You may have noticed we have been a bit quiet on our social media and announcements recently, but it does not mean we haven't been busy.
We have decided to sail Poppet from the Caribbean back to the UK! We will leave the Caribbean in early May and arrive in Southwest England by mid-June.
It took six weeks of decision-making and planning, but we have turned a negative situation into a positive one.
Our new route is more prolonged, slightly less predictable, and involves new risks, but we believe that returning to the UK will benefit our charities, sponsors, families, and crew welfare.
Our shipping sponsor, Geest Line, is kindly supporting the route reversal.
Positives:
· A five-month delay will give us further time for sea trials and testing.
· We can arrange a better 'arrival reception' for photography and interview.
· Our charities, sponsors, friends, and families can attend our arrival.
· It will save a significant amount of transportation costs.
Latest News:
Poppet is coming along well in her repaired winter shelter. After the Southampton International Boat Show, we completely dismantled her for the final rebuild and refit. The paint is in the last primer stage, and the Topcoat will be applied in the next few weeks.
By Christmas, we will start refitting all the deck hardware and electronics for the last time!
We assembled our standing rigging; it's now safely being stored off the boat for winter.
We aim to have Poppet refitted and ready for sea trials by the end of February 2025. We are working furiously to raise the extra capital needed for our equipment.
The skipper and First mate have drafted the new route, with a few bits still to work out. Weather conditions at our departure time will dictate it.
Reasons that lead us to the delay:
· We had significant problems arranging the paperwork and logistics for transporting Poppet by road and Ferry through Europe to our original departure point of Tenerife.
· Issues with employers and agreed time off have since been resolved.
· A significant equipment sponsor let us down. Despite repeated promises and delivery of equipment as recently as September and a paper trail, they denied all knowledge of our agreement to loan an outboard electric propulsion motor.
A third party also reported that at the Southampton Boat Show, one of their uniformed staff members stated that they never had an intention of helping us and went on to make abhorrent comments about our project, crew members, and health. We complained to their UK director, but no replies were received. We reported their comments to the show organisers formally in writing.
We removed all their sponsorship and branding from our literature and press releases. We will not tolerate gas-lighting, bigotry, or bullying.
Every waking moment we spend trying to find new sponsors is time we should be spending at home, at work, working/training on Poppet, and lost opportunities to raise money for our favourite charities.
If you can help us, please get in touch:
Personal Sponsors: www.gofundme.com/f/sofatosailboat
Please donate to our Charities: www.sofatosailboat.co.uk/donate
Corporate Sponsors: www.sofatosailboat.co.uk/sponsor-information
Skipper – 28/11/24
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