1943 British Royal Navy Lifeboat 27′

Description

RIJKEL is a 1943 Royal Navy lifeboat — a mahogany-planked, oak-framed clinker (lapstrake) whaleboat built on Malta in 1943. After WWII, she crossed the Atlantic to the Hingham Shipyard in Massachusetts aboard a Lend-Lease destroyer escort.

The donor’s father learned of these boats arriving at east coast ports through a chance encounter with a Royal Navy lieutenant — a family he knew from the British Channel Islands — who encouraged him to track one down. He found several at Hingham, and in 1946, he sailed and rowed one away. He named her Rijkel, after the town in Belgium where he’d been billeted during the Battle of the Bulge.

Engine – 1997 Yanmar diesel 2GM20F 18 HP

9 gal. diesel tank

Older double axle trailer with attached cradle. The trailer sways badly at highway speeds, we only recommend using it for storage or local short trips. RIJKEL is in good condition with recent topside paint. Stored in a barn on the off season.

Some of the planking was refastened 40 years ago with copper/bronze rivets.

In the early 1960s the hull was fiberglassed from the water line down, the center board was removed and the trunk glassed over. It was a source of leaking and had little positive effect if trying to sail to windward.  Hull is dry and is equipped with 2 bilge pumps.

In the 1980s the boat was rolled over for extensive hull work and reglassing. A Yanmar 20GM20F was installed in 1997 as well as a new engine beds and mahogany enclosure.