RX134 - Stacey Marie

RX134, Stacey Marie, was the retired fishing boat that, until recently (blog), sat opposite the Dolphin Inn, Rock-a-Nore Road, Hastings, and had been looked after by Hastings Fishermen's Museum, and a couple of local volunteers, until she became unsafe, and funds were not available to carry out the necessary work to make her safe. She was built at Newhaven in the 1940s for the Grant brothers, one of whom Alfred "Puff" Grant named the boat "Linda" after his Grand-daughter; the boat's original registration was NN39 (Newhaven registration). She was built as a punt, becoming a decked boat in the 1950s, thanks to a grant from the White Fish Authority, a government scheme set up to rebuild the country's fishing industry following World War II. The Grant bothers fished out of Eastbourne until the early 1960s, when a tragic accident saw one of the brothers swept overboard, whilst his brother was below deck. The body was later trawled up at Hastings, a sad reminder of how dangerous commercial fishing still remains, RIP.

Jack Edmunds brought the boat to Hastings in 1961, where she became registered at Rye, and thus became RX134. Jack sold her to Rod Knight in 1976; who re-named her "Andrew Peter" after his two sons. Robert "Podgy" Ball later bought her in 1985 and gave her the name "Stacie Marie". RX134 worked until 1997, when she was the oldest boat working from Hastings beach (many thanks to Hastings Fishermen's Museum for the photograph immediately above). In June 1999 she was acquired by the Fishermen's Museum and was placed on display in Rock-a-Nore Road in front of the fishing huts/net sheds/net shops, next to the Fish Market, to the west of the Museum, where she was often seen in the local media, and was a well known landmark and focal point, eg during Jack in the Green (top image), after her colour was changed to red.

Information was provided for a facebook page (facebook), which thankfully looks like it is still available (blog) and this blog, by Hastings Fishermen's Museum at Rock-a-Nore, and the sadly no longer with us local fisherman, Jimmy 'Toller' R.I.P. (blog), many thanks to all.