Daddy?

Made me smile! (Thanks Charlie...)

Suprise!!

Now I've long held the view that it's best not to spring suprises on older people. In my experience they tend not to like them too much and they can, in extreme cases, have life limiting consequences.Despite this, Martin's family last night arranged a suprise party for him in the Ship. And what an awesome do it was. The place was full to the gunnels with seemingly everyone I know in Swanage, there was superb food and of course a group of men fiddling in the corner. Being an athletic bunch the crew (and the rowing club) rose to the challenge of a spot of extreme dancing. As usual, the casualty rate was high but the spectacle was extraodinary to watch.And Martin, the centre of attention looked pleased as punch. And, when you consider this fine photo on his birthday cake, the years have actually been pretty kind to him! Here's to the next 50 mate!

Fit for purpose

This looks like a medieval instrument of torture. It's not. It is in fact a rather cleverly designed machine which allows some one's ability to pull a piece of rope to be tested.Why would you want to test this? Well, it is deemed, by the powers that be in the RNLI, to be a representative task that a lifeboat crewmember could be expected to perform while serving on a lifeboat. And so, it has been included in the newly introduced fitness test which all crewmembers must now pass.

Tonight we gathered at the station to take this test for the first time. The idea behind it is, I think (and I'm sure I'll be corrected if I'm wrong), simply to make sure that crewmembers have a basic level of physical fitness to allow them to proceed to sea in a lifeboat and perform any tasks which might be expected of them. Makes sense. It has also allowed the RNLI to do away with a compulsory retirement age. Now, once a crewmember has reached a certain age, they take this test every year and can remain on the crew beyond the previous age limit of 55 (provided they pass). This is excellent for the RNLI because it means that they can retain their most experienced crew beyond what was previously an essentially arbitrary retirement age. What sensible and pragmatic thinking!So, for my sins, I had to undertake the test. To be honest it was all a bit of a laugh. The final exercise was the rope pulling thing and naturally we all became a bit competitive with this. Of course I couldn't possibly be so indiscreet as to say who got the best time. So, I simply want to say......well done you plucky losers!

And a happy New Year!

So, the New Year has arrived without a hitch (or shout even). Last night was a quiet one for me, no over-indulgence thankfully so this morning arrived bright and cheery. We had visitors coming for the day which was fun. All the way from Denmark as it happened with two young boys. Short of something to do for a couple of hours we took a stroll down to the boathouse. I think it's fair to say we now have a couple of dedicated Danish supporters of the RNLI!Morton and Espen loved being in the ILB and trying on a couple of Gecko helmets. Indeed it was tricky to prise them away from it.They each had a go at driving the Mersey.You could see the steely glint in their eyes as they imagined taking part in some huge heroic lifesaving effort!Before we left all four of the kids jumped into the 'rescue dinghy' for a play......good old-fashioned fun.

Perhaps not surprisingly as we walked home Espen declared that he wished to be a Lifeboatman when he grows up. Do we allow Vikings to serve as crew?

Happy New Year everyone. Here's hoping it's a good one.

With a hop and a skip and a twirl

So yesterday was our final fling of the year; the social event of the season in Swanage. It was of course the Lifeboat Christmas party. This year we decided that we would have a real blow out. We took over the whole of the Ship Inn for the evening. Nathan's crew put on a spectacular event which suited the mood perfectly. Greeted by Champagne, Bucks Fizz and Kir Royale the Ship was soon awash with friends and buzzing with happy chat.The crew of course looked impressively smart in their DJs and best bib and tucker. They were there almost to a man.Wives and Girlfriends were there too of course, as were many of our friends from town who give us so much assistance throughout the year.Martin was looking resplendent in his retro 70's fancy dress and Paul was cutting a fine dash in his impressive 'Tie Your Own' bow tie.The DLAs held court in the corner, an Oasis of sophistication and calm amidst the social storm of the crew.And then the dancing began! Music was provided by local band 'Black Sheep'. Led by Titch they describe themselves as Cask Conditioned Celtic Rock. I don't know about that but they were certainly superb and brought the party to life.Rapidly the dancing became more enthusiastic and energetic. With their usual passion for making complete idiots of themselves all of the crew took part. Ultimately it became positively lethal with bodies flying around and egos ruined.One thing is certain, they are no wallflowers!During a lull in the dancing Jon stood up (at least we think he did) and made his traditional speech prior to handing out our Rose Bowl. This is awarded each year to the crewmember who has made the biggest contribution to the lifeboat season; either due to bravery, foolery or a job well done. Steve Williams nearly won it for his impressive 3 mile sternboard. The ILB crew came close for having to deal with the aftermath of a rather grizzly suicide. But in the end Jon awarded it to Terry Pond for his huge contribution over the years. Well done Terry. We also took a moment to honour and remember Walt Bishop, three cheers and a gulp of a pint seemed appropriate.And then on with the dancing! The band even became unplugged at one point and roamed the floor as they continued to play jigs.And so! A great night was had by all. I really mean that too. It was superb. Thanks to everyone who contributed and helped to organise it.

