I took this picture from the cliffs above the site of the Brighton Marina. I think it may have been in the mid 1970’s when I was interested in photography. My question is can anyone name the boat that is in the photo, was it used as a restaurant when the marina was finished, when did it leave the marina and where did it go?
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Thanks for sharing the photo with us, Michael ; it’s a good one.
I’m pleased to say it’s the Motor Vessel Medina. It served as clubhouse for the Brighton Marina Yacht Club.
Checking with a guide : she “was built in 1931 as one of the first diesel-powered ships in commercial use [beginning] her life as the Southampton to Isle of Wight ferry. After the Second World War, she ran between Gibraltar and North Africa, and while in this role she ‘starred’ with Alec Guiness in the film ‘The Captain’s Paradise’. A restaurant is also available to the public aboard Medina, offering a wide selection of top quality food and wines …” (from p.30 of a large 50p. guide published by Brighton Marina Co., Ltd., circa 1980.)
There were “Exhibition Moorings” in the western end of the Inner Harbour (now the site of the Asda car park).
– Hopefully someone will tell us what became of M.V. Medina after this time ?
There is a great deal of information about this vessel on google, apparently it was sold in 1962 but no info about when it was scrapped although you might be able to find pictures of it being scrapped.
I am now 92, but as a small boy I travelled on it fairly regularly to visit my Grandma on the Isle of Wight.
A comfortable ship but pitched and rolled in bad weather with a vengeance. I remember on one trip back, after Christmas with my parents, it was so bad the propellers came out of the water. Certainly a scary trip. After Brighton, she was towed North and was broken up in the mid 1990’s.
Just further comment if I may. After Red Funnel she was sold and worked at Gibraltar. After that she came back to England, and was a Ship Chandlers Office at Lymington Yacht Marina In Hampshire. I asked if I could visit and in doing so, relived a little of my childhood travel. At that time she was still the ship I knew. After a couple of years she was towed to Brighton and converted.
Thanks for providing more information on Medina’s history, Beresford – it’s appreciated. Sounds quite an experience you had in those earlier days !
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