A full range of services at Paull Boatyard
From ships to canal and river boats
A TRADITIONAL shipyard overlooking the Humber Estuary is extending its boat building and refitting services for inland waterways vessels as well as opening a small chandlery.
Rolly Hudson and the team at Paull Boatyard & Marine Services Ltd near Hull also turn their hands to everything from making traditional furniture to glassfibre boxes, engineering and full restoration projects involving cutting down or extending boats.
Formerly known as Hepworth’s, the shipyard dates back over a century and built trawlers for the Hull fishing fleet and later tugs for Holyhead before a variety of uses and eventual closure in 2013.
But since Paull Boatyard & Marine Services Ltd moved in two years ago, the premises now owned by Rix Shipping have had a new lease of life and the large slipway which can hold up to 190ft vessels, the 110ft dry dock and workshops are once again a hive of industry.
Managing director Rolly is no stranger to ships large and small having worked on the cruise ship, the Hebridean Princess, and on canal boats at Fenny Compton on the Oxford Canal. He has built up Hudson GRP & Carpentry, commissions ranging from furniture for a tanker fleet to new doors for a Woolwich ferry and glass-fibre engine boxes for York City Cruises.
A full kitchen can be fitted into a ship’s galley in one day or a corner seating unit in two hours. “Most ships are only in dock for a short period of time,” he explained. Other furniture includes bunks, wardrobes and desks including traditional furniture for Trinity House in Hull.
His small team includes his wife Joanne, daughter Ellie, manager Jack Lethbridge and contractors including John Marin of Beverley Shipyard, marine electrician Chris James and metal fabricator Wayne Hewitt. Rolly said that they have had a lot of help from people who used to work in the shipyard, including a former apprentice who retired last year and comes in to help with docking.
Sadly many of the old shipwrights have now gone and it is a challenge finding young people to take their place.
Since moving to Paull, the growth of the business has taken everyone by surprise. “We didn’t expect this to happen. We had a five-year plan,” Rolly explained. “But two years in, we have already achieved this target.”
He continued: “The majority of the ships we work on are based in Hull but they do come in from all over the country.”
Rolly added that a local trip operator, which also operates boats on the Thames, is looking to update a small fleet of boats.
One of the most recent boats to roll off the production line is narrowboat Kingfisher which has been completely reconfigured for use as an overnight rental.
An old glass- fibre top was replaced with steel and the interior has had a new installation of plumbing and electrics, insulation and painting with a fully fitted kitchen made on site, bedroom and bathroom facilities. It is now in its new home on a lake near Hornsea.
And currently on the slipway is four- bedroomed houseboat Risby, ready for a new owner to use as a liveaboard.
The yard has a trailer which will take up to a 65ft narrowboat and, Rolly continued: “We welcome more canal and river boat work and complete interior refits. We can build widebeams and narrowboats in the workshop while we make the furniture upstairs and then lower it straight in.”