Media interest develops

as the BBC have asked a production company for a detailed outline of a proposed primetime series following the replica Beagle on its voyage from Britain, through the North and South Atlantic, round Cape Horn, up the Pacific coast of Chile and ending in the Galapagos. The replica Beagle rounding Cape Horn and arriving in the Galapagos Islands promises be one of the most iconic televisual events of the decade. Sponsors interested in supporting this and making it happen can contact us through the email contact link on the homepage.

Beagle off Galapagos

Thanks to Gordon Chancellor for permission to use this detail of the painting done by his father John of Beagle off the Galapagos. This shows just what a small ship she was for such a huge voyage. Remarkably, much of the surveying and charting work done by the Royal Navy's Hydrographic Office was done from the decks of these brigs. 'Not a particular ship,' a Charles Darwin said when he first saw her.

Boring (but necessary) admin notices:

the trustees of The Beagle Project meet again tomorrow (Thursday) to finalise the memorandum and articles of the not for profit company that will raise funds and build the replica HMS Beagle. On 11th October we're meeting the Welsh Minister for Enterprise, Innovation and Networks along with Tamsin Dunwoody, Assembly Member for Milford Haven.

Darwin's paradise in peril

headline from a story in The Observer about the battle against invasive species on the Galapagos. The invaders include cats, rats, goats and (surprisingly) a species of tomato.

This just in from Professor Colin Pillinger:

a crater on Mars named after HMS Beagle has been explored by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover. Story and pic here. The 35 metre wide Beagle Crater is not the only bit of Darwinalia on the Red Planet, since the surrounding landmarks have been unofficially named after Galapagos Island and Galapagos finches by the project staff.

Meeting the Galapagos Conservation Trust

on Monday, so in their honour here's a pic of some Iguanas playing King of the castle. Thanks to Liza Lort-Phillips for the pic.

A busy couple of days...

the Beagle Project went to London to meet the other participants in the Darwin 200 celebrations at the Natural History Museum, then on to meet the treasurer of the Charles Darwin Trust and the Nuffield Foundation's Nuffield Curriculum Centre.

A quick round up of the plans from the Darwin 200 meeting:
The Charles Darwin Trust want to make Down House a world heritage site.
Shrewsbury Council want to wrest The Mount (Charles Darwin's childhood home) from the grip of the district valuer and open it to the public.
Cambridge University are completing their project to put all of Darwin' writings online.
The British Council want to use Darwin 200 as an opportunity to underpin ambassadorial work abroad showcasing the best of British science and technology and talked about a scheme for twinning young scientists from other countries with British counterparts.
Most advanced seem to be Bristol-based Darwin in the South West, fresh from their successful celebrations of the life and works of Isembard Kingdom Brunel.

This was the Beagle Projects first appearance at the Darwin 200 meeting, our slot was the just-before-the-coffee break slot and people were flagging so I gave our presentation at something of a gallop, but afterwards both David Lort Phillips and I were fairly mobbed with people wanting to find out more, to offer support. I made the point strongly that we do not want the replica Beagle to be just another museum square rigger, she is to be used to spread the story and legacy of Darwin's work, to help in the teaching of the importance of evolution in modern society, to help involve and inspire a new generation of scientists through both sailing on the boat and participating virtually through an interactive website.

Our aim is to provide the boat that will be an iconic symbol of Darwin and his work, a platform on which his intellectual descendents can continue his work and a means to spread the word. Everyone likes the idea, now we need a first funder to break cover and pledge a chunk of pounds, dollars or euros towards the build. A soon as our company registration number is confirmed, the virtual begging bowl will be posted.

More media interest...

recording an interview with BBC Radio 4 next Thursday. A further attempt is being made to verify the last resting place of the original Beagle, and both Beagle Project founders are being interviewed about the original ship and the rebuild.

Milford Haven beagle rebuild site suitable,

says Detlev Loell, our German shipwright. We met with the commercial director of Milford Haven Port Authority yesterday evening to discuss our needs (electricity, water, storage etc.) and visited the site this morning. The replica will be built on the dockside fitted with engines and interior fitted and lifted into teh water by crane. The replica Beagle will be ballasted and rigged while afloat. We visited the site in blustery 40 mph winds which kicked up clouds of eye-stinging dust from the nearby building site. Detlev's next job? To survey the rigging of the Brazilian Navy's sail training ship Cisne Branco (White Swan). Where? Rio de Janiero.

More media interest

BBC Wales are interested in commissioning a programme about the Welsh aspects of the original Beagle and why it is being rebuilt in Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire. To avoid repeating, the reaons are here.

Meetings, meetings

After our inaugural board meeting to agree our company's memorandum and articles, revisions are being incorporated and once agreed by the board we will register the company with companies house.

Tuesday: Detlev Loell from Neptun-Peenemuende shipyard will be visiting to inspect the space at Milford Haven on which we will build the replica Beagle.

Thursday: Beagle Project founders will be travelling to London for a meeting at the Natural History Museum. We'll be meeting all the other British organizations which will be participating in the celebrations of 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth.

Friday: Meetings with the Charles Darwin Trust. Part of the reason for building the replica Beagle is to celebrate the life and achievements of Darwin, who said "The voyage aboard the Beagle has been by far the most important event of my life and ha determined my whole career." Then we are meeting members of the Nuffield Foundation to discuss the science education which will take place on and around the replica Beagle. More on the outcome of each meeting later.

The Beagle Project has an office

or it will have once we, as the owner put it, 'muck it out'. Hmm. Yesterday we had a stand at a local business fair and met members of the Welsh Government science committee: we have a meeting with the science minister to discuss government support for the Beagle Project. Plus our shipbuilder Detlev Loell will be playing a flying visit to our Milford Haven dockside site power supply, space etc. is suitable for the rebuild.

We exist...

well, as of today's first board meeting we do. We are forming a company limited by guarantee (not for profit) to raise funds to build the replica Beagle. Our memorandum and articles of association have been amended and will be agreed at a further board meeting in three weeks time. We also have a bank account. We have deliberately not appealed for funds until the company was formed and had an auditable bank account where we could account for every penny and cent donated. Now we have a bank account and the first donations to pump-prime our fundraising efforts, we are going through the legal steps to form the UK registered not-for-profit company. There are less than 900 days to go until the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth: our target date for launching the replica HMS Beagle. Once the company is formed, we will be formally launching the project, starting corporate fundraising and appealing for donations. Our dream: thousands and thousands of individual members each donating a small sum towards the goal of building a replica HMS Beagle, so that when it's launch dominates the news on early 2009, when it appears in TV documentaries and in films, when its work mentoring young scientists makes the newspapers, magazines and journals, sciencists and their supporters all over the world wil be able to think: "I did a part of that."