East Coast Sail Trust

Thalatta’s years as a schoolship for the East Coast Sail Trust

Dame Ellen MacArthur and the EMCT sail on Thalatta

The Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust takes young people in recovery from cancer sailing, to help rebuild their confidence. In August 2012 they sent their first group of young people for a trip on Thalatta, and in 2013 Dame Ellen MacArthur accompanied a group on a trip, bringing her dog Norman along for the voyage too.

In the log book she wrote:

Norman, Ellen and the whole team at EMCT say a massive thank you for making our days on Thalatta so very, very special. Learned a whole heap, laughed a lot and thoroughly enjoyed every part of the experience… Norman is for the first time in his life thinking of a possible career change (sheep-dog to barge dog!). He absolutely loved it too. Piers and Cyril – Thank you so much for bringing so much joy and pleasure to so many… Love Ellen x

She also illustrated the entry with a couple of sketches!

Thalatta is floated out of her dry dock

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After 5 years of hard work, Thalatta’s hull and decking were finished and she was floated out of her dry-dock on Monday 1st August 2011. Once back afloat she was ready to have her rigging, masts and sails set up, plus the electrical wiring, plumbing and accommodation below completed too.

Thalatta and Barnado’s

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In 1981 Barnado’s booked Thalatta for 15 weeks of the 29 week season. The relationship with the children’s charity continued until the end of 1988. During those years hundreds of children from the Barnado’s homes came away on the barge. In the photo is a young crew member from Knotley Hall, a Barnado’s home for boys, in Kent.

PGL Holidays on Thalatta

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In 1981 the children’s holiday company, PGL Young Adventures Ltd booked up 6 weeks of the sailing season on Thalatta. The PGL trips were a success and ran again in 1982 and 1983, with voyages offered on the Sir Alan Herbert in 1983 as well as Thalatta to meet demand.

The loss of Hervey Benham

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From Eric Pearce, chairman of the East Coast Sail Trust, March 1988;

Hervey Benham passed away on July 25th, 1987. Hervey had a lifelong interest in the sea and ships and the men that sail in them. His greatest interest was the vessels plying the waters of his own beloved east coast, particularly the Thames barges. Hervey sailed regularly on them, as a boy and young man he grew to love this local fleet, and to respect the way of life of the bargeman. He saw clearly the end of the sailing barge as a working vessel and with John Kemp formed a trust to preserve a trading barge for use as a sail training ship for youngsters. This early trust was succeeded by the East Coast Sail Trust as we know it today. Hervey used his considerable personal influence to promote the Trust and it is right to say that but for his statue in the Trust it would not have been established and kept running for over twenty-two years. During this long period Hervey was a Trustee and Council member. He and his family have given considerable financial support to the Trust on a number of occasions, contributing significantly to its survival today.

Hervey was one of the very real men… a man of great character and kindness, a wonderful story teller, a great friend, he was a man of deep thought and great intellect – a giant amongst men. He will be sadly missed by all who knew him.

Reception with Hammond Innes at Tower Pier, London

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The Sir Alan Herbert and Thalatta were at Tower Pier, London from the 8th-9th November in 1978, for a reception and fundraising event organised by Commander George Jones (Appeals Secretary for the trust). A selection of paintings were auctioned by Hammond Innes, who was a Patron. Helping people to come on board the Sir Alan Herbert to serve the drinks were students from the Southend High School for Girls.

John Kemp Passes Away

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The death of Thalatta’s skipper John Kemp was sudden and unexpected, and came just after the equally devastating shock of the death of Trust founder Hervey Benham only two months earlier. The chairman of the Trust at the time, Eric Pearce, wrote in March 1988;

John Kemp collapsed on Monday 21st September, 1987, on the deck of his beloved Thalatta. He with Hervey had been active in the preservation of sailing barges since the end of the trading era in the 1950’s. Eventually he turned his back on the world of commerce to do what he loved and wanted to do – his skill and knowledge of sailing barges and the east coast ships and men was enormous, and he was anxious that this way of life should not be lost to a new generation. He devised and worked hard to set up a unique new scheme to operate a barge for school groups in the local estuaries, forging links with the London Borough of Redbridge Education Service and later with Barnados, National Children’s Homes and schools from all over the country. He cheerfully and efficiently undertook the day to day administrative work for Thalatta – and for some years the Sir Alan Herbert too – during brief time ashore between a busy programme of sailings each season. this unseen contribution was enormously valuable to the Trust. He sailed as professional skipper first in the Memory and then in Thalatta for twenty-three years. During that time he carried over six-thousand young people from all walks of life, operating throughout with a first-class safety record, a record unsurpassed and widely respected. The fine condition of Thalatta today is a lasting tribute to him for he devoted countless thousands of extra hours to details of her upkeep: there could be no finer memorial to John than Thalatta herself, and for the present council to see to it that the work he started, giving youngsters a real taste of life at sea, continues for many years to come.

The Centenary Restoration Project Begins

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In 2003 it became clear that the annual maintenance process on Thalatta was no longer going to be able to keep her safe and sound for the future. The trustees were faced with the choice of either winding up the Trust, buying a replacement vessel or refurbishing Thalatta.

Refurbishment or replacement would require substantial funds which the Trust did not have, and the trustees concluded that only by approaching the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) could sufficient funds be obtained. However, HLF would only consider a refurbishment programme, not purchase of a replacement. A lengthy process of bidding for a Lottery grant was undertaken and HLF approval was given in 2005 for a project initially estimated at £527,500.

Work began in 2006. At first it was intended to just replace the outer planking and the worst of the frames, but it soon became apparent a lot more needed to be done and in the end Thalatta’s hull was essentially completely rebuild and returned to an ‘as new’ condition, with only the original ‘floors’ (the bottom cross pieces of the frames) kept. The final cost was £1.1m, and 33% of this was raised by the Trust through fundraising and the very generous donations of benefactors large and small. Without either the donations or the HLF grant, Thalatta would not have been refurbished. More on the refurbishment project can be read here and a gallery of photos can be seen here.

A New Engine is Installed

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The old Ruston & Hornsby which had been installed in 1947 was replaced with a brand new Kelvin in 1973. The new Kelvin served well for nearly 30 years until Thalatta’s Centenary Restoration project in 2006-12, when it was replaced.

Thalatta Coast Survey 1976-80

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The Thalatta Coast Survey was described as an ‘exploration of the English coast, undertaken by school pupils working from their own coast survey vessel Thalatta, to compile a lasting record of the area in the late 1970’s. Aspects of the coast that were studied included History & Tradition, Man & Wildlife, Safety, Law & Order in Coastal waters, Common Market Trade & Transport, Leisure & Yachting, Tides & Weather, Fisheries & Agriculture, The Changing Coastline and Local Art & Literature. Sponsored by the Geographical Magazine, the survey also had a advisory panel consisting of Hammond Innes (novelist), Ronald Blythe (local archivist, author of ‘Akenfield’), Terence Doherty (Head of Biology at Colchester Royal Grammar School), Margaret Evans (Headmistress of Seven Kings High School), Paul Jennings (writer), and Derek Weber (Editor of The Geographical Magazine).