Journal of theRoyal National Lifeboat Inst i tut ion

Volume 51 Number 510

The

LifeboatWinter 1989/90 Mersey class design and development

Fund raising around the countryLifeboat profile

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The Winter 1989/90

LifeboatRoyal National

LifeboatInstitution

ContentsVolume 51Number 510Chairman:MICHAEL VERNON

Director and Secretary:LT CDR BRIAN MILES RD MNI RNR

Editor:MIKE FLOYD

Headquarters:Royal National Lifeboat Institution, WestQuay Road, Poole, Dorset BH15 1HZ.Telephone Poole (0202) 671133Telex 41328.London Offices:Royal National Lifeboat Institution, 202Lambeth Road, London SE1 7JW.Telephone01-928 5742 (Enquiries and Fundraising)01-928 4236 (Public Relations)01-928 5743 (Central London Committee)Advertisement Manager:PETER HOLNESSRoyal National Lifeboat Institution, WestQuay Road, Poole, Dorset BH15 1HZ.Telephone Poole (0202) 671133Telex 41328

RNLI News 186What's happening in and around the Institution

From the Director 188The Director of the RNLI, Lt Cdr Brian Miles, looks back on the past yearand ahead to the new decade

Lifeboat Services 189A variety of launches in detail

Designing for the Future 194Keith Thatcher, one of the RNLI's Naval Architects looks at the task ofdesigning and developing new lifeboats

Ceremonies 199Naming and dedication ceremonies around the country

Past and Present 197From THE LIFEBOAT of 50 years ago, and one of today's lifeboatmen

The Fundraisers 203How some of the RNLI's income is raised

Accept no substitute... 207Broadcaster and journalist Malcolm McKeag with an interesting tale

Lifeboat Services 208List of services for June and July 1989

Books 210Some recent publications reviewed

Looking at lifeboatsA new series begins with the Waveney class

People and Places

213

214Around and about the RNLI

Membership News 216News for Shoreline and Storm Force membersGovernors and Life Governors

COVER PICTUREcourtesy of

The Hull Daily MailThe Humber lifeboat Kenneth Thelwallis dwarfed by the blazing oil tankerPhillips Oklahoma. Sixteen seamenwere taken off the tanker after acollision on 17 September 1989. Fulldetails of the service on page 189.

Next Issue: The Spring issue of THELIFEBOAT will appear in April 1990, andnews items should be received by the end ofJanuary 1990.

All material submitted for considerationwith a view to publication should be ad-dressed to The Editor, THE LIFEBOAT, RoyalNational Lifeboat Institution, West QuayRoad, Poole, Dorset BH15 1HZ.

Photographs intended for return should beaccompanied by a stamped, addressed enve-lope.

Subscription: Ayear's subscription forfour issues costs £5.00, including postage,but those who are entitled to receive THELIFEBOAT free of charge will continue todo so.

Overseas subscriptions depend on the costof postage to the country concerned. Write tothe RNLI, West Quay Road, Poole, DorsetBH15 1HZ.

Printed by the Friary Press, Bridport Road,Dorchester, Dorset

185

NEWSRoyal visitor to the depot and headquarters

HRH The Princess Royal examines a D class inflatable with the Superintendent of the RNLI Depot, MickWheeler (left) and Deputy Director Ray Kipling (right) during her visit on 30 November 1989.

HRH The Princess Royal visited the RNLIduring a brief visit to Poole on 30 November1989.

Despite a very tight schedule, which meantshe could only spend some 45 minutes withthe Institution, the Princess toured the depotand workshop buildings before seeing theoperations room, the fund raising depart-ment and the hull drawing office at head-quarters.

Her Royal Highness was greeted by theChairman of the Institution, Mr MichaelVernon, and the Deputy Director, Mr RayKipling, who conducted her on her tour.

The Princess stopped to talk to severalmembers of staff in both buildings and ex-pressed a keen interest in the work of theRNLI. Before her departure Mr Vernon pre-sented the Princess with a silk headscarf as amemento of her visit

NewspointA fine summer, but...

Although the final figures for 1989were not available at the time ofgoing to press the statistics for life-boat services in 1989 are showingsome interesting trends.

The number of services has beenrunning slightly ahead of the 1988figure for most of the year, and it islikely that 1989 will see as many,and possibly more, services than1988 - itself an all-time record.

As might be expected the long,hot summer has produced a sig-nificant fall in the number of serv-ices carried out in strong winds,perhaps to as much as half of lastyear's number. However, despite,or perhaps because of, the goodweather the lifeboats, and theUnder-10m lifeboats in particular,have been very busy.

The number of lives saved by theinflatable or rigid inflatable C, Dand Atlantic 21 class lifeboats atthe end of November already ex-ceeded those saved in the wholeof the previous year.

There is no doubt that the trend isfor the lifeboat fleet to be busierthan ever, and saving an increas-ing number of lives, in goodweather and bad.

'Lifeboat weather' is no longerconfined to gales and storms, andthe lifeboatmen's service is in greatdemand even through the best ofsummer weather.

The Institution's 1990 AGMThe 1990 annual meetings of the RNLIwill be held on Tuesday, May 22 at theSouth Bank, London.

The governors' annual general meetingwill take place in the Queen ElizabethHall at 1130, and the annual presentationof awards to lifeboatmen and honoraryworkers will be held at 1430 in the RoyalFestival Hall.

All governors of the RNLI should findan application form for both meetings en-closed with this issue of THE LIFEBOAT.Should any governor who wishes to at-tend the meetings not receive a formplease write to The Director, RNLI, WestQuay Road, Poole, Dorset BH15 1HZ.

There is no need to return the form ifyou will not be attending the meeting ordo not wish to receive the annual reportand accounts.

Branches and guilds will receive detailsof how to apply for tickets to the presen-tation of awards from their regional of-fices, and other supporters who wish toattend the presentation should write tothe Director at the above address.

Bequest funds new HQ buildingThe contract for the new building to provideadditional space at RNLI headquarters inPoole has been awarded to John Laing , andthe £2m cost is to be met entirely from the£3.5m bequest of the late Mr Kenneth Thel-wall.

Mr Thelwall's bequest, the largest bequestever received by the Institution, has alreadyfunded two lifeboats, an Arun class, KennethThelwall, stationed at Spurn Point on theHumber and a Tyne class, Kenneth ThelwallII currently under construction and destinedfor the relief fleet.

The RNLI had always intended that thecost of the additional building would not bemet from funds raised by volunteers andcommenting on the decision to fund thebuilding from Mr Thelwall's bequest theDirector, Lt Cdr Brian Miles, said: 'I amvery conscious of the need to spend theRNLFs money wisely. By providing thisnew building now, we will be able to meetthe increasing needs of the service into thenext century. Thanks to Mr Thelwall's be-

quest, we will not need to use for this projectany of the money which our volunteer fundraisers work so hard to collect.'

Work began on the site on 6 November1989 and is expected to continue untilFebruary 1991.

Due to the construction work car parkingspace at the Poole Headquarters is now verylimited, and anyone planning a visit to Pooleshould ask about arrangements when theymake an appointment to visit headquarters.

Open Days postponedOne effect of the extensive building work atPoole is the postponement of the bi-annualOpen Days which would normally have beenheld in July 1990.

With minimal car parking available andmajor construction work under way it hasbeen decided that it would be unwise to holdthe Open Days until the new building iscomplete.

The dates for the deferred Open Days willbe published in THE LIFEBOAT.

FAB progressThe RNLI has placed an order for the hull,deck and superstructure of a prototype newFast Afloat Boat (FAB). The order is due forcompletion at the end of March 1990 and itis anticipated that the boat will be fitted outand ready for trials and evaluation by early1991.

The design, known as FAB 3, is intended tobe in service in 1993 as a replacement forsome Arun class lifeboats.

Although superficially similar to the Arunin appearance the new design is in fact verydifferent. At 17m (55ft 9in) she is longerthan the 52ft and 54ft Aruns, has a designspeed of 25 knots (7 knots faster than theArun) and has a different hull shape withbilge keels providing protection for the pro-pellers.

Other features of the design include aft-mounted engines with V-drives and an inter-nal superstructure layout divided into twoseparate compartments - one for the crewand another for seated survivors. Construc-

RNLI colours at Festivalof RemembranceThe RNLI was asked to participate in thisyear's Royal British Legion Festival ofRemembrance in the Royal Albert Hall,London in recognition of the vital workcarried out by lifeboats during the years ofhostilities.

Nineteen lifeboats took part in the Dunkirkevacuation and throughout the Second WorldWar lifeboats responded to 2,212 ships oraircraft in distress which had been damagedby hostile forces, and between 1939 and1945 rescued 6,376 people.

Thirteen lifeboatmen lost their lives, withthree fatalities as a direct result of enemyaction.

Robert Fossett, the 37-year-old helmsmanof the Southend-on-Sea Atlantic 21 lifeboatand a Sub-Officer with the Essex Fire andRescue Service was chosen to carry theRNLI's colours at the ceremony on the eve-ning of 11 November 1989.• Three lifeboatmen from Oban carried theRNLFs colours at the Annual National Serv-ice for Seafarers at St Paul's Cathedral on 11October. William Melville, MalcolmRobertson and Michael Robertson are allmembers of the crew of the Oban lifeboat,currently the 33ft Brede class Nottingham-shire.

Profile drawing of proposed Fast Afloat Boat 3Principle dimensions: LOA 17.0m (55ft 9in), Beam 5.5m (18ft), draught 1.53m (5ft), Speed 25 knots

tion is a form of fibre reinforced composite.Design work on a smaller, 14m (46ft) fast

afloat lifeboat (FAB 4), also with a designspeed of 25 knots, is progressing well with a

hull which is a 'geosim' (a naval architectsacronym for 'geometrically similar') of FAB3 - essentially a scaling-down of the largerboat's lines.

Honours for lifeboat crews at awards ceremoniesLifeboat crews took two of the major awardsat the Silk Cut Nautical Awards presenta-tions at the Savoy Hotel, London on 23November 1989.

An eight-man panel of judges, led by round-the-world yachtsman Chay Blyth and in-cluding Lt Alan Tate staff officer (training)for the RNLI, decided that the NationalRescue award should go to the HaylingIsland Atlantic 21 lifeboat crew for theirservice to the 32ft yacht Dingaling whichhad been knocked down in appalling condi-tions off the entrance to Chichester Harbour.

Helmsman Frank Dunster had manoeuvredthe lifeboat close to one casualty and crewmember Graham Raines jumped into thewater to support him. Crew member RodJames had then been swept overboard whileattempting to recover Raines and the casu-alty. Graham Raines was awarded the Insti-tution's Bronze medal and five other life-boatmen received Thanks on Vellum fortheir part in the service, which was coveredin detail in the Spring 1989 issue of THELIFEBOAT.

Some two weeks earlier Graham Raineshad also received one of twelve Men of TheYear awards at a lunch organised by theRoyal Association for Disability and Reha-bilitation (RADAR).

The Seamanship Award also went to anRNLI crew - Coxswain Tommy Ralston andthe crew of Mallaig's Arun class The Davinaand Charles Matthews Hunter.

The award was for a service on 27 October1988 when, in horrendous conditions thelifeboat saved the fishing vessel Galileanand her crew of two from a lee shore sur-rounded by submerged rocks.

The lifeboat traced the casualty's coursedownwind through the rocks in winds gust-ing to 75 knots and, towing from the bow,brought her to safety.

A full description of the service, for whichcoxswain Tommy Ralston was awarded theInstitution's Bronze medal, appeared in theSummer 1989 issue of THE LIFEBOAT.

The awards, gold and glass commemora-tive plaques, were presented by former Con-servative party chairman Norman Tebbitt.

When third is more than enoughThe annual figures published by the Chari-ties Aid Foundation place the RNLI third inits 1988 'league table' of voluntary income,behind Oxfam and The National Trust.

Although the Institution topped the list in1987 slipping two positions in the table is oflittle relevance. As we said in the Winter 88/89 issue of The Lifeboat when putting thetop-of-the-table position in perspective:

'what really counts is simply whether thatmoney was sufficient to carry out the job theRNLI is required to do'.

Thanks to the magnificent efforts of thefund raisers the £37.75m which put the RNLIin third place was indeed sufficient for itsneeds, and in fact exceeded the Institution'starget of £36m for the year. All are alreadyworking hard to meet the 1989 targets.

NEWS IN BRIEF• The RNLI played a part in the openingof the Southampton International BoatShow in September, when the Tyne classlifeboat Sarah Emily Harrop escortedthe dignitaries to the ceremony and re-mained alongside for the weekend, opento the public.• Following Padstow's success in per-suading Cornwall County Council towaive the fee for explosive licences forstations throughout Cornwall the honor-ary secretary at Torbay, Antony Smith,has had a similar success in Devon.Stations in the county will now pay just anominal 5p instead of £8.• All stations operating outboard-engined lifeboats have been informedthat they can use 'green' unleaded fueland, where possible, most are now usingthe cleaner, cheaper fuel.

187

From the DirectorLt Cdr Brian Miles, Director of the RNLI, looksback on 1989 - and forward to a new decade

J.t is difficult to believe that a whole year has passed since my lastmessage in the journal. The old adage of time passing ever morequickly as the years advance is proving to be true.

1989 has, not unexpectedly, proved to be another busy year forthe RNLI, with some satisfying progress to report. Last year Imentioned the work involved in completing the evaluation trialsof the Mersey class carriage lifeboats. Orders for 18 of theselifeboats have now been placed and at least a further 10 will berequired to fulfill our commitment to have fast lifeboats in serviceat all stations by the end of 1993.

ContractThe cost of £455,000 for each Mersey class lifeboat has already

been announced, but it is pleasing to confirm that we have beenable to negotiate a contract which virtually guarantees the cost ofthe entire build programme. We have not been able to achieve thisbefore, and it represents a significant step forward which will beof enormous help in future financial planning for the Institution.

It was a particular pleasure to be present to participate in thenaming ceremonies of the first two Mersey class lifeboats to enterservice, at Bridlington and Hastings. It was even more encourag-ing to receive confirmation from the coxswains and crew mem-bers at both stations that they are delighted with the performanceand seakeeping qualities of their new lifeboats. It is impossible toemphasise sufficiently that for all of us this is the highest accoladethat any new lifeboat can receive.

1989 was a marvellous year for naming ceremonies and obvi-ously the long hot summer helpedto guarantee some happy andmemorable occasions. The nam-ing ceremony and service of dedi-cation of a new lifeboat is invari-ably a great day for the station con-cerned.

Details of all the ceremoniesappear in the journal, but there are ^^^^_^^ ,̂̂ .̂ ^^two which I recall for special rea-sons. No one fortunate enough to be present will forget the day atThurso in August when our Patron, Her Majesty Queen ElizabethThe Queen Mother named the new Thurso Arun class lifeboat TheQueen Mother. In welcoming Her Majesty the Chairman, MrMichael Vernon, pointed out that Thurso was the seventh namingceremony to be carried out by Her Majesty, and that this repre-sented an outstanding record of support for the RNLI.

I also recall another lovely day at Salcombe in June when thestation's new Tyne class lifeboat was named Baltic Exchange IIby Mrs Joy Frame, the wife of the Chairman of the BalticExchange.

Before the ceremony a special certificate was awarded to life-boat enthusiast Jim Wallbridge, who was attending his 100thoffshore lifeboat ceremony. Mr Wallbridge attended his firstnaming ceremony in Sheerness on 18 May 1974, and only twoother naming ceremonies had taken place that year. In 1989 therehave been 36 naming ceremonies and I believe this illustrates per-fectly the spectacular increase in our new lifeboat building pro-gramme in recent years.

PrototypeWe have now almost completed the build programme of Arun

and Tyne class lifeboats and the final boats of these two successfulclasses will enter service in 1990. Satisfactory progress continuesto be made with the development of two, new fast lifeboat classesfor the future. A prototype of the larger class will be completedearly in 1990 and evaluation trials will commence on the coast.We have gained much experience in recent years with the devel-

'We must be sure that theboathouses also match therequirements of the RNLI'

opment of lifeboats tomeet modern require-ments, but it is onlywhen we can try theboats in a coastal envi-ronment that we can bereassured they are inevery respect fit for thefuture demands whichwill be placed on them.

Designing, buildingand equipping lifeboatsfor the future is a toppriority but we mustalso be sure that theboathouses, store-houses and other shore facilities match the re-quirements of the RNLI. We have been studying these in 1989 assome of our shore facilities are becoming outdated. In some cases,and St Ives, Skegness and Ramsey are examples, totally new boat-houses are being built, reducing launching times and incorporat-ing improved facilities for our crews.

VisitsDuring the last year I have been able to visit many lifeboat sta-

tions and a number of financial branches and ladies guilds. Al-though some of these visits have, I am afraid, been brief I amalways grateful for the kind welcome I receive and I am aware that

a similar friendly welcome is^^^"^^""^^^^^^—^^^^ extended to all those who man-

age to visit from the Committeeof Management and from HeadOffice.

Finally, we have now entered anew decade and I believe that theRNLI faces an exciting and aschallenging a future as at anytime in its long history. I know

we are all confident we will achieve success in all our endeavoursto improve our service still further in the future; nevertheless wehave to recognise that along the way we will probably have toexperience some disappointments.

ChangesThese are often caused by decisions involving a change or

regrading in lifeboat cover. I believe we owe it to ourselves andto the multitude of people who support the RNLI so generously toensure that we always provide the very best level of cover aroundthe coast to meet our declared commitment.

The RNLI needs to review this constantly. The availability of anew and improved class of lifeboat with greater speed and in-creased capability, a change in local conditions caused by thesilting up of a harbour or plans to build a marina all have a bearingon these considerations.

I can only confirm that such changes are only contemplated afterthe most detailed thought by the staff and the Committee ofManagement and, most important of all, only after the stationconcerned has been fully consulted.

ThanksI extend my renewed thanks to all the readers of THE LIFEBOAT

for the support they give to the RNLI in such a wide variety ofways. I have been delighted to meet so many of you during the lastyear and I look forward to further opportunities of meeting you inthe years ahead.

On behalf of all my colleagues at Headquarters I wish you all aHappy, Peaceful and Healthy New Year.

188

LifeboatServices

TANKER FIRE VISIBLE FROM FIVE MILES AWAY

Sixteen seamen taken offblazing oil tankerThe collision which involved a tanker off the Humber estuary on 17 Septem-ber 1989, and the subsequent fire, made front-page news throughout thecountry, and the actions of the Humber lifeboat crew in taking off many ofthe Filipino crew of the Liberian-registered vessel has earned them a letterof thanks from the Philippine Ambassador in the UK.

Writing to Brian Bevan, the Superinten-dent Coxswain at Humber lifeboat station,on behalf of his government, the Filipinopeople and the crew and their families hesaid: 'May I express my deepest gratitudeand appreciation to you and your membersfor the brave and courageous rescue.'

The collision, which caused a major pollu-tion alert, began at 0450 when HumberCoastguard informed the SuperintendentCoxswain of Humber lifeboat that there hadbeen a collision and subsequent Maydaybroadcast from the Fiona, a 28,709 tonMaltese-registered bulk carrier, anchorednear the Humber Light Buoy some 10 mileseast of Spurn Point.

FireThe vessel had a fire on board, was unable

to identify the other vessel involved in thecollision and required immediate assistance.The lifeboat crew were immediately sum-moned and the Arun class lifeboat KennethThe/wall slipped her moorings at 0500 toproceed.

While on passage it was learned that theother vessel involved was the Phillips Okla-homa which was on fire with 25 crew onboard.

Helicopters and other ships in the areawere on their way to the scene, and fourminesweepers were also close at hand. Oneof them spotted and recovered one man fromthe water on the way to the burning tanker.The man, recovered safe and well, had beenknocked overboard from the Fiona and wasthe only man unaccounted for.

