A Sailor and a Pink Fireman Walk into a Bar...

Okay, they didn't actually walk into a bar, but they shared in an adventure together over land and sea. Literally! 

Meet Leo Goolden. He's a sailor, boat maker, and writer from Bristol, England, and he is rebuilding the historic 110 year old sailing yacht, the Tally Ho. He has a fantastic YouTube channel, Sampson Boat Co, that chronicles his journey in bringing the life back into this beautiful ship.

​And he's doing it right here in the USA - in Sequim (pronounced Skwim - rhymes with swim), Washington.

What does a handsome Brit boatbuilder with a savvy accent (sorry everyone, he's got an even more brilliant and beautiful girlfriend) have to do with a pink fireman? And why are we telling you about this, of all times, during the COVID-19 pandemic?  

​I'm glad you asked!

I wanted to share this awesome story, introduce our For 3 Sisters family to the Tally Ho family, and share our gratitude with our new Tally Ho friends. I thought maybe an uplifting story would be a great way to bring some sunshine into your day. And I promise you, it's quite a story. 

Marshall, our very own Pink Fireman, has been following Leo's work and has always wanted to support Leo in preserving such a cool piece of history. On a fixed retirement budget, however, supporting him financially just wasn't feasible.

Late last year, Leo purchased special timber from a sawyer in Connecticut. This timber, as seen above, will be used for Tally Ho's new deck beams. After learning that shipping them across the country would be an inordinately expensive proposition, Leo put out a plea for less expensive alternatives to get the timber to Sequim.

Our Pink Fireman was inspired.

With the logistics worked out, and his trusty Ford F-350 dually, his goose neck trailer, and heart full of adventure, Marshall started his 3-week cross country adventure in mid-February. He drove to Connecticut to load up the timber, and then spent the first week driving the timber across country to Sequim, WA.

Words and pictures just can't do Marshall's trip justice, so check out his video below!
​

And what would a trip out West be without stopping into Bozeman, Montana to see our dear friend and former For 3 Sisters' board member, Mollie Simpkins!

Marshall safely arrived, with the timber in tow, in Sequim, WA about a week after he left Maryland.  

Marshall hung out with Leo for a week, helping him around the boat yard, before he made the trip back home to Maryland.

​What happened next, is nothing short of extraordinary. 

You see, Leo puts out a video every 10 days or so, documenting his building journey. Our Pink Fireman was featured in Leo's video, East Coast Oak and a Pink Fireman (EP66). Marshall's feature starts around the 18:41 mark. 

And then it happened.

After seeing the feature on Marshall and For 3 Sisters, The Tally Ho community, in an act of gratitude, solidarity, and kindness, began pouring their love into the For 3 Sisters family. ​In the days following the airing of the video, the donations came in from across the globe. 

Beautiful memorial donations, celebration donations, kind words, and shouts of #TallyHo, filled my inbox and donor scroll.

Donations from all across the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Denmark, England, Scotland, Israel, the Netherlands, Germany, Norway, Sweden, and the Channel Islands... all totaling more than $10,000.

Words truly can't express our gratitude for the outpouring and completely unexpected support from Leo and the Tally Ho community.  So we did a thank you video instead! 

Oh geez, why is my "freeze face" always so goofy? LOL! 

As we mentioned in the video, timing is everything! Because of the current COVID-19 pandemic, we've had to cancel or postpone all of our spring fundraisers - fundraisers we rely on to bring us out of our winter fundraising drought. Donations from the Tally Ho community are keeping us afloat (see what I did there) as we try and navigate (I did it again, LOL) these uncertain and unprecedented times. Thank you!

If you have some time, follow Leo on his boat building journey! Support him if you can. Cecca, his beautiful girlfriend pictured above, and Pancho the parrot are often highlights of the video too! 

Thank you again, Tally Ho family, and Leo and Cecca, for your kindness and hospitality. Cheers!

Sampson Boat Co Instagram: www.instagram.com/sampsonboatco/
Sampson Boat Co Website/Support: https://sampsonboat.co.uk 

The Pink Fireman Instagram: www.instagram.com/thepinkfireman
Marshall Moneymaker YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4k7AeXjuTjMlzA_3NMZO8w

For 3 Sisters Facebook: www.facebook.com/for3sisters
For 3 Sisters Instagram: www.instagram.com/for3sisters
For 3 Sisters Website/Donate: www.f3s.org