A member of the public reported seeing a red flare........

and in fact it was me.

Stood on my deck last night taking in the fine view of this square rigger in the bay John Deas, Liz and I spotted what looked very definitely like a red flare. Indeed, it was followed by 2 more which also both looked like red flares. So I called the coastguard, told them what I'd seen, gave my position and a line of bearing to what we'd seen and left it in their hands. In all likelihood it was a prank but what else could I do. If you see what looks like a red flare out there you report it.......don't you? After all, it could be you out there in need of assistance!

Obviously I've heard nothing since so it could have been anything, or something. I wonder.

Home from Home

So on my trip up north last week I did my usual and visited any lifeboat stations which I happened to be passing. This first photo is North Berwick which is a charming seaside town on the southern side of the Firth of Forth. It has a tiny harbour but the ILB stationed here is launched from this boathouse, across the road and then down a slip onto the beach with a tractor. Unfortunately the boathouse was locked so I had no opportunity to look in.

Although the station was originally opened in 1860 it was closed in 1925. It was re-opened in 1967 when a 'D'class boat was stationed there. In 1991 the original boathouse was re-purchased by the RNLI and then extended to accommodate the tractor. Their ILB was one of the boats provided by Blue Peter from one of their appeals in 1993.



Further down the coast I popped in to visit the pretty town of St Abbs. There has been a lifeboat station here since 1911. The boathouse was built in 1915 and has since housed a variety of boats including rowing boats, an Oakley, a Waveney and 'D', 'C' and now a 'B' class. The boathouse is without doubt the dominant feature of the town and the harbour and provides an impressive view.



Further down the coast I stopped in Eyemouth but couldn't quite reach the station as I was somewhat trapped on the other side of the harbour. They operate a Trent class lifeboat which sits afloat next to their relatively new shore facility.

Let me be the one that you turn to
Someone you can rely on
Closer each day
Home and away
(Home and Away theme)

Change of scenery

Yesterday morning both boats went to sea for exercise. For a change I took the ILB to sea as Helmsman and took Ollie and Chad along with me. It is essential that I do this every now and then as there are odd occasions when I am required to take the ILB out on a shout.



Chad demonstrated to Ollie how the chart plotter works then Ollie set up a route for me to follow. Once we arrived 'on scene' Ollie then talked me through all of the stowages on the boat to remind me of what we carry on the ILB and where everything is stowed. He was particularly good at explaining each of the various uses of each piece of equipment. He then explained to me each of the ways of recovering a person from the water and demonstrated on me!

Chad then talked us through anchoring and veering in to the cliff, they briefly put me ashore then used the throwing line to recover me from the cliff.



We then briefly went to check on the puffins and took Paul off the ALB to come into on of the caves to get this photo.



On the way home we practised some slow speed transfers with the Mersey. This is a great technique which almost seems to lock the two boats together making transfers of casualties and personnel far simpler.

Then it was back to the boathouse for a washdown and debrief. A good mornings work, and I certainly now feel as if I know my way around the boat as well as I should. Thanks lads!

Another busy weekend

It all started on Friday with the ILB tasked to assist a motor boat which had suffered engine failure a couple of miles to the east. An easily sorted problem. Nothing heroic but still part of the service.

Yesterday heralded another shout to recover a kayak which had been spotted drifting by a passing yacht. These sort of shouts tend to have an edge to them on account of the fact that there may well have been a person on board. In this case it was pretty obviously just a scrappy old kayak which had been set adrift by pranksters. It was duly recovered by Gav, Chad and Mark in the ILB and returned to the boathouse. If it is not claimed it will probably join our small but treasured collection of rescued craft (it certainly won't find a place in my kayak fleet)!

All quiet

around here for a week I'm afraid. Nothing much has been going on in the lifeboating world and I've been away (I forgot to sort out a guest blogger). Any ideas where I was?

Whilst I was away The Telegraph ran an RNLI piece which included photos of the Steedens and our boat, it also had a quote from the blog which was a pleasant surprise. Kayak blogger Wenley was kind enough to give it a mention too......good man!

Dancing ledge

During the exercise on Wednesday we used the ILB to put some of the crew ashore at Dancing Ledge. This feature of our coast was carved out of the cliff by quarrying and is the largest of quarries along our patch. It is a great place for the ILB to practise landing and can in fact be landed upon due to its gently shelving slope.