Such was the intensity of the fire that whilestill five miles from the casualty, and incontinuous moderate rain, the fire on thePhillips Oklahoma could be seen lighting upthe surrounding sea.

At 0537 the lifeboat arrived on scene tofind the Phillips Oklahoma burning fiercelyfrom a ruptured tank on the starboard sidewith all of her starboard side accommoda-

HumberEast Division

lion and bridge engulfed in flames and denseblack smoke. The master of the PhillipsOklahoma was conducting his operationsfrom a small secondary wheelhouse in thebows of the ship. Oil escaping from thetanker was blazing on the water for up to halfa mile down-tide of the ship.

The master of the Fiona informed theCoastguard that the fire in the fore part of hisship had now been extinguished but therewas considerable damage to her bows.

The minesweeper HMS Middleton was atthe scene when the Arun arrived but couldnot get too close to the casualty as she wascarrying explosives. Some men could beseen fighting the fire with hoses on the portafter deck but the majority of the crew wereassembled amidships in lifejackets. Threepilot ladders had been rigged on the port sideready for evacuation.

Some of the 16 rescuedseamen shake the hand ofCoxswain Brian Bevan asthey go ashore from theHumber lifeboat KennethThe/wall. They had beentaken off the blazing tankerPhillips Oklahoma in whatCoxswain Bevan describedas 'the worst fire I haveseen at sea'.

(Photo Grimsby EveningTelegraph)

This service is also featuredin colour on the front coverof this issue of THE LIFEBOAT,where Kenneth The/wall ispictured dwarfed by the27,000-ton tanker.

The rig supply vessel Sterling Tern was thefirst vessel to arrive with fire fighting can-nons and closed in on the starboard side totrain her two monitors on the fire. As the firewas getting worse, with constant eruptionsof balls of fire, the master of the casualtyagreed to evacuate all non-essential person-nel, requesting that 16 crew members betaken off.

Kenneth The/wall closed into a ladder onthe port side of the casualty and by 0635 hadsafely taken off 16 of the crew, leaving ninepeople on board.

Helicopters were on the scene by now,along with several ships that had respondedto the Mayday, and three fire-fighting tugswere on the way.

At 0715 the lifeboat transferred the 16survivors to the car transporter Autobahnclose by, for warm drinks and food, andcontinued to stand by the casualty in case offurther need. Four fire teams from Imming-ham were on board by now, being broughton two fire-fighting tugs Lady Susan andLady Stephanie, and a second rig supplyvessel. Sterling Esk, was also on the scenefighting the fire.

At 0945, with the fire now out and the fireteams damping down and checking round,the lifeboat was released from standing byand picked up the 16 survivors from theAutobahn to transfer them ashore into thecare of the ship's agents and representativesof the Mission to Seamen.

At 0949 the 16 crew were back on thelifeboat and she returned to Grimsby, land-ing them at the Royal Dock Basin in Grimsbyat 1113.

Kenneth Thelwall arrived back at her sta-tion at 1143 and was remoored and ready forservice at 1224.

189

LifeboatServices

Continued

Lifeboatcrew helpin dinghytragedyArranmoreIreland DivisionArranmore lifeboat station has received aletter congratulating everyone involved fortheir conduct in a tragic incident on 29 July1989 in which four young people lost theirlives. The crew was involved throughout aweek of searching for the victims.

The Tyne class lifeboat William Luckinhad launched at 0235 after one man from aparty of six (4 men and 2 women) who hadbeen aboard a small dinghy had swum ashoreto raise the alarm that the other five weremissing.

The man called at the home of Mrs MaryConlon who immediately rang her brother,the station's mechanic. She also telephonedother crew members so that the boardingcraft was afloat within 15 minutes of thealarm being raised.

On their way to board the lifeboat the crewheard someone shouting in the water, andpicked up a girl from the missing dinghy.They brought her ashore to Mrs Conlon'shouse where both survivors were lookedafter.

The lifeboat crew then boarded WilliamLuckin and illuminated the whole searcharea, accompanied by small local boats.

A thorough search was carried out allthrough the night, and the next day, until itbecame apparent that divers would be re-quired.

The crew also manned the boarding boat tosearch shallow areas.

At about 0500 a local \. oat recovered themissing dinghy in a damaged condition aboutone-and-a-half miles from where the acci-dent occurred, and at 0700 the Naval Servicevessel L E Orla arrived and provided diversfor a short period before going back to theirship. In all 56 divers from the Garda andfrom other voluntary diving clubs arrived.

The search continued until the last bodywas recovered on 5 August 1989, and as itwas necessary to have a boat on scene duringthe time the divers were under the water thelifeboat crew manned the boarding boat on avoluntary basis all through the week.

The whole operation received widespreadpublicity and the parents of those lost andrescued later wrote letters of appreciation tothe station and to the newspapers, as indeeddid the British Ambassador, Sir NicholasFenn.

190

THREE CALLS IN FORCE 6 WIND AND 20FT SEAS

Arun at sea for 14 hourson three services toyachts in troubleWeymouth's Arun class lifeboat Tony Vandervell was at sea for almost 14hours in one 25-hour period when she received three separate calls fromyachts in trouble on 9 September 1989.

After the hectic 25 hours Barney Morris, the honorary secretary, askedCoxswain/Mechanic Derek Sergeant never again to say 'It's been a quietsummer due to the good weather'!

The three calls and the efficient way inwhich they were handled earned the stationa letter of appreciation from the RNLI'schief of operations.

The first of the calls came when PortlandCoastguard called the station at 0140 withnews of a yacht, Tradewind, some 26 milesSE of the station with engine and steeringfailure in the Force 6 NE wind and request-ing assistance.

InjuryThe lifeboat slipped her mooring at 0155

and on the passage to the casualty learnedthat one of the two crew had been thrownacross the cockpit and suffered a neck injury.

The passage took an hour and 40 minutesand on arrival at the scene the yacht wasfound to be almost uncontrollable in a Force7 NE wind and a sea state of 6 (up to 20ft).Two crew members were put aboard herwith great difficulty, and not before the life-boat had sustained some superficial damageto her starboard quarter.

The injured crew member was made com-fortable, a tow line passed and the lifeboatstarted the long tow back. Although she hadreached the casualty at 0335 it was not until0830 that the lifeboat was back on stationafter securing the yacht in Weymouth har-bour. The man and woman erew of the yachtwere taken to hospital and later dischargedafter treatment.

Just two-and-a-half hours later the stationreceived another call from PortlandCoastguard. Another yacht, Ariba, was introuble in much the same direction, but thistime some 13 miles from the station. Thewind was still NE Force 6 and her crew were

Weymouth's 54ft Arunclass lifeboat TonyVandervell shows herpaces in quieterconditions than thoseexperienced in theservices to the threeyachts.

Derek Sergeantretired as Coxswain/Mechanic duringNovember 1989.

WeymouthSouth West Division

exhausted and had requested lifeboat assis-tance.

Leaving her mooring at 1108 Tony Van-dervell was with the yacht by 1202. Thewind had moderated slightly to NE Force 6but the sea had not abated. Once again a crewmember and line were put aboard and thelifeboat towed the yacht back into Wey-mouth with the two survivors still aboard.

By 1430 the lifeboat was back on hermooring and, having been on service forsome 10 hours of the day, could reasonablyhave expected a respite.

The respite was relatively short. At 2235Portland Coastguard called the station onceagain. A third yacht was in trouble, this time12 miles SW of the station, off Portland Bill.The casualty was Title Boxer and her two-man crew were having trouble with her sailsand engine. Leaving her mooring at 2245 theArun reached the casualty at 2340 and yetagain secured a tow line in the NE Force 6wind with a sea still running at up to 20ft.

The two survivors remained aboard andwere provided with hot drinks by the lifeboatcrew during the tow back to Weymouth,which was directly upwind this time, and itwas not until 0230 the following morningthat the lifeboat was back on her mooringwith the latest casualty also alongside inWeymouth harbour.

Ten minutes later she was ready for serviceagain, but this time the respite was a littlelonger.

LIFEBOAT TAKES OFF COASTER CREW IN HEAVY SWELL

Lifeboat onpassagesaves eightLytham St Annesand Hoy lakeWest Division

The Tyne class lifeboat Voluntary Worker,on evaluation trials at Lytham St Annes, wasthree-and-a-half hours into a passage fromher home station to Holyhead for repairswhen, at 0630, Liverpool Coastguard askedher to divert to a small coaster on fire some15 miles from her position.

The casualty, Nanna, was located by radarat anchor and the lifeboat closed with her.Although the wind was only Force 5 from theWSW a heavy residual swell from the previ-ous night's gales was running and the vesselwas pitching and rolling heavily.

Hoylake's Rother class lifeboat Mary Gabriel stands by the coaster Nanna as a fire-tug fights the firewhich led to the evacuation of her eight-man crew.

A request was made to take off the crew ofeight, who were standing on the deck cargoto escape the fire, and the lifeboat camealongside three times to pick up the seamen.

In the heavy swell some damage was sus-tained to the lifeboat's stanchions and as onesurvivor made to step aboard a particularly

Swimmer saved bylifeboat crewA short but dramatic rescue in which three members of Hastings lifeboatstation (one of them the coxswain of the station's Mersey class lifeboat) wentinto the water to save a young man in danger of being swept out to sea haveearned the three men, and the helmsman of the station's D class inflatablewhich subsequently picked him up, the congratulations of the RNLI's chiefof operations.

At 1223 on Tuesday 27 June a lifeboatshore helper saw a youth in difficulties ap-proximately 75 yards from the shore insidethe harbour arm. He had been swimming

HastingsSouth East Division

with a friend and had apparently becomestuck in a mud hole.

It was a little after low water and at thisstate of tide the gently shelving beach was ofsoft mud.

He raised the alarm and crew membersJohn Martin and David Curtis, who wereclose at hand, put on their drysuits.

The weather was fine and clear with a SWForce 5 to 6 wind, and although the harbourwall afforded some protection a 3ft to 4ftswell was sweeping into the harbour.

It was evident that the youth was in dangerof being swept to seaward and John Martinentered the water and made his way towardsthe youth. John Martin carried his lifejacket,intending to use it to float the casualty out ofthe mud hole, but when he reached him theyouth was already clear but could not man-age to swim ashore. John Martin tried un-successfully to put the lifejacket on the youthand the pair were unable to make any prog-ress.

Crew member David Curtis, wearing hislifejacket, arrived on the scene and helped

support the youth while trying to make theshore.

Meanwhile Frederick White, coxswain ofHastings lifeboat, who had seen the difficul-ties, waded into the water dressed in hiseveryday clothes and tried to throw a line tothe three men. John Martin swam to recoverthe seaward end of the line and CoxswainWhite was able to hold firm at the other,although gaining a foothold was difficultdue to the depth of water and the swell.

At 1227 the D class lifeboat was launched,single-handed because of the urgency ofservice, with Helmsman ChristopherCooper on board. The casualties were bynow inside the harbour arm and 50 yards offthe shoreline.

The youth was helped out of the water byHelmsman Cooper; crew members Martinand Curtis then boarded the inflatable, andCoxswain White was helped ashore as thelifeboat returned to the beach at 1231.

The youth was examined by the station'shonorary medical adviser and treated forshock.

(Photo Mercury Press Agency)

large wave began to push Voluntary Worker'sbow away and the coxswain had to use fullpower to regain position, resuling in heavycontact and slight damage.

Hoylake's Rother class lifeboat Mary Gab-riel had also been launched at 0740 to relievethe Lytham lifeboat. However, when it be-came obvious that the Tyne would not havetime to continue her passage to HolyheadVoluntary Worker met an approaching firetug and transferred the Captain and Mate toher for discussions before going on to landthe eight survivors at Liverpool. She thenreturned to her station at 1300.

Mary Gabriel meanwhile stood by Nannawhile a team of firemen and tugs extin-quished the fire aboard the coaster.

She was finally stood-down at 1450 anddid not reach her home station until 1700,after more than nine hours at sea.

Long distancelaunch...Great Yarmouth and Gorleston's twolifeboats were launched on Saturday16 September - from Ramsgate!

Neal Duffield, the honorary secre-tary for Great Yarmouth, was inRamsgate to sail a yacht home(onewhich had, incidentally, beentowed into the port by Ramsgate life-boat) and was enjoying a meal in aharbourside restaurant when hisportable telephone rang...

Flares had been sighted off theNorfolk coast and Neal gave the go-ahead for both the station's lifeboatsto be launched.

'Normally I'm very close to the sta-tion,' he said later, 'it was the firsttime I have ever launched the boatsfrom such a distance!'

The search, which also involved theLowestoft lifeboat, found nothing -and the yacht was succesfully sailedback to Great Yarmouth.

191

LifeboatServices

Continued

WINDS OUSTING TO FORCE TEN, 100 YARDSVISBILITY IN HEAVY RAIN AND THE

LIFEBOAT FULL OF WATER...

D class lifeboat rescues 36 people fromcanoes, yacht and raftsCleethorpes' D class inflatable liferaft was involved in three services on oneday on 30 July 1989, rescuing no less than 36 people. The first service startedas the crew were checking the lifeboat prior to an exercise. Humbercoastguard was heard on the VHP radio, asking Humber lifeboat to check theriver for five canoeists en route from Grimsby to Spurn Point.

Some minutes later the lifeboat was taskedto a yacht reported sinking, so the crewmembers informed the honorary secretary ofthe situation as the weather was deteriorat-ing and they were concerned for the safety of

CleethorpesEast Division

the canoeists.The honorary secretary immediately agreed

to launch the lifeboat and as the boat wasbeing towed across the beach HumberCoastguard, informed of the launch, reportedthe canoeists to be rafted together and be-lieved to be in the Clee Ness area.

The lifeboat launched at 1023 into roughseas and rapidly deteriorating conditions.Making best speed down to the area of thecasualties they encountered a wind now upto gale force, heavy rain reducing the visibil-ity to some 100 yards and confused seas 8ftto 10ft high.

SquallThe lifeboat reached the search area at the

worst of the squall, with the wind estimatedat Force 10, and, with the D class constantlyfull of water, she began to search. There wasno sign of the canoes but the lifeboat was intouch with them by radio and asked them tofire a flare - which was spotted some 200yards downwind.

The casualties were at last spotted at 1042,at only 60 yards range, rafted together withone capsized and its occupant in the water.

All five people were taken aboard and witheight people now on board and the lifeboat

still full of water progress was slow.Humber Coastguard responded by asking

the Pilot launch Neptune to assist and afterthree attempts the D class was able to trans-fer the casualties to the launch to be takenashore at Grimsby docks.

The lifeboat returned to the canoes andtowed them to Cleethorpes beach where theywere recovered by the station's launchers at1125.

DraggingThere was no time to go ashore though, as

Humber CG immediately requested the life-boat to go to Spurn Point, where a yacht witha broken mast was dragging its anchor.

Leaving Cleethorpes beach at 1125 thelifeboat arrived at Spurn Bight at 1153 tofind the yacht aground in moderate surfkicked up by a Force 6 wind and the Pilotlaunch Fox standing by.

Two minutes later the D class was along-side - touching the bottom in the troughs -and found the two occupants to be safe.

She was able to secure a tow line and by1205 had begun the slow process of takingthe yacht to Grimsby, arriving there one-and-a-half hours later.

With the yacht and her two crew safely in

Cleethorpe's D class inflatable lifeboat crests a wave shortly after launching on exercise

harbour the lifeboat made the passage backto Cleethorpes by 1405 and was ready forservice again fifteen minutes later.

However the lifeboat was to be called onyet again that day, for at 1515 she launchedagain to stand by a charity raft race.

The weather conditions deterioratedsharply just over half-an-hour into the race,when the wind picked up from Force 4 to asqually Force 6 to 7 from the NNW.

Other boats escorting the rafts returned tothe beach leaving the D class to cover 18rafts, each with 4 to 6 people aboard.

The helmsman decided to take up positionat the Haile Sand Fort, where the rafts wouldbe turning into the worst of the weather.

The first two rounded at 1620 and madefair progress towards the finish but the thirdwas swamped, throwing its four occupantsinto the water. They were recovered, but thelifeboat radioed Humber CG that more life-boats or rescue craft would be needed as thesituation was becoming very bad.

The CG alerted other vessels, includingthe fishing vessel Eva ere wed by other RNLIpersonnel.

HypothermiaReturning to the beach with the first four

casualties the lifeboat found another over-turned raft with four people, none withlifejackets, clinging to it. Two were showingsigns of hypothermia and an ambulance wasrequested to meet the lifeboat at HumberMouth Yacht Club, where all eight survivorswere landed.

Returning to the casualty area the D classfound another raft with four more people inthe water. Three were taken aboard, but thefourth was in a bad way and one of the crewmembers had to enter the water to help him.

Other vessels had now arrived on the sceneand when returning from landing the survi-vors the lifeboat found Eva picking up morecasualties and indicating another casualty tothe north. Three more people were recov-ered, only one of whom was wearing alifejacket, and taken ashore.

EbbThe next trip resulted in a raft with eight

people on board, making no headway againstthe ebb, being towed to the beach and on thefollowing one another raft with six peopleaboard was also towed ashore.

At 1750 Cleethorpes coastguard reportedeveryone safely ashore, but the lifeboat couldnot join them yet. For the next hour shesearched the area with two boats from a localdiving club and towed two more abandonedand drifting rafts ashore.

At 1845 she was finally able to return to thebeach and at 1910 was ready for serviceagain after her hectic day.

192

Ten hourservice toburningcoasterYarmouthSouth East DivisionThe coxswain and crew of Yarmouth's Arunclass lifeboat John and Joy Wade have re-ceived a letter of thanks from the Director ofthe RNLI for their part in a 10-hour serviceto a West Indian-registered coaster whichcaught fire some six miles to the SSW of theNeedles Fairway buoy on the night of 12/13August 1989.

At 2319 the Coastguard reported that redflares had been spotted and the lifeboatlaunched immediately to investigate, leav-ing her moorings at 2330.

Although the flares were initially thoughtto be some 20 miles away information sooncame through from a number of yachts whichwere in the vicinity and it was establishedthat the flares had been launched by thecoasterLlanishen which was 6.5 miles SSWof the Needles Fairway buoy. No fire-fight-ing activity was visible and the crew wereassembled on the fo'c'sle.

The coastguard requested all vessels tokeep clear pending the arrival of the lifeboatand a helicopter which had also beenscrambled.

Yarmouth's Arun class lifeboat Jo\ and John Wade is pictured during a service to theMaltese-registered Ro-Ro vessel/4/A^M'tff^e/-/during the severe storms which swept thecountry on 28/29 October 1989. The photograph may not be of the highest technicalquality, but does serve to show the severity of the conditions - much of the Arun's hullis clear of the water. The wind was reported as SW up to Force 11 and the sea state 9(•Phenomenal' -waves more than 14m high). Joy and John Wade took off two of thecrew from the stricken vessel.

The photograph was taken from the Swanage lifeboat, the 37ft Rother./. ReginaldCorah, which was also on service to the casualty.

A full report of this arduous service for both lifeboats will appear in a subsequent issueof THE LIFEBOAT.

Before the lifeboat reached the scene alittle over half-an-hour after launching alarge explosion shook the casualty and fireenveloped the whole of the aft end of the ship- including the bridge.

The helicopter reached the vessel 14 min-

Three rescued in strongwinds and poor visibilityThe RNLI's chief of operations has congratulated the crew of Holyhead'sTyne class lifeboat St Cybi II following a service to the 52ft yacht Espaniola.In his letter he complimented the crew for the way in which the service 'wasmade to look routine' by the professional and efficient performance of theirduties despite the unpleasant conditions.

The Coastguard alerted the honorary sec-retary to the yacht's plight at 1010 on 30August 1989, when she was some 15 milesNNW of the station with engine failure anddamage to her sails.

