Quay People - Vickie Samuels from Britannia Sailing Trust

Welcome to our brand new blog, where we shine a spotlight on the businesses, organisations and characters who work around Exeter’s historic Quayside and help bring the waterfront to life. For our very first feature, we chat to Vickie Samuels from Britannia Sailing Trust, to find out more about the work they do on the water and beyond.

For readers who may not be familiar with her story, can you tell us a little about Britannia and her history?

Britannia is a type of traditional sailing vessel from Norfolk called an ‘East Coast Smack’. She was built in 1915 in King’s Lynn to pot for whelks, working out of Alexandra Dock in Kings Lynn, where she was part of the fishing fleet for twenty years.

Her builders, the Worfolk brothers, were very proud of her as she was the largest and fastest ship of her class ever built, representing a significant leap forward in sailing vessel design. She’s built of single oak frames - hand-selected from Sandringham Forest by the Worfolks, who were Royal boatbuilders, and planked in Russian red cedar imported from Archangel.

Much of this remains original and intact in her hull today, however it’s important to note that she is not a museum piece. We don’t try to hide or diminish the fact that she has had a long, and sometimes hard, working life. During her 111-year career, she has weathered changes that reflect and record changing times and tastes. She has, at various times, been sunk, converted to a motorboat, abandoned, rescued and restored - the latter, twice!
Her first restoration took place in the 1970s, when she was purchased by the Samuels family, who lived aboard and raised their sons at sea. After making a living as an award-winning charter vessel in the Hebrides, the Samuels were forced to sell for personal reasons, never expecting to lay eyes on Britannia again.

But fate intervened and in 2014, when one of their sons caught sight of the Smack languishing in poor condition on a Brixham mooring, the Britannia Sailing Trust was formed by the Samuels, and friends with fond memories of sailing on Britannia in the 80s and 90s, with the intent of acquiring and saving the vessel. They were able to purchase her, decommissioned, for the sum of £1 and after a few years in a boatyard in Gweek in Cornwall, transported her overland to Winkleigh in mid Devon near their home, where a tent was constructed over the boat.

She spent six years in Winkleigh being restored by volunteers, during which time the Trust’s vision for her future grew. She was relaunched in September 2023, where the final stage of volunteer-led restoration will prepare her for sea trials in 2027.

What makes Britannia so special, and why do you feel it’s important to restore her to her former glory?

Britannia is, in many ways, the last of her kind. She is the only working example of a Class A East Coast Smack. She is one of only a handful of surviving vessels built by the Worfolk brothers. She has historical connections to the royal family and World War I. But most importantly, she is extremely special to our volunteer team, who have spent the last decade working to get her sailing again.

During this time, Britannia has become much more than a heritage asset, she has become the centrepiece of a fulfilling and supportive community. Our team encompasses people of many ages and backgrounds, working on many different aspects of the project - not all of them hands-on. We have already celebrated many milestones and look forward to many more. The key goal - seeing Britannia sail again - would mean many things to many people, from those who sailed her in the 80s, to others who have never yet seen her with her mast up!

It is the personal relationship that each of us have with the boat that makes Britannia, and vessels like her, so special. She is one of a kind, but we believe it’s the people who love her that make her so much more than the sum of her parts.

How is the restoration progressing, and when do you hope to see her fully restored and back on the water?

The restoration has been a long process. We are a small charity, staffed largely by volunteers, running exclusively on donations and limited funding. While we may not have been able to work quickly, our focus has been on quality of materials and the continuation of traditional techniques. We have cut no corners, working hard to source like-for-like timbers and priding ourselves on craftsmanship of a standard hard to find today.

The restoration process has been very enlightening, revealing a number of interrelated issues that tie maritime heritage to wider global problems - such as climate change and habitat loss. We have found that the UK’s mixed native woodlands - upon which traditional, sustainable boat building depends - are in dire risk. In addition to vast deforestation since 1915, many native tree species used for boatbuilding are now in peril. Dutch elm disease, ash die back, oak processionary moth, hybridisation with non-native monocultured species, and a warmer climate affecting the growth of conifers have all had as much of an impact on our project, as they have had on the landscape of the British Isles.

This is something we’ve tried to address with our ‘Boatbuilder’s’ Woodland’ project, in tandem with the National Trust, and our ‘Boatbuilder’s Friends’ informational booklet.

Britannia was relaunched with the logistical support of Exeter Heritage Harbour, where she is currently berthed, and, if funding allows, we plan to have her recommissioned and sailing again by 2027/28.

Remaining tasks include stepping her mast; rerigging with traditionally laid rope made by the Master Ropemakers at the Historic Dockyard in Chatham; connecting her new engine and installing electrics; building the After Cabin which will house the navigation area and crew’s quarters, and the creation of cabins and final fit out down below.

You established the Britannia Sailing Trust to support the project - what are its aims and long-term vision?

The trust’s central mission has always been to restore Britannia to working condition and operate her for public good. Over the course of her restoration, we have expanded our vision into five key pillars:

● Heritage conservation - preserving maritime heritage by keeping Britannia sailing and accessible to the public.
● Skills and employment - passing on traditional skills through training and apprenticeships, in order to safeguard endangered boatbuilding and sailing skills
● Youth empowerment and wellbeing - empowering young people, especially those from disadvantaged or non-traditional backgrounds
● Community engagement - serving and engaging coastal communities with a focus on inclusion
● Environmental awareness and action - promoting stewardship and sustainable practices

The restoration depends heavily on the generosity of volunteers. Can you tell us about the people behind the project and the role they play?