It's also a generally fun place to be. There is a small swimming pool which was blasted from the rock ledge. At high tide it fills with fresh sea water and then warms during the day. Tom and Jo enjoyed a soak.

Chad found this small cave. It seemed to bring out his 'Hobbit' like qualities!

There's still a good deal of evidence of quarry work. Look at this photo and you can see where the rock has been shaped to give a smooth ride to the wheels of the carts carrying stone.

There are also lots of these square holes on the ledge. They were cut so that the wooden posts from which the whims (hoists or winders) were constructed could be fixed to the rock surface.

I completely forgot

to congratulate Matt on successfully passing his assesment as an emergency mechanic on the Mersey last time the inspector was with us.

He reminded me last night and looked genuinely hurt!

No offence intended Matt and here's a big up!!

What goes around comes around

Well that time of year is approaching again..........Lifeboat week! Yesterday Dave sent out a 25 page planning document to each of us. It contained details of each event, who is responsible for it, what has been booked, what needs doing etc etc.

Each year lifeboat week seems to grow and grow. This year there are some superb additions to the events lined up. These include a Shakespearian evening, Bingo and an open evening at the Boathouse. Of course all of the old favourites like raft racing, darts, sailing and gig racing, build a boat, stalls, cream teas, BBQ music bar and loads more are still there too. There really will be something for everyone so if you're at a loose end from the 10th to the 17th of August come to Swanage for some fun!

If you think you might be able to help please get in touch by e-mailing me or contacting the boathouse.

It's exercise night tonight and both boats will be going to sea, launching at 1900.

Nick here is off on holiday. He departed this morning to visit his brother in law in the USA. Safe trip Nick.

'Cause I'm leavin', on a jet plane,
Don't know when I'll be back again.
(John Denver)

I've no idea really

what this is all about but on Sunday we were asked to launch both boats so that we could take a photographer from the Telegraph newspaper to sea for some photos. He wanted to be taken out in the ILB so that he could get some photos of the ALB in action. It was actually a fairly blustery day so I should imagine he began to wonder whether he had done the right thing at times. Anyway, if you can bear to have a sly glance at the Telegraph this week you might spot a photo of our boys..............I just hope it will be worth the stigma of being caught furtively reading the Telegraph.

"I was delayed, I was way-laid
An emergency stop
I smelt the last ten seconds of life
I crashed down on the crossbar
And the pain was enough to make
A shy, bald, buddhist reflect
And plan a mass murder
Who said lied I'd to her?"
(The Smiths)

Lifeboat economy

One of the great things about the lifeboat crew is that it provides an informal economic network. Most of the crew have a skill or knowledge which they are only too happy to share with others on the crew. Recent examples of this are many:

Paul here came and chopped a tree down for us a couple of weekends ago (and I have to say I would have paid money to watch as it was fantastic). In return his bike is currently stored in my shed and he's using my bike maintenance facilities.

A couple of weeks ago Tom phoned for some late night legal advice from Liz my wife, in return we get an occasional supply of pot bait and crabs.

Last night Dave helped me to fix my outboard, in return he gained a wakeboarding tower for his Raider, I also managed to negotiate his help with re-wiring my boat.

Last year Gavin came and re-newed a bit of my staircase. His payment was a land rover bumper and winch!

Of course, given my profession there is a limit to the practical help I can give, however, it is surprising the number of conversations I have had over the years to re-assure and advise the parents on the crew about the educational needs of their offspring.

Luckily we all take the attitude that it is a case of 'what goes around comes around'.

Long may it last!

Nurdles:

are tiny (about 5mm diameter) plastic pellets. They're the raw materials of plastic production. They melt these down to make all kinds of things and are how plastics are transported in the pre-production stage due to them taking up little space but also being easy to handle.

Sadly they are also a major contributor to marine pollution and are particularly harmful to wildlife (they are ingested and block up the stomach, reducing the space for digestion resulting in starvation). They also have the ability to attract 'micro-pollutants which can then enter the food chain after ingestion by marine life. The main trouble with Nurdles is that they are almost impossible to clear from beaches or the sea. It has been estimated that they constitute somewhere in the region of 98% of all pollution on our beaches. Not surprisingly they take a very long time to bio-degrade.

