Fundraiser launched to restore historic Fife boat

The Manx Beauty, a 1937 Cellardyke built fishing vessel, was saved last year and brought back to the East Neuk just a few weeks before lockdown.

However, the pausing of everything non-essential put a halt to plans for launch events, coffee mornings and more to raise the profile of the wide ranging project to restore the vessel.

With the lockdown now easing, the Manx Beauty working group of the Cellardyke Trust has launched a crowdfunder to enable some essential stabilisation work on the hull and start the fund towards restoration while preparing grant funding applications.

The crowdfunder was launched at Cellardyke harbour, with 96-year-old Coull Deas standing on the bulwark where the boat was built. He received some gifts from Cellardyke Sea Queen, Ellie Deas – his granddaughter.

Coull was within feet of where he stood to see the launch of the Manx Beauty in 1937. His father Johnny went on to crew that boat and then skipper the sister ship, the Manx Fairy, launched the same day. Coull also worked aboard the Manx Beauty and Fairy as a young man.

In the small wooden fish box brought ashore were some products supplied by partners in the Manx Beauty Crowd funder. The boat was built to fish for herring, so aptly the East Neuk Kiln House supplied two pairs of their finest herring. The East Neuk Salt Co supplied some sea salt from the Firth of Forth and Crail Pottery a lovely Salt Pig with the boat’s logo on it.

Also in the box were a couple of cut out model boats of the Manx Beauty, and two acorns and planting bags.

Ellie was wearing a “heart of oak” necklace made from wood rescued from the vessel in its survey and so a piece of the old boat was returned to its birthplace. The group are aiming to raise £48,000 and, in the coming weeks, the group will be revealing some new partnerships aimed to raising the profile of the work.

A spokesperson said: “ We wish our donors to feel that they are making a difference and are invested in our project now and for the future.”

Donate at – www.crowdfunder.co.uk/manx-beauty-rebuild.