DAWN APPROACH
Still going strong at 95!
By Andy Gilbert
If you were fortunate enough to enjoy walking along Newhaven's then very busy West Quay in the 1960s, then you'll almost certainly have seen a smart white motor yacht lying at No.11 Stage, in between the fishing boats. This was Dawn Approach. Very much a part of the harbour furniture, I can't remember her moving much, and when she did it was probably just to let the Testside dredge her moorings. She was owned at the time by a Dr Firth, a retired surgeon from Guys Hospital in London, who lived locally, but she then disappeared from the harbour in the 1970s. Let me tell you a little more about her.
She was built in Scotland in 1921 by J Forbes for a 'British gentleman', whose identity I haven't yet been able to discover. At one time I thought that she was one of the Dunkirk 'little ships' but research showed that she isn't on the register of those gallant vessels. However, she was requisitioned by the Admiralty and kept very busy throughout WWII, serving as a patrol vessel, troop transport and anti aircraft balloon handler for the Royal Navy. After the end of the war her immediate history is unknown but she was definitely here at Newhaven by the late 1950s or early 1960s. That's when I first saw her.
After she left Newhaven, we now know a little more about her (see Bill Spragg's comment) from 1976 to 1979 but after that the story is again unclear for some time. It is known that at some point in the 1980s a man called Peter Lanham (who was apparently a master carpenter aboard the Queen Mary) found her in Valletta, Malta, abandoned after suffering a fire. He then sailed around the Mediterranean with her. According to the yacht's history his second in command, who went by the name of Joe, was part of the commando force that attacked the Germans' heavy water factory in Norway in WWII and was left deaf because of the explosions.
Years later, Mr Lanham died in a hospital in Malaga, Spain and the boat passed on to Marina Charters and, it would seem then to Medboats, who now charter the boat for day trips around the Costa Del Sol. If you have $1550 to spare, that will buy you just a couple of hours sailing!
It's nice to see a piece of Newhaven's past still alive and well, at the ripe old age of 95!
Update: In view of the extra photos sent in by Bill Spraggs, I've put this page into Gallery Mode - simply click on a thumbnail image to see the photo in full size.