GL Watson 81 ft Twin Screw Motor Yacht 1962

THEMARA’s sound provenance - designed by masters of ocean-going seaworthiness and efficiency in powered yachts, G.L. Watson & Co., and built by one of their favourite Scottish yards - combined with an astonishing record of voyaging for a motor yacht of this size, and recent restoration and refit by a skilled and experienced Dutch-led team, makes her a very enticing package. In her 60 years, THEMARA has sailed almost everywhere you can go in the North Atlantic, and circumnavigated. Now this classic little ship is almost ready for more of the same, or simply exploring home waters, either for private pleasure or as a charter vessel: in even more comfort, with modern systems, and her original trusty and economic Gardner engines totally rebuilt.

2017- Present
- In SW France

2013
- In Genoa, Italy
- Hull plating work

G.L. WATSON & CO. DESIGN NO. 670
AILSA SHIPBUILDING CO. YARD NO. 514

In length and general arrangement, THEMARA seems to have been commissioned as a more modern and voluminous version of her first owner Colonel Sir Oliver Crosthwaite-Eyre’s previous yacht, the Charles E. Nicholson-designed 80-footer BYSTANDER; in an earlier life the J-Class racing yacht VELSHEDA’s original tender from 1934.

The recently knighted chairman of one of Britain’s largest publishing houses, Eyre & Spottiswood, and member of the UK Parliament for The New Forest, Sir Oliver chose THEMARA's designers well. GL Watson & Co had concentrated almost exclusively on efficient and seakindly powered yachts since the death of their founder George Lennox Watson in 1904. Watson’s successor, JR Barnett, had joined the firm as a draughtsman in the 1880’s and retired as Senior Partner only three years before the commission for THEMARA, but remarkably continued to work on lines drawings until his death at the age of 101 in 1965. So, there is deep experience infused in THEMARA’s lines.

Ailsa Shipbuilding at Troon was one of the Watson office’s choice yards, easily accessed by train from Glasgow. By 1962 it was a business relationship of over 80 years; one imagines few hitches in THEMARA’s build. She was launched on 19th February 1962 and completed that spring. Perhaps her first voyage was in Hebridean waters, to her owner’s Knoydart estate. As was often the tradition, most of her crew were Highlanders.

A November 1966 Aberdeen Press and Journal interview with her Chief Engineer, John Reid from Avoch in Easter Ross, a veteran of the Second World War Atlantic convoys who'd joined THEMARA at Troon during the build, offers an insight into THEMARA’s already busy early years – a trend that would continue in future ownership. She had just arrived in Valetta, Malta, for a winter refit, and had wintered 1965-66 at Palma de Mallorca. Her 1966 summer cruise had taken in all of Italy and France, including Sardinia and Corsica, and plans for 1967 included cruising the Greek islands followed by an autumn Atlantic passage to the Bahamas. Although such a schedule is commonplace nowadays, in the mid-1960s it was still newsworthy.

There was to be no let-up in the sea miles rolled off by THEMARA’s log under her second ownership from 1973 by Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve officer, gentleman of independent means and travel writer John Stuart Marriner from Jersey who changed her name to MORNING WATCH. Marriner had previously roved the lesser travelled coastal and inland waters of Europe in the 1934 Silver ‘Brown Owl’ 55 ft/ 17 m motor yacht SEPTEMBER TIDE (a ‘Dunkirk Little Ship under her original name MOIENA), and he wrote about these adventures in a series of now rather forgotten but charming books.

MORNING WATCH allowed Marriner to extend the range of his adventures, yet for some reason, after SEPTEMBER TIDE he stopped publishing his stories, at least in book form. However, the logs of both vessels are in the collection of Jersey Archives. The catalogue reveals an astonishing period of voyaging for a privately owned and operated yacht.

