Build is continuing with the support of the CE scheme workers George Kelly, Philip Power and Gary Lacey. These have been assisted in 2024 by volunteers Ray Goode and Burke Corbett who provided their valuable knowledge to the project.

The build continues to be overseen by shipwright John Colfer, along with the assistance of John Carroll in 2024.

In 2024 the following activities in the build were conducted:

1.  The interior of the hull has been fibre-glassed & epoxied.
   • This work was primarily carried out by Gary & Philip to a very high standard. It was a major undertaking as every interior surface had to be prepared, fibre glass cloth cut to measure, epoxy prepared & then meticulously applied under controlled temperature and humidity conditions to ensure the epoxy cured correctly to the specifications.
2.  Engine Beds built and fitted to suit
   • The engine beds are the structures in the boat on which the engine sits. They have to be carefully formed so that the engine sits in the correct position to line up with the propeller shaft.This was a challenging piece of work to design and build using timber. George did an excellent carpentry job on the project.
3.  Fitted Stern Tube
   • Burke provided the expertise to fit this element which allows the propeller shaft to go between the engine and the propeller through the hull. This requires very careful fitting to ensure the correct alignment of the engine and to propeller shaft.
4.  Keelson built and fitted
   • The keelson is a line of timber inside the boat to provide structural strength for bolting on the keel. Ray used his excellent carpentry skills to complete this task.
5. External Keel
   • The specifications for the external keel were drawn up and quotes received.
6. Marine Survey Office (MSO) Visit
   • David O’Driscoll, Dept of Marine/Survey Office met the current build team on site in September and approved work to date and discussed details on future work.

In 2024, the Helen Blake committee set up the Hook Film Club for the Hook Peninsula area as a much needed social outlet during the year, especially during the long winter months. The film club raises funds for the Helen Blake Project on a on-going basis.

Hook Film Club is affiliated with Access Cinema, an Arts Council funded body which curates arthouse films from around the world, which may not have gone on general commercial release, for showing at various film clubs around the country.

Hook Film Club held to pilot screenings during May, including the showing of the beautiful 2023 French film The Taste of Things, which was well received. It then had its first full season beginning in September, screening a film every fortnight until December. The films shown ranged from the critically acclaimed Japanese film Perfect Days to the riotous Irish language film, Kneecap.

• €1900 in donations
• €1930 from fundraising event (A Wake in the West)
• €4500 from WWETB for Boat Fit Out Skills Course

In June, Niall Martin from Nationwide visited along with his cameraman to film a sequence about the history of the Helen Blake and the story of the tragedy, along with the story of the current build.

Kindly assisted by Martin Murray of Hook Sub Aqua and their boat a group first headed out from Fethard Dock to the Keeragh Islands where Liam Ryan began the story of the Helen Blake. Margot Hogan-Banville a descendant of William Banville came out in the boat as well to lay a bunch of flowers in memory of her ancestor.

Next, down at the boathouse other descendants and relatives of the 1914 crew were interviewed as well as those involved in the current replica build process.

A segment from this filming will be on Nationwide on Monday 17th February 2025.