Boleh Admin

Not long till the start of Boleh’s sailing programme and final preparations are under way.  This week saw Boleh briefly taken out of the water for a final buff-up in the Sealift3 facility at Haslar Marina.  With hull jet washed, antifouling touched up and anti corrosion anodes renewed, the parts of Boleh you don’t see are now ready for the new Season!

Picture shows the stern aspect of Boleh on the lift displaying her propellers and stern arrangement from a different perspective not always seen!

When HRH The Princess Royal visited us last November to re-commission Boleh, Haslar Marina’s new Creek Restaurant was the venue for the first part of her visit.  This was dedicated to HRH meeting groups of adults and young people who had been involved with this unique vessel.  HRH also met Creek staff, providing an ‘unofficial opening’ for their impressive Restaurant, and thanked Ben Lippiett and the Marina team for facilitating her visit.

We are therefore delighted to report that the Boleh Trust has now given The Creek a framed picture of Boleh, both to mark the occasion and to thank Marina and Restaurant staff for their sterling support on that special day.  Picture shows Vice Chairman, Chris Austin and the Boleh team presenting Creek  Assistant Manager, David Hill with a copy of a watercolour by Robin Kilroy.  The painting depicts Boleh at rest in Salcombe, where she arrived on 1 September 1950 after her 15,000 mile voyage from Singapore, skippered by the artist!

We’re proud of Boleh’s unique design and inspirational story.  A catalogue of her history – from Boleh’s conception in 1947 to her 2013 restoration – was compiled and archived 10 years ago by Hampshire Museum Services with Heritage Lottery funding.  However, the digital platform for the website hosting this Archive has recently deteriorated, threatening the future of this wonderful record.

It is therefore a relief to report that, with the generous support of Blackburn Chemicals (who also funded last year’s repair of Boleh’s damaged battery chargers) and the skills of ‘Communitysites’, we have been able to revitalise and preserve the Archive.  A picture of Boleh racing off Majorca with Roger Angel at the helm, taken from the Archive, is shown here – more drawings and photos can be seen http://catalogue.bolehproject.com/

Our invaluable volunteers who are members of the Royal Naval Sailing Association will be pleased to see that the RNSA 2022 Journal features Boleh’s recommissioning last year by Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal.  Page 47 has photos from this memorable event, including this picture of HRH’s Standard at Boleh’s masthead during her time onboard.

Boleh’s strong ties with the Senior Service continue this Season with 3 separate weeks supporting the Royal Navy’s Recovery Programme for sick, injured and wounded Service personnel.  The first of these weeks in April kicks off the year’s Sailing Programme.  This will be followed by day sails for Service schoolchildren, and then a weekend with the Royal Engineers at Lymington after His Majesty’s Coronation.  And finally, thank you volunteer Mate and Trustee David Critchley for the RNSA article!

We’re delighted to report Boleh’s forthcoming sailing Season is off to a great start.  The Pineapple Youth Trust, originally founded to promote youth work in London’s Paddington district, has spread its net more widely with a generous donation to the Boleh Trust.  These very welcome funds are designed to cover core costs and particularly  those involved in running this year’s Portland Schools programme.

Boleh is programmed to leave her Haslar Marina base for Portland on 5 June and will again deliver 3 weeks of day sails for Dorset schools, working out of Portland Marina.  We are very grateful to the Pineapple Youth Trust for enabling us to continue our support for the Chesil Sailing Trust’s very successful ‘Sail for a Fiver’ initiative.  Picture shows local schoolchildren under Skipper’s instruction on a sunny Boleh foredeck, with Portland Harbour breakwater in the distance, on a previous deployment.

Last year Boleh was up on the Causeway at Birdham for winter maintenance when local amateur artist, Jerrold Alexander, spotted her and was captivated by her appearance.  Described by him as ‘a very interesting and much travelled boat’ she became the catalyst for Jerrold’s painting of 5 yachts in a row on the Causeway.

When sending us the photo of his work, Jerrold said “Thanks for parking Boleh so close to my home” and we say “Thank you Jerrold for sharing your painting with us and for brightening up the January gloom”.

We couldn’t resist showing off Boleh’s local support team enjoying a well earned end-of-year pint in the new Creek Restaurant at Boleh’s Haslar Marina base.  Pictured from left to right are: Chris Austin, Trustee, stepping down from Vice Chair this year; Craig Coupe, Operations Director; Dave Hadfield, Technical Adviser; Graham Westbrook, Naval Architect; Nigel Craine, new Trustee and volunteer Skipper; and Mark Minshull, Trustee and Technical Director.

Missing from the picture is Boleh’s Lead Skipper and Vice Chair for 2023, Richard Metcalfe.  All have made a major contribution to the success of Boleh’s 2022 Season and to the memorable presentation of our beautiful and historic Junk Yacht Boleh to HRH The Princess Royal.  Thank you Team and well done!

It has been a turbulent and uncertain year for many of us but, for Boleh and the Trust, it has been our most successful Season to date.  Boleh has been fully operational and at sea for just over 100 days, sailing 250 young people and 135 adults and completing a charitable sailing programme culminating in a memorable visit from HRH The Princess Royal.

Another evocative Christmas card from Carole Westbrook Designs pictures ‘Boleh off the Needles’ – perhaps heading for our annual Portland deployment to sail local schoolchildren!  Thank you generous funders, thank you wonderful volunteers, thank you valued supporters, and thank you our newly appointed Operations Director for making all this happen.  Happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year to you all and we look forward to another cracking Season in 2023.

We are humbled by the amazing generosity of our many donors and supporters, without whose financial contribution Boleh’s charitable work could not be delivered.  So it is a pleasure to report that, during this year’s recently completed sailing Season, Boleh was able to say a personal thank you.  Hosted by the Boleh Trust’s Patron, Chairman and volunteers Richard and Simon, Boleh entertained some of our close supporters to a Summer day on the Solent.

Picture shows the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity’s Director of Fundraising, Dawn Ingram (right), displaying  the charity’s banner.  Dawn summed up her Boleh experience:  “The boat is magnificent and I can see the benefits Boleh provides to our beneficiary groups, giving them a ‘can do’ attitude and the confidence boost they may need.”  The RN&RMC are one of our most steadfast supporters with a recent generous grant for next year’s  programme sailing local Service schoolchildren.  Thank you again RN&RMC.

We’re pleasantly amused to note that Boleh has moved up the social scale following HRH The Princess Royal’s  visit.  Our unique Junk Yacht now features in a recent edition of the Celebrity and Lifestyle magazine, Hello!, sharing column inches with Royalty, high flying socialites and the world of glamour.  The article pictured reports HRH’s keen interest in the Royal Navy, her support for Service families and her re-commissioning of Boleh in Haslar Marina with a dash of cider.