Following a two- and half-year restoration and refit the beautiful historic fishing vessel Our Lizzie is due to be relaunched at The International Boatbuilding Training College, Lowestoft on Tuesday 16 October 2018.
Built of pitch pine on oak frames in 1920 at Porthleven, Cornwall by W. J. Oliver & Sons, as a St Ives fishing lugger, Our Lizzie is a rare surviving example of a period Gaff rigged “drifter” with a delightful counter stern. At 46 feet long and weighing approximately 30 Tons she make
© National Historic Ships
s for an arresting sight.
With what is described as a quite exceptional refit by the skilled craftsmen and women at IBTC Commercial, Our Lizzie is ready for the next chapter in her already fascinating life. Following an early life spent fishing she saw duty at the evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940, after which she was left in Newhaven before being put to good use during WW2 as a spy ship in the Baltic. More recently the lugger found herself in film and television appearing in The French Lieutenant’s Woman, Dracula, The Apple Tree and television’s The Onedin Line. She will now be used for pleasure sailing, offering luxury accommodation below decks whilst retaining the outward appearance and lines of the working vessel she is.
The launch will be a real spectacle as Our Lizzie has to be moved from her shed using a 300 ton crane. She will be lifted into the air and swung through some 50 meters before being lowered into her berth within Lake Lothing. It is not every day you will see an historic 30-ton wooden boat fly through the air!
For further details please contact Mike Tupper on 01502 569663 or miketupper@ibtc.co.uk