This historic boat was built at Cowes on the Isle of Wight by J. Samuel White in 1921.

She was the first Lifeboat on the South Coast to be fitted with a 15hp engine and she still carried a complement of sails and oars.

The Eastbourne fishermen who crewed her mainly sailed their boats everywhere as the engine was looked at with apprehension. “The fact that it was a petrol engine meant that you couldn’t have a fag, it’s noisy, smoky and smelly, not like our old sails”.

In 1928 she went to Kirkcudbright, served in the Solway Firth for the RNLI until 1934. When decommissioned she went to France and was known as the ‘Laurita’. After a spell as a houseboat on Lake Windermere, she came south again and was rescued from a field in Hellingly by Dee-Day White and Tush Hamilton in 2012. She came to Hastings. Fundraising began with Hastings Council giving permission to site her at Old London Road. The generosity of local people, businesses and an army of volunteers working on her meant she was ready to be hauled up to her new home on 15th November 2014, welcomed by a peal of bells from All Saints Church. Dee-Day and Tush found the Cyril and Lilian Bishop in France and the story started over again.

The MacBean and Bishop Trust need funds to maintain these two important survivors. Please donate to The MacBean & Bishop @ Santander bank or contact the Treasurer on 07812 077008. Thank You.