General Picton

'General Picton' was a tender and lifeboat for a Trinity House light vessel from about 1958, believed to have been built by Robsons Ltd. of South Shields.

She would have been powered by up to 4 oarsmen supplemented by a dipping lugsail for downwind sailing.

After her decommissioning in 1978 she was neglected and used for occasional fishing. She was bought by David Picton-Phillips in 1988 and donated to the Society. She was in a poor state and needed considerable restoration; her copper buoyancy tanks, and food and water containers had been removed and lost.

After many years of service within the Society it has recently enjoyed a much-needed restoration program that included many new ribs, new gunwales and rubbing strakes, a rebuild of the lower transom which had rotted, topped off with a thorough paint job. It was ready to be back in the water in early 2025.

We are trying to interpret the faded markings on the stem but they seem to indicate (shown below):
- a date of '14/8/5?'
- length 16', width 5.7', draught 2.3', capacity 12 persons