Climate change sees Arctic Penguin surface for sale on ebay

The Directors of Inveraray’s Maritime Heritage Centre, with the climate changes in business, have berthed on ebay the Arctic Penguin, the ship that is part of and houses the museum.

On the National Historic Ships Register (Certificate No 655) the iron and steel ship came off the slip at Dublin’s Drydock Company in 1910, as the LV Penguin, built as a lightship for the Commissioners of Irish Lights.

She served on the Daunt Rock Station from 1910 to 1920 – moving on before a successor ship ran into – or off – serious trouble in 1936. In that year the Daunt Lightship broke loose from its moorings near the rock and drifted in mountainous seas. Those aboard were saved by the brave efforts of the crew of the Ballycotton lifeboat from the nearby mainland.

After her decade in the tough station at the Daunt Rock, she was semi-pensioned off, used as a spare light vessel and was sold out of the service in 1966.

In that year she became the Hallowe’en, converted to a fore-and-aft schooner as an adventure training ship for young people. Sixteen years later she was sold on again, was given yet anohter identity as the Arctic Penguin and destined to be converetd into a small 20-passenger cruise ship. Irionucally, havoing survived the daunt Rock assignment, she bnit a submerged rock and sank in 1988, was salvaged and laid up on the Clyde at Renfrew. She was sold to the Inveraray Maritime Heritage Centre in 1995, keeping her name this time and lying in her berth at Invearay Pier ever since.

At first her livery matched the famous monochromatic town but a paint job a few years ago – and not the best paint job either, saw her adopt an unharmonious navy and rich cream scheme under which she currently labours in the interests of visitors to the town.

Her ebay page notes that her current engines are not the originals but were taken from two Argyll fishing boats – the Silver Lining from Carradale and the Brilliant Star from Tarbert.

It also says that her owners are prepared to sell her or exchange her for another boat, a vehicle or property and that they are open to any ideas prospective owners ma have on taking the boat on as a business where she is; moving her; or converting her, possibly to a houseboat.

If you’re interested, check out the links to the ebay site given in this article and prepare for work to be done. The owners say happily that there must be grants available to restore an historic ship  – and there may well be – but it would be unwise to accept an unspecific declaration like this without some hard-nosed research.