By the way, you may notice the lack of hideous drunken shots here. I took many but thought I might reserve these for Facebook?

Spare a thought

This is Becky. At this time of Christmas cheer and goodwill towards men (and women?) she is homeless. Or more precisely, she has a home which is uninhabitable due to the inefficiencies of local workmen (who are very good but work to a slightly different timescale to many other people). So what I thought was this........how about we auction poor old Becky to find her a home for Christmas? The highest bidder can have her for the Chirstmas period and return her in the New Year........rest assured, she doesn't eat much and is quite good with the dishes.

Who'll give me a camel and two goats to get the bidding going?

Deasy

I've been meaning to give more information about individual cremembers for quite some time now. So here goes........this is John Deas (Deasy) who joined the crew in 2004 and serves as an ILB crewmember and also a prospective ALB navigator. He is an incredibly competent and practical crewmember who has absolute confidence in his own ability to do everything. Not many of the crew know this, but he is following in the tradition of his Great Great Grandfather who was an oarsman on the 'William Earle', a previous Swanage Lifeboat. Without doubt (and as anyone who has ever been to the pub with him will testify) he is one of the planet's larger than life characters. He is best described as easy going and always up for a laugh. In the real world he 'works' for the RNLI as a Senior Design Engineer, mostly he designs launching and recovery equipement though fortunately for us this seems to occupy very little of his time. He lists his hobbies as wakeboarding, snowboarding and off-roading and can most often be found either on the water or tinkering with one of his engines (boat or landrover). He claims that his favourite food is a breakfast roll from the Pier Head café and in a way this sums him up; simple but probably going to hurt you in the long run.........

Incidentally, we have a busy week this week. Both boats will exercise on Wednesday and afterwards there will be a crew meeting. Then on Friday we have our Christmas party. This year it is going to be in the ship and will be a buffet with a live band. It promises to be great fun so watch out for the photos. Of course, nine of us will be carrying pagers just in case we get a shout. I will be duty crew for the ALB so at least I stand a chance of remembering enough to have something to write about on Saturday morning.

Christmas Cheer

A request from Tamsin Thomas, our Divisional Media Relations Manager for Christmassy lifeboat stories led me to unearth this from our archive. I remember this vividly as if it were yesterday. I guess Christmas day shouts are unusual?

On Christmas day 2002 at 1125 in the morning Swanage Lifeboat Crew's Christmas celebrations were rudely interrupted as a Launch request came through from Portland Coastguard. A woman had become trapped after attempting to rescue her dog which had fallen down the cliff about 250 yards away from the lifeboat station. The crew was asked to stand by with both boats while the woman and her dog were recovered from the cliff by the Coastguard cliff rescue team. Both the ALB and the ILB lifeboats launched and made their way towards Durlston Bay. The woman was clearly visible and appeared to be uninjured and in a stable position. The ‘D’ Class lifeboat ‘Phyl Clare’ went close inshore and relayed messages to the woman with a loud hailer. The Cliff rescue team soon had their equipment in place and the woman and her dog were hauled back up the cliff to safety. With the casualty at the top of the cliff both lifeboats were released and swiftly returned to station. After a quick wash down the crew wished each other a happy Christmas and were able to return to their waiting families at 1205.

As the page came through from Portland Coastguard I was just preparing our festive Goose for the oven before heading out with the family for our traditional Christmas day bike ride. Consequently I was dressed head to foot in Lycra and looked nothing like the expected image of a lifeboatman. I abandoned both the Goose and the family and rushed to the boathouse to be greeted by howls of laughter from the crew! On my return I was horrified to discover an uncooked Goose sat exactly where I had left it………….I am the only member of the family who can cook. We had sandwiches for Christmas lunch and a well deserved Goose for supper!

Party time!

The next major event on the horizon (apart from the annual excitement of our AGM next month) will be our Christmas party (remember the photos from last year?) Well, change of location this year and perhaps a change of theme too. One option was black-tie but it was felt this would be too much of a challenge for some of our crew and guests so we are actively seeking the crew's opinion. One suggestion was a Bond theme.........perhaps the elusive Wenley would care to join us? Anyway.........look out for photos in due course!

