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A boat on the River Dee called Sarinda, with a unique history, was restored by a couple for over half a decade. Sarinda is a vessel that took part in the D-Day landings, one of 7,000 vessels used in the invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944.
The boat now sits in a Heswall boatyard in a muddy and hard-to-get-to area, tethered by ropes. It is freshly restored with a white hull.
As reported by the Wirral Globe, the impressive boat transformation is the work of Simon and Gemma Robins. They bought the boat in 2021, would you believe it, on eBay! At the time, the two were no strangers to restoration, as they were running a campervan restoration business, but upon purchasing Sarinda, the challenge was bigger than they thought, and they dedicated more time to it.
Originally named Motor Launch 1392, the vessel guided landings safely towards Gold Beach during D-Day before later capturing a German midget submarine in the closing months of the Second World War. She was converted into a luxury motor yacht during the 1970s before eventually falling into disrepair.
Gemma admits she was far from convinced when Simon first suggested buying the 72-foot boat.
"I said, we don't need a 72-foot rotting boat. That's not what we need in our lives right now!"
However, after discovering the vessel's remarkable history, she changed her mind. The couple purchased Sarinda for around £6,000 and began documenting the restoration for friends and family.
Their YouTube channel, Ship Happens, unexpectedly attracted a worldwide audience. Support from viewers through advertising revenue and Patreon eventually enabled Simon and Gemma to leave their campervan business behind and dedicate themselves to restoring the historic vessel full time. They now have over 140,000 subscribers!
Visitors now travel from around the world to see Sarinda, with history enthusiasts, boat lovers and curious supporters all drawn to the project. Some have even travelled from Australia and the United States to lend a hand.
Despite early scepticism from online critics who doubted the restoration would ever succeed, five years of work have transformed the once-derelict boat into a growing success story. For Simon and Gemma, preserving Sarinda is about far more than repairing an old vessel. It is about safeguarding a rare piece of wartime history for future generations.
In their transformation, the couple have added a new deck, a new roof, and replaced the rotten wooden boards, as well as many other touches that have brought the boat back to life.
However, the couple has faced bigger challenges recently, with the installation of a yellow gate, which they say blocks access to the boatyard where Sarinda sits. Boat owners are frustrated by the Banks Road gate installation, including Simon and Gemma. The council has argued the gate stops people from dumping boats in the foreshore, as many unlicensed vessels have been left behind.
Speaking to the Wirral Globe, Simon said: “We want this boat out of here. We want to use the boat and travel the world.”
For the 85th anniversary of D-Day in 2029, as a loving celebration of their ship, they said they wanted to make the journey to Normandy.
