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A Day in the Life With Martyn Hamley

• By Princess Yachts
• April 4, 2023

I’m one of more than 80 skilled carpenters in the bench carpentry section at Princess’s Coypool complex, and we produce just about every piece of timber aboard your Princess. From structural bulkheads to wardrobe doors, and from bunks and bathrooms to superyacht dining tables, they are all put together with the same obsessive quest for perfection.

I have always liked working with wood. I did it at home, enjoyed it at school, and studied it at college. I then spent ten years with a local manufacturer producing architectural joinery, windows, doors and staircases, during which time I served a four-year apprenticeship to earn my professional qualifications.

In the 20 years I’ve been at Princess, I have seen how our traditional woodworking and joinery skills have been augmented by high-tech machinery and computer modelling. It’s about efficiency and cost, of course, but it’s also about quality. Computer numerical control means precision, but timber is a natural element with inherent variations, so a lot of traditional skills are needed to bring even a straightforward assembly up to the level of quality we require. The smallest jobs contain only a few components, but the largest may number nearer 400. And everything has to fit and function as perfectly as possible.

Our designers are demanding more curves than they used to, in both bulkheads and furniture. So we use vacuum presses which can produce complex curves in material thicknesses which would have been impossible only a few years ago. Microwave radio frequency presses form the multi-layered veneer cappings that grace almost every bunk.

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The popular cherry finishes of a few years ago have now mostly given way to oak and walnut. But we still use cherry on many of the ebony feature pieces like coffee tables and dining tables, because its density and close grain allow it to be colour-matched perfectly.

In 2015 I was presented with the John Helmore Award for Excellence. John was a great friend of  mine. We studied at the same college in Plymouth, little imagining that years later we’d both be working at Princess Yachts. He was an absolutely fantastic craftsman, and his work was an inspiration to the whole team. Sadly, he died of cancer last year, aged 44, and it’s a great honour to be the first recipient of this new award in his memory.

In my spare time I like to raise money for St Luke’s Hospice, which looked after John, so this year I entered the Lions Club New Years’ Day fancy dress swim in Cawsand Bay. I went as a Minion. The outfit was only made of cardboard, but even if I say so myself, it was pretty good. Like John, I’m not just a carpenter, I’m a perfectionist.

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Interview with Paul Eccles, Carpenter

Sunday 10th December 2017

Paul’s carpentry history with Princess stretches back to well over twenty years, when he first began at the Princess Yachts International factory. ‘It was very different back then. Even large items like bulkheads were hand made. The process is far more streamlined of late’.

It’s that background and experience that Paul brings to Princess Motor Yacht Sales, the world’s largest Princess yacht distributor. Having joined the company in 2014, he now travels the world, bringing his unique skills to bear wherever needed. ‘I’ve just returned from Thailand, I was there for a fortnight providing warranty support. I’ve been all over the world, to some even quite unusual places like Beirut, where we put an entire new floor into a Princess 32M, or the Swiss lakes where you might not expect to find a Princess yacht’.

But warranty support is just a bit part of Paul’s role. His main focus is retro work. ‘Flooring is a popular choice. A customer might purchase a stock vessel or perhaps a pre-owned yacht and would prefer a timber floor to the carpeted areas already fitted. We choose hardwoods, and normally contrast them to the cabinetry, so if the yacht has dark wood bulkheads and furniture we’ll typically install light oak flooring. For a lighter interior we’ll contrast with walnut or wenge, which is a very dark South African hardwood’.

On the outside of a boat, teak decking brings warmth and style. Most Princess yachts already come with a teak laid cockpit and bathing platform. Paul can add teak side decks or teak lay the flybridge to match. Lighting can be inlayed, or perhaps you’d like a Princess crown backlit in LEDs to welcome guests in the evening?

‘We’ve even stripped cabins out completely and changed them into tailor made offices with desks, storage and filing.’

But mere flooring is just the tip of a very prolific iceberg – the talents Paul can bring to a boat, and the changes wrought by that talent, run far deeper. ‘We can change the layout of a guest cabin, so if a double bed is preferred to two single berths, we can do that. We’ve even stripped cabins out completely and changed them into tailor made offices with desks, storage and filing. Galley alterations are popular. We’ll install washer driers, dish washers, wine coolers or undertake plumbing jobs such as on demand boiling water’.

One area proving ever more popular is audio visual installations. Long gone are the days of marine hifi consisting of a car radio/CD player built into the lower helm and a pair of speakers poking through the headlining. Today a rise and fall concealed television is de rigueur while Dolby 5.1 surround sound systems provide the audio kick to match the high definition punch of the latest LED screens, and owners of earlier yachts are choosing to retrofit similar systems in order to enjoy the same AV experience.

