New Schooner Project Update
September 2022
Dear SALTS Community,
We are writing with the significant and perhaps unexpected news that the Board of Directors of S.A.L.T.S. Sail and Life Training Society has made the difficult decision to cancel the new schooner/Leonora project. As you may know, efforts to gain regulatory approval for a new ship have been ongoing for over a decade, and we recently had a breakthrough in this regard. However, the myriad of design changes required to get through the regulatory hurdles, as well as inflation over the past decade, now put the cost estimate in the range of $8 million to $10 million. When we launched the project, our cost estimate was $3.5 million. Meanwhile, the pandemic has so far brought financial losses to SALTS in the range of $2 million, and our two existing schooners are in need of refits expected to cost in the range of $1 million. Taking all these factors and more into consideration, we believe that the new schooner is out of viable financial reach, and the time to make this call is before construction begins, so we don’t find ourselves with a half-built ship that we cannot afford to complete (or store and maintain).
Moving ahead, we will refocus our efforts on sustainability of the two wonderful schooners we already have. We are blessed to have 1700 young people doing sail training with us annually, and that is a tradition we want to continue for many generations to come.
We regret that we have been unable to achieve the original vision due to regulatory delays/redirections and escalating costs, but we trust that this shift is a wise course of action for the SALTS program. The Board wishes to express immense thanks to Stephen Duff, Tony Anderson, and Loren Hagerty for their extraordinary and longstanding efforts to move the project forward. The Board wishes to express deep gratitude to all donors who have supported the project.
Our donation policy (found at salts.ca/donate) states: Donations designated for a specific project or purpose are accepted on the condition that they will be used for the specified project or purpose, unless that project or purpose has already been completed, or for some reason cannot be completed. In this case, the SALTS Board may decide that the funds are to be used for another charitable activity.
We are sad to let go of this dream, but also relieved that it appears that SALTS will survive the pandemic and be able to rebuild our organizational health and continue mentoring young people for decades to come. We ask for your grace and support as we change course to meet the current challenges the organization faces, and refocus our efforts on the sustainability of our current ships, staff, and crew.
Loren Hagerty, Executive Director and
Derek Rand, Board Chairperson
On behalf of the SALTS Board of Directors