Name Helinda

HELINDA was launched in April 1939 as White Ghost II, a 40’ Eagle Class motor cruiser with twin Morris 6 cylinder petrol engines. She was registered under her current Official Number 167759 by her first owner, Mr Raymond Way. On 4th September she was requisitioned by the Ministry of War Transport (MOWT) for £20 per week, and used as a Thames Auxiliary Patrol Vessel. Records show similar vessels, including 1938 sister ship Gwen Eagle, having served in Dunkirk there is no record of White Ghost II having done so. In November 1941 she was purchased by the MOWT, and remained in Auxiliary Patrol service until being laid up in June 1945 - a month after VE Day.

She was re-purchased by Raymond Way in August 1945, before being sold to Mr A.V.P Lindsay in 1946. War damage was repaired with her topsides and interior being rebuilt, and teak decks replaced, and she was lengthened by just over 2’ to accommodate larger fuel tanks. In 1947 she was registered as Helinda, and kept for 2 years at Poole, before moving to Bucklers Hard. In 1969 Helinda’s next recorded owner was George William Curry Doust, who registered her in May 1969 and re-engined her with two 94hp 2-4V Perkins diesel engines. At around this time she moved to Malta, and came into the possession of Mr HS Andrews but he did not register her. She was reclaimed from Salina Bay, where she had fallen into disuse, by Squadron Leader G.H. D’Arcy Power who registered her in May 1972. Passing through a series of owners, in 1981 she was bought by Kenneth Lawson Smith and began a period of over 40 years under the same family ownership. This included a period as a live-aboard vessel in Port D’Aiguadoic, Barcelona, before moving to Bristol where she was refurbished by Rolf’s Boatyard in 1994. 

In 2016 she was again refurbished at the same yard, which included replacement of the Perkins diesels with two 90hp Beta Marine B-90s. Helinda’s current owner purchased her in November 2022, and re-registered her as HELINDA (Littlehampton) under her original official number.