37' Watson Silver Jubilee Lifeboat (1977) - SOLD

37′ William Osborne Rother Watson ex-RNLI Silver Jubilee Lifeboat, $35,000, Ossining, NY

Following King Charles III’s coronation, up for sale is a 1977 British ex-Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI) Lifeboat known as the Silver Jubilee. Named in honor of Queen Elizabeth II’s Jubilee and christened by HRH Princess Margaret in November 1978.

The Silver Jubilee was acquired in 2005 and following minor restoration work in Northern Ireland, was shipped in 2007 via RORO to an Ossining, NY Marina. She is now in need of a new home, following my husband Michael’s death last year from cancer.

FYI, the RNLI is a volunteer organization which performs many of the working duties handled by the US Coast Guard. The Silver Jubilee is the only wooden RNLI lifeboat in the US. Only (14) of these Rother Watson model work boats were manufactured and all are in private hands. The Rother Watsons were the last of the wooden boat models built for the RNLI, before they switched to Fiberglass hulls.
We have the original Builders’ plans from William Osborne of Littlehampton, UK, and historical information & records from the prior owner.

The Silver Jubilee has a double plank wooden hull, measures 37’ in length and is self-righting with (3) compartments: Aft Wheelhouse, Engine Room, and Forward Cabin.

This working boat served at the Margate, Kent Lifeboat station from 1978 to 1993 before passing into private hands. The SJ is in good working condition, with the original twin 4-cylinder Ford Mermaid diesel engines, 1500 rpm giving 8 knots. The twin stainless steel tanks have a 50 UK gallon storage capacity each. Economical at 3 gallons per hour at 8 knots for 30 hours running with 10 gallon reserve.

Fresh water cooling by heat exchangers mounted in the the fore cabin bilges, cooled by the natural momentum of the boat through the water, either ahead or astern, no pumps are necessary.

Steering gear is all bronze shafts and gearboxes from helm to rudder. Rudder to be hauled up and secured with the hooks provided, when not in use. This protects the internal gearing from unnecessary wear.

The Silver Jubilee has been out of the water for 5 years, and there is seaming work on the hull, then primer, and anti-foul work to be completed.

We restored this functioning Lifeboat to its original condition and provided the care and upkeep required by a large wooden ship. As Architects, we admired the rugged construction and the over-engineered systems which made this such a successful Lifeboat. The Silver Jubilee was my husband’s passion project, and he referred to her as “14 tons of fun” as she journeyed along the lower Hudson River.