Back in the Marina

On Monday 24th October, a crack team of Alan Barttram, Chris Burls and Andy Lewis moved Endeavour into her more protected winter berth at Leigh Marina. 

The Marina have given her pride of place, on a pontoon berth. This was noted with much thanks, as it makes it much easier for some of our more senior volunteers to get on and off board!

Endeavour will remain at the Marina over winter allowing us to carry out essential maintenance to get her ready for next year. We would love to hear from anyone that would be interested in assisting with volunteering; do drop us a line by contacting membership secretary Chris Burls on 01702 553274 or droggy39@gmail.com.

Covered Up for Winter

Endeavour has now been covered up for the winter. This year we decided to leave her in the water at Leigh Marina, as she'd been out of the water enough over the past year! She's got a lovely sheltered berth.

Her mast has been lowered and a wooden framework erected on the deck. A canvas covering was then installed, and even in the November cold, the heat inside the 'tent' was quite exceptional, and of course social distancing made everything that little bit harder than it should have been.

Winter Blues

Those readers local to Leigh will have noticed that Endeavour was still afloat on her summer mooring, mast down and looking a little miserable, well into March. This is to explain why and how she will look spritely once again in time for the upcoming events. She had her mast lowered to go under the bridges above Tower Bridge for the A.D.L.S. Veteran’s Cruise last year– these do not open to allow clearance. 

Anne Hinton van't Hoff’s photograph graphically shows Endeavour on her mooring in choppy seas

Where is Endeavour?

Endeavour, as shown here, is snugly berthed on a pontoon in Leigh marina sporting her new cover. Made by Windward Sails of Leigh it has been carefully designed to keep out much of the winter weather but at the same time allowing the air to circulate underneath. This should reduce deck maintenance at fitting out. When the weather eventually improves she will be lifted out and the maintenance work will commence. If you have some spare time and want to help please contact Finlay who will be pleased to hear from you.

If you ever wondered how your Leigh ward councillor spends his time outside the chamber and when not busily involved on ward matters he is more often than not seen in the vicinity of a tea room or, as seen here, making a new running mooring for the dinghy. Peter is working furiously to finish before his wellies get wet.

Mayor Unveils Our Endeavour Information Board

Once we had obtained the use of the excellent mooring near to the Crooked Billet in the Old Town, we realised passers by would be able to see Endeavour but not know anything about her history. We talked to Cory Environmental Trust in Southend and they undertook to fund a board giving details of our Endeavour and her past.


Staff at Southend Borough Council took on all the work. Our Mayor, Cllr Ann Holland, very kindly agreed to come and do the honours to dedicate the sign and make it available for public viewing. This was particularly relevant because the Mayor was the Chair of the Cory Environmental Trust when they agreed to fund the information board.


Our thanks therefore go not only to Southend Borough Council’s Lynn Jones, Abbey Greenwood and Debee Skinner for their invaluable help and assistance but to all who helped to make the funding, designing, manufacturing and siting of the information board a reality.