Fundraising for the Lynmouth Boat House

Lynmouth Sailing Club (a community interest company) and the Flood Memorial Hall committee are seeking funds to build the newly proposed boathouse in Lynmouth, on the Exmoor coastline, for the club's safety and rescue boat, "Gilbey". Gilbey Spice was cruelly taken from his family, friends and our local community of Lynton and Lynmouth in May 2020. Never has the phrase “gone but not forgotten” been more apt. Such was his personality and antics that for all those who knew him he is simply impossible to forget.

In memory of Gilbey, his family & friends sought donations for a community project as a legacy to him. That raised in excess of £7,000.00 which funded the purchase of the safety & rescue boat now christened “Gilbey”. His long-suffering employers Steve and Val, along with the Lyn Food Festival donated the engine, but this is an ongoing project and funds are still required to reach the final goal. Money is needed to build the boat house, and to equip and maintain “Gilbey”.

Our close and tight-knit community hosts a number of fundraising events throughout the year, many of which are water based. The annual and much beloved raft race, and the Lynmouth Regatta & Maritime Festival to name but two. There are also a number of local groups and clubs that take to the water, namely our fledgling rowing teams, as well as swimming clubs and sailing groups. Our biggest aim, and one of the requests of Gilbey's family, is to train volunteers to man the boat and provide emergency assistance to those in danger around our historic harbour, as well as event support.

This is a project which we all hope will reflect the spirit of its namesake.

You can still hear him laughing (oh that laugh!) at the end of the bar in the Rising Sun or Ancient Mariner. Future generations will no doubt believe those taverns to be haunted by it (and to be fair, he’d make a very amusing ghost). If he were still with us, Gilbey’s name would have been the first on the list of volunteers to man the boat. It would have been an immediate “yes”. We can all envisage it. Gilbey sat on his stool in the Rising Sun, putting the world to rights when the shout for a rescue comes through. Who knows what would have happened next? What we do know, is that he’d squeeze himself into a life-jacket and selflessly be the first at the boat to help (inevitably both moaning and laughing!).

Gilbey had the unique knack of being both horrifically grumpy and ridiculously happy simultaneously but what set him apart was his willingness to say “yes”. It was that willingness which led to so many of his adventures. A pub man, a travelling man, a rugby man, a cricket man, a flying man, a boating man, a family man, a best man, a Lynton & Lynmouth man.

He also had a serious side, and his contribution to the Lynton & Lynmouth Community was immense. Most recently he was chairman of the Holman Park Regeneration Project which has delivered a new football club house and community building. It was a shame that he didn’t have the chance to see that facility full during Euro 2020. We all missed laughing at him shout profanities at the TV and complain about how much he detested football. Takings behind the bar were also down as a result of his absence.

This isn’t an obituary, and it’s impossible to explain in such a short space how much he is missed (really missed); the above is simply to give a flavour of the man, and his sense of adventure, which is the keystone of this current project. We really hope that you are able to donate to this worthwhile project, and if you would like to discuss a fundraising idea with us, please do get in touch!