Sometimes the hard part is not launching or being at sea but recovering the boat and crew afterwards. Swanage benefits from excellent shelter from the prevailing weather but suffers when the winds come from the East. When the Easterlies arrive teamwork becomes vital. Here the crew in the ILB are poised to leap out and guide the boat into her trolley. 2 Shore crew steady the trolley and prepare to run it ashore once the boat is in. A man stands on the ALB slipway with a line attached to the ILB trolley to prevent it being washed off the slip. Out of the shot the winchman is waiting to begin winching in. Other shorecrew wait on the slipway ready to add weight to the winch and run the boat out of the surf. Everyone waits for the Helmsman signal. Teamwork.
2 comments:
I've always been concerned by this method of boat recovery.
I really am amazed that the RNLI have not invested more effort into researching a safer way of doing this.
Have you ever had conditions where you've decided not to put the boat on the trailer and moored it in a port/marina until the weather improved?
Dan, thanks for your coments.
To be honest, this is about at the limit of recovering in this way. The RNLI advise just doing a surf landing in rough weather, ie. drive it onto the beach with the engine on tilt. The boat is light enough to be lifted onto the trailer by a number of crew and they are easily repairable in case of damage. So, no, we haven't left the ILB on a mooring but we regularly do with the Mersey. Which is another story.......
Regards
John
Post a Comment