Between June 1973 and late 1977, MORNING WATCH cruised extensively and sometimes repeatedly in all waters between Malta, North Africa, almost to the Arctic Circle in the Gulf of Bothnia, and in the eastern Baltic. Then, in December 1977, she began a three year Atlantic Circuit that included taking in the Great Lakes, returning to Europe in 1980. But not for a rest. During her 1982 summer cruise, she reached Bear Island in the Barents Sea;, more than 74° North.

John Marriner died after a long illness in 1984 and MORNING WATCH was sold c1985 to a Miami, Florida-based entity. From 1988, under the new name ATLANTIS OF THE SEVEN SEAS, she circumnavigated and is believed to have been a support vessel for the filming of Luc Besson’s 1991 film 'Atlantis'. By 1996 her name had changed again to FAIR LADY under Swedish flag and she was chartering in northern European waters. By 2008 she received yet another new name, LA BIMBA in Italian ownership, and entered a substantial refit phase in Genoa around five years later which rather ran out of steam.

Since 2017, restored to THEMARA, her present Dutch owners have brought this remarkable voyager back to life, and more, as described elsewhere here.

©2024 Iain McAllister/ Sandeman Yacht Company Ltd

- In Class Lloyd’s ✠100A1 from 1962 to c1986
- Welded steel hull with riveted bulwarks.
- Aluminium and steel superstructure.
- 4 x Watertight bulkheads.
- Steel and timber decks recently covered with teak

Completely rebuilt using varnished mahogany, in a timeless style, with modern details added for comfort.

- Accommodation for 6 x guests; 3 x crew

SALOON
- c 22 m²
- Accessed via triple door from aft deck
- Access to the master cabin below deck

LOWER ACCOMMODATION AFT
- Companionway stair from saloon
- Lobby with locker
- Aft to master state room
- White painted v'd lining hull ceilings
- Oak sole
- Large hanging locker to starboard
- Entry to wc compartment to starboard fwd
- Table with bookshelves to starboard
- Seating area and shelves to port
- Double berth; stowage under
- Dressers port and starboard; locker over
- Bath/ shower compartment port fwd
- 2 x Chromed bronze opening ports port and starboard
- 2 x Bulkhead mounted lights
- Skylight in deckhead [TBC]
- Deckhead lights

FROM SALOON FORWARD TO CORRIDOR TO STARBOARD
- 1 x Door to starboard side deck

GALLEY TO PORT
- All new in stainless steel
- Frigomar 230V + 24V custom fridges and freezers
- Whirlpool multi-function oven
- Kuppersbusch Induction hobs
- Miele dishwasher
- Deckhead lights

LOWER ACCOMMODATION FORWARD
- Companionway stairs to starboard of wheelhouse

Aft to:
En-suite Double Guest Cabin to port; large hanging locker
- Varnished mahogany panelling to dado; white painted above
- White painted v'd lining hull ceilings
- Large hanging locker
- Dresser with drawers and lockers under
- Bulkhead cabinet
Twin Guest Cabin to starboard
- Varnished mahogany panelling to dado; white painted above
- White painted v'd lining hull ceilings
- Large hanging locker
- Dresser with drawers and lockers under
- Bulkhead cabinet

Fwd to:
- Captain’s Cabin to starboard; locker and desk
- Shower compartment with washbasin to port
- Day Toilet to port
- Twin berth crew cabin with locker

WHEELHOUSE
- Entry from port side deck and starboard corridor
- Ladder to Upper Deck
- Light with good visibility
- Original windows restored
- All instruments updated.

LAUNDRY ROOM
- Aft of galley; accessed from port side door
- AC electrical panel; washing machine; drier (all new)

ENGINE ROOM
- Accessed from port side door

FOREPEAK
- Accessed from foredeck hatch

GENERAL
- Full length teak-capped bulwarks
- 2 x Panama fairleads aft
- 3 x Panama fairleads fwd
- 5 x Large scupper drains
- Teak laid decks on steel

AFT DECK
- Large table and seats
- Stair to upper deck
- Hatch to lazarette, shore power connection and steering flat
- Gate for passerelle access

