Always on
This project successfully funded on 31st May 2026, you can still support them with a donation.
Seaworthy
Falmouth, United Kingdom
Aim
A community exploration of how we can make our lives more seaworthy, by restoring a neglected wooden boat to undertake serious challenge.
Why seaworthy?
We all feel adrift sometimes. Rudderless. Tossed about on stormy seas. I know I do.
We are lost in social media, dizzied by standing on the precipice of the era of AI. We are bombarded by the rolling news cycle, by stories of division and war, anxious of the climate crisis and political turmoil.
It's more important than ever that we might look for new ways to make our lives seaworthy, to learn how to ride the waves of the uncertain times through which we are living.
This project is exploring the idea of what it is to be seaworthy in today's world, and is centred around a community restoration of a neglected wooden boat to get her back on the sea for a serious challenge. Which is where you come in. In short, we'd love to have you aboard.
Support this challenge of exploring seaworthiness by being part of the restoration of the boat, and being part of the conversation.
The challenge
The challenge is to restore a neglected, 16-foot, wooden Wayfarer dinghy and get her back on the water by May 2026, then sail her over the 30-mile stretch of open sea between Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, an notoriously demanding stretch of water.
It's a truly collaborative effort. Award-winning author, Wyl Menmuir is working alongside volunteers at the National Maritime Museum, students from Falmouth University, boatbuilders and the broader community around Falmouth and Cornwall. We'd love you to be part of the story too.
You can see the progress happening too, by visiting the National Maritime Museum, where the restoration is taking place, and on Instagram and YouTube, where we're posting updates regularly.
Why the fundraiser?
You can be part of this journey by helping to make this boat seaworthy again. As you can see, there is a lot of work to do. Wood is expensive, as are the fittings, and the professional help needed to get this boat back on the water.
All money raised will go towards the wood, paints, glues, resins, support, fixtures and fittings to make this boat seaworthy, and essential safety equipment. To do anything else would be, well, unseaworthy.
A bit about me
I am the author of a trilogy of prize-winning non fiction books on our relationships with the natural world - The Draw of The Sea, The Heart of The Woods, and The Spirit of Stone. I am a Man-Booker longlisted novelist, short story writer, and Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at Falmouth University.
One of the outcomes of the project will be a book, Seaworthy, published by Picador in February 2028.
I'm passionate about exploring our relationships with the world around us. As someone who struggles with anxiety, I'm particularly interested in what makes us seaworthy in our own lives, and as a keen sailor, I want to understand how restoring a boat might help me to understand what seaworthiness means in a more literal way too.
Note: For full transparency, while Picador is paying me to write the book, I am responsible for the costs of the restoration itself, and ensuring its seaworthiness and safety. Money raised in this Crowdfunder will be used solely for the restoration project and to make the boat seaworthy.
Funding method
Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made