The wind was SW Force 7 with a swellrunning at 6m, heavy rain and visibilitydown to as little as a quarter of a mile.

Despite the very poor conditions the life-boat was able to locate the yacht promptly byusing her VHF radio direction finder andradar and was alongside her by 1140.

St Cybi II took her in tow with the threecrew aboard and began a three-hour towback to the safety of Holyhead, making thecasualty fast to a mooring there at 1445 be-

HolyheadWest Divisionfore returning to station at 1455. She was re-fuelled and ready for service again just 15minutes later.

A simple report of a well executed rescuecan often obscure the skill and dedication ofthe crews in poor weather, indeed in his re-port of this service the station honorary sec-retary added: 'This was an excellent servicecarried out in very trying conditions. Thefact that it was carried out in such an efficientmanner does not detract from, or depreciatethe value of the service.'

utes ahead of the Arun and lifted the five-man crew to safety - leaving the vessf! un-manned, drifting and ablaze. Plans weremade to bring a fire-fighting team to thecasualty and to arrarlge for a tug, but in themeantime the lifeboat was asked to stand by.

Having established that the vessels cargowas inert (raw materials for the manufactureof fire bricks) the coxswain decided to put aline aboard the casualty and tow her to thenorth, both to keep her head-to-wind andalso to shorten the distance to the tug.

Despite hopes that the tug would bedespatched with the minimum of delay itwas nearly four hours before it reached the464-ton casualty, by which time the 52ftArun had managed to tow her to within threemiles of the Fairway Buoy.

The fire crew were put aboard and soonrequested a pump to remove the water whichwas being used on the fire. No pump hadbeen brought by the tug, so the coxswainagreed to transfer the lifeboat's pump with acrew member in charge.

The tug took over the tow but as the casu-alties rudder was first jammed hard to portand then hard to starboard progress wasdifficult and slow.

Joy and John Wade continued to renderhelp as the tow continued, and only when offYarmouth when the fire was considered tobe out did she recover her crew man andpump and return to station.

She arrived at 0927 and was re-fuelled andready for service again an hour later.

193

ning

futureHE requirements of an organisation like the RNLI are con-

stantly changing, and so the Institution periodically reviews itsneeds in the light of those changing circumstances.

One such review took into account the benefit of speed of re-sponse to a situation, and resulted in the move to the new genera-tion of fast lifeboat typified by the Arun and the Tyne classes.

However while new designs were available to replace boatsmoored afloat and those launched from slipways the missing linkwas a design of fast lifeboat which could be launched from acarriage across a beach or foreshore and replace the ageing Oakleyand Rother class boats.

The urgent need for this new lifeboat became apparent early inthe 1980s when it was discovered that the wood-hull Oakley andRother classes were deteriorating faster than previously realised.The Oakleys were introduced in 1958 and were, in any case,reaching the end of their useful life.

In the design of any new vessel theoperators must decide the require-ments upon which the design will bebased, and in the case of the FastCarriage Boat (FCB) these require-ments were more restrictive thanusual, since the new boat had to meet many of the principalcharacteristics of the Oakley and Rother classes.

In particular, the boat had to fit existing boathouses and belaunched by the same method, placing severe limitations on theoverall size and weight of the vessel.

It was also clear that the standard of crew and survivor accom-modation in the new craft had to be improved, and the need forinherent self-righting and improved crew protection all pointedtowards a watertight wheelhouse.

Although the design requirement specified a minimum speed of15 knots, it was initially implied that 25 knots would be preferredas the maximum achieved in service conditions in calm water.With an overall length of only 38ft the best waterline length that

At the time this issue of THE LIFEBOATis published the Mersey, the RNLI'slatest class of lifeboat, will be onshow to the public at the London BoatShow in Earls Court.

in this article Keith Thatcher,one of the RNLI's Naval Architects,looks at the work involved in design-ing and developing a completely newboat within the stringent parametersneeded for a lifeboat to take theInstitution into the next century.

'The choice was complicated bythe need to provide a protected

propulsion system'

can be hoped for is about 34ft, and at 25 knots a craft of thislength would be in the true 'planing' mode, where the boat ispartially lifted by the effect of the water passing her hull and thelength is not a limiting factor for speed. (The speed of a 'displace-ment' hull form, as used on earlier lifeboats, is strictly limited bythe waterline length, and no amount of extra power will enable itto exceed a speed some 1.3 times the square root of the waterlinelength in feet, approximately 8 knots for a 34ft waterline - Ed)

At this speed the most efficient hullis the deep-V, hard-chine form, usedby most fast racing and pleasurepowerboats which can give savingsof up to 25 per cent in engine powerfor a given speed compared to aplaning, round bilge boat of the same

dimensions. The choice was complicated, however, by the need toprovide a protected propulsion system for shallow water and onthe beach. The alternatives available were to use a water-jet driveor recessed conventional propellers.

Traditional lifeboats have their propellers recessed in tunnels inthe bottom of the boat, but at this stage in the design no one wassure whether a fully-planing tunnel hull could be made to work.

Water jets had been under evaluation by the RNLI for sometime, but despite their obvious advantages - shallow draft and noprojections to injure swimmers - their effectiveness was proving tobe rather less than envisaged, mainly due to recurring problemswhen used on a beach. Particularly noticeable was the loss inperformance resulting from damage to the impellers after rela-

194

lively short periods of use, and amarked lack of performance astern,particularly in shallow water.

After extensive trials, water jets wereeliminated in their present form andpropellers running in tunnels becamethe only viable option.

Once the decision to adopt conven-tional propellers had been made, thedesign could proceed, and lines weredrawn up for a deep-V hull with twobilge sponsons, with the propellersrecessed between the sponsons and the The hu" snaPe must a'so provide f u l l protection for the propellers, be

suitable for launching and recovery from a carriage and light enoughcentre keel. to be nand|ed wnen aShOre.

Because of the quite radical shape ofthe proposed new boat it was decided to carry out model tank teststo determine the resistance and power requirements, rather thanrelying on computer predictions.

The Wolfson Unit at Southampton University tested a 1.28m,1:9 scale model in March 1984, and with a few minor adjustmentsto reduce spray and improve running trim the results provedencouraging.

On completion of the tests it became obvious that the weight ofthe boat was critical to achieving the desired speed, and a study ofmaterial options was carried out - the preferred option being alightweight composite. However for well established operationaland maintenance reasons steel was the preferred hull material.

To perform effectively, a deep-V hull must be kept light, and theuse of steel imposed a severe weight penalty, to the extent thatspeed dropped and displacement increased above the level atwhich true planing could be achieved. This meant a complete re-appraisal of the design, and the hull was re-drawn with a roundbilge, semi-displacement form.

As part of the development workassociated with any new boat, theRNLI has lately been commissioninglarge-scale models for sea-keepingtrials. These models are 8ft to 10ftlong, self-propelled, radio controlled,and are run in scale sea conditionswith instruments on board to measure the boat's responses andmotion. The results are then compared with those from a knownlifeboat of similar size.

With the FCB, now the Mersey class, there were two problems -first there was no comparable fast lifeboat of similar size, andsecond the models proposed would be almost one third full-size.The cost of the trials was also a large proportion of the cost of afull-size boat and this, together with the need to demonstrate theboat's ability to launch and recover successfully off a standardcarriage - impossible with a model - prompted the decision tobuild a full-size 'model'.

It was estimated that a 38ft boatequipped to RNLI standards wouldweigh 14.25 tonnes. Since theOakley and Rother classes average12.5 and 13.25 tonnes respectively,the increase in weight was consid-ered unacceptable.

To investigate this and other weightoptions the hull and superstructurewere constructed from aluminiumalloy, another 'first' for the RNLI.

The boat was built in late 1985 and,although initial speed trials proved

'As there was no comparable fastlifeboat the decision was made to

build a full-size model'

(Photo Jeff Morris) disappointing, by August 1986 theboat had successfully self-righted

and, by careful choice of propellers and some changes to the sterngeometry, speed had been increased to 18 knots. Trials with thecarriage also proved satisfactory.

The penalty for the development work to achieve satisfactoryperformance was a boat much modified forward and aft - andunusable as a service lifeboat. To incorporate these changes thedesign was again re-assessed and the lines amended. The hull wasthen tank tested by the Wolfson Unit in its final form, accuratedata on power and propeller wake produced and two pre-produc-tion prototypes ordered, again in aluminium alloy.

To speed the production of the programme, the order for the twohulls was placed while the first boat, ON 1119, was still complet-ing trials. Some construction work was carried out on one of thepre-production boats, ON 1124, before the re-assessment of thedesign and she therefore required modifying before completion.The second boat, ON 1125, was built to the revised design fromthe start and as a result was completed slightly ahead of 1124.

Being the first boat afloat, ON 1125 was used as the trials craftand was subjected to an extensiveprogramme of sea-keeping andperformance trials, including self-righting verification, speed, steeringand carriage launch and recovery.

Finally, she was taken on a coastevaluation to the North East and

North West coasts and to the Isle of Man. At each station shevisited the crew were encouraged to use her as much as possible,and much useful data was fed back to the design team so thatchanges could be incorporated in ON 1124.

This development work enabled speedier completion of ON1124, with the result that she effectively 'overtook' 1125 and wasplaced on station at Bridlington in November 1988.

After her extensive trials period ON 1125 needed a re-fit to bringher up to new lifeboat standard, but before doing so it was decidedto gain further experience in a station environment. As a resultONI 125 was placed on temporary station duty at Dungeness

A fully planing deep-V hull form offers advantages for a high-speed boat, butits performance falls off sharply unless it is kept light. This early design forthe fast carriage boat was rejected because the weight of a fully fitted outoperational lifeboat was too great.

As a result the design was re-worked as a semi-planing form, with morebuoyancy to carry the weight required without adverse effect on the perform-ance. This section is very close to the form finally adopted for the Merseyclass.

195

Designing forcontinued

during October 1988 for some four weeks, culminating in theFrench Lifeboat Sendee 'Manchex 88' exercise, during which ON1125 'rescued' 15 survivors from a fictional Channel ferrydisaster.

ON 1125 was at last re-fitted during the latter months of 1988and placed on station at Hastings in January 1989.

At an early stage in the evaluation trials adverse reports had beenreceived of the vessel's directional stability - constant ruddermovements being needed to keep a straight course. In larger seas,and particularly when running before them, the boat could bemade to hang on the face of a wavewhile the rudder was moved ineffectu-ally from side to side.

On the plus side, the new hull was anexceptional sea boat, being far drierthan expected, and having a very softride when pitching over large waves.

To solve the steering problemballasting trials were carried out and itwas found that with more weightmoved to the extreme ends of the boatthe steering was much improved.Further improvements resulted fromchanges in rudder design.

A modified tank-test model, free-running in waves in a tank, had confirmed that some adjustment oftrim by ballasting was desirable, and also that handling wasimproved by reducing the length of the bilge keels. This changewas tried full-size, but rejected as having little benefit and possiblycreating problems when re-carriaging the boat.

To quantify the results of the ballast experiments, and relate themto other classes of lifeboat an examination of several geometricparameters was carried out. The most meaningful was the evaluationof 'Radius of Gyration', which is ameasure of the boat's resistanceto change of direction, both horizontally or vertically.

Sailing yachts, which need to respond quickly to movements ofthe rudder, have a small Radius of Gyration and go to greatlengths to keep weight centralised and away from the ends of theboat, but lifeboats have to be directionally stable and thereforeneed larger values, with the weight more evenly distributed.

Calculations for Radius of Gyration showed that the re-ballastedMersey had the highest value, the Tyneclass next lowest and the Arun lowerstill - results which are born out inpractice. As confirmation the one-offsteel Arun, which is often said to be abetter sea boat, was found to have ahigher value than the majority of theclass, falling between the Tyne and theMersey.

Once the correlation was seen, the theory became obvious. Asmall boat such as the Mersey is influenced strongly by seaconditions because of her lighter weight. Since in relative termsshe is also travelling faster than the Arun or Tyne, the speed ofresponse to these outside forces will be quicker, and hence requirefaster reactions by the coxswain.

To slow the speed of response weight is moved into the ends ofthe boat, creating greater momentum and increasing resistance todirectional changes. As modified, ON 1125 became almostdocile and could be run in quite large following seas withimpunity.

The Mersey project calls for up to 40 boats to be in service

The final hull form of the Mersey, seen during the self-righting trialsof ON 1125, a pre-production prototype. (Photo Downland Studios)

lifeboats have to bedirectionally stable and need

larger values forRadius of Gyration'

within four years. The most attractive way to achieve this, and oneadopted by all quantity boat builders, is to use a moulded hull. Theresulting standardisation of shape allows the use of pre-con-structed fit-out modules and pre-assembled components to give ashorter building period. Since time is money the costs also reduce.

The Institution has experience of a GRP production run in theArun and Brede classes, but it was felt that the Mersey's arduousservice requirements called for a more sophisticated material. Asurvey of the market resulted in the decision to build a trial boat inFRC - fibre reinforced composite. The term can cover manydifferent materials, and is the generic name for all compositematerials, but in the Mersey it represents an epoxy resin matrixreinforced with glass and Kevlar fibres - see 'The Material Revo-lution' (The Lifeboat, Spring 1989).

Samples were tested for impact strength by dropping a 12kgsteel projectile from a height of 8.5m on panels of wood, steel,

aluminium alloy and a number ofdifferent FRC laminates, eachdesigned to the requirements of theMersey hull. Wood offered noresistance, steel and aluminiumalloy dented, but the FRC intendedfor the Mersey was undamaged,even by repeated impact.

The brief for the first FRC boat,ON 1148, was to build a boatsimilar to 1124 and 1125, bututilising the unique properties ofFRC. The fit-out was kept to aminimum, since the purpose was totest the material, not the fit-out.

However full electronics were fitted, since one problem to beovercome would be electronic interference.

The basic hull laminate is a sandwich consisting of a main skinof 7-8mm, a 70mm core of medium density PVC foam and a thininner skin of about 4mm. In each skin the properties of thevarious reinforcements are used to produce the strongest hull for agiven weight. Deck, bulkheads and superstructure and allinternals are also sandwich construction for strength, stiffness andlight weight.

To minimise electronic interference, all wiring is screened and insteel conduit. The inside faces of the wheelhouse are sprayed withzinc, and all electrical items earthed to this coating, which is inturn earthed to the steel keel shoe.

The boat was delivered in March 1988 and subjected to exten-sive evaluation trials. She was run on and off Dungeness beach atotal of 243 times, a test estimated to represent 20 years' launch-

ings, and dragged for a mile over asurface of shingle, sand and mud.After these trials there was little moredamage than scuffing of the bottompaint. Impact strength was furthertested by dropping the boat from aheight of 12ft on to water, resulting indrenched spectators but no damage.

ON 1148 has now been fully fitted out as a lifeboat and isundergoing coastal evaluation and trials, she is also being used totest items of equipment being considered for future boats and willeventually serve in the relief fleet.

It was always intended that the first production boats should beof aluminium alloy construction in order to get the class buildingunder way. Lessons from the pre-production-prototypes hadshown some small changes to be desirable and orders for eightboats with these incorporated were placed in June 1988.

In the meantime, the experiment with ON 1148's constructionmethod having proved successful, a production run of FRC boatshas been ordered, taking full advantage of the modular construc-tion method made possible by the material.

196

[Past and Present

50 years agoFrom the pages of THE LIFEBOAT, December 1940 issue

Four Months of WarThe first four months of war, from 3rd September tothe 31st December, have been the most crowded andhazardous in the whole history of the life-boat service.

Its crews have gone out to the rescue more often, andthey have rescued more lives, than in any previousfour months in war or in peace. Here are the figures:

Life-boats put out to the rescue 419 times. Theyrescued 1001 lives. In those four months they rescuedmore lives than in any four months of the last war,even during 1917 when the attack of the Germansubmarines was most severe. In those four monthsthey rescued more lives than in two years of peace.

59 Lives a WeekFor the 116 years since the Institution was founded,

the average of lives rescued is 11 a week.For the years of the last war the average is 21 lives

a week.For the first four months of this war the average is

59 lives a week.Those figures speak for themselves. They need no

words to emphasise them. But it is interesting to seehow many of those launches were to vessels in distresson account of the war, and how many to vessels indistress from the ordinary perils of the sea.

192 of those launches were to vessels in distressthrough the war and 596 lives were rescued fromthem. 227 launches were to vessels in distress fromthe ordinary perils of the sea, and 405 lives wererescued from them.

The Perils and Difficulties of the serviceWhatever the cause of distress those 419 launches

were made, and those 1001 lives were rescued, in faceof all the dangers and difficulties of war. Life-boats,like other vessels, have been exposed to the dangers ofattack by mines, by the torpedoes of submarines, bythe bombs and machine guns of aeroplanes. By nightthey have not only had to navigate at sea without thehelp of coast lights, but they have had to launchwithout the help of the usual floodlights, in completedarkness. Even the maroons used for summoning thecrews have had to be discontinued, as they might bemistaken for air raid warnings, and life-boatmen havehad to be called out individually. Each station hasmade its own arrangements to do this as quickly aspossible. At some stations special alarm parties havebeen organised, each member of which has the duty ofcalling out certain members of the crew.

The work of navigating and launching under theconditions of war, the dangers of attack while at sea,the great increase in the numbers of vessels in dis-tress, the loss of life-boatmen who have joined thenavy, all these have made new and severe demands onthe Institution's crews.

In spite of these difficulties there has been no failureto launch, or to carry out any service that was needed,nor even any exceptional delay in launching. Therehas been no serious damage to life-boats, and noserious breakdown in machinery. During those fourmonths in which 1001 lives were rescued, there wasno loss of life among the life-boat crews.

Today's Lifeboatmen

Philip Denham, helmsman of one of Blackpool's two D classlifeboats, joined the crew in 1977.

He was awarded a bronze medal in 1988 for gallantry inrecognition of the courage, skill and determination he displayedwhilst helmsman of D300 which rescued the sole occupant of themotor boat Dijon in difficulties one and a quarter miles north-north-west of the lifeboat station. In 1989 he was awarded a longservice badge.

Philip is married with three children and is employed as a beachpatrolman. His hobby is lifeboating!

Facts and figuresProvisional statistics as at 16 November 1989, show thatduring 1989:The RNLI's lifeboats were launched 3,695 times (an average

of more than 12 launches a day)More than 1,257 lives were saved (an average of 4 people

rescued each day)More than 31 per cent of all services carried out by lifeboats

were in winds of Force 5 and aboveMore than 56 per cent of all services were to pleasure craftThere are 263 lifeboats on station, with a further 76 in the

relief fleet119,165 lives have been saved since the RNLI was founded

in 1824

CostsThe cost of running the RNLI in 1988 was £34m. The approxi-mate current cost of building a lifeboat is:

16ft D class inflatable - £9,50021ft Atlantic rigid inflatable - £45,00038ft 6in Mersey-£455,00047ft Tyne - £590,00052ft Arun- £600,000

197

Namingand

dedication CeremoniesrlOWth - Arun class Hibernia

The Prime Minister of the Republic of Ireland, Mr Charles Haughey (right) with Mrs Maureen Haughey andRNLI Chairman Mr Michael Vernon at the naming ceremony of the Arun class lifeboat Hibernia at Howth.

(Photo Paddy Whelan)

The naming ceremony of the RNLI's newrelief 52ft Arun class lifeboat was held onSaturday 16 September at Howth Harbour.Mrs Maureen Haughey named the newlifeboat Hibernia and the lifeboat was handedover to the chairman of the RNLI, Mr MichaelVernon, by An Taoiseach (Prime Ministerof the Republic of Ireland) Mr Charles J.Haughey.