In fact it’s a particularly clever AV system that has been Paul’s latest challenge. ‘We’ve just installed a concealed TV screen to the master cabin of a Princess 60. When it’s switched off, all you see is a mirror. Switch it on and that mirror actually transforms into a flat screen monitor for displaying television or video. It was a complex installation, but it works brilliantly!’

To find out more information on Princess Motor Yacht Sales Individual, click here. Alternatively, give our Individual team a call on +44 (0)1752 393377 or email [email protected] – we certainly have the right man for the job!

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Skills Launchpad Plymouth

Carpenter vacancies for princess yachts.

Princess Yachts are currently recruiting for skilled and semi- skilled Carpenters to work across all sites here in Plymouth TODAY!

With immediate start dates this fantastic opportunity offers employees to be part of one of the worlds most luxury yacht brands!

Our ideal candidates will have experience in performing high standard Carpentry with exceptional attention to detail and knowledge with extensive use of hand skills.

The 8- week Academy programme will offer specific training on yacht carpentry, giving you the exact knowledge and skills required here at Princess Yachts.

During the training period, it is essential successful candidates are available the whole duration with no holidays booked.

Academy start date

· 18th October 2021

Entry Level Carpenter

Basic Pay £11.45 Overtime £15.80 - £20.28

Skilled Carpenter

Basic Pay £14.23 Overtime £18.88 - £24.18

Carpentry Academy

Basic Pay £11.45

PRE-ENTRY QUALIFICATIONS/ EXPERIENCE

NVQ Level 3 Carpentry & Joinery required (or equivalent). Either 5 years’ experience or an NVQ Level 3 Carpentry & Joinery required.

NVQ Level 1 & 2 Carpentry & Joinery required (or equivalent)

· Good general DIY skills

· Basic Carpentry knowledge – essential

· Level 1 or 2 NVQ in Carpentry – desired not essential

· Previous similar role with elements of basic Carpentry for a minimum of 1 year

If you’re ready to take the next step in your career apply now to [email protected]

Find out more at https://www.princessyachts.com/

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Master Woodworking from Princess

miércoles 11 marzo 2015

Step on board any Princess yacht and there is no denying the importance a master carpenter plays in the production of our craft. From beautifully finished bulkheads and doors, to expertly crafted furnishings, down to the wooden panels hidden beneath carpets and linings. Princess Yachts’ Carpentry Manufacturing Engineer, Justin Empson, explains how we combine technology with expert craftsmanship to create some of the finest yacht interiors in the world.

”My role at Princess is to support the Carpentry Department at KitParts by identifying opportunities for continuous improvement. This can involve anything from reviewing the way an individual item of furniture is put together through to assessing the quality and efficiency of the machinery and equipment used within the department. Having worked in the woodworking industry manufacturing high quality furniture for over 20 years, I have seen how technology has helped refine carpentry processes. Historically we manually cut parts from plywood patterns which were cumbersome to store, took time to locate and became worn over time, making them less reliable. Today, through the use of technology such as CNC (Computer Numerical Control) machines we can be more accurate and efficient with the way we fabricate parts.

We operate five CNC machines within KitParts. CAD (Computer Aided Design) drawings are converted into CNC files from which the machine can precisely cut a part to shape. We are also able to use the machine to mark up the placement of fixtures and fittings helping to streamline and improve accuracy during the assembly and fit out process.

We utilise ‘nesting’ software which looks at all the parts in the schedule that are due to be run through the CNC machine, and calculates how to cut the maximum number from a single sheet of material, reducing waste.

We use special purpose machinery which help to reduce what are otherwise very manual processes for our carpenters. As we produce hundreds of thousands of parts each year this saves a huge amount of time. This includes tools such as the Weinig CUBE which produces large volumes of precisely cut wood and the Edgebander which is used to add a veneer trim to raw plywood edges.

We have a team of skilled machine operators who utilise their knowledge and experience to assess the best tools to complete a part ready to be handed over to the Carpentry team for assembly. While technological advancements have undeniably helped with more efficient and accurate production, the assembly process is still heavily reliant on the skill of the individual carpenter. Timber is a living product so will always require refinement to ensure seamless joints and a high-quality finish.

Many of the joinery skills used by our Carpenters have changed very little over the centuries however, more advanced equipment has helped make the process easier and more efficient than more traditional methods.»

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