The Maritime Heritage Federation is having our third Annual General Meeting on the first Tuesday in November, or 6 November, at 7PM, at our traditional location for these meetings, The Environmental Centre. Aside from refreshments we are inviting the general public to come and let us know your views on what we have been doing and what you would like to see us do or do more of.

We will be holding our Board of Governor elections and the nominees will be announced next week after a Board of Governors’ meeting.

We want the Federation to establish a dialogue with the general public because of our main interest in research and documentation of the maritime history and heritage of the Turks and Caicos Islands. Those who have already nominally accepted nominations to the Board will impress most of us about a determined direction for our association. We are getting more professional and more academic, as well as having more fun sailing and getting kids on boats.

6 November 2007 Environmental Centre The Bight Providenciales Annual General Meeting 2007

Place to Live Sought by Baby and parents and dog

We still need a place to live. The owner of our place is coming back to live here from the Dominican Republic and wants our home as their’s, so as renters we don’t have much to say about that. We are quiet, except for the baby and reliable. We don’t have a lot of money but can do things around the place.

H.E. Ross 243 2093 or this email address.

Lots of good maritime stuff…

There is a flow of communications between the UK, Bermuda and us concerning the bringing of two tall ships to the Turks and Caicos Islands for a little sail training, maritime preservation lectures and tours. The months that we hope this will happen are April and May next year and the vessels respectively are the 114-foot Pelican, a Xebec Schooner which is the type that was used by the Barbary Pyrates of the early 19th Century for the Grand Turks, and the Spirit of Bermuda, the 82-foot three-masted schooner and the innovator of the Bermudian sailing rig, triangular mainsails.

Both vessels are replicas and when preceding our next Mariners’ Week Celebration in June, we will make a great statement for replication designs as historic ships. The Bahamian Sloops and our Caicos Sloops are mainly replications, which will amount to three months of replications in the Turks and Caicos Islands. We can see what our visitation promotions can do with that!

The underlying part of this invitation is the Bermuda Sloop wreck off Providenciales. We would like to have an academic survey conducted on the wreck and use that to both look for funding to replicate this thought to be 1790s French owned pirate ship and to assist in the breaking of the barrier against allowing replications to be considered worthy of cultural funding support. We also want to call attention to the Turks and Caicos as a maritime heritage preservation and information centre for the Caribbean Basin.

Winds are changing…

We are officially calling a halt to the Winds of Change Club as a group concept and taking responsibility for the restoration of the 40-foot trimaran ourselves with the consent of the owners, Janet Huddleson and Bob Townley. We have decided that since there is so little interest in having a Federation dedicated vessel to take youth out into blue water sailing, we would do that on our own as private partners.

All time and monies spent by the two participants will either be re-imbursed or time can be spent aboard the vessel with us, or,  with the skills needed, without us as she is based here in the Turks and Caicos or while travelling. The concept of the Club will remain the same, with the only change being the partnership in place of the cooperative participation of others.

We are starting to invest in the restoration at present and if anybody wishes to assist you are always welcome.

We just wish this statement to circulate and be known.