The blessing and dedication ceremony wasconducted by The Most Reverend DonaldCaird DD, the Right Reverend MonsignorRichard Maher, Reverend Paul Kingston

and Reverend Dr William O'Neill. The thennewly-elected Chairman of the RNLI, MrMichael Vernon, travelled from London toattend the event, as did the Director Lt CdrBrian Miles.

A very large crowd attended the cere-mony, including distinguished guests the RtHon The Lord Mayor Alderman SenatorSean Haughey, His Excellency Sir NicholasFenn, The Lord Killanin, Commodore LiamBrett, Director Naval Service, BrigadierGeneral B. McMahon, Director Army AirCorps.

On handing over the new relief lifeboat AnTaoiseach Mr Haughey praised the work ofthe RNLI in Ireland and thanked the lifeboat-men for their dedication saying: 'They giveselflessly of their time and are totally com-mitted, we owe them a great debt of thanksfor the most valuable work they perform'.

Mr Michael Vernon, Chairman of theRNLI, accepted the new lifeboat for theInstitution and expressed his gratitude to thetrustees of the Irish Sailors and SoldiersLand Trust. 'We have above all the trusteesof the Irish Sailors and Soldiers Land Trustto thank,' he said, 'whose hugely generousgift has covered her cost, and substantialextra funding towards the running of thelifeboats in Ireland'.

He also thanked the Lord Killanin, a lifevice president of the Institution and a mem-ber of the trustees of the Irish Sailors andSoldiers Land Trust. In thanking An Taois-each and the Irish Government Mr Vernonadded that the RNLI was: 'equally gratefulto An Taoiseach and the Irish Governmentwhose great help and support enabled thetrust to benefit the RNLF.

After the moving dedication and blessingceremony conducted by The Most ReverendDonald Caird DD, the Right Reverend Mon-signor Maher, Reverend Paul Kingston andReverend Dr William O'Neill, Mrs MaureenHaughey named the new lifeboat Hiberniato the cheers and applause of the gathering.

The vote of thanks was proposed by MrRupert Jeffares, honorary secretary of Howthlifeboat station. Mr Clayton Love, a vicepresident of the RNLI and chairman of theevent, brought the proceedings to a close byinviting the guests to tea in Howth YachtClub.

Penarth - D classJohn CresswellA new D class lifeboat provided by thegenerosity of the family and friends ofMr John Cresswell, in lieu of a presentto mark his 60th birthday, was formallyhanded over to the RNLI by Mrs RomaCresswell at a ceremony which tookplace at the lifeboat house in Penarth on16 August 1989.

Mrs Fay Cori, a member of theRNLI's Public Relations Committee,accepted the lifeboat on behalf of theInstitution and delivered it into the careof Penarth lifeboat station. CaptainGraham Sommerfield, station honor-ary secretary, accepted the lifeboat onbehalf of the station, and the service ofdedication which followed was con-ducted by the Reverend FrederickMudge, Vicar of All Saints Church,Penarth, assisted by local clergy repre-senting other denominations.

Guests and crew members with Penarth's new D class lifeboat at the handing over ceremony on 16 August1989. Mrs Roma Cresswell and her husband John are in the centre flanked by crew members, with stationhonorary secretary Captain Graham Sommerfield left and Mrs Fay Cori right

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Relief Fleet - Mersey class Lifetime CareThe first Mersey class lifeboat to enter therelief fleet was officially named and dedi-cated at a ceremony held at the RNLI' s PooleHQ and depot on Tuesday 21 October 1989.The lifeboat was also the first of the FRC(fibre reinforced composite) Mersey class toenter service with the Institution.

The new lifeboat was the second to be f|̂ B«f«ttMtfMfunded by the proceeds of a two-year promo-tion in conjunction with Volvo Concession-aires, and a break in a spell of unsettledweather provided a bright and breezy day forthe occasion - thankfully less breezy than forthe naming of Volvo's previous lifeboat,Voluntary Worker.

The RNLI's director, Lt Cdr Brian Milesopened the proceedings before Mr CharlesHunter-Pease, sales and marketing directorof Volvo Concessionaires addressed theguests and officially handed the new lifeboatto the Institution.

Lord Stanley of Alderley, a Vice Presidentof the RNLI and Chairman of the FundRaising Committee, gratefully accepted theboat on the Institution's behalf and CdrMichael Woodroffe, assistant chief ofoperations, described the new lifeboat andits future role in the RNLI.

A service of dedication was conducted bythe Reverend Stanley Holbrooke-Jones,Rector of St James Church Poole, assisted bythe Reverend John Hainsworth, Superinten-dent Methodist Minister Poole, before MrsSusan Hunter-Pease officially bestowed the

(below) Mrs Susan Hunter-Pease, wife of MrCharles Hunter-Pease, the Sates and MarketingDirector of Volvo Concessionaires, names thenew Mersey Class lifeboat Lifetime Care at aceremony at the RNLI's Poole depot. The lifeboatis the second to be funded as a result of a two-year joint promotion with Volvo.

(left) The lifeboat, the first fibre reinforcedcomposite boat to enter RNLI service, alongsidethe depot quay for the ceremony.

(photos courtesy Jeff Morris)

lifeboat's name by releasing the champagnebottle against Lifetime Care's bow.

Volvo Concessionaires' additional gener-

Three lifeboats from Splashdown projectAs the result of the Splashdown safety project organised by the Esso Petroleum Supply &Transportation Department at Fawley, £29,000 has been donated to the RNLI to fund threeD class lifeboats and three sets of protective clothing for each boat.

At the beginning of 1988 the company and employees set a target of working a full yearwithout any serious injury or major incident. If the target was met three D class lifeboatswere to be funded to celebrate the notable safety achievement.

The target was attained, and two of the lifeboats are now stationed at Stranraer andPorthcawl with the third in the relief fleet.

Part of the project involved a competition to choose a name for each lifeboat, and thethree winners named their respective lifeboats.

Relief fleet - D class LifelineThe first lifeboat to be named was Lifeline, cho-sen by Christine Hunt, secretary to the pipelinemanager. The ceremony took place at the Insti-tution's depot in Poole on 18 November 1988and Christine formally presented the boat to MrAnthony Oliver, head of fund raising. The namewas chosen because it reflects the work of theboat as a lifeline to those in distress.

Stranraer - D class CrusaderOn a damp and windy 7 October 1989 represen-tatives of the Marine and Pipeline Divisions ofEsso Petroleum arrived at the Stranraer boat-house where the D class lifeboat Crusader wasto be formally handed over to the RNLI and of-ficially named.

With some 60 people in attendance the pro-ceedings were opened by Dr R.J. Scott, chair-man of Stranraer branch. Mr J. Hughes, Esso'sFleet Operations Manager, addressed the gath-ering and handed the lifeboat over to Mr A.Cubic ws, vice chairman of the executive com-mittee of the Scottish Lifeboat Council and amember of the Committee of Management.Acknowledging the gift he delivered the boat toMr Andrew Murray, station honorary secretary.

The Reverend McGill led the dedication of thelifeboat, after which Mr L. Elrick, a sea-goingsenior engineer of Esso, christened the craft froma pewter quaich filled with the national beveragewhich had been presented to him.

The lifeboat launched and provided practicalexperience for the donors' representative beforelight refreshments, generously provided by Sea-link, were served. KT

Porthcawl - D class Tiger DMr Robert Dukeson, a fleet marine engineer,chose the name Tiger D for the new lifeboat atPorthcawl and he was invited to name the boat ata ceremony which took place at the lifeboat sta-tion on 21 October 1989.

The proceedings were opened by Mr JohnRedmond, chairman of Porthcawl station branch.Mr John Hughes, fleet operations manager ofEsso Petroleum Co then handed the lifeboat overto Mr Raymond Cory, deputy chairman of theRNLI, who in turn passed it into the safe-keepingof Mr John Williams, station honorary secretary.

The service of dedication was conducted by theRight Reverend Roy Davies, Bishop of Llandaffand after the service Mr Dukeson named thelifeboat.

osity in providing the marquee, lunch andother facilities at the ceremony were appre-ciated by the large number of guests, andparticularly by members of the RNLI staff atPoole, an unusually large number of whomhad been invited to witness the ceremony.

Aldeburgh-o classAlmost 200 people gathered on the balmy eve-ning of 21 June 1989 to witness the handing overand dedication of Aldeburgh's new D class life-boat.

The lifeboat had been funded from a localappeal, organised by the Suffolk Cider Company,and the money came from various fund raisingevents, in particular a 'Cider Nouveau Run' toBeaujolais in 1987 and donations and specialcontributions in memory of departed relativesand friends.

Vice Admiral Sir Charles Mills, chairman ofthe Aldeburgh branch, opened the proceedingsand Mike Hall, managing director of the SuffolkCider Company, made a short but amusing speech,in which he thanked all those who had supportedthe appeal, before handing over the lifeboat to theRNLI.

Robin Sharp, RNLI assistant public relationsofficer, accepted the lifeboat on behalf of theInstitution and, in turn, passed it into the care ofKen Brown, station honorary secretary.

A service of dedication followed, conducted bythe Reverend Canon David Hutchinson, vicar ofAldeburgh. To end the ceremony Mrs CarolineHall christened the new lifeboat by pouring applejuice over her bows.

There was an air of excitement as the lifeboatwas pushed to the water's edge and launched intothe surf, before being taken out to sea to give a finedemonstration of speed and manoeuvrability.

Refreshments were served on the lifeboat'sreturn, prepared by the ladies' lifeboat guild -washed down with cider and apple juice.

RS

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CeremoniesContinued

Tynemouth-o classThe new D class lifeboat for Tynemouth wasofficially handed over and dedicated at a cere-mony which took place at the Fish Quay, NorthShields on Sunday 1 October 1989.

Mr P. Denham Christie, a life vice-president ofthe RNLI, who had screed as a crew member,coxswain and chairman at Tynemouth, receivedthe D class lifeboat funded by the DerbyshireAssociation of Sub Aqua Clubs.

His successor as chairman, Mr Gordon Carr,welcomed a large contingent from Derbyshire,together with representatives of surroundingguilds. Mr Anthony Lewis told everyone of themany ways the money was raised by his associa-tion to fund the lifeboat and in receiving thelifeboat Mr Denham Christie assured Mr Lewisand his friends of the loving care the D classwould receive from the crew.

Mr Ken Middlemiss, honorary secretary of thestation, told of the work of the previous lifeboat asan illustration of what the new lifeboat had tocope with in its future. The local Salvation ArmyBand accompanied the hymn singing in the serv-ice of dedication led by Mr Geoffrey Chandler,the chaplain of the North Shields Mission to DeepSea Fishermen, who also extended a welcome toall for tea at the Mission following the ceremony.Mrs Shawcross, chairman of the Ladies' guild,gave a vote of thanks and the lifeboat demon-strated the various drills and exercises.

RcllCI Fleet - Tyne class Mariners FriendCOWCS Base - The Allen CentreThe RNLI's Cowes Base was the setting for a double ceremony on Wednesday 20 Septem-ber 1989 when Miss H. B. ('Mickie') Allen officially opened The Allen Centre, a newtraining centre for Atlantic 21 crews at the Base, and later named the new Tyne class lifeboatMariners Friend which serves in the relief fleet. Miss Allen had funded both the newbuilding at the base and the new lifeboat.

A bright but very breezy day greeted themany guests who had travelled to the Isleof Wight for the occasion, some fromPadstow in Cornwall where another Tyneclass lifeboat provided by Miss Allen,James Burrough, is stationed.

Cdr Peter Gladwin, the superintendent ofCowes Base, opened the proceedings inthe Allen Centre by expressing the RNLI'sgratitude to Mickie Allen for her generos-ity, and outlining the use to which the newfacilities would be put. Atlantic 21 crewsfrom stations nationwide attend courses atthe Base and the new centre provides vastlyimproved facilities for their training andcomfort.

Cdr Gladwin then invited Miss Allen tounveil a brass plaque to commemorate theoccasion and she was presented with amagnificent carved crest produced by SteveSimmonds, a boatbuilder at the base, as amemento.

Later in the day guests re-assembled atthe waterside for the naming and dedica-tion ceremony of Mariners Friend.

Miss Heather ('Mickie') Allen with the carvedshield presented to her on behalf of Cowes Baseby boat builder Steve Simmonds at the openingof The Allen Centre.

Lt Cdr Brian Miles, director of the RNLI,opened the proceedings by outlining theimportant role of the lifeboat in the relieffleet before Miss Allen formally handed thelifeboat into the care of the Institution, rep-

Staithes and Runswick - Atlantic 21 EIHS Sinclair

Mrs Vera Morris, wife of the senior partner in Sinclair Roche and Temperley, the firm of solicitors whichfunded the new Atlantic 21 class lifeboat, christens her Eft's Sinclair after the founder of the firm at aceremony held at Staithes on Saturday 23 September. (Photo Whitby Gazette)

On Saturday 23 September the lifeboat sta-tion at Staithes was decked with flags inglorious sunshine as a large crowd of guestsarrived to watch the naming and dedication

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of the new Atlantic 21 Ellis Sinclair.The lifeboat was donated by Messrs Sin-

clair, Roche and Temperley, and was namedin honour of the firm's founder. It is believed

to be the first time that a lifeboat has beenfunded by a firm of solicitors.

Mr Arnold Storm, deputising for the chair-man of the branch, Mr Neil Anderson, whowas recovering from an operation, wel-comed the guests and Mr John Morris, seniorpartner of Sinclair, Roche and Temperley,then explained that what at first appears anunlikely connection between lifeboats andthe law is not so remote, as the firm special-ises in maritime law. He then handed thelifeboat over to Mr Gilbert Gray QC, a memberof the Institution's Committee of Manage-ment who in turn handed over the new life-boat to Mr Clem Jones, honorary secretaryof Staithes and Runswick station.

The Reverend David Dermott, chaplain ofthe branch, assisted by the Reverent JamesFlatten, then conducted a short service ofdedication and Ms Olwyn Brunyee, chair-woman of the Staithes Ladies' guild, pro-posed a vote of thanks to all who had takenpart.

Mrs Vera Norris poured champagne overthe bow of the lifeboat, naming her EllisSinclair, before passing the remainder of thebottle to the crew.

After the ceremony the new lifeboat put tosea to show her paces and two of the donor'srepresentatives were treated to a trip to sea inthe Atlantic 21. The guests were then enter-tained to a traditional Staithes spread.

Music was provided by the North SkeltonTeeside BSC Silver Band.

DGMcK

The Relief fleet Tyne class lifeboat Mariners Friend on the River Medina during the naming anddedication ceremony held at Cowes Base on Wednesday 20 September 1989. (Photo Jeff Morris)

resented on this occasion by its chairman,Mr Michael Vernon.

The service of dedication was conductedby the Reverend Stuart Cleaver, Priest inCharge Whippingham and East Cowes, as-sisted by the Reverend Michael Lewis,Methodist Minister East Cowes, Father BrianCoogan, Roman Catholic Minister EastCowes and Mr Lawrence Jay, EvangelicalMinister East Cowes.

After the dedication Miss Allen releasedthe traditional champagne bottle againstthe bows of Mariners Friend, with herwishes for her safety and that of her crews,before taking a short trip aboard the life-boat on the waters of the River Medina.

Music for the naming and dedicationceremony was provided by the Band ofCowes High School.

MF

Peel-Atlantic 21John Batstone

On Saturday 5 August, at Peel in the Isle ofMan, the local lifeboat station named anddedicated its brand new Atlantic 21, B575John Batstone, which had been funded by arecord-breaking boardsailor who had cir-cumnavigated England, Wales and Scotlandto raise the money to buy the boat.

Tim Batstone, the young man who per-formed this record-breaking feat, was in Peelto be at the service and brought his mother,Mrs F.W. Batstone, to name the boat JohnBatstone after his late father.

The occasion was a very friendly gatheringof the Manx lifeboat family, in which thehearty singing was accompanied by the bandof The Kings Own Border Regiment. Theservice was taken by the Island's Bishop,The Right Reverend Noel Jones, a formerchaplain to the Fleet and a good friend of theRNLI, assisted by local clergy.

A former shipmate of the Bishop, RearAdmiral WJ. McClune, deputy chairman ofthe RNLI's Boat Committee, accepted thelifeboat on behalf of the Institution.

The whole ceremony, so well planned bythe local station chairman, Mr J.C. Hall andably assisted by the station honorary secre-tary Mr A.C. Corlett, was a very moving andinspiring occasion.

Appropriately the first two lives saved bythe John Batstone were boardsailors.

Selsey - D classMr Brian Murr, chairman of Selsey and Districtbranch welcomed guests to the handing over andservice of dedication of the new D class lifeboatat Selsey on 16 August 1989.

The lifeboat was presented to the Institution byMr Denis Matkin, in memory of his brother,Geoffrey Matkin. Mr Anthony Oliver, head offund raising, formally accepted the lifeboat onbehalf of the RNLI and she was then placed intothe care of the Selsey station branch committeeand its honorary secretary, Clive Cockayne.

The service of dedication was conducted by theReverend George Waddington, Chaplain of theSelsey lifeboats.

South QueensferryNew lifeboat houseQueensferry lifeboat station's new boathouse atHawes Pier, South Queensferry, was officiallyopened on Saturday 16 September 1989 by SirCharles McGrigor BT DL, Convener of the Scot-tish Lifeboat Council.

The cost of the boathouse was met from thelegacy of the late Miss Margaret Melrose wholived in Fife.

The proceedings were opened by Councillor W.Hardie, chairman of Queensferry station branch.Sir Charles McGrigor opened the new buildingand Mr Andrew Gibb, the solicitor who admini-stered the late Miss Melrose's estate, unveiled acommemorative plaque in the boathouse. Cap-tain Jack Kersley, station honorary secretary,proposed a vote of thanks.

Music was provided before the ceremony by theSouth Queensferry Pipe Band.

Also in attendance were Major and Mrs MacNaywho had generously provided the fitting out of theboathouse and part provision of the cost of a newtractor. KT

Brighton -Atlantic 21 Graham Hillier and Tony Cater

Brighton's new Atlantic 21 was named anddedicated in a ceremony which took place atthe Village Square, Brighton Marina onFriday 29 September 1989.

Accompanied by Mrs Jill Cater, Mrs SylviaHillier named the lifeboat in memory of theirsons, Graham Hillier and Tony Cater, tragi-cally drowned seven years ago. The boys'parents set up an appeal in the Chertsey,Weybridge and Woodham area of Surrey

Mrs Jill Cater and Mrs Sylvia Hillier with Brighton's new Atlantic 21 classlifeboat Graham Hillier and Tony Cater at the naming ceremony on 29September. (Photo courtesy Evening Argus, Brighton)

and raised £10,000 towards the lifeboat, andthe East Grinstead branch collected £ 15,000from various fund raising events.

The proceedings were opened by MrCharles Wilson, chairman of the Brightonstation branch and Mr Colin Williams, dep-uty inspector of lifeboats for the South Eastdivision, then described the lifeboat.

Mrs Jill Cater, on behalf of the donors,handed the lifeboat to Captain Sir Miles

Wingate KCVO FNI, amember of the RNLICommittee of Manage-ment who in turn passedthe lifeboat into the careof Mr Colin Maltby,

^*N honorary secretary ofBrighton lifeboat sta-tion.

Following the serviceof dedication led by theReverend Roger Rob-ins, vicar of All Saints

• New Haw and Captainthe Reverend Cuthbert

JLe M. Scott, Brightonlifeboat station chap-lain, Mrs Hillier namedthe new lifeboat Gra-ham Hillier and TonyCater.

Commander JohnWatson, president of theEast Grinstead branch,then unveiled a plaquerecording the gift.

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CeremoniesContinued

North Sunderland - D classSaturday 30 September 1989 saw 150 guestsgathered at the lifeboat house on the coldest dayof the month, with threatening clouds despitebright sunshine visible to the south.

