Reminder and Blue Mermaid were twins built for Horlocks of Mistley. We will be concentrating our work aboard Reminder next season and particularly during our extended summer sailing period. Soon she will be joined by Blue Mermaid ll for our specialist sail training and cargo work.

Once completed the  Horlocks steel fleet will be whole again. Watch this space.

The Essex based charity that works with disadvantaged, less able and socially excluded young people, as well as the wider maritime industry, is about to achieve its first aim in the furtherance of its excellent community work – that is the build of a new spritsail barge hull. This, once fitted out, will… read more here

Sailing barge Xylonite is available for weekend seamanship courses during the winter. Accommodating guests in comfort these weekends will be delivered by Sea-Change instructors.

Based in London’s St Katharine Docks, located next to Tower Bridge, this is also an ideal opportunity to see modern London from a different perspective and to learn something of this mighty river from a fully restored vessel sailing in her home waters.

Visit Xylonite’s website to learn about her and get in touch or contact ourselves.

Welcome aboard!

Our exciting new autumn newsletter is now available. It covers the second half of our sailing season and expounds the developments that are taking place at Sea-Change.

Read it here or print it off to read in the bath.

William Morris School’s Adventure Onboard the ‘Reminder’ Thames Sailing Barge from Monday 22^nd to Thursday 25^th September 2014

We set out for Maldon to embark on a sailing adventure onboard the ‘Reminder’ Thames Sailing Barge. We were a small group but under the watchful eye of Captain Richard Titchener and First Mate Tom we were taught how to sail the boat and keep it ship shape! Working in two watches one on deck duty and the other preparing the next meal or relaxing! Everything on deck seemed BIG we worked together pulling up & dropping the sails, winching up the anchor, pulling the sheets, coiling & cleating ropes, tying knots and steering the 87ft boat. We enjoyed sitting around the table for our evening meal and discussing our day. By working hard supporting each other to sail the boat, over the 4 days we covered 87miles visiting Osea- East Mersea – past Clacton on Sea- Oakley Creek- West Mersea – Maldon.

Some of the highlights for the students were rowing ashore at Mersea and to the seal colony at Oakley creek at dusk, catching their first crab, sailing in the breeze on the way back, plotting our course on the chart and for Hamza climbing up the mast! We were even checked by Border Patrol! There were so many exciting moments that it was indeed a very different learning environment and experience for everyone.

Watch 1 Ashley, Abbas, Victoria & Aqsa, Watch 2 Hanan, Rebekka, Hamza and Jan all made a fantastic effort to make this trip a very successful for everyone. I would like to thank Captain Richard Titchener from ‘Sea-Change’ for providing us with the opportunity to be able to sail on the historic vessel the ‘Reminder’ his experience and knowledge made for a thoroughly enjoyable and safe voyage.     Santha Patel

Applications are invited for one of five traineeships on the Shipshape Heritage Training Partnership (SHTP) project, managed by National Historic Ships UK.

The placements will be based at five different locations throughout the UK including Sea-Change, delivering skills in maintaining, operating and interpreting historic vessels.  The traineeships are being offered as part of ‘Skills for the Future’, a national programme to create new opportunities in work-based training for the heritage sector funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Successful applicants will be placed with one of the partner organisations based in Anstruther, Brixham, Essex, Lowestoft and the River Hamble for the main summer sailing season and for part of the winter refit programme where there will be a chance to develop practical skills. Full details

The Woolverstone Project provides sailing opportunities and tuition for those with disabilities and we look forward eagerly to their return visit to us each year.

This case study based testimonial by Andy Harding, Health and Activity Therapist at Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation, has subsequently been received and they are happy for us to share it, it demonstrates the outcomes that we work to achieve.

Following funding received through Carers Trust, Comic Relief and Sea-Change Sailing Trust, Action for Family Carers Young Carers team organised for over 30 Young Carers from all over Essex to spend the week involved in activities based around the Thames sailing barge, Reminder. More here….

This was a change from our usual approach to bookings in that instead of taking a pre-formed group together with leaders, we advertised for individuals who would like to sail with us to book a place together with a supporting adult where necessary. One young man even travelled from Wales to come sailing. Our thanks to those who enabled us to assist with personal funding for this trip through our bursary fund.

Living together and sailing the barge helped develop social skills, confidence and self-esteem amongst crew members who hadn’t met each other before joining the barge. High points of the trip were sailing in the dark, visiting the seal colony at Oakley Creek, climbing the rigging and swimming off Second Beach near Brightlingsea. We hope to run at least one week next season for individuals with learning disabilities. Please contact us for details.

Thanks to Judy for this great album of photos.

Not everything that happens at Sea-Change is reported here. Other events, minor news and snippets occur that sometimes get placed only onto Facebook- have a look here.

But then we post to Twitter and Google+ too, not to mention LinkedIn and YouTube.

So whatever your favourite, take your pick!