Float Alma in 2017

Float Alma in 2017

By Alan Edenborough chairman and Peter Harris restoration director, Sail & Adventure

The Alma Doepel Restoration Project has reached the final stage in the restoration of Alma’s hull prior to returning her to the water.

There is now considerable urgency as the development of Docklands moves along North Wharf, ever closer to the restoration site at Shed 2 that has been our home thanks to the support of Lendlease and Places Victoria.

When will the development reach Shed 2? The restoration team has been advised this could be by the end of 2017.

That means there is a deadline to have the ship back in the water, where she belongs, by the end of 2017. That also means Sail & Adventure needs to raise the funds to make this possible.

The Board of Sail & Adventure, together with the Alma Doepel Supporters Club, is launching a once-only call for funds for this purpose.

Sail & Adventure will use the funds to buy the remaining hull frames and planks required to complete the hull, and to set the experienced shipwright team to work to float Alma in 2017.

The total to be raised is $795,000 and those funds need to be phased over the coming months to buy timber and keep the shipwrights at work.

Donations are tax deductible. Full details of the campaign and how to donate are on the Alma Doepel website http://www.almadoepel.com.au

To date, 49,000 volunteer hours have been donated to the restoration of the Alma Doepel – and a great deal of unseen work. Down at Shed 2, and stored away from the public eye, many fittings and items from the ship’s accommodation areas have been removed and lovingly restored by our dedicated team of volunteers. All will be returned to the ship during her final fit-out once the hull is back in the water.

To date the cost of the restoration project has been met by funds raised. We are more than half way towards our target to fully restore the Alma Doepel. Time is of the essence. Help float Alma in 2017.

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