Mr John Halliday, vice-president of the TextileServices Association, (involving the laundry, drycleaners and linen hire trade) was welcomed,together with other guests, by Mr Bill Weeks,chairman of the North Sunderland lifeboat sta-tion.

Mr Halliday then handed the D class lifeboat tothe RNLI and Mr P. Denham Christie, a life vice-president, accepted it with an interesting speechon the links between lifeboat stations on the northeast coast before duly passing the lifeboat to thestation.

Mr Bob Reay. honorary secretary, in receivingthe lifeboat chronicled the work already under-taken since the lifeboat arrived on station. TheReverend David G. Rogerson. chaplain to thestation, led the service assisted by other localclergy, with Miss Brenda Calderwood, chairmanof the Ladies' guild bringing the proceedings to aclose with a vote of thanks.

The lifeboat launched and demonstrated thespeed and manoeuvrability of the D class, MrHalliday and his family being suitably impressed.

BBS

Weston-Super-Mare-DciassWeston-Super-Mare's new D class lifeboat, fundedby an appeal organised by the Kennet and Avon_Canal Trust, was officially handed over anddedicated on Birnbeck Island on 14October 1989.

The main funds for the appeal were raised fromsponsorship during the annual Boto-X event hostedby Avon Inflatables at Caen Hill Lock, Devizes in1987, when teams of eight people in inflatableboats carried the boats up and down the hill to thelock and paddled across the water.

Mr Geoffrey Flint, chairman of the Weston-Super-Mare station branch, opened the proceed-ings and Mr John Petty, chairman of the 1987Boto-X committee, representing the donors, theKennet and Avon Canal Trust, handed over thelifeboat to Mr Anthony Oliver, head of fundraising. He in turn passed it into the safe-keepingof Mr John Williams, honorary secretary of theWeston-Super-Mare lifeboat station.

The service of dedication which followed wasconducted by the Reverend Prebendary J.T.Hayward, honorary chaplain to the lifeboat sta-tion.

Weston-Super-Mare's new D class lifeboat isdedicated at a ceremony held at the station on 14October 1989. The boat was largely funded fromthe proceeds of a Boto-X organised by the Kennetand Avon Canal Trust.

(photo Jeff Morris)

- Mersey class Sealink Endeavour

Deck chair weather for the guests at the naming of the Mersey class Sealink Endeavour by HRH TheDuke of Kent at Hastings on 21 September. (Photo Tony Denton)

It was as if perfect weather had been pre-arranged for the naming ceremony ofHastings' new Mersey class lifeboat Sea-link Endeavour on 21 September. The sunshone brightly and warmly in a brilliantblue sky, but a gentle breeze ensured thatthose who crowded around the lifeboathouse at the Stade did not overheat.

The happy holiday atmosphere was sus-tained by the spectators taking their easefor the ceremony in gaily striped deckchairs, as they waited for the Institution'sPresident, HRH The Duke of Kent. Hearrived shortly before 2.30pm to cheers,applause and the madly-waving flags ofschool children.

The ceremony began with a welcomefrom the station chairman, Joe Adams,who referred to the heroic rescues carriedout since the naming of the town's previ-ous lifeboat Faiiiight, 25 years before.

On behalf of British Sealink Ferries andthe other donors, the Passenger ServicesDirector, Mr Michael Aiken, spoke of thepleasure all at Sealink had derived frombeing associated with the special promo-tion which had provided the bulk of thefunding for the new Mersey. He recom-mended that other businesses and compa-nies should become involved in similarschemes, before handing the lifeboat overto Mr Michael Vernon, Chairman of theRNLI.

In turn, Mr Vernon delivered her into the

safe-keeping of Mr John Heyes, Hastings'honorary secretary, who spoke of the sta-tion's pride in receiving the second life-boat of the new class to be commissioned.

A service of dedication followed, led bythe Reverend David Grant, lifeboat chap-lain and rector of the Old Town parish ofSt Clement and All Saints, assisted bylocal clergy of other denominations.

Before naming the lifeboat, the Duke ofKent paid tribute to the town's ancientfishing community, out of which had growna courageous lifeboating fraternity. 'Weare all here to celebrate the fact that wehave at Hastings the men and the means tosave life at sea. Both are of the highestcalibre', he said.

His Royal Highness then activated thebottle-breaker to send champagne gush-ing over the bows, before taking up thestation's offer to inspect the lifeboat andgo afloat.

The Duke and the crew boarded the life-boat and were hauled to the sea by tractor,followed by an excited throng of onlook-ers. At sea, Sealink Endeavour was putthrough her paces by Coxswain Fred White.The Duke took the helm on the journeyback to shore and was, the coxswain re-ported, 'Quite good at it!'

After re-housing, the Duke of Kent tooktea with invited guests before leaving forhis next appointment, bringing to an end amemorable occasion and a perfect day.

Isle Of AlTan - C class Prince ofArranWith storm force winds forecast, the naming andhanding over ceremony at Lamlash was success-fully undertaken in the presence of a good atten-dance of friends and supporters from both the Isleof Arran and the mainland, who all defied thesteady downpour of rain.

The proceedings were capably controlled bythe branch chairman, Mr James Macgill, whointroduced Mr Mike Wood, the North Shields-based sales manager for the Fred Olsen Lines, asrepresentatives of both the company and thepassengers of the ferry Black Prince whose gen-erosity had funded the new C class lifeboat.

In accepting the lifeboat on behalf of the RNLI,the director, Lt Cdr Miles, expressed gratitude forthe gift and most suitably endorsed the high

profile value of the smaller lifeboats within thefleet, which each year contribute a tremendousservice and record of saving lives.

The boat having been accepted by the honorarysecretary, Mr Geoff Norris, the Reverend Fultonconducted a brief service of dedication whereaf-ter Mrs Wood was invited to name the lifeboatPrince ofArran. She duly accepted the porringerof whisky from the senior helmsman and suitablychristened the boat to resounding cheers.

With the formalities concluded, the boat waslaunched and Mr Wood enjoyed the experience ofits capabilities in choppy seas before joining crewand guests in the neighbouring golf club forrefreshments provided and served by the guildand wives of the crew.

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The FundRaisers

Yankie Doodle DandyChildren attending Lakenheath AmericanElementary school at RAF Lakenheath ranlaps for four days in support of the RNLI.

Nearly 1,300children took part in theeventand raised £4,353 in sponsorship money.

The Institution supported the event byproviding a half-scale model of a lifeboatand videos to show the work of the lifeboatservice.

Taurean and Ryan were the top moneyearners and presented a cheque to RobinBurlingham of the Bury St Edmunds branch.

Famous namesSome of the most famous names in thecountry, from Her Majesty Queen ElizabethThe Queen Mother and HRH The Prince ofWales, to Spike Milligan and BobbyCharlton. were among those who donatedlots to the Padstow I ifeboat 's Famous NamesAuction held on 8 August last year, at theRoyal Cornwall Showground, Wadebridge.

Two hundred and one lots came under thehammer and brought in £5,500. Lot 72, akiss from Padstow coxswain Trevor Eng-land, and only available to ladies, went for anundisclosed sum!

Plain sailingThe SS Balmoral provided a memorableevening for 500 supporters of Caernarvonbranch when, on an evening cruise in Julylastyearshe sailed through the Menai Straits,passed Beaumaris, through Puffin Soundand on towards Moelfre.

The Caernarfon Male Voice Choir gavetheir services free of charge and their harmo-nies could be heard on either side of theStraits. With perfect weather and sea condi-tions the evening could be nothing but asuccess, and £1,100 was raised for theInstitution.

Magnificent MaxLandlord of the Railway Hotel Alton, MaxReitzler, outgrew his RNLI collecting box inhis first year of collecting, so he and hissupporters have found more ingenious waysof parting customers with from their money.

For 1988/89 a mock fruit machine wasconstructed for the collection of loose changeand when the final 'pay out' was made thejackpot was £557.01.

Since 1980, when Max began collecting atthe Railway Hotel, more than £4,000 hasbeen raised.

The rowing Rabbi of Maidenhead

A race with a difference took place in Berk-shire in aid of the RNLI. When the ministerof Maidenhead Synagogue, Rabbi JonathanRomain, heard that the ancient Cookhamregatta was to be revived he proposed thatone of the races be entitled the 'ClericsChallenge' and chal lenged other churches toput up teams for a friendly inter-faith con-test.

The public were entertained by a variety ofministers, priests and vicars heaving at theoars in boats with suitably religious namessuch as Noah's Ark, Jonah, and St Andrewthe Fisherman. Sponsorship and donationsled to £120 being raised.

The Rabbi is an active fund raiser for theInstitution, having raised over£2,000 throughprevious events.

Summer EveningThe ninth of a series of ten annual SummerEvenings held 'in the manner of Glynde-bourne' at Hazlewood Castle in North York-shire under the patronage of the Marquis ofNormanby, a vice-president of the RNLI andpresident of Whitby station branch, raised£7,700.Stephen Wood of Leeds branch has organ-ised all the evenings and this year's recital byOpera North was held in the presence of SirMarcus Worsley, Bart, Her Majesty's LordLieutenant.

The musical evenings, together with twosubstantial donations, have now raised amagnificent £42,685 for the Institution.

Young modelsYoung models helped to raise money forFiley Ladies' guild with a junior fashionshow.

The show, which raised £ 185, involved 20local children aged between 18 months and13, who modelled clothes supplied by Nurs-ery Rhymes of Filey, and Debenhams, Im-pulse, Rumours and Tammy Girl of Scarbor-ough. The music for the programme wayarranged by 14-year-old James MacKenzie.

In briefSIXTY 'get up and go' grannies took part ina five mile sponsored walk from the WestburyWhite Horse in Wiltshire and raised £2,800.

THE FIRST winner of the Dave BayfieldMemorial Yacht Race, run by FelixstoweFerry Sailing Club, was David White and hiscrewman Nigel Squirell. The race, in mem-ory of Mr Bayfield who died last year, was atwo hour pursuit race sponsored by TheFamous Grouse Whisky. Twenty-eight en-tries from all classes took part and in all theday raised £1,400. all of which was donated tothe Institution.

BREAKER, breaker. St Austell branchwere delighted to receive £ 1,600 from a seriesof fund raising events organised by the SouthCoast Breakers, a local CB Radio group.Members took part in a CB marathon, asnooker marathon and six ladies organised astreet collection in St Dennis, Nanpean, Fox-hole and St Stephens.

MRS BARBARA Ramsey took part in the1989 London Marathon, and Ipswich anddistrict branch benefited by £50335 throughsponsorship.

THE LONG, hot summer of 1989 helpedthe Salcombe lifeboat crew raise over £2,000which they presented to the acting chairmanof their local branch. The coxswain and creworganised weekly barbecues throughout thesummer to which all members of the publicwere invited.

IN JULY last year a summer party was heldat the home of Mr and Mrs Richards, Bir-mingham branch chairman and his wife.Nearly 200 people enjoyed a beautiful dayand donated over £1,000 to the RNLI.

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The FundRaisers

Continued

Gardeners question timeAn RNLI weekend was organised by Worces-ter Ladies' guild at Clack's Farm, the homeof Central Television gardening expert MrArthur Billitt and his wife Riet. Despite theinclement weather £1,403 was raised.

In a large marquee, sponsored by FBI, apanel of TV gardeners, Geoff Amos, How-ard Drury, Arthur Billit and Jim Mclntoshheld question-time sessions throughout thetwo days and their comments, wit and knowl-edge was much appreciated by the audience.

Other money raising attractions weretombola and a treasure hunt and souvenirswere also on sale. Local lifeboat enthusiast,John Sanders, displayed several of his modellifeboats, including 'Lizzie the Lifeboat', ona portable pool and caused as much interestwith parents as with children.

Flying PenguinsPenguins do not often grow pumpkins but inthe Falkland Islands strange things happen.

The eighteen members of the Flying Pen-guin Club, based at Mount Pleasant in theFalklands, took part in a pumpkin growingcompetition.

Despite the fact that most of the plants diedbefore bearing their fruit, the club were stillable to raise a marvellous £540.

Sowing SeedsA bet between two gardeners, Peter Wilkin-son and Richard Podmore, over who couldgrow the largest sunflower, grew out of allproportions when they sold sunflower seedsto local residents in Preston to take part in asunflower growing contest.

Twenty eight contestants took part, withmore than £520 being raised. The winnerwas deemed to be Mr Bob Newlands, whoseplant was 11ft tall.

A racing certaintyDuring the summer of 1988 Peter Earle,landlord of The Kings Arms public house inWandsworth, took up sailing for the firsttime. In less than a year Peter, with his sonRichard, took part in the Fastnet Race.

But there was more than the race for Peterto get involved in. Four months before therace took place he decided to organise agrand raffle for the benefit of the RNLI.Thousands of tickets were printed with allthe prizes being donated by local businesses,the pub's darts teams and the local branch.

Books of raffle tickets were sent to all thepubs in the district and in August the luckytickets were drawn, the first prize beingconveyancy fees for moving house duringthe next two years!

A splendid £3,203 was raised - and Petercompleted the Fastnet Race successfullywithout having to call for help from thebeneficiaries of his fund raising efforts!

Ken Chaplin, treasurer of Clapham, Bat-tersea and Wandsworth branch, presented acommemorative plaque to Peter.

Family affairCarluke branch is largely made up of fami-lies with children of school age and whenthey take on a fund raising event it is alwaysgreat fun and everyone gets involved. So inthe spring of 1989 the branch set out, with theassistance of their area organiser, on a schoolsinitiative.

The aim was purely educational, not fundraising, and all ten primary schools in thearea were approached and offered a film andtalk on the work of the RNLI. All the schoolsaccepted and an estimated 1,800 childrenbecame involved.

This was followed up by all the schoolsbeing invited to take part in an art competi-tion on the subject 'Rescue at Sea'. Hun-dreds of entries were received, all of veryhigh quality, and stories, paintings, poemsand collages were judged and each age groupwithin a school received a small prize.

The eldest class winner in each schoolreceived a special prize, an invitation for aday at Troon lifeboat station and a trip to seaon its lifeboat. On the day itself the reliefArun class Sir Max Aitken was on station.

From this initiative spontaneous donationsof over £600 have been received by Carlukebranch.

Disco memoriesA disco organised by friends of Lee Whit-taker, who was tragically killed in a caraccident early in 1989, was held at Club IforBach and raised £450 in her memory.

Lee was a keen amateur sailor and hadsailed the Atlantic.

A suitable Case for treatmentAn extra attraction helped Filey LifeboatDay to raise more than £3,000 for the RNLIthis summer.

A 1938 Case Roadless launching tractor,which has been restored to its original con-dition by owner Dave Pugh made a trium-phant return to Filey on Saturday 12 Au-gust 1989,25 years after its departure fromthe station.

The tractor was of particular interest tolong serving Filey tractor driver Dave Baker

at Fileywho had passed his test on a similar machine20 years before. Dave later took the machinefor a run on the sands.

The Case was coupled to the carriage of thestation's 37ft Oakley class lifeboat Robertand Dorothy Hardcastle for a photo-call, butas the tractors had been phased out with theintroduction of this heavier class of lifeboatthe chocks stayed firmly under the wheelsand no attempt was made to pull her.

However T29 was able to perform a useful

duty later in the day when she towed theempty carriage back out to the lifeboat asshe returned from a special trip carrying thecivic dignitaries of Filey and Scarborough.

Other attractions on Lifeboat Day in-cluded the band of the York Railway Insti-tute, an acrobatic display and a combinedexercise involving the Oakley, the station'sD class lifeboat and a Sea King helicopterwhich was watched by crowds throngingevery vantage point.

The Case tractor, T29, was the thirdtype L to be converted for use by theRNU by the Roadless Traction Coand had been stationed at Redcarfrom 1938 to 1957 and then at Fileyuntil 1964. It was sold to a Yorkfarmer who used it for pulling downtrees and then passed to a scrapyardowner and found itself pulling downbuildings on a former RAF base.

Rough use had twisted the frontdraw bar and the gearbox was al-lowed to run out of oil, so the tractorwas abandoned and lay virtually undisturbed for six years, withparts scattered around it in the grass and the gearbox steadily fillingwith water.

In 1976 a tractor enthusiast boughtthe Case and returned it to runningorder, although retaining some post-RNL1 modifications, and after a fewappearances at rallies it was put instore.

Two years ago Dave Pugh acquiredT29 and was so intrigued by the un-usual machine that he carried outconsiderable research into its historyand the type in general. After muchhard work, and the inevitable disap-pointments along the way, ex-RNLl

T29 has now been restored to original, and exhibition, standard.Not content with one restoration Dave Pugh is now also restoring

T63. the former Scarborough station tractor.

204

Quick on the drawsAs the result of a two-year promo-tion in conjunction with VolvoConcessionaires Ltd, £600,000 wasraised from the sale of two millionraffle tickets in 1987 and 1988.

Sixteen Volvo 340 cars were of-fered as prizes, the tickets being soldby RNLI volunteers throughout vari-ous regions in the country.

The proceeds from the first yearwent towards a Tyne class lifeboatnamed Voluntary Worker, whichentered the relief fleet in September1988.

A second lifeboat, Lifetime Care,(see naming ceremony in this issue),has entered the relief fleet.

The promotion finished at the endof 1988 but through the kind gener-osity of Volvo Concessionaires Ltdfour more cars were made availableto be raffled in four of our regionsduring 1989, resulting in a further£154,483.50 being raised.

The first draw was for the Welshregion with the winning ticket being drawn on 29 September bythe Right Honourable The Lord Mayor of Cardiff, Councillor BetiJones JP. The winner was Mr J. Hill of St Clears, Dyfed.

Mr Charles Hunter-Pease, sales and marketing director of VolvoConcessionaires helps the Mayor of Torbay, Councillor Mrs EileenSalloway draw the winning ticket for the South West Region at theRegional Conference on 10 October 1989.

(Photo Woodman Photography)

The draw for the Scottish regiontook place on 30 September at theEdinburgh Sheraton and the win-ning ticket was drawn by Mr HughReid, operations manager of VolvoConcessionaires Ltd. The tickethad been sold by Newburgh-on-Ythan branch and belonged to MrW. Mathers of Boddam.

On 6 October Lt Cdr Brian Milespicked the winning ticket for theNorth East region at the regionaloffice at Glasshouses. Mr P. Wallof Cottingham, Hull was the win-ner.

The final draw took place in theSouth West region on 10 October.The Worshipful Mayor of Torbay,Councillor Mrs Eileen Salloway,assisted by Mr Charles Hunter-Pease, sales and marketing directorfor Volvo Concessionaires Ltd.,picked the ticket of Mrs M. Lomaxof Huddersfield.

It is hoped that further draws willtake place in various regions in 1990.

The amounts raised in the four participating regions were:South West £63,433 JO: Scotland £37,062: Wales £23,000: North East £30.988.

Cycling diver says thank youA Yorkshire man picked up by thePorthdinllaen lifeboat while diving off Lleyntwo years ago cycled from Land's End toJohn O'Groats to raise funds for his rescuers,and collected a magnificent £ 1,500 in spon-sorship.

While on holiday in Aberdaron, AlanWright, his 18-year-old son Philip and afriend, Keith Walker, went diving off Bard-sey Island. Philip was left to look after theboat, and everything went well until theyresurfaced - when to their horror they sawthat strong currents had swept them awayfrom their boat.

Despite waving and whistling they failedto draw Philip's attention and eventuallydrifted about three miles to the Irish Sea.

Philip and other divers began searchingfor Alan and Keith - who could see themgiving up the search and also watched help-lessly as a rescue helicopter from RAF Val-ley passed about 400 yards from the friendsbut also failed to see them.

As dusk was closing in on Bardsey Sound,Alan and Keith decided to keep close to-gether so they could spend the night floating.However, out of the blue the Porthdinllaenlifeboat arrived, one of the crew spottedthem when they were about 200 yards awayand they were picked up after five hours inthe water.

