independent Cornish news and comment

North Cornwall: Cornwall's historic lifeboat

On Monday it was revealed that an historic Cornish lifeboat could return to local shores from its current home in the Mediterranean.
<IMG alt="Arab II" hspace=2 src="http://www.cornwall24.co.uk/images/photoshare/img53" align=right vspace=2 border=0>Indeed, the 'Arab II' is at the centre of attention for a party in Looe who are interested in restoring the boat to her former glory.

If a purchase offer is accepted, the 36ft-long boat which served in the Padstow area from 1901 to 1931 will be revisiting Mevagissey where the boat was built 103 years ago.

After working for the RNLI for 30 years she was decommissioned and ended up being the home of Canadian Mark Harwood in the Mediterranean.

However, a return to Canada meant that Mr Harwood needed to sell his boat. He is even selling the former lifeboat for the amount he originally spent for it some three years ago. The boat is being sold for £5,500 even though sizeable restoration work has been carried out.

Arguably, her finest hour was o­n 12th November 1911, when she set sail to go to the assistance of a French boat in difficulty and saved many sailors.

All-in-all Arab II's duty witnessed 40 launches and save 75 lives. Mark Harwood would like to donate her to a local museum in order to guarantee her preservation and ideally wishes that a Cornish buyer will come forward to do just that.