The founders of the charity, Vicki and Haydn (Sam) Samuels are still heavily involved in running and managing the project. Sam is a boatbuilder and traditional sailor with a lifetime’s experience and he leads the restoration, supervising and passing on his skills, whilst also working on the ship doing the skilled work that no one else is yet qualified to undertake.

Our current volunteers working on the ship vary from time to time, but the core team consists of Abi who has been with us for three years. When we had enough funds, we were able to pay her, but sadly we cannot afford to do this at the moment. Abi is hanging in there though giving her time voluntarily now, and is a great advocate for women in boatbuilding. We have Richard who is our volunteer coordinator and who won the National Historic Ships UK Individual Volunteer of the Year Award for 2025, so we are very proud and grateful for his input.

And our 8 Board of Trustees are all volunteers too, some of whom have been with us since the inception of the charity 12 years ago, working in the background, meeting regularly twice a month to keep everything ticking over. We welcomed two new Trustees this year from the Exeter area and are delighted to have them “on board” too.

And finally, Vicki, Sam’s wife is the volunteer project manager and works behind the scenes as well as on the quay when she gets the chance to get away from the laptop.

And we mustn’t forget Zoe, the latest in a long line of salty sea dogs who have been sailing aboard Britannia over the years.

Do you feel Britannia is part of a wider quayside community here in Exeter?

Definitely! Since launching in Exeter Heritage Harbour two years ago we have been welcomed warmly by the quayside community, and have had huge support from the Heritage Harbour Group, ECQT, the Harbourmaster, and the Canal Office staff. We are very good neighbours with Cocreate who have a workshop adjacent to ours on the quay, and with whom we share resources, volunteers, tools and expertise. They support people who are recovering from or overcoming adverse experiences. Other boatowners on the quay have been extremely helpful too - it is a very positive working environment which often happens with people involved with old boats! But it isn't just old boats, we feel that there is something rather special about the East Quay and we are grateful to be part of this community. The staff of the Puerto Lounge organised a fundraiser for us last year, raising more than £700 for our cause which was so unexpected and much welcomed.

We enjoy participating in the harbour events and festivals and have huge support from the Custom House crew as well. Once we get Britannia sailing again, we intend to return to Exeter every winter, making the harbour our permanent home.

Would you like to see more historic vessels return to Exeter’s historic quayside in the future?

Traditional sailing vessels have always existed and depended on a community. In the past, it would have been nearly impossible to run and maintain a vessel without the activity of many others, creating hubs of industry and infrastructure where wooden ships could find work, source maintenance materials, go for repairs and exchange knowledge skills and crew. Not to mention yarns in the pub!

It would be nice to see Exeter truly embracing its maritime heritage and welcoming more vessels to the Historic Quayside. This would benefit Britannia, enabling us to skill share and support other charities and boat owners, while also creating an immersive and evocative experience for quay visitors. Historic sailing vessels are an endangered species; seeing one allows us to imagine what life may have been like for the fisherman and seafarers of the past centuries. Seeing many such vessels together allows us to momentarily step into the past, reimagining and recontextualising entire landscapes.

Are members of the public able to visit Britannia and learn more about the restoration as it unfolds?

Definitely! It is part of our ethos to educate and hopefully to inspire the public, not just about Britannia’s role as a working vessel during many incarnations, but about Britain’s maritime heritage generally. Therefore, the whole team is always very happy to talk to interested passers-by about Britannia’s history and to show them around. We also hold several “Open Days” throughout the year in conjunction with the various Harbour festivals and activities going on around Exeter quayside. If we had more capacity, more funding and more volunteers, we would like to be present there more frequently, particularly weekends when there are more people around, but just now, you can find us between 10 and 4 on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday each week.
What are the different ways people can get involved or support the project?

If people would like to get involved or support our project there are many ways to do this. We have a small team of hands-on volunteers who are carrying out the day-to-day work on Britannia at the Quay. This includes woodwork, painting, varnishing, sanding, mechanical, electrical and engineering. This year we are hoping to complete her traditional rig which means working on the spars, splicing wire rope for the standing rigging and putting together the running rigging which controls the raising and lowering of the sails.

But along with hands-on skills, we really need help behind the scenes to help our volunteer project manager with marketing and promotion, helping at events, fundraising and social media, video etc. So if you have time and feel inspired to lend us a hand and be part of Britannia’s journey, please get in touch with Vicki on 07776 330169

Talk to us if you are a business, as sponsorship can be mutually beneficial and could be tailored to suit both parties. And lastly, you can help to get Britannia sailing again by supporting us financially to help us cover essential costs. All donations go straight to the cause with no admin costs, which enables us to continue our work.

Finally, where can people go to find out more and keep up with Britannia's journey?

If you subscribe to our website at britanniasailingtrust.org we will keep you informed of our activities and interests through news and regular blogs, and you will receive regular email updates too.

You can also follow us on social media channels - Instagram and Facebook

Or you can always pop down to the East Quay on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday and say hello! We always have the kettle on and you’re very welcome to join us in a cuppa!