How a married couple bought a D-Day boat in Heswall and spent five years fixing her

Gemma and Simon Robins, a couple from Wrexham, bought Sarinda, a former D-Day navigation leader vessel, and have spent five years restoring her at Heswall’s foreshore on the River Dee. The ship—one of about 7,000 involved in the Normandy landings on June 6, 1944—guided safe passage for landing craft and warships at Gold Beach, and later, as Motor Launch 1392, captured a German midget submarine in the final weeks of the war. After being refurbished in the 1970s into a luxury motor yacht, she was renamed Sarinda. The Robins acquired her in January 2021 after it had been rescued from scrap by Heswall boat yard manager Steve Ashton.