DECKHOUSE
- Attractive original bronze windows; some opening
- 3 x Leaf aft door access to saloon
- 2 x Doors to stbd accessing stbd corridor
- 4 x Doors to post to laundry room, engine room, galley, wheelhouse

WHEELHOUSE
- Access port and starboard
- 4 x Wipers with washers
- Ship's Bell

FOREDECK
- Forehatch to forepeak/ chain locker
- Data Hydraulic horizontal windlass (2014)
- Driven by PTO on the main generator
- 2 x Chain gipsies; 2 x warping drums
- 2 x Anchors 150kg each
- 2 x New 108 meter galvanized chains

UPPER DECK
- Flying Bridge
- Sun deck overhanging side decks and aft deck
- Seating/ stowage boxes
- Hydraulic crane
- Tender stowage

MECHANICAL
Main engines and drive train
- 2 x 6-Cyl Gardner 6L3B, 174 hp each (rebuilt 2014)
- Electric start; Hydromar electric telegraph
- Gardner engine control panels
- Original Gardner reduction gears and gearbox
- Propeller shafts and stern tube oil lubrication renewed by France Hélice
- Contra-rotating propellers
- Max: 10 knots
- Cruising: 9 knots - range 4000 nautical miles
- Halyard wet exhausts by Halyard
- Exit on each side above the waterline
- (Funnel is decorative and used for ventilation)
Generators
- No. 1: KOHLER 50 KVA, 2014, 4-cyl diesel 1500rpm
- Commissioned 2020; hours: 20
- No. 2: KOHLER 33 KVA, 2014, 4-cyl diesel 1500rpm
- Commissioned 2020; hours: 50

HYDRAULIC
- Hydraulic electric/manual steering with 2 stations (wheelhouse + flying bridge)
- Activating the single rudder; hydraulic pump and oil tank are located in engine room
- Bowthruster - driven by PTO from main generator (2020)
- Windlass - driven by PTO from main generator (2014)
- 2 x Stabilizer fins activated by engine driven hydraulic pump (electronics not yet installed)
- Steelhead Marine crane at top deck. Capacity: 1500 kg

ELECTRICAL
- 230/400V 3 phases AC 50Hz and 24 v DC
- Main electric panel in compartment above engine room (2020)
- Shore power isolation transformer 25 KVA.
- All electrical cabling and hydraulic pipework is new
- House battery: 24V 1640 Ah Sealed Lead Acid (gel) bank in engine room
- Charger/Inverter: Victron Multi+ 3 kW
- Separated engine and generator start batteries
- 2 x 400V Engine room ventilation fans

TANKAGE

Fuel
- Total 12,000 L
- 2 x tanks fwd of engine room; 1 x Day tank
- Tank tops renewed 2014
- Racor & Centrifuge filters all tanks
- All tanks equipped with fuel gauges

Water
- Total 4000 L
- 3,000 L integrated in hull
- 1,000 L in stainless steel tank aft
- Gianneschi & Ramacciotti fresh water system
- 2 x Pumps (400 V and 24 V) located in engine room
- Hot Water: Electrical, 3 x 230 V boilers
- Tecma toilet system (3 units, 24V - new)

Black Water
- 1,000 L

Grey Water
- 1,000 L

AIR CONDITIONING
- Climma; new; with chillers (80,000btu) installed in the engine room
- Air handlers with independent controls throughout the boat

NAVIGATION/ ELECTRONICS
- Steering compass.
- Koden radar
- PC Chart Plotter
- Simrad AP50 Autopilot
- Furuno GPS
- Furuno Navtex
- JRC Depth sounder
- Silva Nexus log

COMMUNICATIONS
- Sailor VHF Radio
- Raytheon loudhailer
- CCTV: Aft deck and Engine Room

BILGE/FIRE PUMPS
1 x Gianneschi & Ramacciotti 40mm 400V pump and an identical unit in 24V.

FIRE FIGHTING EQUIPMENT
- Fixed extinguishing system by Seafire fitted in the engine room
- Extinguishers throughout the vessel.

Barbados 1977: Martin Smyth