Hilary paying tribute to Percy Bird and George Lucas, lost with the original Blue Mermaid in 1941 near this place. She said how brave people must have been to sail a steel vessel knowing magnetic mines were being laid.

The dive on the original Blue Mermaid was planned for Saturday 13th July and was undertaken by a team from GP Divers with support from the Maritime Volunteer Service. The dive was brought forward one day due to expected easterlies and the team joined at Brightlingsea early on Friday the 12th instead.

During a quick fetch with a northwesterly 3 to 4 to the Spitway coordinates from the most recent surveys of the wreck were entered in the GPS in preparation. The last hour of the ebb and the wind direction made an approach fairly straightforward and after a tack to drop the topsail the right side a marker buoy was dropped on the expected position and the barge then anchored nearby and to weather.

The divers descended but the ebb was still running and the depth was greater at 9m than expected. Also the visibility was a few inches even on neap tides and the first dive was stopped to be attempted again at slack water. Then an achor was laid in the surmised direction of the site and the divers moved to it and then searched again. However, the poor visibility and increasing tide meant it was not possible to positively identify the wreck. Diver Nathan said he could have been right on it and not have known.

The team returned aboard and held a ceremony of remembrance for the crew of the Blue Mermaid, placing a wreath upon the waters. The new Blue Mermaid then returned to Brightlingsea.

The view of the team was that to ensure success it would be necessary to employ sophisticated sonar imaging and a larger dive boat and this will be considered for a future attempt. More photos.

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.