Campaign to save the last wooden fishing boat to work off Hastings beach

A campaign is underway to save the last wooden fishing boat working off Hastings beach, led by the Hastings Wooden Boats Group. The vessel, originally named “Our Pam & Peter” and later “Felicity,” is a lugger built in 1980 by H J Phillips Boatbuilders in Rock Channel, Rye, and registered as RX58. The article says it was the last wooden fishing boat to operate off Hastings until it was deregistered two years ago. Owners have been offered a “tidy sum” by a man who wants to cut the boat in half to create an ornamental garden building, a replica of the half sovereign cottage outside the fishermen’s museum. If saved for display, buying the boat and preparing a long-term maintenance program would cost around £5,000. Supporters are asked to pledge via the group’s comments or private message, though no cash request is made directly.