News

We’re pleased to report a happy ending to Boleh’s winter work programme.  Thanks to a magnificent effort by Mark, David, Nigel, Graham and new Trustee Chris Laws, a spic and span Boleh is now safely alongside in Haslar Marina.  A miraculous early morning break in the beastly weather we’ve come to expect allowed the team to put her back in the water in the nick of time.

Picture shows Boleh in the slings at Victoria Quay looking very smart after her scrub and paint.  Moments later she was round the corner and back in her Haslar berth just as the storm broke!  Having secured Boleh alongside, a tot of Rum was offered to all crew but tea and coffee were chosen instead!  As our Chairman said ‘A huge achievement – bravo Team Boleh!’

Boleh’s winter work programme is nearing completion as she returns to Victoria Quay for lift out, bottom scrub, patch, paint and a coat of antifouling.  Thanks again to our volunteers as they prepare Boleh for the coming Season while Ops Director, Craig is busy finalising the opening phases of her Sailing Programme.

This starts with an intense  training and refresher period for our volunteer crews, conducted by Lead Skipper and Trustee, Richard Metcalfe.  After that, in mid April, we’re again proud to say that the Season’s first ‘customers’ will be the R N Recovery Programme for wounded, injured and sick Service personnel.  We look forward to reporting this successful programme’s first week of sailing.

With fingers crossed (standard routine for boats), it’s good to report that Boleh’s winter work package is going to plan.  Thanks to Mark and Steve from ‘Now Marine’ at Victoria Quay, Paul from ‘XW Rigging’, and some nifty work by the crane driver and Boleh’s volunteer support team, a major milestone has been achieved.  Boleh’s re-rigged and beautifully refurbished quadruped mast has been re-stepped – a delicate job as the picture shows.

Boleh is now back at her berth in Haslar Marina being fitted out by our volunteers for the coming Season.  Not that Mark and his volunteers haven’t been busy earlier – a picture of the core team moving the mast at Victoria Quay on ‘dollies’ made by David headed our 8 January News item.  David also repaired and rethreaded the critical cable run to the masthead, and Graham has the running boom– broken last season – under repair at home.   Thank you team from all of us.

We were sad to say goodbye to 3 of our Trustees last year but are now delighted to welcome new Trustee Chris Laws to our Team.  Very much a local man though widely travelled during his academic career, Chris has followed Boleh’s progress for many years.  A keen dinghy sailor and now enjoying sailing in small cruisers, he served for a number of years as Commodore of a local sailing club.

Chris has spent most of his working life in universities, including Southampton and Chichester, and is an emeritus professor of sport, health and exercise sciences. He has served on Government advisory panels for promoting physical activity for young people and is a former trustee of the YMCA and the Vocational Training Charitable Trust. With a strong interest in the development and education of young people, Chris welcomes the opportunity to further these interests with the Boleh Trust.

At this time of year Ops Director Craig begins to firm up Boleh’s programme for the Season ahead.  Boleh herself is in the care of our volunteer technical team delivering the Winter Work Programme.  A refit of her masts (picture) – being refurbished thanks to the generosity of the Hedley Foundation – Boleh can only dream of fair winds, Solent harbours, Western shores, smiling children and lives rebuilt.  We are happy to reassure Boleh that a full 2024 programme is already shaping up well and will keep her busy until at least November!

After a post maintenance ‘shakedown’ and volunteer crew training, Boleh starts work mid April with the first of 4 week-long recovery sails for Service personnel.  May sees her at the Royal Engineers Lymington Yacht Rally and then, after hosting Pompey Military Kids and Gosport schoolchildren, Boleh’s off to Portland in June for the popular Dorset ‘Sail-for-a-Fiver’ schools programme. Next aboard in July and August will be successive Southwest Army Cadet Force crews before Boleh provides respite for Wiltshire young carers.  Autumn will be equally full, include veterans, the ASTO Small Ships Race, and possibly the Southampton Boat Show.

