Author: Mark Elkington

After the end to a busy summer season, where The Pilgrim led the parade of sail in Dartmouth, she has now been taken to Saxon Wharf in Southampton where she will be lifted out of the water for a refit. Whilst at Southampton she will also be going through her Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) survey. This as an assessment undertaken by all commercial sailing vessels, to ensure compliance with safety regulations. Some of our members have been following her journey and will be involved in seeing her through this remedial work and sailing her back to Devon. We hope to bring you a wider insight into her stay in Southampton in the weeks to come. Festive duties: The Pilgrim at Christmas When she returns in December she will berth in Dartmouth for the festive season. We're looking forward to decorating her with Christmas lights to join in the winter celebrations. This year in Dartmouth sees the return of Candlelit Dartmouth, a two-day weekend festival in the gardens and quay. The highlight of the festival happens on the Saturday where a candlelit procession of homemade lanterns is made through the town. A team of young people are hoping to make a replica of The Pilgrim as part of the parade, it will be lovely to see her represented in this way, and on a dark winters evening this festival is a good way to bring a few more lights and extend the Bay of Lights along the English Riviera. More info on Candlelit Devon More info on Bay of Lights

Guests who sail on Pilgrim enjoy the moods of the sea, the marine wildlife, spectacular scenery and the amazing heritage sailing experience. What they don’t see is what has to go on behind the scenes to keep her conserved and operational. One landmark in that regard is the five year out-of-water inspection and certification required by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. That involves getting Pilgrim to a shipyard that can safely lift her 100+tons and provide the facilities for the all the necessary maintenance work. This periodic landmark also creates an opportunity to do other essential work that can only be done when Pilgrim is safe and secure ashore. At the end of October, she set off from Brixham on a three day passage to MDL’s Saxon Wharf Yard on Southampton. The weather was kind but not great for the sort of sailing the crew might have hoped for. Nevertheless, after a very early start the first night at anchor was a delightful stopover in Swanage Bay. This was followed by a layover near Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, before a carefully timed passage along the Solent and up through a busy Southampton Water into the River Itchen. Pilgrim’s topmast was lowered to pass under the Itchen Bridge and she was moored at Saxon Wharf for two further days so the crew could completely de-rig the boat. A crane was then brought in to lift out both masts for repair and refurbishment and the 200 ton travel hoist was used to Pilgrim out and secure her in the yard for a month of intensive activity. Shipwrights were contracted to replace some planks and stern timbers while the Pilgrim team started work preparing for the inspection. This involves removing the propellers and shafts plus all the ‘through hull’ skin fittings for inspection

Pilgrim is the oldest surviving Victorian fishing trawler that was built and rigged in Brixham.  Since her restoration Pilgrim has sailed hard for twelve years, taking thousands of guests along the Devon and Cornwall coasts and further afield to the Solent, the Isles of Scilly, France and the Channel Islands.  We and our guests have loved seeing her at sea bringing appreciation of the craftsmanship and old ways of sailing. Twelve years on, Pilgrim really needs some TLC. The intensity of our sailing schedule is taking its toll and the cost of maintenance and refit work is straining the charity’s finances, and the Trustees of the Pilgrim Heritage Sailing Foundation have taken the hard decision to suspend our usual sailing programme for 2025. Our sailing income simply doesn’t enable us to meet all our annual operating and refit costs. Our volunteer team work hard year round to support our sailing operations and we now need to redirect that effort for a while to sustain her for the future. It’s Pilgrim’s 130th anniversary in 2025 and we need to make sure she remains in fine fettle to reach her 150th! For most of 2025 we’ll be in Brixham with the maintenance volunteers and professional shipwrights taking on some big, overdue jobs.  We expect to recommence Open Days and Events from spring 2025 onward – keep an eye on the News and Events page and become a Pilgrim Foundation member to receive advance notice of activities. As a charity, our responsibility is to conserve and protect our heritage asset as an exemplar of Brixham’s Victorian sailing trawlers. This is where you can help. Our charity needs to raise £50,000 for a new suite of sails and so far we’ve raised just over £5700. Please help us fund the sails with a donation CLICK HERE. There are always opportunities