Web report from the Southampton Boat Show & Maintenance Sept 09
Once again the Lord Nelson has been ‘home’ to our many volunteers who have given up some of their time to come along and help us to man the ship during our open days. With Southampton being our home port, the Boat Show has been a great opportunity for many local people who see all our comings and goings, to actually come on board and meet us and find out more about what we do.
We really do appreciate the efforts of our volunteers as not only are they talking to people about what the JST can offer but they have been polishing brass, scrubbing the decks and heads, helping prepare meals and generally getting involved in all aspects of the ship as well as helping us raise our profile! All in all, it has helped us to present a rather splendid ship and a great opportunity to enthuse and inspire others. Well done!
Yesterday marked the last day of the show, and to date we have had upwards of eight thousand visitors on board Lord Nelson, innumerable young pirates complete with JST eye patches, old voyagers and many prospective new ones too. Many of our voyages are now sold out – so if you are thinking of booking – do hurry..!
We are now in the throes of maintenance, getting some of the jobs underway such as the tanoy system working again (hurrah!), painting and varnishing where we can, the bilges chipped and scrubbed again, the galley store tidied, a huge stock take of groceries and shop items, and everyone busy with their different activities. As ‘Dad’ (aka Derek Gibbs) from Norfolk says ‘We’re put on this earth to help others.......but I want to know what the others are here for!!!’ They also say ‘you can tell a man from Norfolk – but you can’t tell him much!
Rachel