Alan says he owes his life to CoxswainGriff Jones and the crew of the Porthdinllaenlifeboat and it was for that reason that hedecided to raise money for the lifeboat serv-ice.

Centenary celebrationsTo mark the centenary of the rescue of the StGeorge by Peel lifeboat in 1889, PeelLadies' guild organised a sparkling buffetdance, produced a commemorative bookletand invited Mrs Karen Nordli (daughter ofthe baby girl rescued from the St George) tojoin in the celebrations. The buffet danceraised well over £1,000.

In addition, the branch have also producedsome first day covers which are availablefrom the branch secretary Mrs J Gerrard, 1Cowley Terrace, Peel, Isle of Man, price £2for a standard, unsigned cover, and £3 forcovers signed by Karen Bache Nordli, HisExcellency the Lieutenant Governor, TheRight Reverend Noel D Jones, CB QHG B A,Lord Bishop of Sodor and Man or by thepresent Peel lifeboat crew.

Drumming up supportFor the past 12 years Brian Barnes of the OldDrum Inn, Petersfield and his regulars havecollected money for the Institution.

At a small ceremony held at the pub in July1989, Mr Barnes handed over a cheque for£1,000 to Captain Tom Fanshawe, presidentof the Petersfield branch, who in turn pre-sented Mr Barnes with a token of the branch' sappreciation. The £1,000 brings the totalraised by the pub in recent years to £4,000.

That evening saw the start of another burstof fund raising; Teachers Whisky andBeefeater gin was sold for half price, and 18gallons of Friary Meux bitter was also soldat half price. A total of £ 143 was collected.

n briefBOYS' BRIGADE companies from within

the West Lowland District (Scotland) havemade a concerted fund raising effort to fundthe anchor and cable for the new Portpatricklifeboat which went on station in April. Theanchor and cable are the emblems of the Boys'Brigade and the boys have a close associationwith Portpatrick. At a ceremony last Octobera cheque for £1,500 was presented to theInstitution by the Rt Hon Viscount Thurso ofUlster JP, chairman of the Boys' Brigade.

THE 1989 Southern Region car draw raiseda magnificent £53,614. The first prize of aPeugeot 309 GE car, generously supplied byOlds Motor Group, Dorchester was won by avisitor from Swansea. Second prize was amagnificent patchwork quilt made by theCottage Quilters of Milton Abbas, Dorset,which depicted Grace Darling's famous res-cue together with old and modern lifeboats.The quilt was won by a lady in Reading,Berkshire. Five other prizes were generouslydonated by Brittany Ferries, P & O Ferries,Sealink Ferries and British Channel IslandFerries.

SHROPSHIRE'S Wem branch received amost unusual donation when a local supporterprovided the branch with two lengths of veryhigh quality gentlemen's suiting material,worth some £80 per length. As there are fewtailors in the branch's rural area they would bepleased to hear from anybody who would liketo turn this generous donation into cash. Allenquiries to the branch chairman, Mr B Reader,telephone Wem 32393.

205

The FundRaisers

Continued

Here we goThe generous donation of six tickets, valuedat IR£10 each, for the international soccermatch between the Republic of Ireland andWest Germany, ended with the Arklowbranch being IR£350 the richer.

The tickets were sold to the highest bidder.Jimmy Tyrrell, honorary secretary of Ark-low lifeboat station, who was the recipient ofthe original six tickets, scored again by sell-ing six more IR£8 tickets for the Republic ofIreland versus Northern Ireland game lastOctober. This time IR£700 was raised.

Stockton summerStockton (Norton) Ladies' guild had a busysummer of fund raising events, centred onthe River Tees.

In May, during the Stockton Regatta, theladies were invited to run a souvenir stall; inAugust the town and arts centre organised aRiver Festival which was a two-day familyevent on the river bank. Many and variedwere the events, which were rounded off bya sail-past of colourfully decorated boatsfrom the Riverside Boat Club.

Many of the Boat Club's members alsobelong to the Malleable Working Men'sClub which had been collecting money in awhisky bottle - £300 worth!

In all the amount raised during the variousevents in the summer came to £1,250.

Mystery ladyA lady known to members of Yarmouth andGorleston ladies' guild as 'Mrs Pooh' hasbeen making anonymous donations to theguild for the last five years.

Dubbed 'Mrs Pooh' because all the dona-tions have arrived in treacle tins, the lady andher husband donate an average of £30 a year,but the guild have no idea who she is.

Concerted fund raisingThe Buckie Ladies' guild, under its presi-dent Mrs Irene Davidson, have formed a 15-strong concert party who are in great demandall over the area at all kinds of functions withtheir combination of traditional Scots music,original comedy songs and sketches.

Judging by their success to date, the enter-tainment world had better keep an eye overits shoulder at the antics of the Ladies Life-boat Concert Party.

Starting earlyFive young supporters from Preston, Lanca-shire, Michael and Steven Bolton, Dawn andMichael Burke and Owen Ralph organised agarage sale last August and raised £20.

206

Bear-faced support

When Woodley branch held its flag day inthe local shopping precinct this year, theyborrowed a model lifeboat from Windsorbranch which created a great deal of interest,especially from the children.

On the same day Rupert Bear was doing aproject with the local bookshop. The branchwas delighted when Rupert asked if he couldhave his photo taken alongside the lifeboatas this drew yet more attention and helped toboost collections, which over the week raiseda total of £1,744.37.

Honesty boxVisitors sailing the Caledonian Canal viaLoch Ness from Inverness to Fort Williamcan make a half-way halt at Temple Pier,Drumnadrochit.

If the owner Mr Gordon Menzies is athome, berthing dues can be paid at his nearbybungalow. A notice at the head of the jettygoes on to explain that the berth is private butif there is no one at the bungalow donationsfor the RNLI placed in the pedestal boxprovided would be accepted in lieu!

Mr Menzie is the local village electrician,plus an auxiliary coastguard on Loch Ness,thus spending a great deal of time away fromhome - which in turn makes the pedestal boxa lucrative source of income for Invernessbranch.

To keep the RNLI in the forefront of thecruising public on Loch Ness a shield waspresented to Mr Menzies by Mr GeorgeMansell, chairman of the Inverness branch,as a 'thank you' for £650 collected sinceAugust 1988.

Mighty musicExtra seats had to be provided to accommo-date queuing people at the Victory Hall inLy tham for a concert by organi st Peter Jebson.His two-hour show on the mighty Wurlitzerorgan raised £590 for Lytham Ladies' guild.

Mr Jebson is the deputy head teacher atLytham Hall Park School, choirmaster at StCuthbert's Church and resident organist atthe Cliffs Hotel, Blackpool.

A happy anniversaryThe 21st anniversary of Usk and Raglanbranch in Gwent was celebrated by raising arecord sum of £3,300 during the year. Aswell as flag days, house to house collectionsand souvenir sales the branch organised asherry morning, a shanty evening with a fishand chip supper and a fashion show. Thehigh point of the summer was a fork supper,with fresh salmon from the River Usk heldon a perfect summer evening and whichalone raised almost £1,200.

n briefHIS GRACE the Duke of Atholl attended

the Blairgowrie branch Cheese and WineGarden Party at Altamount House Hotel andreceived a cheque for £1,000.

FOURTEEN year old Mark Russell andfellow Montrose Academy pupil MartinOliver set off from Montrose lifeboat stationon 1 October and cycled to Arbroath lifeboatstation, where they were met and shown roundthe lifeboat by Crew Members John Blues andClayton Jarrett. Having been suitably re-freshed the two boys cycled back to Mon-trose. A successful trip for the boys, and theRNLI as they raised £250 in sponsorship.

A MEMBER of Erdington Branch, Bir-mingham, Mrs Clifford, bravely faced an abseildown the rock face at Symonds Yat, raisingover £200 for her branch.

A COFFEE morning and an afternoon tea,both great successes, helped Hitchin branchto send £1,800 to Hadleigh depot, the largestsingle sum the branch has been able to donateand rounded off their financial year in style.

A TWO minute dash around William Low'sBlairgowrie supermarket was first prize in aduck race held on the River Ericht on BraemarNight and organised by Blairgowrie branch.The dash was sponsored by British Alcan anda consolation prize of a bottle of whisky wasdonated by the Angus Hotel. The duck raceraised £375 for the branch and the winner ofthe dash filled two trolleys with goods to thevalue of £153.04.

THE MERSEY Lifeboat Appeal to raisefunds for the new Hoylake lifeboat received aboost when, on 11 September 1989, a chequefor £129,225.97 was presented to AnthonyOliver, RNLI head of fund raising, by theLord Lieutenant of Merseyside - monies raisedat the time of the official launch of the appeal.

IN OCTOBER 1989 Halesworth andDistrict branch held a shipwreck party mak-ing a profit of £265 on the event and selling£233 of Christmas items and souvenirs.

IN ITS first year of activity the RamePeninsula branch has raised the marvellousamount of £8,500. Their first house to housecollection and flag day brought in over £ 1,868and Torpoint flag week brought in a further£1,203.

THE 'ANCHOR' of Girvan Ladies' guild'scollecting box holders is the Anchor pub whoseregulars contribute more money year by year.In the last financial year their donationsamounted to £350 out of a total from the boxesof £1,659.

Accept no substitute...Radios, helicopters, MRCCs - they have all altered the face of modern Search and Rescue.

But there are things for which the lifeboat is still best, as two friends of yachting writerand television broadcaster Malcolm McKeag will testify.

In and Woody are two chaps very much in what many think ofas the traditional mould of the yachtsman - urbane, witty, difficultto rattle. This story is about them really, my own part merelyperipheral.

It all began at one of the less glossy Cowes Week parties. 'Wecould do with a couple more for the Fastnet' said a somewhat out-of-place Irv, in a noticeably cultured accent...

'There is,' I told the girlfriend a little while later, while throwinggear into a bag, 'absolutely nothing to worry about. I'm going onthe biggest, fastest boat in the fleet, she's 85ft long, has ten tonsof lead in her keel and is as safe as a house. I shall be back inPlymouth long before most of them have reached Land's End onthe way out.'

That bit, at least, turned out to be true.Forty-eight hours later, Drum was doing what she was built to

do best, taking the long seas off the Cornish coast with swoopinggrace, throwing the spray aside with casual ease, sending the foamhissing and sizzling along her lee rail. The breeze, which had beenup to gale force in the night, had eased to the top end of Force 6,tough enough on the smaller boats but for a 'maxi' (the largestboats possible under the rule which governs ocean racing - Ed)next to perfect conditions.

It would have been utterly enjoyable had one been not quite soclose to exhausted collapse. A maxi is no place for a casual pier-jumper, they are disgustingly hard work. Changing a headsail canbe a ten-man job, and reefing reminds you of those old movies ofwork aloft in the Roaring Forties - ten of you strung along theboom, clinging on with fingernails and needing only the ghost ofAlan Villiers to start the commentary.

There are but two one-man jobs aboard a maxi, cook andhelmsman. They had a cook, thanks, and as for steering there wasevidently a long list of individuals with noticeably culturedaccents waiting their turn - and I was at the end of it.

So the principal task of yours truly was ' grinding', toiling at thehuge winches. I am here to tell you that grinding a maxi is no jobfor the faint-hearted. It is much less a job fora not entirely fit yachting writer more accus-tomed to hanging on the backstay profferingwell-meant advice to the afterguard. It shouldcome as no surprise to learn, therefore, thatbetween tacks yours truly was doing somewell-earned cat-napping up close to theweather rail.

The first reaction to the big bang was thatsomeone rather further up the hierarchy couldinvestigate it. The second reaction was thatone really ought to take an interest oneself. Itsounded like a big shackle falling from aloft- but a glance there showed nothing amiss.

It sounded as if we might have run aground,but a quick glance showed us too far from thecoast for rock hopping, and the waves tooregular for an offshore shoal.

It sounded as if we might have thumpedsomething in the water, and I was just pokingmy head out over the rail to look for railwaysleepers or a waterlogged container when the second bang came.

Realisation was instant. The sound was as unmistakable as itwas unthinkable.

'Good God, the keel's fallen off!'The stunned thought was immediately followed by another,

more rational piece of inner self-advice. 'Well for heaven's sakedon't tell anyone, you'll never live it down.'

('I say,' I could already hear them whispering 'wouldn't gosailing with that McKeag fellow if I were you, positive scaremon-ger. Do you know, he once told us the keel had fallen off. Can youbelieve it? )

Aft, Phil Holland, brother of the designer (now there's a happycoincidence for you) was frantically heaving on the wheel.

'What'shappening?'heyelledatWoody. 'What's happening?'Woody yelled at me.

'The keel's fallen off,' I said to Woody. 'The keel's fallen off,'Woody said to Phil.

'Well, aren't you going to check, or something? 'I thought. 7mean, don't just take my word for it...'

But there was no need to check. The big yacht rolled on her sideand lay there, like a giant Laser capsized on a giant gravel pit. Sherolled on, turning turtle. Pausing to help the lad beside me uncliphis safety harness, I missed the chance to scramble up the revolv-ing hull and had to jump for it. The water wasn't that cold.

Woody, crafty blighter, went out under the guardrails like a foxthrough a fence then trod the rotating hull like a lumberjack roll-ing a log. He finished up atop the upturned great white whale, kingof the castle. He didn't even get his feet wet.

Most of us had joined him by the time the chopper appeared,swooping low off the top of the Cornish cliffs and clatteringtowards us like a big yellow crow. An off-duty coastguard, MarkOne Eyeball glued to Mark One Binocular, had been idly watchingus at the time and, eyebrows rocketing, had seen us capsize. For-tunately, he had a phone in his Land Rover. Fortunately, the keelhad chosen to leave us at a spot just 13 minutes flying time fromCuldrose.

The Falmouth lifeboat arrived just as the last of those who hadbeen trapped below in the air-filled hull had been brought to safety,and soon there were 22 of us lined up along the hull, like seagullswaiting for dinner.

An orderly queue began to form, as the chopper hovered over-head, its sling dangling near the front of the queue and the lifeboat-

man, his voice hoarse against the clat-ter of the rotors, urged those at theback to get a move on.

The lifeboat, standing off, had sentin its rubber dinghy to ferry survivors.

Funny, isn't it, how little thingsbother you when all you should beworrying about is avoiding death bydrowning. Most of us had been in aboat, but not many had had a ride in ahelicopter. Now that the danger waspast, this looked like too good an op-portunity to pass up, so the poor life-boatman was having a hard time.getting takers.

'Come on then, I can take two morethis run.'

Only Irv was behind me, withWoody and Phil in front - we were thelast four and the chopper could taketwo, the lifeboat two. Looked like I

wasn't going to get my ride in a chopper after all.'You going in the chopper Woody?' said Irv.'Blow that,' said Woody, 'dry ship, those darned things. Doesn't

the RNLI still carry brandy? I'm a survivor you know. I'mentitled.'

I looked round for Irv, but it was too late. He was already slidingdown the hull into the waiting dinghy...

|aid Woody,'chopper! |re

207

LifeboatJune and

ServicesJuly 1989

Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire54ft Arun ON 1050: July 30Aberdovey, GwyneddAtlantic 21: June 2, 10, 25 (three times) andJuly 27Abersoch, GwyneddAtlantic 21: June 7, July 5, 19, 25, 28 and 30Aberystwyth, DyfedC class: June 1, 2, 12, July 1, 15, 16 and 23Aith, Shetland52ft Arun ON 1100: June 13, 29 and July 2Aldeburgh, SuffolkRelief 37ft 6in Rather ON 1064: July 1 and 22D class: July 1 (twice) and 22Alderney, Channel Islands44ft Waveney ON 1045: June 3, July 4, 8 (fourtimes), 9, 15,21 and 22Amble, NorthumberlandD class: June 25Angle, DyfedRelief 47ft Tyne ON 1115: June 3Appledore, North DevonRelief 47ft Tyne ON 1133: June 4,20,21 (twice),23, July 15 and 21Atlantic21: June 18(twice),23,July6,10,15and21 (twice)Arbroath, AngusD class: July 15Arran (Lamlash), ButeshireC class: June 3, 8, 28 and July 5 (twice)Arranmore, Co Donegal47ftTyne ON 1111: June 1, 19,20,July 1,6,26,28 and 30Atlantic College (St Donat's Castle), SouthGlamorganAtlantic 21: July 2, 5, 6, 15 and 16Ballycotton, Co Cork52ft Arun ON 1067: June 6Baltimore, Co Cork47ft Tyne ON 1137: June 12 (twice), 24, July 16and 23Bangor, Co DownAtlantic 21: June 19, 20, 25, 26, 29, July 3, 7, 9,11 (twice), 12, 15, 19, 24, 26 and 28Barmouth, GwyneddRelief 37ft 6in Rather ON 1022: June 3, 9, 19and 25D class: June 11 and 19 (twice)Barra Island, Inverness-shire52ft Arun ON 1143: June 3,25 (four times), July15 and 16Barrow, Cumbria47ft Tyne ON 1117: June 1D class: June 27, July 13, 23 and 26Barry Dock, South GlamorganRelief 52ft Arun ON 1077: June 23 and July 25Beaumaris, GwyneddAtlantic 21: June 11, 17, 25 (twice) and July 2Bembridge, Isle of Wight47ft Tyne ON 1126: June 13 and July 16D class: July 10, 23, 28 and 29Berwick-upon-Tweed, NorthumberlandAtlantic21: June 16,July9,16,18,20,21 and25Blackpool, LancashireD class: June 16Blyth, Northumberland44ft Waveney ON 1079: July 9D class: July 19Borth, DyfedD class: June 10, July 8 and 25 (twice)Bridlington, Humberside12m Mersey ON 1124: June 8, 27, July 22 and30 (twice) "

208

D class: June 4, 11, 22, July 1,19, and 30 (seventimes)Brighton, East SussexAtlantic 21: June 10, 18 (three times), 28, July 1,3,4,5,9, 1213 (twice), 15,16 (three times), 21,26, 27 and 30Buckie, Banffshire52ft Arun ON 1093: June 17 and July 1Burnham-on-Crouch, EssexD class: July 9Burry Port, DyfedD class: June 23, July 16 and 22Calshot, HampshireRelief 33ft Brede ON 1101: June 2 and 25Campbeltown, Argyllshire52ft Arun ON 1059: June / 3 and My 6Cardigan, DyfedC class: June 21 and July 16Clacton-on-Sea, EssexAtlantic 21: June 3 and July 5Cleethorpes, HumbersideD class: June 11, 20, 25 and July 11Clogher Head, Co LouthRelief 37ft Oakley: July 11Criccieth, GwyneddC class: June 19, July 2, 5 and 26Crimdon Dene, Co DurhamD class: June 14Cromer, Norfolk47ft Tyne ON 1097: July 30 (twice)D class: June 21 (twice), July 12 and 28Cullercoats, Tyne and WearC class: July 2, 6, 12 (twice), 16, 19 and30 (twice)Donaghadee, Co Down52/1- Arun ON 1107: June 9, 28, 29, July 6, 9and 13Douglas, Isle of Man47ft Tyne ON 1147: June 6, 17, July 6, 15 and 22Dover, KentRelief 50ft Thames ON 1081: June 19, July 1, 2,4, 5 (twice), 11 and 27Dunbar, East LothianRelief 48ft 6in Solent ON 1020: June 6 andJuly 16D class: July 16 and 29Dungeness, Kent37ft 6in Rother ON 1048: June 11 and July 16(twice)Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin44ft Waveney ON 1001: July 4,25 (twice) and 29D class: July 22Eastbourne, East Sussex37ft 6in Rother ON 1055: June 4, 16 and July 23D class: June 4 (twice), 16, 20, July 2, 8, 13, 18(twice), 23, 27 and 29Exmouth, South Devon33ft Brede ON 1088: June 18, 23, 24, 25 andJuly 3D class: June 4 (twice), 11, 13, 23, July 3, 20and 24Fa/mouth, Cornwall52ft Arun ON 1058: July 5, 12 and 27Atlantic 21: June 2 (twice), 19,25,26, July 9,12,16 (twice), 22 (twice) and 27Filey, North Yorkshire37ft Oakley ON966: June 7, 8, 25, July 8 and 10D class: June 3, 25 and July 5Flamborough, Humberside37ft Oakley ON 972: June 7, July 4, 8,13 and 16Fleetwood, Lancashire44ft Waveney ON 1036: July 14, 23 and 31D class: June 21, July 7 and 30

