Old Ship Lifeboat Is Reborn as a Bright Yellow Submarine for the Entire Family

This is the motivational upcycling story of the day if you were looking for one: one man found an old ship's lifeboat for sale on the cheap and, inspired by his late father's love of the open water and his desire to build something for his kids and family, decided to convert it into a vacation home. It would no longer float, which is the only thing he was rather apprehensive about, but it would be an actual home within walking distance from the Dromore River in Lisnalong, Ireland.

Oliver Gibson has been in the hospitality business for almost a decade, running a bed & breakfast out of his home. This was the other thing that got him into the idea of the lifeboat conversion: the desire to build something that would mean he would no longer have to welcome guests into his private space.

To us, the conversion serves as an excellent, well-crafted, and beautifully executed upcycling project, where an old and rather ugly boat became the stuff of fairytales. Or Beatles songs, you choose which it is.

The project started with a €5,000 ($5,500 at the current exchange rate) budget, which was eventually exceeded by another €3,500 ($3,800) before it was completed in September 2021. The conversion was documented in full for a February 2022 episode of George Clarke's Amazing Spaces on Channel 4, which happens to be one of the most popular television shows of the kind in the UK. This bright yellow submarine is a proper celebrity, if you will.

Ollie found the lifeboat for sale online, and it was so cheap that he felt almost compelled to buy it, even though he didn't have a plan for it right away. The boat was €2,500 ($42,700), but its engine had so few hours on it that he was able to sell it for the same amount, so he basically got the hull for free. It would serve as the main living and sleeping area for what would soon become the Yellow Submarine.

To get the distinctive shape of a sub, Ollie built an extension that now holds the kitchen and the seating area, with a steel frame and an opening gullwing door that serves as the main (and only) entrance. The build sits on a double-axle trailer, but that only means it can move over short distances. It's not a proper towable. Ollie tows it in and out of storage for the cold season, bringing it out again in the spring as it's getting ready to receive guests.

Access is done by means of a metal staircase directly into the seating area. The kitchen is on one end, with a burner, a sink, and some storage, but it's more suited for brewing tea and heating up meals, than for gourmet dining. Two-facing benches create a seating area, which doubles as the dining area.

Step into the former hull of the lifeboat, and you've arrived in the bedroom, with four bunk beds, two on each side, and a full-size bed at the rear for two more people. In total, this sub has six berths, so it's quite a family-friendly unit. Ollie has kept the control panels from the old lifeboat, but it now sits higher toward the ceiling and only serves as decoration. There's also a functional periscope you can use to gaze out – after all, this is a submarine.

The interior styling is on theme, with vintage metal decorations and kitchen utensils, and lots of exposed metal. Under normal circumstances, the interior would come across as utilitarian, almost too spartan because of the metal, but in this particular case, it's actually cozy and very, very cute. It's like pretend play, but on an adult scale.

But the most impressive part about the build is the way in which Ollie was able to include upcycled items, which is a win for the planet – and for himself as well, since it helped him considerably cut down costs. For example, the porthole windows are not really porthole glass because that would have been too expensive: they're glass from washing machines. The four bunk beds are truck driver's beds, the kind you find in HGVs, but adapted to fit the nautical theme.

Not that it needs saying anymore, but breathing new life into old and otherwise useless objects can have the most amazing results. This Yellow Submarine is a good example of that: a bright yellow submarine-themed glamping unit that took an old lifeboat and gave it a new shot at a much more fun life.

"You can go anywhere and stay in a log cabin or a yurt or a teepee but there's only one submarine you can go and stay in," Ollie says. He got that part right!

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