Farewell Celtic Mist.
As much as 'Celtic Mist' was comfy and sound and was the cause for some classic adventures, it is not without a sigh of relief to see the workload go that is accompanied with a steel boat. Having said that, I will be ever grateful to the Haughy family from Dublin for so trustingly allowing us to use the boat to get Apex Sailing under way and thank the enthusiastic volunteers and generous people without whom none of this could be possible. It left Cowes in June with the' Irish Whale and Dolphin Society' being the new benefactors of Celtic Mist and may God bless all those who sail in her!

Introducing Ocean Venture.
Ocean Venture, is our new, (built 1980 but new to us!), 60' schooner that is charter certificated for 14 persons. Consequently (and way overdue) I had to get my Yachtmaster commercial certificate and even with thirty years of sailing still dreaded the examination. All went well!

We have now been sailing and getting used to the boat since april and had nearly 100 guys out on it already. It is a very different boat from the last one! It is surprisingly swift and can get across the channel and back in a weekend as we recently did with the Gateway Church guys on a trip to Alderny.

This season we are getting the boat known around the Churches and have kept most trips to overnighters or 'tasters' to Poole or Dorset and local Solent sailing. There are so many lovely places around here to go and anchor up.

One of the highlights was winning the 'Round the Island Race' being 1st in class and 13th overall. When you hear that one thousand nine hundred boats competed in this annual world famous race and over 300 boats retired or were damaged by the heavy weather it helps get idea of what the boat is capable of! On top of that, the team of 11 total novices from Holy Trinity Brompton church raised £13,000 for their charity www.caringforexoffenders.org. Well done!

What's next on the horizon?
We will keep on getting out on the water most weekends and giving maximum exposure to as many people as possible to get it talked about. For the future we need to train a small team that know the boat well and can help both sail and get hands dirty in maintaining her. Again, people have been gracious with their time in helping when needed and I am always pleasantly surprised that whatever is needed seems to come about one way or another and confirms God's good hand in matters. Whenever we go out there are places for helping those who really need a break and friendship and so keep to our core vision.

In October we plan to go to Dublin and back I am sure it will be an eye opener for some guys that will benefit from being away from constant pressure and out in a very different environment that evolves being part of a crew in the challenging Irish sea. On trips like this we can charge for those that can afford it and want to sail and in so doing help to fund some free berths and keep the boat up and together.

Other times we get a group of guys together and invite someone to come and talk like Ray Lowe with his titles like 'Boys will be Boys, but will Men be Men?'. These are definitely something we want to do more of and a way of combining all the boat has to offer with a novel way of learning, kind of mini seminars at sea!

Part of the Newfrontiers Churches have what is called FP impact training for students that are part of a team that serve in a church for a year. For two weeks of that year they go on a mission trip abroad and do a specific task which is a bit of an adventure. At the moment we are talking to the organisers and hoping to get them on-board to go by boat and do half on land and half at sea getting there as a team. This will benefit not only those to whom we go to but will offer an experience itself on being a crew and living and functioning together. I believe that those going on to become church leaders benefit from life experiences that can be drawn on and adventures at sea offer precisely that!

These are just a couple of ideas we are exploring to help both serve the core vision as well as keep the finances in sensible shape. I really believe that this is all part of what will become an established and sound sailing based tool that will bring real and meaningful change to peoples lives- in fact it already has!

At the moment of writing this we have a Facebook page to visit to hear what people think about Ocean Venture and see pictures, (go to oceanventure.org).
It is with much appreciated help and support from those in the Apex church which we are part of and operate from as well as others around that make all this possible. With such in house talent we are getting the web site up and running soon and can get a program posted up and dates to book for trips. In the mean time don't be shy on calling or emailing to find out how you can book the boat or what is happening. In fact, if you have your own ideas then let us know.

I cant write this though without thanking Doug Barnes, the owner, who has so generously put the boat our way with an open-ended time for using Ocean Venture. It has been used in the past for getting young people out on the water and already it has circumnavigated the world. Also, Tony Wyeth who built and sailed the boat for last thirty years and has invaluable knowledge in helping us keep it in top form.

Lets hope and pray it continues on in changing lives as all thanks to God from whom all good gifts flow.

Rick

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