Gavin & James Life Afloat

22/10/2024

Takaza finally has a name! We love a boat project when the end result makes such a visible difference! A black water line, grey boot stripe, new red stripe and the final touch are the new decals!

10/10/2024

The first day of our first ever cruise aboard the Balmoral! We are heading up into the Arctic Circle to the top of Norway! Bet no one else onboard got picked up from their back garden! 😂⛵️

23/09/2024

A fantastic few days working at Southampton Boat Show, absolutely shattered now but had the best time!

20/09/2024

Our final push in the boatyard before we splash. We sort our flakey antifoul, remove all the decals and give our hull some much needed TLC.

We also re-attach the rudder in the slings before getting lifted back in.

week we have our final push in the boatyard and lift back in! We sort our flaky antifoul, remove all the decals and g...

13/09/2024

It’s Southampton Boat Show time! James will be in the boatfolk tent from Thursday 19th - Sunday 22nd if any of our boatfolk friends want to pop by and say hello. Gav will also be at the show on Saturday 21st - Sunday 22nd! We absolutely loved it last year, it’s definitely worth a visit!

Check out our video on last years show if you’d like to see more!
(Link in the comments)

Southampton Boat Show

06/09/2024

Watch me get down and dirty this week doing some work underneath Takaza…and a little trip to Amble to de-stress as our deadline looms.

This week we tackle our rusty keel and our antfoul is literally falling off the hull. We prepare it for a fresh coat ...

27/08/2024

We’re feeling very autumnal on Takaza today. The weather has definitely started to change but we’re loving the amazing sunsets we’re getting!

22/08/2024

This is the final saildrive video and this week we refurbish our saildrive clamp ring and refit the saildrive back in our Etap28i. ⛵️

This week we refurbish our saildrive clamp ring, which had seen better days and and refit the saildrive back into our...

21/08/2024

The Mein Schiff 3 Cruiseship has just arrived and looks stunning all lit up!

It’s stange to think an entire town has just pulled up to our quiet little marina! Wish we could sneak onboard! 😍🛳️

07/08/2024

The glamorous side of boat life! Let’s face it, who doesn’t love a bilge full of diesel?! 😩

04/08/2024

Takaza up in Blyth Harbour this week at the Royal Northumberland Yacht Club. ⛵️

31/07/2024

An absolutely stunning couple of nights away on Takaza. The highlight was definitely seeing these beauties! ❤️🐬

26/07/2024

‼️ NEW VIDEO ‼️
We reveal how just old our saildrive diaphragm was, discover a major blockage in our cooling system and do some sailing!

This week we clean out our saildrive leg, discover a major blockage in our cooling system and reveal exactly how old ...

24/07/2024

Such a great sail with our lovely friends, Steve and Di, on their Westerly Konsort! It was absolutely stunning out there… 🌅

23/07/2024

Needed a break from the marina so we went up to the anchorage! We had all weathers, sun, cloud, showers, a rainbow, torrential rain and lightning!

So nice to be the only boat and be with nature and of course we made a friend…this little baby seagull who would not leave our side! Such a curious little soul! Even nibbled my toe whilst I had my first ever cup of tea and paddle on the swim platform!

17/07/2024

One of the best things about liveaboard life, meeting such lovely people and their beautiful dogs. We had a great time cuddling Snowy on September Moon and spending time with Sherryn and Brad of course! 🐾⛵️

16/07/2024

Getting picked up in the lock for a little evening out on Takaza. It was really something to see these big ships so close!

09/07/2024

Polar Bound locking out of our marina for a night on the river ahead of her departure to the Arctic!

Polar Bound is a 48ft custom built, all weather, self righting vessel built to 12 times the standard of the Lloyds Shipping Register.

She’s built from Aluminium up to 20mm thick and is the strongest surface vessel for her size in the world and is designed not to crack even under the pressure of 65 tonnes of ice!
When fully loaded with stores and fuel she has a displacement of 50 tonnes.

Wishing David and Susannah all the best on their Arctic expedition. They departed yesterday and have just passed Fraserburgh as of now.

08/07/2024

Today we waved off David and Susannah on their 4 month epic adventure from our marina to the Arctic on their custom designed 48ft exploration vessel Polar Bound!

Next stop will be Greenland for fuel and then through the Prince of Wales Straight into the Arctic Ocean.

David, 82, was the first person ever to sail solo around the world in both directions and has completed 6 circumnavigations and this is not his first in the Arctic either.

What an inspiration!! Fair winds and calm seas.

04/07/2024

The scariest thing we’ve done to our boat, which left us with a massive hole in the hull! 😱

Our new video is out!
*Link in comments!

19/06/2024

Our latest boat maintenance video is out now! Watch as we remove the rudder and replace the bearings… 💪

*Link to video in the comments*

18/06/2024

Our latest boat maintenance video is out now! Watch as we remove the rudder and replace the bearings… 💪

Join us as we take you step-by-step through the process of removing our yacht's rudder and replacing the worn bear...

13/06/2024

The reward after weeks of boat maintenance, finally getting back out on the water! ⛵️

07/06/2024

The first video of our boat project series is out now! Haul out and rudder removal complete! 💪

➡️ Don’t forget to subscribe ⬅️

Join us as we kick off our maintenance series by hauling our boat out of the water and remove the rudder. Watch as we dive ...