Poppy Moore is sailing around Australia to raise money and awareness of a disease that has no known cure and is the second most common neurological disease in the world.

Parkinson’s is Poppy fundraising challenge and she wants to help bring a cure closer to home for her father and for all those who suffer from this debilitating disease.

“My dad has Parkinson’s and his brother died of Parkinson’s. They always wanted to emigrate to Australia and because of their health they weren’t able to so I’m bringing Australia to them through my passions of sailing and cycling,” Poppy said.

“I go on facetime and my parents get to meet the crew and see the locations and the experiences that I’m seeing. I feel like I’m doing what my dad can’t and fulfilling a dream for him.”

Keppel Bay Marina Manager Kylie Smith says it’s an amazing thing that Poppy is doing.

“Poppy is a such a warm, friendly soul. She says she has two passions sailing and cycling but I’d add a third; fundraising for Parkinson’s and so far she’s done an amazing job raising $6,000 in two months. We’re glad to be able to contribute to that with our donation.

“Her parent’s must be so proud of her. And everybody falls in love with Poppy and her infectious, hearty laugh they are more than happy to donate to such a great cause,” Kylie said.

And her parents are very proud but it sounds like the sailing part of her fundraising journey came as a bit of a shock to them.

“I think mum and dad would have preferred I do a cake bake but I wanted to see Australia. They weren’t quite expecting that I’d be cycling and sailing around Australia!

Poppy thought the Capricorn Coast looked like a magical place to stop on her sailing journey around Australia.

“Keppel Bay Marina looked like a beautiful place so I stopped. There have been beautiful hills to explore and I’ve cycled to Yeppoon and to Emu Park and the Anzac memorial and met some great people walking up Kemp Hill,” Poppy said

Poppy gets out and about walking and riding so she can discover each new town and make connections with the locals to spread the word on her goal to raise money for Parkinson’s.

“The most amazing thing about anywhere I go is the people I meet and how friendly and helpful they are towards the cause.

“I was incredibly lucky to meet the Councilor Adam Belot on my walk. He connected me to the local papers and through that the local Parkinson’s group came down and visited today,” Ms Moore said.

Next Poppy plans to travel further north, visiting ports like Airlie Beach and Pearl Bay There’s 10 more months and a lot more ports to visit before the year’s over.

“I’ve been sailing for 17 years. I bought my boat the Scaramouch two years ago and I’ve done a lot of the work myself. I’ve put in a lot of blood sweat and tears to get her ready and I’ve done lots of training courses so that I would be fully prepared.

“It’s been an incredible journey,” Poppy said.

Poppy finds crew members through her facebook page Scaramouch, through newspaper, televisions and radio coverage and from stopping at sailing clubs where she takes part in races and spreads the word to find new crew members. So far the youngest crew member has been 28 and the oldest 78.

“I like having a rotation of crew because the more people I have on board the more people spread the word on their social media. They share their journey with their friends and family about the Parkinson’s fundraising journey that I’m on and the Go Fund Me page that I’m using,” Poppy said.

You might think a trip like this is expensive and you’d be right. There’s always boat repairs and maintenance to do, Captain and crew to be feed and fuel to be bought.

“Crew members sailing on Scaramouch contribute to food and fuel costs which helps with costs but my main source of funds is from redrawing money from my mortgage,” Ms Moore said.

If you would like to donate food vouchers, fuel, marine services, mooring fees, boat trappings or boat maintenance to help keep Poppy afloat you can get in contact with her via her Scaramouch facebook page. If you would like to donate to the Parkinson’s cause go to her Everyday Hero page here.

As Poppy sails out of Keppel Bay Marina, with her two wheeler as first mate and herself as Captain, cook, dishy and deckie she’ll celebrate turning 45 knowing that she’s made more people aware of second most common neurological disease in the world and that a cure might just be a little bit closer.

Scaramouch Facebook page

Scaramouch Go Fund Me Page