A UNIQUE attraction on the Watchet waterfront – a floating bistro and tapas bar – should be open for business later this year.

And it is thanks to well-wishers who are chipping in to make a dream come true for Gary and Julie Maile and their son Carrick, a 19-year-old student.

They have turned to crowd-funding – raising money from small investors via social media networks – to finance transforming the 94-year-old ‘Elizabeth’ - a retired 45-foot Bristol ferry -into a nautical-themed restaurant moored in Watchet marina.

Despite having full-time jobs – Gary is a specialist carpenter and joiner and Julie a nursery nurse in Dulverton – the couple have spent all their spare time over the past year in Watchet’s East Quay boatyard rebuilding the historic oak and mahogany river-boat.

They were spurred on by the support and enthusiasm of the dockside community.

Full story in the Free Press (April 22).