Fowey, Cornwall44ft Waveney ON 1028: June4,8,18,21,July 17,20 (twice) and 25 (twice)Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire47ft Tyne ON 1109: July 15, 22 and 25Galway Bay, Co Galway52ft Arun ON 1118: June 2,4, 14, 20, 26, July 9,17, 25 and 27Girvan, AyrshireRelief 33ft Brede ON 1105: June 10, 25, July 3and ! 9 (twice)Great Yarmouth and Gorleston, NorfolkRelief 44ft Waveney ON 1002: July 6At/antic21: June4,7,12(twice), 16,26,27,July1, 2, 5 (twice), 8 (three times), 9 (twice), 10, 23and 27Happisburgh, NorfolkD class: June 30Hartlepool, Cleveland44ft Waveney ON 1044: June 11, 25, 26, July 1and 23Atlantic 21: June 25, July 11 and 23Harwich, Essex44ft Waveney ON 1060: June 17, 27, July 1, 16and 17Atlantic 21: June 4 (five times), 8, 18, July 3, 8,9, 16, 17,21,22, 26 (twice) and 30Hastings, East Sussex12m Mersey ON 1125: June 8 and 18Relief 37ft Oaklev ON 973: July 23 and 31D class: June 8, 16,18 (twice), 20,21,23,25,26,27, 28, July 3, 11, 20, 23 (three times) and 29Hayling Island, HampshireAtlantic 21: June 4, 25 (five times), 29, July 1(twice), 8, 14, 15, 19, 20, 22, 29 (twice) and 30(three times)Helensburgh, DunbartonshireAtlantic 21: June 8 (twice), 11,18,27, July 1,12,16 and 18Holyhead, Gwynedd47ft Tyne ON 1095: June 21 (twice), 24, July 13,16 (twice), 19, and 20D class: July 16 and 22Horton and Port Eynon, West GlamorganD class: June 4, 20, July 9, 15, 17 and 22Howth, Co Dublin52ft Arun ON 1113: June 5 and 25D class: June 9 (twice), 22, 25, July 6, 11, 19and 24Hoylake, Merseyside37ft 6in Rother ON 1000: June 28, July 20, 23and 30Humber, Humberside52ft Arun ON 1123: June 1, 4, 5, 6, July 2, 4, 6,16 (twice) and 30 (three times)Hunstanton, NorfolkAtlantic 21: June 8, 9, 28, July 15 and 25Ilfracombe, North Devon37ft Oakley ON 986: June 18, July 9 and 27Invergordon, Ross-shireRelief 44ft Waveney ON 1033: June 24 andJuly 15Islay, Argyllshire50ft Thames ON 1032: June 25Relief 52ft Arun ON 1071: July 19, 20 and 25Kilkeel, Co DownD class: July 9Kilmore, Co WexfordRelief 37ft Oakley ON 994: July 17Kingdom, FifeC class: June 19, 20, 24 and July 2Kippford, KirkcudbrightshireD class: June 26Kirkcudbright, KirkcudbrightshireAtlantic 21: June 4 and July 23Largs, AyrshireAtlantic21: June 1,4,7,8,20,30,July 15and29Lerwick, Shetland52ft Arun ON 1057: June 1, 24, July 5 and 15Little and Broad Haven, DyfedD class: June 11, 23, 25, 27, 30, July 4, 5, 6, 16and 27

Littlehampton, West SussexAtlantic21: June 3,6, 11,21, 25, July 13, 16 andJuly 30 (three times)Littlestone-on-Sea, KentAtlantic 21: June 4, 18, 25, July 1, 4, 16, 23(twice), 26 and 28The Lizard, Cornwall47ft Tyne ON 1145: July 31Llandudno (Dime's Head), GwyneddRelief 37ft Oakley ON 961: June 21D class: June 3, 5, July 11, 15 and 21Lochinver, Sutherland48ft 6in Solent ON 1007: June 3 and July 14Longhope, Orkney47ft Tyne ON 1138: June 2Lowestoft, Suffolk47ft Tyne ON 1132: July 5Lyme Regis, DorsetAtlantic 21: June 1, 4, 25, July 8, 16, 22, 26and 27Lymington, HampshireAtlantic 21: June 4, 25, July 1, 13 and 15Lytham St Annes, LancashireRelief 47ft Tyne ON 1146: July 20D class: July 1Mablethorpe, LincolnshireD class: June 2, 18, 25 (twice), July 2, 9, 13, 22(twice), 27, 28 and 29Macduff, BanffshireAtlantic 21: June 25, July 8 and 17Mallaig, Inverness-shire52ft Arun ON 1078: June 29, July 5 and 11Margate, KentD class: June 4, 11, July 2, 12, 15 (twice) and 25Minehead, SomersetAtlantic 21: June 11,24 (twice), 26, July 4 and 30Moelfre, GwyneddD class: June 28Montrose, Angus47ft Tyne ON 1152: June 3Morecambe, LancashireD class: June 6, 25 (twice), July 2, 5 and 31Mudeford, DorsetAtlantic 21: June 16, 20, 23, 25 (four times), 27and July 14The Mumbles, West Glamorgan47ft Tyne ON 1096: June 3 and 24D class: June 7, 17, 24 (twice), July 25 and 28New Brighton, MerseysideAtlantic 21: June 10, 22, 25 and July 1Newcastle, Co Down37ft Oakley ON 974: June 25, 30, July 18, 22and 28Newhaven, East Sussex52/1- Arun ON 1106: June 4, 18 (twice), July 1(twice), 3, 6, 16 and 25Newquay, CornwallD class: June 2C class: June 18, 20, July 2, 27 and 30New Quay, Dyfed37ft Oakley ON 996: June 26D class: June 11 (twice), 14 and 26North Berwick, East LothianD class: June 6, 19 (twice), July 10 and 11Oban, Argyllshire33ftBrede ON 1102: June 5, 10, 11 (twice), July2, 4, 5, 6 and 30Padstow, Cornwall47ft Tyne ON 1094: June 4 and July 26Peel, Isle of ManAtlantic 21: July 23Penarth, South GlamorganD class: June 8, 24, July 3, 4, 5 (twice), 19(twice), 21, 23 (three times) and 30Penlee, Cornwall52ft Arun ON 1085: July 11 (twice)Peterhead, Aberdeenshire47ft Tyne ON 1127: June 8, 20 and July 31Plymouth, South Devon52ft Arun ON 1136: June 3,11, 27, 28, July 2,4,12, 16, 19, 23, 24, 26 and 31Poole, DorsetRelief 44ft Waveney ON44-001: June 11, 17,25,28, July 1 and 5

Boston Whaler: June 11, 13, 17, 28, July 25and 26Portaferry, Co DownAtlantic 21: June 17, 26, 28, 29 (twice), July 26and 29 (three times)Porthcawl, Mid GlamorganD class: June 1,5,20,22, 25, July 1 (twice), 5, 9and 25Porthdinllaen, Gwynedd47ft Tyne ON 1120: June 21, 25, July 6 and 29Relief 44ft Waveney ON 1029: July 21Port Isaac, CornwallD class: June 18, 24, July 4, 18, 25 and 26Portpatrick, Wigtownshire47ft Tyne ON 1151: June 4, 6, 18 and July 9Portrush, Co Antrim52ft Arun ON 1070: June 21, 23, July 5, 6, 12(three times), 13, 14, 16, 18, 19, 23, 24 and 30Portsmouth (Langstone Harbour), HampshireAtlantic21: June 15,24,25 (three times), July 11and 30D class: June 17, 24, July 16 and 30 (twice)Port St Mary, Isle of Man54ft Arun ON 1051: July 2 (twice), 6, 11 and 13Pwllheli, Gwynedd37ft Oakley ON 978: June 3D class: June 18Queensferry, West LothianAtlantic21: June4,14,20(twice),23,July7and9 (twice)Ramsey, Isle of Man37ft Oakley ON 995: June 6, July 3,6,10 (twice),15 (twice) and 20Ramsgate, Kent44ft Waveney ON 1042: June 4, 5, 6, 17 andJuly 4Atlantic21: June4 (twice), 17,24, July 3, 20and23 (three times)Red Bay, Co AntrimC class: July 2, 13 and 22Redcar, ClevelandD class: June 13, 25 (twice), July 16, 22, 26and 27Atlantic 21: June 22, 25 (twice), July 16, 18, 22and 26Rhyl, ClwydD class: June 11, 25, July 2 and 29Rosslare Harbour, Co Wexford52ft Arun ON 1092: June 13, 17, 18 and July 29Rye Harbour, East SussexC class: June 10, July 3 and 5St Abbs, BerwickshireAtlantic 21: June 24 and July 16St Agnes, CornwallD class: July 23St Bees, CumbriaC class: June 9 and July 4St Catherine, Channel IslandsC class: June 25, July 14, 27 and 31St Davids, Dyfed47ft Tyne ON 1139: July 11St Helier, Channel Islands44ft Waveney ON 1034: June 6, 11, 12, 25, July4,7, 16, 26, 28, 30 and 31St Ives, CornwallRelief 37ft Oakley ON 984: July 23C class: July 13St Peter Port, Channel Islands52ft Arun ON 1025: June 3, 11 (twice), 25 andJuly 24Salcombe, South Devon47ft Tyne ON 1130: June 24 (twice), 25, 27 andJuly 13 (twice)Scarborough, North Yorkshire37ft Oakley ON 979: July 10D class: June 20 (twice), 30 (twice) and July 18Selsey, West Sussex47ft Tyne ON 1074: June 18,25 (three times), 27,July 13, 22 and 28D class: June 24, 25 (twice), July 2, 7,16 and 23Sennen Cove, Cornwall37ft 6in Rather ON 999: June 28 and July 23Sheerness, Kent44ft Waveney ON 1027: June 23,28, July 20, 31

D class: June 11,21 (twice), 22 (three times) andJuly 30Sheringham, Norfolk37ft Oakley ON 960: June 21 (twice), 29 and July30 (six times)Shoreham Harbour, West SussexRelief 47ft Watson ON 971: June 1 and July 30D class: June 19, 25, 27, July 16 and 28Silloth, CumbriaAtlantic 21: July 23, 24 and 30Skegness, Lincolnshire37ft Oakley ON 977: July 15D class: July 15, 24, 26 (twice), 27 (three times)and 28Skerries, Co DublinD class: June 25, July 2, 10 and 12Southend-on-Sea, EssexAtlantic 21: June 4D class: June 7Southwold, SuffolkAtlantic 21: June 25, July 10, 17, 27 and 30Staithes and Runswick, North YorkshireAtlantic 21: July 15 and 28Stornoway (Lewis), Ross-shireRelief 52ft Arun ON 1103: June 29Stranraer, WigtownshireD class: June 11, July 12, 27 and 31Sunderland, Tyne and Wear47ft Watson ON 969: June 17, July 11 (twice), 23(three times) and 25D class: July 1, 12 and 25Swanage, DorsetRelief 37ft 6in Rather ON 1047: June 27Teesmouth, ClevelandRelief 47ft Tyne ON 1122: June 25 (twice), July7, 12, 15, 22, 23 and 26Tenby, Dyfed47ft Tyne ON 1112: June 11, 24, 28, July 16, 17,27 and 30D class: June 10, 18, 25, 28, July 11, 15, 17

.(twice), 19 and 27Thurso, CaithnessRelief 54ft Arun ON 1062: June 29 and July 25Tighnabruaich, ArgyllshireD class: June 20Torbay, South DevonRelief 52ft Arun ON 1086: June 4,23, 24,27, 28,July 14, 20 (twice), 21 and 28D class: June 4, 7, 15 and July 21Trearddur Bay, GwyneddD class: June 11, 21, July 8 (twice) and 16Troon, AyrshireRelief 52ft Arun ON 1071: June 10 (twice), 17,18, 23 and 2852ft Arun ON 1134: July 2 (twice) andJuly 22 (twice)Tynemouth, Tyne and Wear52ft Arun ON 1061: July 2, 11, 21 and 31D class: July 2 (twice)Walmer, KentDclass: June4,18 (twice), 25 (twice) and July 17Walton and Frinton, Essex48ft 6in Solent ON 1012: June 25, July 5 and 30Wells, Norfolk37ft Oakley ON 982: July 30 (six times)D class: June 26, July 20 and 23West Kirby, MerseysideD class: July 20 and 23

Continued on following page

Lifeboat ServicesThe services listed are those forwhich returns had been receivedat headquarters by 1 November1989.There may be additional servicesfor which no returns had beenreceived by this date

209

Books Some recentpublications

reviewed

The Little Ships of Dunkirkby Christian Brann, publishedby Collectors' Books at £24.50ISBN 0 946604 02 9In late May and early June 1939 thename of a small Flanders portbecame a household word, a namewhich even now, almost exactly 50years later, still evokes memoriesand stirs pride.

At that time some 700 small boatswere formally chartered, or lessformally commandeered, to takepart in Operation Dynamo, theevacuation of 385,000 troops fromthe shallow waters on the French-Belgian border near the town ofDunkirk, a task which was achievedunder heavy fire.

Around 100 of these gallant small boatsperished during the evacuation and othershave fallen by the wayside in the ensuingyears. Yet a remarkable number survive tothis day, many of them linked by the Asso-ciation of Dunkirk Little Ships, founded inthe mid-1960s.

Raymond Baxter, now Chairman of theRNLI's Public Relations Committee, playeda major part in founding this Associationand. in addition to being largely responsiblefor the first Return to Dunkirk in 1965 to

Also received..GENERAL INTEREST

Drama In The Airby John Beattie, published by Robson Booksat £10.95ISBN 0 86051 564 8Previous books by this author include Lifeboatsto the Rescue, and although this volume is con-cerned with aviation there are several mentions ofthe RNLI as a result of joint operations withhelicopters.

Written in a very readable style and includingmany marine-orientated adventures.

A History of Selseyby Frances Mee, published by Phillimore at£8.95ISBN 0 85033 672 4Fascinating and well illustrated local history.Many RNLI references throughout and pottedhistory of the station in one chapter on the emer-gency services.

FOR THE YACHTSMAN

Children Afloatby Pippa Driscoll, published by FernhurstBooks at £7.95ISBN 0-906754-42-9Practical advice on interesting children in sailing,safety and amusement on board, and even first aid

210

celebrate the 25thanniversary of theevacuation, is Honor-ary Admiral and ownsone of the surviving'Little Ships'.

With the 50th anni-versary of OperationDynamo upon usChristian Brann, withthe aid of two tena-cious researchers, hasproduced a splendidvolume to mark theoccasion. In his beau-tifully produced andprofusely illustratedbook he has traced the

history of many of the Little Ships whichsurvived, and of those which did not.

Photographs of the boats as they are todayand as they were at various times throughouttheir lives amplify the text to make The LittleShips of Dunkirk fascinating reading foranyone with an interest in old boats or thisfamous chapter in British history.

Of particular interest to many will be theinvolvement of RNLI lifeboats in OperationDynamo, no less than 19 being described insome detail, with contemporary photographsand up-to-date ones of many survivors.

The RNLI Celebrity Cook BookCompiled and published for the RNLI bythe AA at £3.95ISBN 0-86145-883-4Not only does the RNLI Celebrity CookBook provide some interesting thought forfood, it also benefits the Institution's fundsto the tune of some 15 per cent of the coverprice of every copy sold.

Among its 160 pages food-lovers will findthe favourite recipes of a wide variety ofpersonalities, ranging from boxers ('EnryCooper and Frank Bruno for example)through TV presenters (Terry Wogan andAnne Diamond), professional gourmets(Keith Floyd) and RNLI coxswains andhelmsmen to President Bush.

The recipes themselves vary as much astheir contributors and range from All Ameri-can Clam Chowder (from the President, ofcourse), through Chinese Chicken (from thewell-travelled Alan Whicker) and Un Piot etdes Pois au Fou (from the fluent French ofJohn 'Bergerac' Nettles) to the Chip Buttie(from Terry Wogan, who else?).

All contributed their recipes to help theRNLI, so what better way to pass the longevenings of winter than working through thebook from beginning to end?

The Cook Book is available from book-sellers, AA shops and from RNLI Sales.

and hygiene from the wife of the Royal YachtingAssociation's National Sailing Coach.

Generously illustrated and obviously based onlong experience.

Day Skipperby William Barnes, published by StanfordMaritime at £8.95ISBN 0-540-07433-0Practical guide to the shore-based course of in-struction leading to the Royal Yachting Associa-tion's Day Skipper qualification. Step by step

instruction in navigation and seamanship withtest questions. A good grounding for anyonegoing afloat in small boats.

Yachtmasterby Pat Langley Price and Philip Ouvry, pub-lished by Adlard Coles at £12.95ISBN 0-229-11662-0Revised and up-dated edition of popular hand-book for shore-based section of RYA Yachtmas-ter Offshore. Coastal Skipper and Day Skippercertificates. Includes exercises and also usefulextra-curicula material.

Lifeboat ServicesJune and July 1989

Continued from previous page

West Mersea, EssexAtlantic 21: June 23 (twice), 27, July 3, 6, 26,28, 29 and 30 (twice)Weston-super-Mare, AvonAtlantic 21: June 18 and July 24D class: June 18 and July 24Weymouth, Dorset54ft Arun ON 1049: July 1, 6 and 11 (twice)

Whitby, North Yorkshire47ft Tyne ON 1131: June 1,21 (three times),29, July 1,9, 15, 19, 22 (twice) and 31 (twice)Dclass: June4, 18 (twice), July 16,22,25,31Wick, Caithness47ft Tyne ON 1121: July 9Wicklow, Co WicklowRelief 48ft 6in Solent ON 1009: July 7 and 16(twice)Withernsea, HumbersideD class: July 22Yarmouth, Isle of Wight52ft Arun ON 1053: June 13, 27, July 28, 30Youghal, Co CorkAtlantic 21: June 27 and July 23

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Looking at lifeboats...

the WAVENEY class

The first in a seriesof profiles of

lifeboat classes

The Waveney was the first of the RNLI's classes of 'fastlifeboat' and originated as a design operated by the USCoastguard for general purpose inshore work.

The 44ft boat was designed with a 'semi-planing' hullform. This allows the hull to lift at speed, reducing drag andenabling speeds far greater than the 8 or 9 knots achievedby conventional 'displacement' hull lifeboats of the time.

The first boat (44-001, not named) was built by the USCGand bought by the RNLI in 1964 for evaluation trials whichlasted some 18 months. It was decided that the boat couldcope well with UK conditions and at the end of the trials theInstitution decided to build further boats to the design, butincorporating certain modifications.

These included extra fuel tanks, a double bottom, ex-tended wheelhouse and raised fore-and aft cabin tops toimprove her self-righting ability. These modifications werenot carried out retrospectively on 44-001 which thereforediffers from other members of the class. She is still in

service in the relief fleet.The first Waveneys to

bebuiltbytheRNLI(44-002 to 44-007) wereconstructed in 1967 and1968 by Brooke Marineon the River Waveneyin Norfolk, that rivergiving the class itsname. Subsequentboats were built byGroves and Gutterige(44-008 to 44-015),Bideford Shipyard (44-016 to 44-019) andFairey Marine (44-020to 44-022), the last in1982.

