In the New Year the major work on restoring the hull had reached a halfway stage. The stern had been reframed and work began on doubling and fastening new planks to the bottom on the outside of the hull at the stern. The outside planking is in Iroko and this work will last until the spring when work on the new decks in the African hardwood Opepe will begin. After this will come the final fitting out of the hull.

Last Autumn the Heritage Lottery awarded the Dawn Trust another £200,000, but all the time costs are steadily going up. Keeping to the budget is very difficult and there is still a need to raise cash, although at the moment it is difficult to estimate how much more will be needed.

The Project Leader Colin South and Chairman Robert Simper have been to look at the accommodation on the barges at the Hythe Quay. The layout, with central heating, of the Xylonite seemed very practical. The permanent or semi permanent cabin layout appears to be advisable, although it would be stretching the budget.

The accommodation layout of the Dawn while she was chartered in the past for youth training was practical, but the whole charter barge world has moved on since then and people expect good facilities. The cost of operating Dawn, with a paid crew, will be in the region of £70,000 per year so the project has to be of a very good standard to attract charters in a highly competitive market. There are already about a dozen barges established in charter work. If the Trust fails to make a success of youth chartering the Lottery is in a position to ask for the money to be repaid. The opening season of the Dawn’s new career is highly critical if she is to have a long-term future.

Volunteer work by members of the Trust will help to increase the match funding. As the Dawn rebuild moves on, the work is attracting more attention from the media. BBC Look East again filmed the rebuild just after Christmas and the magazines Classic Boat, Tall Ships and Sea Breezes are all carrying reports on the rebuild in late spring.

The old Dawn sails have been sold to one of the shipwrights working on the rebuild for £2,000, which will help towards costs. The dry dock would be very useful for anyone undertaking a similar project as, with the cover, work can continue in all weathers. Essex Heritage Trust have given the Trust £7,000 towards the cost of rebuilding the skipper’s cabin aft.

It was hoped that accommodation for the passengers could be housed in ‘pods’ that could be lifted in and out so that a few cargoes could be carried under sail. Unfortunately there doesn’t appear to be any pods on the market that could fit the Trust’s requirements. The nearest available pod was one made by the Inland Waterways which was for a galley, toilet and generator for which they wanted £50,000

DAWN TRUST EVENTS

 Saturday April 22 2006 10am – 4pm

OPEN DAY at Heybridge Basin. Come and see the progress on the rebuild. The Trust’s President John Whittingdale OBE. MP will be visiting the barge to see the progress on the rebuild and Neil Holdsworth will be giving a presentation on the Trust’s work.

Saturday May 20 2006 12.30pm

Informal get together at Pin Mill. Look at the barges there and an informal meal in the ‘Butt and Oyster’. It would be useful to know how many people are coming because we can have a room for 18 or 35 people.