Disaster has struck our charity! Our boats started sinking! Please help us to get young people back on the water, learning vital skills. Our goal is to provide, through the medium of sail training, opportunities for young people and vulnerable adults to discover their sense of adventure, in the process developing transferable skills that will aid their educational, personal, and social development.
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In early 2024 following an annual winter refit by volunteers, our two 49 foot Oyster yachts were relaunched.
What we didn't know was a seacock (a valve that lets water in or out through the hull) had failed and so over the next hours the boat filled with river water, right up to the floorboards.
The impact was devastating, causing damage to the boats electrics and diesel engine despite the actions of some fast acting volunteers who pumped out the boat manually.
Whilst we were reeling from the incident, little did we know that it was going to get worse, the second boat had a different part fail!
The fridge on-board is water cooled and also has a seacock attached. There had been a problem with this but this was undetected as the automatic bilge pump had been dealing with the relatively small amount of water that was leaking. However, the shore-based power supply to the boat tripped and so the pump began using the batteries. Sadly, these only lasted so long until they died and the boat started filling slowly.
The damage sustained on the second boat was similar to the first and current estimates for repair are in the region of £50,000. We are unsure as to whether our insurance policy will cover any of these costs.
We desperately need your support in helping us recover from this disaster. You can help in 3 ways:
1. Make a donation - any amount that you can give will make a huge difference to the appeal
2. Share this appeal with your friends and family using Social Media.
3. Reach out to us if you feel you can support in other ways, maybe you could take up a fundraising challenge on our behalf.
YOUR SUPPORT IS VERY MUCH APPRECIATED BY ALL OF THE VOLUNTEERS.
Here is a video showing the boat being pumped out.
