The HMS Beagle Project Wales was founded by David Lort-Phillips and Peter McGrath

Building a working replica of HMS Beagle, celebrating Charles Darwin’s 200th anniversary and helping to inspire a new generation of scientists.The replica Beagle arriving in the Galapagos will be one of the iconic media images of the 21st century.

The first voyage of the replica HMS Beagle after her launch will be to the sites most significant in Britain: to Devonport where she was refitted in 1831, and from where she set sail on 27 December 1831 with Charles Darwin aboard. From Devonport she will sail to Woolwich on the River Thames, where the original was built and launched in May 1820. From there the replica will sail to the River Crouch at Paglesham, to a point as close as possible to where the remains of the original are believed to lie under 5 metres of mud.

 After this shakedown trip, the replica Beagle will set sail to re-stage the 1831-36 Voyage of the Beagle, a circumnavigation of the globe. The Beagle will be crewed by young scientists following and updating Charles Darwin’s intellectual journey, and young sailors following in the wake of Captain Robert FitzRoy.

For more info please visit their website at  The HMS Beagle Project and follow up on this adventure on their Beagle Project Blog 

Fabulous Idea and Project. I am looking forward welcoming the team in the Galapagos in 2009.

Good Luck to all of you!.