At first some crewswere disconcerted bythe relatively low initialstability, a function of

The original American-built Waveney,44-001, during trials in December 1964.

WAVENEY CLASSIntroduced:Designed by:

Number built:Number in serviceat November 1989:Launching method:Number of crew:Length overall:Beam:Displacement:Engine type:Maximum speed:Radius of action:

1964/67 (see text)US Coastguard/RNLImodifications22

22Lies afloat544ft 10in (13.4m)12ft Sin (3.7m)19 tons (approx)See text16 knots (see text)95 nautical miles

(Total range is twice the radius of action)

Waveney 44-020, John Fison stationed at Harwich, was built in 1980and incorporates the RNLI's modifications to the original design.

her hull shape and the need for self-righting, but her generalbehaviour and high power which enabled her to 'climb outof anything' soon endeared her to lifeboatmen and theboats are universally liked by their crews.

The first seven of the class (including 44-001) were builtwith two Cummins diesel engines, giving a speed of 13knots, but the remainder were built with two GM (44-008 to44-015), Ford Mermaid (44-016 to 44019) or Caterpillar(44-020 to 44-022) diesel engines giving a maximum speedof 16 knots. Earlier boats have since been re-engined withCaterpillar diesels, although power and speed remain un-changed.

The coxswain is seated in an open, but protected wheel-house, with seats for the remainder of the crew in the cabin.Two cabins, forward and aft, have space for survivors.

Due to the hull form and the exposed propellers theWaveney is operated only at stations where the lifeboat canremain afloat.

No further Waveney class lifeboats will be built and thefirst boat of the class is due for replacement in 1993.

The hull form ofthe Waveney isshown clearly asthe first UK-builtboat (44-002)undergoes herrighting trial inOctober 1966.

Note the flatsections aft topromote planing.

213

People and PlacesAround and about the RNLI

Youngest crew member?Jonathan Foster achieved a long-heldambition when he joined the crew ofStaithes lifeboat - the Atlantic 21 EllisSinclair-on his 17th birthday .

Clem James, station honorary secretary,is quite sure that he has the ability,dedication and physical strength to make agood lifeboatman. 'Jonathan came to everypractice and crew night for many monthsand has worked hard to acquire the skillsneeded to be a crewman of an Atlantic 21,'he said

Jonathan is bekieved to be the youngestcrew member aboard a lifeboat and is thefirst in his family to be a lifeboatman. Heis a student at St Mary's Sixth FormCollege in Middlesbrough studying sport,and hopes to become a physical traininginstructor in the RAF when he completeshis education.

ObituariesWith deep regret we record the followingdeaths:MARCH 1989:Mrs 'Flossie' Argent, vice-chairman ofDover Ladies' guild from 1976 until herdeath. She was awarded a statuette in 1985.SEPTEMBER 1989:Mrs Christine Campbell, founder memberand president of the Ardrossan Ladies'guild from 1955 to 1970. She was acommittee member of the guild until herdeath and was awarded a silver badge in1971.William Bulpitt, chairman of Birminghambranch since 1988 and vice-president from1974 to 1988. He and his wife wereawarded a joint statuette in 1983.Mrs W.M. Gibson, president of Moffatand Beattock Ladies' guild from 1976 to1989. She was vice-president from 1966 to1976 and was awarded a statuette in 1981.Mrs Marie Wood, honorary secretary ofCaterham branch since 1957. She wasawarded a silver badge in 1968 and a goldbadge in 1981.OCTOBER 1989:Robert Snowie, chairman of Mortimer andDistrict branch from 1981 to 1985. He waspresident from 1976 to 1979, president andchairman for a year in 1979, and chairmanfrom 1979 to 1980 when he was electedhonorary secretary. Mr Snowie wasawarded a statuette in 1985.NOVEMBER 1989:Mrs Jane McCaull, a member of TroonLadies' guild for over 25 years. Her latehusband, John McCaull, had joined theTroon lifeboat crew in 1916 and wassecond coxswain from 1942 until his deathin 1949.

Jonathan Foster (Middlesborough Evening Gazette)

Long ServiceAwardsThe Long Service Badge for crewmembers and shore helpers who havegiven active service for 20 years or morehas been awarded to:Skegness - Second Coxswain MechanicP.O. MartinTorbay - Crew Member S. BowerTenby - Crew Member R. Crockford

Whitstable - Shore Helper D. Holmes

All-year coverTwo Under 10m lifeboat stations,Macduff, Banffshire and Little and BroadHaven. Dyfed. have been redesignated asall-year-round stations.

A D class lifeboat was first stationed atLittle and Broad Haven in 1967 andpreviously operated only during thesummer months, from March to October.

Macduff, which received a new Atlantic21 lifeboat in August, funded by theRotary Club of Glasgow to commemorateits 75th anniversary in 1987, also operatedonly during the summer months.

With the increase in overall casualties,including leisure activities, throughout thewinter months the Institution has decidedthat these under 1 Om lifeboats shouldremain on station permanently. Thedecision has met with the full co-operationof lifeboat crew members and stationofficials.

Just the ticket...Following the naming of the Tyne classlifeboat Lifetime Care at a ceremony heldat the RNLI depot in Poole on 31 October1989, Mr Charles Hunter-Pease, sales andmarketing director of Volvo Concession-aires Limited, drew the winning tickets forthe 47th national lottery.

The Lord Stanley of Alderley, chairmanof the fund raising committee, andAnthony Oliver, head of fund raising,supervised the draw, which raised nearly£63,000. The prize winners were:£2,000 - Mrs M. Kirkman, Steyning, WestSussex.£1,000 - F. Wilson. Egremont, Cumbria.£500 - M.J. Moore, Coventry.£250 - Mrs M.F. Monckton, Troon,Scotland.£100 - Mrs H. Child, Oswestry, Shrop-shire; Mrs D. Howells, Penn, Wolver-hampton; DrH.C. Miller, Edinburgh,Scotland; Mr B.S. Johal, Coventry; MrR.Jewell, Lymington, Hants; Mrs M. Rowe,Bristol; Mrs B.A. Cooper, Roydon, Essex;Miss E. Pettersson, Newcastle- upon-Tyne.£50 - Mr & Mrs E. Mottershead, Didcot,Oxon; Miss Ashley, Margate, Kent; MrsA.P. Noble Wood, Harrogate, NorthYorkshire; Mrs E. How, Lymington,Hants; Miss E.M. Tyler, Halstead, Essex;Major J. Perrins, Weymouth, Dorset; Mr& Mrs Spilsbury, Brocton, Stafford; MrR.C. Thomas, Handsworth, Birmingham.

On StationThe following lifeboats have taken upstation and relief fleet duties:OVER 10 METRESWicklow -Tyne 47-035 (ON 1153)Annie Blaker on 8 October 1989.Fleetwood - Tyne 47-038 (ON 1156)William Street on 15 October 1989.Ballyglass - Arun 54-07 (ON 1053)City of Bradford IV en 17 October1989.UNDER 10 METRESPorthcawl - D390 on 16 August 1989.Relief-D391 on 14 September 1989.Broughty Ferry - D389 on 20 Sep-tember 1989.Aberdeen - D386 on 26 September1989.Clacton - B579 on 4 October 1989.Hastings - D392 on 12 October 1989.

214

Beyond the call of duty...

Jim Hunter

Bridegroom Bryn Jones and his new bride Karen were in the middle of their weddingreception at Llandudno, with the champagne on ice waiting to be poured for the toasts,when Bryn suddenly leapt from his chair and ran from the room.

He was followed by two other men in wedding finery and, as the other guests staredopen-mouthed, all three of them sprinted towards the promenade - leaving the bride to becomforted by friends.

But it wasn't a dire case of wedding daynerves. Bryn, a member of the crew ofLlandudno's Oakley class lifeboat LilyWainwright for several years, had justacted instinctively when he heard themaroons!

'It was an instant reaction on Bryn'spart,' said Coxswain Meurig Davies, 'Idon't think he really realised what he haddone until he was at the boat...'

Meurig, who was one of the other gueststo leave the wedding so suddenly, thenordered Bryn off the boat.

'We had a full crew and I thought itbetter that he went back to make peacewith his wife,' remarked Meurig.

So a somewhat crest-fallen Bryn wassent back to the reception where his bridewas waiting.

The moral of the story? Perhaps it couldbe: 'if you're a lifeboatman don't holdyour wedding reception 100 yards fromthe station!'

Lucky for some...John Chadwick, the district surveyor oflifeboats in the South West Division for 26years retired on 30 September 1989through ill health.

His colleagues and friends in the divisionorganised a retirement party for him and,as John is superstitious, they decided thatFriday 13 October was an auspicious dayfor the gathering.

Also appropriate was the decision toinclude a magician in the entertainment atthe party, held at the Royal PlymouthCorinthian Yacht Club, as John is a keenamateur magician. Among the gifts forJohn and his wife Audrey were a tidalclock and traditional barometer mountedon a timber section from one of the old StIves' lifeboats, and another special treat....

John and Audrey have always been onholiday to Tenerife, but in view of John'sretirement they had thought they wouldnot be able to afford it this year. Theirfriends and colleagues thought otherwise -and at the gathering they were presentedwith two tickets for their usual holiday!

Many people were involved in organis-ing the gathering, including the coxswainsof Salcombe, Padstow and Plymouthlifeboats - all of whom would like to thankthose who contributed to the success of theparty.

We apologise for the late delivery of some copies ofthe Autumn issue of THE LIFEBOAT which was due tocircumstances beyond our control.

Principal Staff Coxswain James Hunterdied on 2 September 1989 after takingearly retirement due to ill health. Hebecame a Staff Coxswain on 1 June 1966,Senior Staff Coxswain on 12 April 1973and then Superintendent/Principle StaffCoxswain from 7 October 1978 until hisretirement on 9 June 1989.Shortly after his retirement a number of

colleagues provided him with a windvanein the shape of a detailed model of his firstlifeboat, the 70ft Clyde class, 70-001.

The windvane was made by two of thecrew of the Wells lifeboat and was erectedby them and the ex-coxswain of Shering-ham lifeboat, Brian Pegg, who were allinvolved in the development of the Merseyclass.

A card, with a photograph of the Merseypre-production prototype and the names ofsome 40 of his colleagues involved in thewindvane project was also delivered.

A few weeks before the vane waserected, and while still in hospital, Jim hadbeen presented with a cheque by theDirector of the RNLI, Lt Cdr Brian Miles,

Firemen saythank youAn August night when Yarmouth's Arunclass lifeboat John and Joy Wade battledwith a burning coaster was rememberedduring October, when firemen fromHampshire Fire Brigade visited the Is-land town to present a special plaque tothe coxswain and crew.

The firemen, from Fawley and South-ampton called to say 'thank you' to thecrew, who had first towed the coasterthen stood by while the firefighters wereput aboard from a tug. The ten-hour serv-ice is covered in more detail on page 193of this issue.

Presenting the plaque to Dave Kennet,coxswain of the lifeboat, the deputy com-mander of Southampton's divisionalheadquarters, Terry Pattison, said: 'Weare very grateful to the lifeboat crew,'and, referring to an incident off FortVictoria when the lifeboat had to re-establish the tow, added 'when I saw wewere being driven towards the shore itfrightened the life out of me. We allstopped to put lifejackets on.'

David Kennett later presented TerryPattison with an RNLI plaque.

which was the Institution's countrywideresponse to the news that he had beenforced to retire some two years early.

Regional Fund Raising OfficesThe RNLI's fund raising activities are divided into 13 geographical areas, each with aregional office. The offices can help with any fund raising queries, provide advice andsupport and put people in touch with their local branch or guild.

The Regional Officers and their office addresses are:

Scotland: Kenneth Thirlwell,RNLI, Bellevue House, Hopetoun Street,Edinburgh EH7 4ND.Telephone 031-229 2206.

North West: David Jones,RNLI, 131 Royal Exchange, ManchesterM2 7BY.Telephone 061-834 6978.North East: Brian Stevenson,RNLI, The Mill, Glasshouses, NrHarrogate, N. Yorkshire HG3 5QH.Telephone (0423) 711667.Wales: Miss Anne Williams,RNLI, Caerwys House, Windsor Lane,

Cardiff, S. Glamorgan CF1 3DE.Telephone (0222) 394546.Central England: Richard Mann,RNLI, 102 Birmingham Road,Bromsgrove, Worcestershire B61 ODF.Telephone (0527) 575017Eastern: George Price,RNLI, Spooners Lane, Hadleigh,

Suffolk IP7 5EZ.Telephone (0473) 822837.

South West: Andrew Young,RNLI, Princes Wharf, Wapping Road,Bristol BS1 1RN. Telephone (0272)291939.Southern: Mrs Wendy Nelson,RNLI, 25 East Street, Wimborne

Minster, Dorset BH21 1DU.Telephone (0202) 888835.South East: Michael Ashley,RNLI, River House, Bell Lane, Uckfield,Sussex TN22 1AE.Telephone (0825) 61466.North London: Miss Susan Steer,RNLI, 202 Lambeth Road, London SE17JW. Telephone 01-928 5742.South London: Miss Ann Wilkins,RNLI, 202 Lambeth Road, London SE17JW. Telephone 01-928 5742.Northern Ireland: Mrs Beth Duffin,RNLI, 33 Saintfield Road, Belfast BT84AF. Telephone (0232) 645645.Irish Republic: Jimmy Kavanagh,RNLI, 3 Clare Street, Dublin.Telephone (0001)762217.

215

Membership NewsGovernors ... Shoreline... Storm Force..

Apologies!You may have been one of several members who experi-enced strange happenings which coincided with the deliv-ery of your Autumn journal, and unreserved apologies aredue to all concerned.

At the centre of it all was our computer software conver-sion programme, which has not gone according to plan.Despite all our attempts to keep things running smoothlysome titles, names and addresses became corrupt on trans-fer, and the associated problems also led to distributiondelays.

Re-member Campaign 1989At the time of writing the campaign has another six or sevenweeks to run but it has to be said that the cost of a Merseyis way beyond our reach and alternatives are now beingconsidered which will equally identify the support ofmembers during the past year.

We will be reporting more fully on our recruitmentcampaign in the Spring journal, but to all who recruited anew member a very big "thank you'.

STORMFORCE

CORNER

Prize supportStorm Force received a generous boost ear-lier this year, thanks to the interest and sup-port of an adult RNLI member who readabout Storm Force in these pages.

The anonymous benefactor wrote to saythat, not only did he think it was an excellentidea to encourage young people in the workof the RNLI, but that he wanted to contrib-ute in some way.

As a result he decided to covenant £80 ayear to fund the prizes for competitions in Storm ForceNews.

Since Storm Force is non profit making the gift is a verypractical means of helping, and members respond enthusi-astically to the drawing, painting or quiz-type competi-tions.

Stormy visit!When the Princess Royal visited the RNLI depot and head-quarters in November (see RNLI News, this issue) she wasalso visiting Storm Force Headquarters. Two years ago herson, Peter Phillips, then nine years old, accompanied thePrincess Royal when she visited Lymington and went outon the station's Atlantic 21 lifeboat.

Later, the Princess graciously gave permission for Peter tobe made Leading Hand of Storm Force (a naval termmeaning Leading Seaman). He was given his own bumpcap to mark the occasion.

Peter now heads 8,523 members and we hope he looksforward to receiving his copy of Storm Force News eachquarter.

Storm Force costs £3 a year for individual members, £1each for groups of ten or more. If you would like furtherdetails please contact Storm Force HQ, RNLI, West QuayRoad, Poole, Dorset BH15 1 HZ.

The Princess Royal at the helm of Lymington's Atlantic 21 class lifeboat withStorm Force's Leading Hand Peter Phillips in his custon-made bump capseated behind her.

If you are not a member why not join now?

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DON'T LET YOUR OLD JOURNALSBECOME A BIND!

Binders to hold twelve copies of The Lifeboatare now available at £3.95 each + 95p p&pContact: Barry Gathern, 31 Crown Road,Shoreham, Sussex BN43 6GDTelephone Brighton (0273) 452032A donation wil l be made to the RNLI for every binder sold

ADVERTISEon these pages and reach 160,000 RNLI members and their family and friends.

The cost for a classified advertisement is £15.40 a column centimetreor £13.50 if four or more insertions are booked.

Please add VAT at 15%. Copy date for Spring 1990 issue 28 FebruaryContact: Peter Holness RNLI, West Quay Road Poole, Dorset, BH15 1HZ.

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ISLE OF MULLA small guest house and farm in lovelycountryside, a mile from villages and twofrom coast. Sea-sailing and home cooking.Write to JENNY MATTHEW. ARDRIOCH,DERVAIG, ISLE OF MULL, ARGYLL.

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50 YEARS!If the predictions are true - you only have 50 years left to visit the ISLES OF SCILLYbefore we disappear beneath the waves! TREMELLYN GUEST HOUSE is on top ofthe hill overlooking Hugh Town, so we shall be one of the last places to go - and so.very popular, come early!We also have a new Luxury Apartment for four - available all the year round - sowrite or better still ring now to 0720 22656 and ask for Liz or Colin Ridsdale.

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ISLES OF SCILLYMINCARLO GUEST HOUSE Superbposition overlooking the harbour at St. Mary's -adjacent the Lifeboat Station. Run by the samelocal family since 1945. All rooms H&C andheating, some with en suite facilities.Tel: 0720 22513 or write Colin Duncan

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Last date for copy for Spring 1990 issueis 28 February 1990

218

JUST THE RECIPE TOHELP THE RNLI

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Mariner doesn't just promise reliability.

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E IN PERIEA

FOR anyone in trouble at sea, or role, or other relevant experience.

You'll also need a knowledge of com-

munications or navigation, 3 'O' levels

(or equivalent), including English and

Maths, and a driving licence.

You must be prepared to serve

•1±- on the coast, HM Coastguard's

Maritime Rescue Centres are beacons

of hope.

The most modern maritime

emergency service in Europe, we

use advanced communications equip- anywhere in the UK as your career

ment to monitor the maritime distress progresses (including the Scottish

frequencies 24 hours a day. Islands and Northern Ireland) - and

In response to over 6,000 to work 12 hour shifts over 4 days,

incidents every year, our 365 days a year.

Coastguard Officers

co-ordinate Royal

Navy and Royal Air

Force aircraft, as

well as our own

helicopters and

RNLI lifeboats and other shipping.

It's a service to be proud of. And

its greatest strength lies in the alert

reactions and cool heads of the

Coastguard Officers responsible for

its operation.

We are now looking for people

aged between 27 and 45, with a strong

maritime background - either at least

6 years sea-going experience

3 years in a search and rescue

co-ordination or operations room

Full profes-

sional training is pro-

vided, and starting

salaries range from

£9,680, rising with

promotion to £14,588

- with prospects to go further.

We also offer a non-contributory

pension scheme and provide you

with a uniform. For further details

and an application form, please

write, quoting reference RNLI/JAN

to: Pam Hopson, Recruitment,

HM Coastguard Headquarters,

Room 7/5, Sunley House, 90/93 High

Holborn, London WClV 6LP.

Or telephone 01- 405 6911 ext. 3130

during office hours.

HM COASTGUARD -

Tough, Reliable,

When rescue services arecalled out in extremelyrough weather conditions,confidence is assured whensupported by a lifeboat thatstough & reliable. FBM havebeen building tough andreliable boats for manyyears, since 1929 onehundred & forty sevenlifeboats have been supplied,the last twenty two beingthe latest Tyne class. In 1988a further six lifeboats weredelivered on station, the lastbeing RNLB 'Sir WilliamHillary', the Douglas lifeboat.FBM, tough, reliable andready for action!

Cowes Shipyard, CowesIsle of Wight PO3I7DLU.K.Telephone: (0983) 297111Telex: 86466 FAMBRO G

KSimile: (0983) 299642

AND READYFOR ACTION..

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