A site for a wooden boathouse was provided by Mr. Frederick Leath and cost £186.11s.1d to house a 10-oared self-righting lifeboat that was built by Forrest of Limehouse. The new lifeboat arrived at Walmer in November 1856 and was named the Royal Thames Yacht Club.

The name was given to the lifeboat following the Appeal when a member of the Royal Thames Yacht Club offered to contribute half the cost of the new lifeboat at Walmer, so long as the other members of the club raised the remainder of the money. The new lifeboat was first launched on service on 5th January 1856, to rescue 13 crew and two local boatmen from the barque Reliance that had become wrecked in rough seas and a severe gale, along with heavy snow, off Walmer. It sometimes proved difficult for the Walmer lifeboat to reach a wrecked vessel depending on the direction of the wind and tide.

A new 12-oared self-righter lifeboat arrived at Walmer in October 1871, built by Forrest and cost £342. This new Walmer lifeboat was provided out of an anonymous gift and was christened Centurion. A new brick boathouse was built 70 yards to the south of the original wooden boathouse to accommodate Centurion. The old wooden boathouse was dismantled and re-erected at North Deal, near to Sandown Castle.