Moored quietly to the Cross Roads buoy the 300ft a superyacht owned by billionaire Sir James Dyson has spent a week in Falmouth sheltering from the strong easterly winds.

Amid a war of words echoing around the corridors of power at Westminster over texts exchanged between Prime Minister Boris Johnson and billionaire Sir James, the British-born inventor, industrialist and entrepreneur, superyacht Nahlin and her crew have kept a low profile.

The last time the Nahlin came to Falmouth was in 1999 when she arrived “piggy-backed” on the heavy lift vessel Swift. In a straight forward flo-flo (float on float off) operation Nahlin was checked for watertight integrity and towed away to Plymouth by the tug St Piran.

Nahlin arriving aboard a heavy lift ship in 1999 before she was refurbished

Nahlin arriving aboard a heavy lift ship in 1999 before she was refurbished

The steam yacht Nahlin was launched at John Brown’s Clydebank yard 91 years ago tomorrow (April 28, 1930).

Ordered by Lady Yule, wife of the wealthy Calcutta jute merchant Sir David Yule, she embarked on a world cruise with her daughter in 1930 after her husband died.

It was on the Nahlin that King Edward VIII entertained Mrs Wallis Simpson during the summer of 1936. This alerted the world’s press to a possible abdication crisis in the monarchy.

King Carol II of Romania bought the Nahlin in 1937 for £120,000 renaming her Luceafarul and later Libertatea. After the monarch abdicated in 1940 the yacht became the property of the government. Tied up in the port of Galati on the Danube the yacht became a floating restaurant.

Following the 1989 revolution Libertatea remained at Galati becoming more and more neglected.

Luxury yacht broker Nicholas Edmiston rescued the yacht, transporting her to Falmouth on the Swift. Her restoration began in Liverpool by Cammell Laird who went into receivership shortly afterwards. The refit was then completed in Germany.

James and Deidre Dyson purchased Nahlin in 2006 and for the next five years the yacht was completely rebuilt and restored to her former glory. The original steam engines have been replaced by four diesel engines giving her a top speed of 17 knots.