Built to save, saved to sail
Discover the journey of a special wooden lifeboat whose story spans war, rescue and a remarkable restoration
Few experiences capture the spirit of a Norfolk coastal town quite like sailing out onto the water in a traditional wooden boat. The gentle lift of the tide, the wide sweep of saltmarsh and sky, the creak of hand-shaped timbers beneath your feet; it’s a way of exploring Wells-next-the-Sea that feels both intimate and timeless.
Step aboard Lucy Lavers for one of her heritage tours and that connection couldn’t be stronger. Beautifully restored, this wooden wonder carries a story of extraordinary resilience, from local rescues and a daring wartime mission to decades of neglect and near loss. Saved from the scrapyard and brought back to life by charity Rescue Wooden Boats, she now glides through the harbour as a living link to the county’s rich maritime past - a vessel preserved not simply to be admired but to be sailed, shared and felt.
Built in 1940 as a Liverpool class lifeboat, Lucy Lavers began her service in Aldeburgh, Suffolk, and her very first ‘shout’ became one of the most extraordinary in RNLI history. Called into action almost immediately, she crossed the Channel during Operation Dynamo, joining the flotilla of ‘Little Ships’ that helped evacuate thousands of Allied troops from the beaches of Dunkirk. After the war, she returned to Aldeburgh before joining the RNLI’s reserve fleet, serving as a relief lifeboat in Wells and Sheringham. Over her career she was launched 82 times and credited with saving 44 lives, later working as a pilot boat in Jersey before becoming a private fishing vessel.
Her seafaring days came to an abrupt halt in the late 1990s when she was stripped for parts to repair another boat. For years she survived as little more than a bare hull, shuttled between boatyards along the south coast. Yet in North Norfolk she was never forgotten. Among former crew members, boat-builders and those who remembered her service, Lucy Lavers remained a piece of the past worth preserving – a boat whose story still mattered, even as her paint faded, her timbers weathered and her future grew uncertain.
Hope finally arrived in 2010, when boat-builders David and George Hewitt joined forces with working wooden boat owners Graeme Peart and Wendy Pritchard to establish Rescue Wooden Boats. Tracked down by the new charity, brought home and painstakingly restored by local craftsmen and a dedicated team of volunteers, Lucy Lavers returned to the water in time to set sail with around 50 other preserved Little Ships for the 75th-anniversary return to Dunkirk in 2015.
“She was in a pretty sorry state when we found her, but the shape of her, the strength of her hull, the history she carried - it was all still there. We knew straight away she was worth saving,” says David Hewitt, who has been building, servicing and restoring wooden boats in North Norfolk since the age of 14. “As both a Dunkirk
Little Ship and a National Historic Ship, her place in our maritime heritage couldn’t be ignored. After so much hard work, it’s incredibly rewarding to see her back where she belongs - still afloat at 86 years old, sharing her story in a port where she once served and saved lives.”
That pride is shared by fellow founding trustee Wendy Pritchard, who witnessed every step of Lucy Lavers’ return to her former glory and has worked to safeguard the stories of wooden boats and their crews through the charity’s Maritime Heritage Centre in Stiffkey. Now a driving force behind the tours departing from Wells Harbour, she finds the greatest reward in seeing visitors step aboard and feel the connection for themselves. “I’ve sailed wooden boats since I was a child and have always been drawn to the unique character and history of each vessel, even the wonderful smell of their varnished timbers,” she says. “Rather than simply telling her story, Lucy Lavers invites people to experience it: to sit where the crew once sat, to look out across the saltmarsh horizon and to feel the steady motion of a lifeboat
built to endure.”
Lucy Lavers’ tours are guided by skipper Isaac Erdman, whose life has been shaped by the sea. He grew up in Cornwall, moved to the Scottish coast as a teenager and spent years working aboard traditional fishing and cargo craft, living on board himself. Astounded by Lucy Lavers’ journey he dropped anchor in North Norfolk last year to support the work of Rescue Wooden Boats. Calm, knowledgeable and instinctively attuned to the vessel, he brings fresh energy to her long story - mindful that he is not simply steering a boat but carrying forward a legacy.
“It’s heart-warming to see the emotions she evokes in people of all ages, particularly those with a personal connection to wooden boats or the Dunkirk rescue,” he says. “I love playing a part in preserving Lucy Lavers’ past and hope everyone leaves each tour feeling they’ve learnt something new. With a fresh season of sailing now underway, I’m looking forward to welcoming more people aboard this special piece of history.”
Operating heritage tours and private charters from Easter to October, Lucy Lavers continues her journey not as a relic behind glass, but as a working reminder of courage, craftsmanship and community spirit. Each time she slips out of Wells Harbour, she carries with her the stories of those who built her, served aboard her, saved her and now sail her.
To book a tour aboard this lifeboat with a life of her own and discover more about the charity that saved her, visit rescuewoodenboats.com.
“As both a Dunkirk Little Ship and a National Historic Ship, her place in our maritime heritage couldn’t be ignored”
