The Trust and friends have invited a group of people who have memories of the fitting out of the Eye of the Wind, in Faversham in 1973 for an evening of reminiscence about the Eye of the Wind: The Faversham Years, on Saturday February 21st.
The evening will consist of a three part film showing; The History of Eye of the Wind, The Restoration in Faversham, the Departure from Faversham Party and the Beginning of the Voyage to Australia
David Beavan, skipper for the Leila Trust will talk about the the Continuing Relevance of Tall Ships in the modern world – they are just starting a project to take 400 people from Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth to sea, possibly leading to apprenticeships or training for the offshore windfarms. An inspiring role for a Tall Ships Trust. They have also offered a berth to an unemployed or otherwise disadvantaged person from Faversham. Watch this space!
The invitations for this event were limited by the capacity of the Fleur Hall, but the hope is to use the evening to start to gather more information about relatively recent history in the Creek. The Eye of the Wind restoration was a big event which has not really been documented in Faversham’s records and the Trust would like to start to gather up more memories, not only of the Eye but of other events on the Creek.
If you have any memories, photos or other mementos of the time the Eye was here in the 1970s or of any other interesting restorations or other events in the last fifty years or so, please let us know. We are hoping to run another Eye of the Wind evening later in the year in a larger venue and hope to be able to run others along the same lines, sharing and recording living memories.
Faversham Creek Trust 
A tribute to Brian “Sixer” Boorman, long time member and supporter of the Faversham Creek Trust, seaman, sailor aboard “Eye of the Wind” and many other vessels, spanning a lifetime of 70 years. In celebration of his 70th birthday on February 21st, here’s to you Sixer . . . . .
With an eye to the wind, strong hand on the wheel, for many a mile
Sixer would steal the ocean before him on ships big and small,
in vessels with squares, gaff or Marconi, Sixer was always there
for it all.
He has many tales of seagoing adventure on the miles he has
traveled on oceans frothing with foam, and for decades to come
this old salt will continue, with a twinkle of eye, his humor and wit,
sailing all kinds of vessels, no matter the weather, for he’s a true
seaman, to be envied by all.
So on this day of his birth, the 21st of February, a native of
the good city of Faversham, Kent, we salute this proud man of
many endeavours, come fair or foul weather, at sea or on land.
May the wind at your back bring you miles of fair travel,
wherever you roam on the oceans of blue, and may the
fair winds of good fortune always smile upon you, guiding
you safely o’er the miles that you roam.
With everlasting devotion and admiration, from your good friends,
David D. Murray and Diana Hui-kuan Tsai, Orange County, California, USA