Our thanks to all those who make Boleh’s charitable work and this exciting programme possible.

Boleh has started her important Winter Work Programme.   Much of the work will be done by our volunteers with a significant element carried out at Victoria Quay.  This recently developed marine services facility is on the historic site of the Royal Clarence Yard and just round the corner from Boleh’s Haslar berth.  Shortly before Christmas Boleh used the mobile crane there to lift off her quadruped mast for refurbishment and the renewal of her standing rigging.  Picture shows the off-loaded mast with the 4 volunteers who completed this ‘scary evolution’ and are truly the ‘mast-ers’ of Boleh.

Their experience and skill-set ensure this unique and complex vessel designed by Robin Kilroy in 1948 is, and remains, fit for purpose.  They are shown left to right: Mark Minshull, Chartered Engineer and Project Manager, responsible overall for Boleh’s maintenance and material state; Graham Westbrook, Project Naval Architect and our guide since 2009 on Boleh’s restoration, partial re-design and MCA compliance; David Hadfield, Nuclear Submarine Engineer with particular expertise on Boleh’s hybrid electric propulsion system; and Nigel Craine, Offshore Yachtmaster with a career in the marine electronics required to operate Boleh effectively and safely.

We make no excuse for using this lovely design by Carole Westbrook Designs from 2018 for a second time.  It’s based on the photo at page 160 of Robin Kilroy’s book ‘Boleh’, showing the vessel in ‘Trade Wind Rig’ half way between Singapore and Salcombe on their epic voyage in 1950.

We wish all our friends A Very Happy Christmas and a Peaceful New Year, and thank you for all your support.

Despite the weather, we have smiling faces (pictured) to celebrate Boleh’s 2023 Season, with a record 120 days at sea over the 6 months.  We are delighted to report a 20% increase in young people sailed: Service schoolchildren, Army cadets, Dorset schools, Wiltshire young carers, and those troubled by mental health.  Adult sails have also risen: wounded, injured and sick from all 3 Services, military families, and accompanying teachers and mentors.  Unfortunately weather put a stop to our planned Channel crossing but Boleh has cruised extensively around the Solent and further afield.

All this is only achieved through the dedication of our Volunteers: an amazing technical and support team who respond instantly to any problem threatening Boleh’s charitable programme; Mates and Skippers, consistently lauded by our ‘customers’ for their care and professionalism, who willingly set aside their own priorities to plug any gaps in the operational roster; and our tireless fundraisers whose efforts literally keep us afloat!  Add to all this our energetic Ops Director, Craig, and the wise counsel of our Trustees and the recipe for this year’s success is almost complete.

The critical support of our many donors is the essential ingredient missing from that recipe.  We are humbled by, and extremely grateful for, the generous grants we receive to fund Boleh and her activities.  Most recently we are delighted to report a substantial grant from the Nuffield Trust for the Forces of the Crown towards Boleh’s Winter maintenance and next year’s Naval Personnel Recovery programme.  Thank you donors, thank you volunteers – we look forward to 2024 with confidence!

We’re delighted to report Bournemouth based charity the Valentine Charitable Trust has made a generous donation towards Boleh’s participation in the Rod Shipley ‘Sail for a Fiver’ scheme, sailing Dorset schoolchildren next year.  Combined with earlier donations, this means Boleh’s delivery of this popular project for 2024 is now fully funded and Boleh will be able to give just under a hundred children a fantastic day afloat during her 3 week Portland deployment.

We are also pleased to announce that Trinity House has again supported the general costs of preparing for and executing Boleh’s sailing programmes for young people along the South Coast and in the Solent.  Their much appreciated grant will help the Trust to spread knowledge of the maritime world among these young people.  Picture – taken by our lead fundraiser and volunteer Mate, David Critchley – shows Boleh heading across Lyme Bay as dawn breaks on an earlier Portland deployment.  A big thank you to our donors and to our volunteers.