We told you about the Lady Florence River Cruise Restaurant which operates from Orford, Suffolk in a July 2013 article (See link below this article). Now we have found out that she had a brother in South Africa. Eleven years ago, the small business took the giant step of becoming international, with a second boat, the Allen Gardiner, operating on Durban Harbour, South Africa. Now, eleven years on the business has taken the colossal leap by consolidating both businesses back in Suffolk. Allen Gardiner was loaded on an ocean freighter in Durban on Thursday 19th September and left Durban the following morning.

The Allen Gardiner was built in 1942 by the Miami Shipbuilding Corporation at Miami in Florida USA. She is 63 feet long, over 46 tons gross register and is an historic wooden vessel. She is one of twenty similar boats ordered by the South African Air Force during World War II. These boats were used as air/sea rescue launches and became commonly known as “crash boats”. They were responsible for saving the lives of over 600 survivors from the 153 ships sunk by German U-boats and surface craft off the South African coast during the war. They were built as high speed launches, capable of planing, like a ski boat, with the stern in the water and the bow lifted. With four 500 horsepower engines in tandem driving two propellers, these boats were capable of a top speed of 42 knots, which is about 75 kilometres per hour.

She is named for Captain Allen F. Gardiner, Royal Navy, who came to Port Natal in 1835 as a missionary. It was his intention to convert the Zulus to Christianity, but Dingaan was only interested in guns. Disappointed, he returned to Port Natal, which was roughly where Addington is today, but was persuaded by the settlers to open a mission station high on the Ridge. There is an Allen Gardiner Park on Ridge Road on the Berea, to which he gave that name, from a quotation from Chapter 17 of the Acts of the Apostles in the Bible. It refers to St Paul’s travels and missionary work in Greece. After St Paul had been rejected by the people of Thessalonica, he journeyed on to Berea, where he was given a warm welcome.

Allen Gardiner was also responsible for calling the first public meeting at Port Natal, to which 17 residents – almost the entire population at that time - attended. At that meeting they planned out a new township, roughly where the City Hall and Post Office are today, and named it D'Urban for the then Governor of the Cape, Sir Benjamin D’Urban.

Despite walking away from a successful Allen Gardiner brand established and built since 2002 in Durban, this reversal is a daring but wise and logical move. It will result in a doubling of turnover and employment opportunities in Suffolk in the short term.

This change of continent project has even wider repercussions in terms of management. The family business has now consolidated in Suffolk. It will prove to be a simpler, more economical operation, with hands-on control on a daily basis, the combined business will be more efficient and increase purchasing power and employment in Suffolk. It is an extremely expensive step for a small business, but we are confident of its success. It is thanks to Foundation East that the project is financially viable.

Moreover, the thousands of satisfied Lady Florence customers over the years will now have an opportunity to explore another, and totally different, river environment, with the same standard of cuisine and excellence to which they have become accustomed. And it will open up opportunities for groups much larger than the licence for twelve on Lady Florence, and also the facility to operate after dark on the lighted buoyed channel of the River Orwell.

There are many stages to this project before the Allen Gardiner becomes operational on her maiden voyage on the River Orwell from Ipswich Marina, which we anticipate will be in November in time for Christmas celebrations.

They accomplished the first stage during which the Allen Gardiner was lifted on to her £ 10 000 cradle. She was then loaded into the hold of MAC Lines Blue Master ll on Thursday 17th September, ready for leaving Durban for Rotterdam the following morning.

It is fascinating to follow the progress of this project, and it is our intention to provide frequent update progress reports.

The MAC Lines freight ship Blue Master ll docked in Rotterdam just after midnight on Wednesday 16th October, having departed Durban Friday 20th September. She was lifted on her cradle from the Blue Master ll and lowered into the water in Beatrixhaven. She floated clear of the 3.7 ton cradle, which will then be lifted on to the dockside prior to shipment to Ipswich. Allen Gardiner then moved to a local marina for handover to the delivery crew and take on diesel and provisions for the cruise across to Ipswich.

Once safely in Ipswich, she will be once more be lifted out of the water for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) survey and tests prior to the issuing of the relevant licences. It is hoped that all is on track for the launch and maiden voyage on the River Orwell early next month.

For further information, please contact John Haresnape on 01394 421554 or email [email protected] or websites www.lady-florence.co.uk and www.allengardiner.co.za or follow us on Facebook.