LLANDUDNO’s much loved former lifeboat Andy Pearce, which left the resort for the last time in 2017, has now embarked on a new career.

She will see work in the turbulent and at times dangerous waters of the Pentland Firth between mainland Scotland and the Orkney islands.

Recently sold out of the RNLI fleet after almost 30 years service, the former lifeboat has recently been transported by road to Inverness. Now renamed Njord, the name of a god in Norse mythology having particular associations with wealth, the sea and seafarers, she will be prepared during the winter for her new duties in the Northern Isles.

She is expected to sail from Inverness in the spring, heading for the small harbour at Burwick on the Orkney island of South Ronaldsay, from where she is to operate wildlife watching trips to see the teeming seabird communities and huge seal colonies on the Pentland Skerries and the offshore island of Swona.

Alan Sharp, who worked at Llandudno lifeboat station for many years with the Andy Pearce, said: “Those of us at the station who knew the Andy so well are delighted to see she is embarking on a new career in such spectacular surroundings.

“We hope that those who board her for her wildlife trips enjoy their time aboard as much as our crews did during the many hours they spent sailing in her in the waters off North Wales and elsewhere.”