Reflections

Casting my mind back over the summer's photos I realise that I have several hundred images from lifeboat week which have yet to see the light of day. Add to these Mark Savage's collection and I have enough to keep me going for many years to come. I like this particular shot for 3 reasons:

1. Because it could have been taken on any one of the years that I have been on the crew and so seems timeless.
2. At a glance it looks as though Skid is doing something spectacularly foul to the poor paddlers.
3. It also shows Skids mildly challenged hair follicles off to perfection.

Summer's here at last

It's been one of those days. Hot, sunny and very busy on the water. Not surprisingly everyone had the same idea. Not just the general public but the crew too. Quite unplanned I decided on a trip in the boat to Chapman's Pool this afternoon and found myself there at the same time as two boat loads of our crew. We were greeted on the beach by Dave who announced that the rest of them (Matt, Jon, and Becky) were along the beach by the water fall having a mud fight.......and they were. Look carefully at the picture and you can see the speech bubble above little Eve's head. It reads, 'it turns out Daddy was wrong.........behaving like an idiot IS OK after all'.

Suprise visitor

In the middle of our bash down at the Prince Albert Garden's last night we were honoured to have a surprise guest visitor. In lifeboating circles 'Stormy Stan' is a legend (in his own lunchtime). He certainly gets around a bit. He was spotted in town yesterday collecting funds with a bucket. He then turned up out of the blue in the evening. And boy can he party!With no shame at all he was straight up on stage and joining in with the band.Moments later he was sighted playing a tremendous rendition of 'Stairway to Heaven' on his air guitar. He came close to upstaging the the band but, being a natural diplomat he poured oil on troubled waters.Thanks Stan.......

It's a set up!

Today was spent setting up the Prince Albert gardens for this evening and Saturdays evenings parties. It was an enjoyable day, sunny, hard work but comradely. Becky worked hard and managed to avoid looking stressed most of the time!Jon manged to avoid looking stressed out the whole time. The more I know him the more I realise that he is an example of laid-backness to aspire to.Our new Gazebos with their RNLI logos look great and a fabulous to work in.The kids were tremendous today. They joined in and really loved being with the boys (that includes you Becky and Jo).There was even time for an impromptu picnic.......altogether a great day. Well done everyone!

Gigging

The gig racing also went very well last night. Both of our boats, Peveril and Old Harry were on the water and Weymouth brought one of their gigs up for the night. Racing was close. So close in fact that the youth race was a dead tie. Well done to you.Weymouth's gig is a rather rastafarian affair. However, it is without doubt very photogenic.There was a rather pretty sunset.Our crew on the ALB had a good time of it and seemed happy enough.The sunsets kept coming!Our Coxswain Martin and his two lads Gav and Matt looked pretty knackered at the end.

Thanks to the sailing club for providing food and beer at theirs afterwards. Very hospitable.

Sailing

Yesterdays sailing race went very well. We were moored up as one end of the start line and had the sailing club race officers on board. It turned out to be a cracking place to view the racing from.Ex Coxswain Chris Haw provided much of the entertainment!He seemed to be struggling to work out which way up his boat was meant to be..........Local activity centre proprietor Tim Hughes was sailing his RS 400 superbly.Local Doctor Robert Baker got off to a neat start in his Laser.One of the Spitfires looked tremendous set against a backdrop of ST Tenacious. A good evening was had by all.

Chucking arrows

It seems like the darts competition final went well on Monday night. The knee tremblingly wonderful Kim kindly sent me these photos from the evening. I think you get the picture from them?

The boys were having fun.As were the girls (don'tthey always?)Even Rob, our Second Coxswain seemed to be enjoying the proceedings.I'm not sure whether in this photo Martin is receiving the prize or giving it?You might notice that these photos are somewhat better than the usual fare you see here. This is because Kim is a trained photographer...........sadly she is slightly limited in what she can achieve by having a camera which is not quite as good as mine!

Day tripping

I've mentioned Roger and the Rother class lifeboat J.Reginald Corah a number of times. Today I had the true pleasure of spending some time with Roger as I took my kids for a trip around the bay on her.She really does look splendid, a credit to Roger.The kids loved every minute of it......you can probably tell?And of course Roger is the same as ever, a true gent and friend to everyone.And he works dam hard, trip after trip all day.So,thanks Roger. For a great day and for all that you do for us here in Swanage.