Home from the sea

This is Fishguard's famous old lifeboat, Charterhouse. Presented to the town by old pupils of Charterhouse School in 1909, she was in service here for almost 30 years until replaced in 1931. She then became a private boat, renamed Marian, and disappeared from ken.  But a few years ago a retired local schoolteacher tracked her down. She was lying on a mudbank in north Wales, the superannuated holiday home of several generations of the English family who owned her. As the result of the renewed interest they offered the boat back to the people of Fishguard and now she is undergoing the long process of refurbishment by nautical enthusiasts and young people doing voluntary work. The plan is for her to become a permanent exhibit here.

Charterhouse's  claim to fame came on a stormy night in December 1920 when the Dutch schooner Hermina fired flares from the bay. She had dragged her anchor and was drifting towards the cliffs to the east. The volunteer lifeboat crew assembled and took Charterhouse out to the stricken ship. Despite the rough seas they rescued seven of its crew, leaving the captain and two others aboard despite the dangers.

On the way back across the bay the lifeboat was awash and the engines failed.  The crew hoisted the mizzen sail but it was immediately shredded in the wind, leaving them reliant only on the oars until two men took the huge risk of crawling forward to set the jib sail. All in all it took them three hours to cover the short distance to safety.

Meanwhile the Hermina came to grief on Needle Rock near to my home. One sailor was washed over board and drowned but the other two were saved thanks to a local farmer who was lowered down the cliff face on a rope.

The  whole crew of Charterhouse received medals from the RNLI. They all travelled to London by train along with the boat itself. As for Hermina, some of her wreckage still lies at the foot of Needle Rock and is visible at the very lowest tides.

This was all in a night's work for a lifeboat crew. In Scotland in December 1959, the lifeboat Mona from Broughty Ferry capsized on a similar rescue mission and all 8 crew were drowned. Among some seamen, it was believed the vessel was tainted with evil, and they resolved to exorcise the boat in a 'viking ritual'. Mona was taken to Cockenzie harbour on the river Forth in the dead of night, stripped of anything of value, chained to the sea wall, and burnt.  Fortunately the crew of Charterhouse returned safely and now the boat is a proud survivor too. The full story of her glory days, her re-discovery and future prospects can be found, with old photographs, on the website Charterhouse Returns.

You can listen to The Dubliners singing a fine song about the Mona
disaster or another more sentimental ballad, Home from the Sea, sung by Liam Clancy.