Peel’s new £2.2 million Shannon-class lifeboat, the Frank and Brenda Winter, has returned to the town after being stuck in Fleetwood, Lancashire, since August.

The lifeboat first arrived in Peel in March last year, but because of the pandemic it has not once seen active duty since then.

The crowds which greeted the boat were one of the last major gatherings before the onset of the pandemic, with the UK lockdown being announced less than 10 days later.

Moored in Peel Marina last summer, it then left the town for routine maintenance and hull scrubbing in Fleetwood.

However, due to Covid-19 border restrictions RNLI crew and trainers were unable to return the vessel to the island - and so it remained dry docked in Fleetwood.

Now able to be crewed and returned home to the island, the Frank and Brenda Winter arrived in Peel on Sunday morning.

An RNLI spokesperson said that the charity now expects the training of the Manx crew to begin in late August, and once this is completed the lifeboat will finally go into service sometime after September.

In the meantime, the Mersey-class lifeboat Mary Margaret has been covering Peel.

The RNLI had also been carrying out improvements to its boathouse and slipway near the town’s breakwater.

The charity said that the renovations have now been completed to the point where Peel RNLI has moved in and is able to use the boathouse, but some small things still needed finishing - for example the painting of the floor.

As for the slipway, the government had been carrying out the work to broaden it.

The rubber tracks for the boat have been installed, but have not yet been tested, though this is planned in the near future.

The Frank and Brenda Winter’s arrival was closely followed this morning (Tuesday) by a unique piece of equipment essential to the vessel’s operation.

The Shannon Launch and Recovery System is a track-driven tractor which allows the lifeboat to be launched and recovered faster from a beach or slipway, and it was delivered on the Ben-My-Chree.

The Shannon-class lifeboats are the most modern in the RNLI’s fleet, and as the first all-weather lifeboat to be driven by jets instead of propellers, they are the charity’s most manoeuvrable boats yet.