Irene of Bridgewater (2)

The Irene of Bridgewater was launched in 1907 and is the last West Country Trading Ketch still under sail.
She finally retired from her trading service in 1960, having sailed for fifty years as part of the fleet of British merchant vessels through two world wars and the great depression.

She then changed hands a few times before being converted into a houseboat.

After many more changes of use she finally ended up in the Caribbean as a much loved charter yacht, but on 29th May 2003, her 96 birthday,  she was lying at the bottom of Marigot Bay, St Maarten in the West Indies, a burnt out wreck following a mysterious catastrophic fire.




Follow the story of how she was brought back to life in a creek on the River Lynher, just across the River Tamar from Plymouth, rising from the ashes as the painstaking restoration was undertaken.

It is apt that these pictures show her berthed close to Phoenix Wharf, on the Barbican.

Irene of Bridgewater (1)

The relentless grey weather continues, there is barely a  hint of colour; continuous drizzle drenches everything. 

When, a day or to ago,  this beautiful ketch came out of the mist, crossed the flat calm water of Plymouth Sound and berthed near Phoenix Wharf. 

An aptly named destination for the Irene of Bridgewater, as we'll see tomorrow.