Plans and dates for 100 year Eye Of The Wind Celebrations

Dear Friends of the Eye,
At long last we can now offer certainty to our previous plans, due to the fact that the new owners have come to an agreement with us, and we have fixed dates for the 3 independent events in 2011.

• The Wooden Boat Festival in Tasmania is being held on the weekend of 11-14 February We will hold a get together over this weekend for ex crew, voyagers and friends on Sunday 13 February - venue to be advised.
• A get together on 26-27 March in Sydney will be held, with a harbour sail on 'Southern Swan '(ex 'Our Svannen';) with the help of Trish Wilson (Marine Biologist, 'Op Drake' and voyage 2 to Australia)

We have signed a legal contract with the new Eye owners which includes following:

• EOTW will be delivered to Weymouth on the south coast of England on 29 May 2011.
  At this stage we envisage a 5 day voyage ex Weymouth to the Channel Islands (& possibly France) depending on the weather conditions
• Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 June 2011 a number of day sails out of Weymouth, and also an open ship period of time so people can bring their children/grandchildren aboard to show them around the ship. Also a shore party on June 4th, details below.
• Monday 6 June 2011 the ship will depart for a 10 day voyage (or 2 x 5 day voyages) to have the ship back in Kiel by Wednesday 15 June, where the owners have prior commitments to the Kiel sailing festival.

Gill Allen (ex ship's cook) and her partner Guy have kindly opened their home (and extensive fields) to all us of to host a get together on Saturday night 4 June. They live in a quaint village called Hooke which is approx 25-30 minutes from Weymouth.
Gill would he happy for people to camp over the weekend, and will be providing a barn and marquee for the Saturday evening. A list of local B&B;s will be provided at a later date for those that wish to reside in a little more comfort for the evening. Dinner, music and good company will be shared by all.

Gill has been very generous in providing these facillities in order to keep costs to a minimum, but obviously there will be some costs levied to cover various expenses. Unfortunately we will have to charge for the day sails, but at this stage, cannot exactly say what this will be, as it will depend on the numbers they are able to accomodate under their survey.

As far as the programme the ship is able to offer, we appreciate it will not suit everyone, and unfortunately we may not be able to accomodate everyone that would like to sail on her for one last time. However, as we have had to sign a legally binding contract to cover the whole charter, we are in the position that we will have to take bookings on a first come, first serve basis. There are only 12 berths on board now. The new oweners have very generously offered the ship at a reduced rate of 159 Euro per person per day.
The contract states that I must pay the first installment of 25% in July 2010, the next 25% in December, and the final 50% in March 2011, so if you are able to join us on any of these voyages, please be prepared to cover the fees as per the above schedule.

Obviously there are many people who either do not know of this website, or do not have internet access for one reason or another, so if you could please pass this information on to anyone you know who has voyaged on the ship, we would be very grateful.
We are trying to keep everything as affordable as possible, so eveyone who would like to join us in this celebration is able to participate.

We would particularly like anyone who has contacts from Operation Drake to let their fellow phase members know of these plans, so we can incorporate all aspects of this ships's past sailing adventures.

Unfortunately, the timing from our point of view is not great as Deb and I are just off to South America for 5 weeks, but Roz Lewis has kindly offered to co-ordinate things while we are away, and answer any queries. She can be contacted clicking here, phone 01446 793530 (UK). Ros will reply to your messages within a few days, so if you dont get a reply please try again as there might have been a communication problem.

Many thanks, and now that things have been finalised, we are looking forward to meeting long lost friends and share old memories.

Kind regards, Tiger

Remark by Ina: If you are interested and would like to make yourself known, click here to contact me and get forwarded.
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