NANTUCKET Lightship WLV-612

In 2000 the current owners bought the ship at auction to preserve her, spent three years refurbishing the Ship and now offer the luxury yacht for charters, vacation rentals and events.

The Lightship boasts a luxurious new interior with 2,000 sq. ft. of deck space and 4,000 sq. ft. of mahogany and cherry paneled interior appointed with original marine oil paintings, oriental carpets and original artifacts. The Lightship sleeps up to 10 guests in five staterooms with en suite baths. There is a dockside event capacity for parties of up to 144 guests.

The Nantucket Lightship WLV-612 was built in 1950 and was stationed three miles off of the Golden Gate Bridge as the San Francisco from 1950-1969. As Lightships were replaced with 40 foot unmanned buoys, the 612 next served off Cape Mendocino in California as the Blunts Reef from 1969-71 and in 1971 she went back through the Panama Canal to serve as the Portland in Maine from 1971-75. Finally from 1975-1983, she served as the Nantucket on the last Lightship station in the United States 45 miles southeast of Nantucket Island. In 1985, the Nantucket Lightship was decommissioned by the United States Coast Guard as the last Lightship in the United States.

The mission of the Lightship was, a life saving mission, to stand resolute regardless of the peril and guide all to safe haven. The first US Lightship was placed on station in 1820. In 1854, after hundreds of shipwrecks, the United States Congress established the Nantucket South Shoals Lightship Station to protect trans Atlantic and coastal shipping from the dangers of the treacherous shoals. The WLV-612 is one of a proud line of Nantucket Lightships which were known as the Guardian Angels of the North Atlantic From 1854 to 1983, it was the Nantucket Lightship and not the Statue of Liberty which first greeted mariners and immigrants to America. Lightships serving this station were in international waters and were exposed to the dangers of fog bound collisions, enemy attacks and natural disaster from hurricanes and severe winter storms.

The Nantucket Lightship WLV-612 is one of a dozen lightships which remain. The others have all been sunk or scraped as artificial reefs. It is the objective of the current owners to showcase the Nantucket Lightship WLV-612 as a new model for historic marine preservation so that other ships may be saved for future generations.