The 37-foot Mounts Bay lugger is currently in Port Kembla, Australia, being prepared for loading aboard a container ship bound for Holland. There she will be unloaded and finish the journey under sail to her spiritual home in Cornwall.

The ship survived storms and a knockdown in the Southern Ocean while sailing the 11,800 mile voyage, which shone a spotlight on the bravery of seven Cornishman who made the journey to seek out a better life and become the smallest migrant vessel ever to make it to Australia.

Spirit of Mystery is made of locally sourced wood and has history literally built into her. The keel, stem and stern were made from a tough hardwood called Ekki. Fallen Cornish Oak makes up the frames, with Larch for the planking and Ash for the tiller and sweeps. Pete sourced a piece of oak from Nelson’s Victory, teak from the Cutty Sark and a part of the rigging from the SS Great Britain. With so much local history and so many happy memories in her, Pete decided she should return to Cornwall rather than dry up under the burning Australian sun.

He said that he was excited about getting her home in time for the sailing season in the UK: “I have to say I have wrestled with the decision as to whether I should sail her home or ship her ever since we arrived in Melbourne. My heart wanted to sail her but looking at life, commitments and other projects I have in the pipeline, it was readily apparent that I didn’t have the time slot. Once I had made it the decision just felt right and I am now really excited about getting her home, we have missed her.”

An added bonus for Pete is that the ship is returning complete with her dinghy Tacker, which was feared lost forever in the Southern Ocean knockdown. This incident turned out to be the start of her own little adventure. The intrepid little boat drifted over a thousand miles and turned up in King Island between Tasmania and Australia, where she was spotted by local boys and after much detective work and some restoration reunited with Spirit of Mystery.

www.petegoss.com

Race 6 Entries
2009_2010 Summer Series Race 6 Feb 28 2010 ENTRIES

Series Progressive Totals
2010 Summer Progressive Totals for Series and Presidents Cup at Feb 19 2010

The crew of Barraq helmed by Rashid Mohd. Rashid Al Rumaithi started chanting before they crossed the finish line as winners in the first heat of the Dubai Traditional 60ft Dhow Sailing Championships that ended beneath the Burj Al Arab. The chanting trend continued as Al Wasef with skipper Mohammed Hamad Al Ghashaish and his crew closed in taking second place. High spirits took over after a painfully slow start turned in to a wild race as the fleet reached the top of Palm Jumeirah and the wind strengthened making boats furl their second sail and redistribute crew and sand bags (the traditional ballast) as they were over powered.

The winning boat forms part of a dhow sailing dynasty with many family members sailing their own dhows and in this race they worked as a group to ensure a family win. It was a tough race for the crews who spent the second half of the race straining to get their body weight as far over the side of he boat as possible for balance against the strengthening wind and without the trappings of the modern sailing equipment, which the traditional rules prevent, it is not an easy task. The next heat will be the Presidents Cup in Abu Dhabi on March 13th.

www.dimc.ae

This morning, one of the greatest Australian adventurers of all time, Don McIntyre, formally announced his most recent expedition – to re-create one of the most extraordinary stories of survival and determination, Captain William Bligh’s 4,000 mile open boat ‘Mutiny on the Bounty’ voyage.

The reenactment, following the journey across the Pacific from Tonga to Timor, will launch on the same day (April 28th), at the same time and in the same place 221 years after the original mutiny journey.

Not content with just taking on this huge challenge, McIntyre and his crew of 3 men are also attempting to raise over $250,000 for The Sheffield Institute Foundation for Motor Neurone Disease (SIF), which is building the world’s first research Institute into Motor Neurone Disease (MND), Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.

The seven week expedition aboard the Talisker Bounty Boat – a 25ft long, 7ft wide, open wooden vessel – will see the crew -facing the same deprivations as the original crew that were cast adrift in the middle of the Pacific, including: no navigation charts; only two weeks of water; hardly any food; and, of course, no luxuries like a torch or toilet paper!

Alongside Don McIntyre, one of Australia’s most experienced sailors and adventurers, the international crew includes experienced English sailor David Wilkinson, US sailor and businessman Peter Stier and the youngest ever Solo circumnavigator, 17 year old Brit Mike Perham. The crew met together for the first time a little over two weeks ago and have spent the last fortnight together in Sydney, training and making last minute preparations for the journey, a journey that has been Don’s dream to complete for 20 years.

McIntyre does not underestimate the challenge ahead: “We’re incredibly excited to get close to Captain Bligh and his crew; however everyone aboard the Talisker Bounty Boat will be pushed to the limit of endurance and survival, forever hungry and unsure of everything, except their own desire to fight through this.”

The voyage is sponsored by Talisker Single Malt Scotch Whisky, the only single malt whisky from the Isle of Skye which is also the origin of Don McIntyre’s ancestry as his grandparents emigrated to Australia from Skye shortly after their marriage in 1901.

To follow the expedition and donate to this cause, visit www.taliskerbountyboat.com

The passion behind the South Australian campaign is evident – it is founded on the City of Adelaide’s original role of carrying emigrants from the UK and Europe to the new territory in the late 19th century – over 250,000 South Australians, or one in five of the population, can trace their ancestry back to, or through the ship. But the campaign also appears well-resourced in terms both of capability (both Roberts and Chapman have engineering backgrounds for instance) and state and private support.

They have costed the logistics of moving the ship at around £1.5 million, with the cost of transport to Australia, at about £700,000, less than that of getting the City of Adelaide off the slip and out of the river in Irvine. They already have about half of that, and are “ready to launch a major fundraising programme once we have control of the ship.”

A prime site in Adelaide has already been earmarked for a display area which would also include the preserved 1883 tug Nelcebee, built in Scotland and shipped out to provide services to the clippers, including City of Adelaide.

Pressure to resolve the City of Adelaide’s situation has intensified with the demand from the owners of the slip where she sits for the return of the site. Scottish Maritime Museum, current owner of the ship, recently called for tenders to ’scientifically desconstruct’ her. However, Martyn Heighton of National Historic Ships has confirmed that none of the tenders to deconstruct the ship met its criteria, and it will oppose any application for demolition. It is shortly due to to evaluate proposals, from both the Sunderland and South Australian campaigns. If the City of Adelaide is to leave the UK it would be subject to an export licence, unless declared to be of no value.

www.classicboat.co.uk