
I = ICE BOAT. A sailboat having such characteristics that it is statistically more likely to crash than sink; that in the event of a mishap, its crew will be able to walk to shore.
J =JURY RIG. An emergency arrangement of sails, lines, spars, etc usually put together in a period of temporary insanity.
K = KNOT. Any connection between two or more ropes, involving a number of loops, ties and twists, and having the property that the link cannot be parted or broken, in any way or through any means, other than by severing it with a knife. Except if it is subjected to steady stress in the course of normal use. There are dozens of highly specialised nautical knots, of which the most common are the half-snarl, the trip knot, the reef tangle, the rats foot, the lubbers loop and the fouline. A seaman who really knows his ropes is referred to as a “Knut” a “Knerd” a “Kninny” or a “Knumbskull”.
L = LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE
A series of imaginary lines on the earth’s surface, drawn at intervals parallel to the Equator for (latitude) or the pole to pole (longitude) as an aid to navigation. Since they are invisible, many mariners find them of limited usefulness.
Alex  (“One Man and His Dog”)      Dubois, Secures His 25 Years Guarding Trafalgar Wharf, Portsmouth.
Kylie Minogue was number one in the charts with ‘Hand on Your Heart’, Ford was selling bucket loads of the Escort, and Arsenal won the Football League when Fareham man Alex Dubois joined Vosper Thorneycroft as a security officer.
Twenty five years on and Alex is still working at Trafalgar Wharf as a guard for Securitas, but now it’s motorboats and super yachts he’s guarding rather than secret army and navy vessels.
  “I’ve always been a security officer, even before VT, I was in security for a packaging firm,” Alex says. “Making sure everything is taken care of and secure is something I’m proud to do. I’ve been here at Trafalgar longer than I’ve been married and not many people work in the same place for a quarter of a century.
I’ve been lucky.” It’s nice that despite the massive changes taking place in the marine industry in Portsmouth, a little bit of loyalty does bring its rewards.
Look out for our new ice cream  bike which is now in operation, ready for those hot, sunny days.  A ‘help yourself’ (with honesty box) facility that will be available whenever the sun shines!  Ideal for keeping cool. Send us a picture of the ice creams being enjoyed and we will give a prize for the funniest.
WINNERS OF OUR FACE BOOK PRIZE, Richard Bird won A Moorfast Mooring Aid in February which was presented by Tom at The Drystack.
We hope Richard will now be able to moor up to all sorts of buoys easily.
For your chance to win and enter into our monthly competition, just visit our  Facebook page (Trafalgar Wharf and The Drystack) “like us” then follow the instructions to enter. Lots of lovely marine related prizes to be won.  Good Luck!
We are on the move! We now have lovely new offices. A new reception for both The Drystack and Trafalgar Wharf along with staff offices, store rooms, staff ‘chill out’ room (not that our staff need it!) and a room for all those important wheelings and dealings.
Shemara’s  departure….
SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE NEWS FROM TRAFALGAR WHARF AND THE DRYSTACK
….took place last month, after her refit (which took over three years) She slowly edged her way through The Drystack in the dead of night and out onto the ship launch area. She then sailed to Southampton a couple of days later.
Trafalgar Wharf Managing Director Jonny Boys said: “Shemara is a beautiful super-yacht and it has been a privilege to have her here and see her totally rebuilt”.
Nicholas Warren of Burgess Marine said, “Seeing her emerge from the shed where she has been carefully and exquisitely rebuilt, it is clear that this has been a project of considerable scope. As the sun glinted off her fresh white hull and she made her way – albeit backwards to begin with – down the channel through Portsmouth Harbour, it was clear that this was a renaissance worthy of attention”.
MY Shemera berthed in Southampton with one of  the Cunard’s fleet of cruise liners in the background, and we thought MY Shemera had a big bottom!
STORAGE HUTS FOR RENT
Have you seen our 12 storage huts situated by The Drystack.
Available to all customers of Trafalgar Wharf. Designed as bathing huts and named after areas on the Isle of Wight. Handy to keep your bits and pieces in!
Rent for only £25.00 per month
Call Corinne on 02392 387833
FREE BOOZE?
Do you fancy a free case of wine and a months free boat storage for your friend?  You do!
Then refer a friend who joins us in The Drystack or Marina, we will send you a free case of wine to say thank you and your friend will get 1 month free added to  the end of their contract. Call Corinne on 02392 387833
That just on our doorstep is a wonderfully interesting castle. A five minute walk from Trafalgar Wharf (just outside the main gate, a small path leads you around the waters edge and past a lovely park arriving at Portchester Castle) the grounds and the church are free to wander around. A small charge is made to go into the main castle turret.
The Doomsday Book listed Portchester as a village of 20 persons, with a strong emphasis on farming. Portchester had the advantage of a waterfront albeit marsh land, which was the focus of trade in the harbor, until the creation of Old Portsmouth in medieval times.
From Roman origins, a castle eventually rose in the 11th century, falling into the possession of King Edward the Elder who used it to ward off attacks by the Vikings. Later the castle would act as staging posts for attacks into Normandy by king John who stayed there frequently.
By the 15th century the nearby town of Portsmouth (some 6 miles away) grew to become a significant economic center and an important port. It took over from Portchester as a place of military importance, and the castle entered a period of decline. A survey from 1441 noted the castle was “right ruinous and feeble”.
Over time the castle would find use as a prison, notably during the English Civil War and the Napoleonic wars.
Owing to the success of British Admirals such as Nelson, and the sheer number of French prisoners. The result was to see lines of old wooden warships (similar to the HMS Victory) moored bow to stern down through Portchester Creek, providing extra accommodation for the prisoners, virtually in the area where the current Drystack pontoons are today.