Last Thursday Blue Mermaid was commissioned alongside Maldon Hythe Quay in front of a large group of supporters and in glorious sunshine.

We are most appreciative of all our supporters, who enable us to keep broadening the scope of our work.

We are delighted to report that we are beneficiaries of Regional Grant Support from Trinity House.

Supporters of our bursary scheme for our training programmes and also towards the completion of Blue Mermaid, we are grateful to them for their help in enabling our ongoing development.

The Great Meander is a four-day Marathon row, supported by the Port of London Authority – from Lechlade, Gloucestershire, to Gravesend, Kent.

Beginning on 22 June 2019, it’s in aid of Sea-Change, who provide residential opportunities for young people and vulnerable adults to learn and develop in a unique environment. It is a great success and a wonderful way to fundraise, for which we are most grateful. Further donations can be made here.

The aft cabin

Now under way with the charity, SB Blue Mermaid has undergone a transformation both on deck and below to ready her for her clients.

Here is an album showing and describing many recently completed details.

Having started the season with three excellent weeks on our old friend Reminder, while the yard finished laying Blue Mermaid’s decks each end and the 1001 other things on the list, it was great to welcome aboard six young people and two staff from the Stour Blue Water Pass Trust.

This amazing new charity offering activities afloat for young people invited Blue Mermaid to provide the venue for their launch reception on 1st June and this gave us a passage from Maldon to share with some of their clients.

And that is not all! By kind arrangement with the owners of Mistley Quay it was possible to lay alongside. This meant the new Blue Mermaid passed the yard where the original was launched in 1930, in fact also kindly towed in by David Foster who now runs the yard.

The photo shows the group at the end of the five day trip during which we visited Brightlingsea and Pin Mill. More photos here.

Jenna Howe is SHTP2’s Sea-Change Trainee. She studied physics at uni, then had a few jobs as a web developer, before running away to sea in December 2017 and discovering a love for sailing and everything traditional boat-related.

Jenna joined Excelsior as a volunteer deckhand in 2018 and sailed with Polish sail training ship Frederyk Chopin on a voyage in the North Sea.

Read more here about Jenna, her time with us to date, about National Historic Ships UK’s SHTP Project and how to get involved yourself.