These particular ones are presently on the beach at Kimmeridge and are suspected to have come from the Napoli when she shed containers further west in the channel. The effects of any disaster at sea can reverberate for many years............

Idiot proof

I was recently asked whether I ever dropped my camera. Well, the truth is yes, I've dropped it many times. However, thankfully the camera I use on the boat most of time is one of these, a Pentax Optio W20.

Now reviews have not always been kind about this camera, however, when you are using it in harsh conditions and want something you don't have to take much care of then this is the camera for you. Indeed, it is so good that the RNLI provides one to every lifeboat in the fleet. A good recommendation!

I'm sure someone will correct me on this but to my knowledge we've never broken one either (which is pretty much a first)!

In the words of.......

Bruce Lack, watch manager at Portland Coastguard: "Drink and stupidity played major parts in this incident with two young people in serious danger of losing their lives."

At about 3.30 on Sunday morning the crew were paged by Portland Coastguard and tasked to search for two young people who were thought to be in the water somewhere near Studland. In an apparently intoxicated state they had 'borrowed' a dinghy and taken to the sea with no means or propulsion or communication. People ashore could hear their cries but weren't sure exactly where they were.

Both boats launched rapidly and searched the area thoroughly. The ALB heard shouts and found the two casualties clinging to No.6 channel buoy. Their dinghy had overturned and they had been in the water for several hours. The ALB recovered them and then requested that an ambulance meet them at the Studland Ferry slipway on Sandbanks. While transporting the casualties to Sandbanks their condition deteriorated to the point where one of the casualties was losing consciousness. The two casualties were passed onto the ambulance and taken to Poole hospital where they were given the all clear and subsequently discharged into Police custody. They were later bailed.

I guess the moral of the story is................well, what do you think?

Out of the blue..........

came three shouts in one evening:

At about 7 o'clock we were paged by Portland to launch both boats to search for a young person who was missing on the cliffs near Anvil Point lighthouse. The Police and Coastguard were concerned that she was going to harm herself. Martin was otherwise engaged with his Grandson 'Jack' so Dave took the boat as Cox. Now these kind of searches generally come to nothing, however, we had a spate of them a year ago which all had fairly grisly conclusions so they are certainly not something we take lightly. Consequently I think most of us onboard were praying that we would have a futile half hours search then 'Rome Tango Bravo' (return to base) having found the 'victim' safe and sound. And that's how it worked out, the coastguards picked the young person up and calmed the situation. Phew!

In the course of the service the ILB completed two rapid inshore searches.

The ALB crew were extra vigilant and searching every crack and crevice.

Skid of course managed to attract every bit of spray which came over the bow.

Meanwhile Jo just looked plain scary for some reason?!

The next shout came sometime later at about 8.30pm (most of us had just got home). This time it was to a RIB which had suffered engine failure near Kimmeridge. Now this is a fairly quiet patch of coastline so naturally the Coastguard wanted them retrieved before nightfall. The ALB proceeded at best speed and once on scene towed the boat a short distance into the slipway in Kimmeridge.

And then..........just as the boat was finished being re-fueled, washed and put away for the night the pagers went off again at about 11.20pm! This time it was a local boat known to us who was having engine trouble. Luckily, just we were assembling another local boat (I think it was Tom) arrived and towed him home so we were stood down.

And so to bed......

Role reversal

Martin is our Cox. He steers our ship and guides our crew. It turns out this runs in the family. Not only was his father-in-law the Cox of Swanage Lifeboat. But his wife, Karina, is the very capable Cox of his Gig Crew (Swanage Sea Rowing Club - Super Veterans).

Lost in translation

In good old Bank Holiday fashion we were paged just before lunch today. The casualty was a French yacht at anchor in Swanage bay who had put out a Pan-Pan call. Unfortunately, though the Coastguard could talk to them, there was a problem with interpretation so no one was quite sure what the problem was! We decided to send the ILB and they were soon alongside and attending to what turned out to be a mechanical problem not really warranting a Pan-Pan.

The family and I had been just about to go on a trip out on the bikes so we cycled down to the boathouse instead. It is Eve's turn to have Brandy the bear to stay for the weekend so he got to join in our adventures!

The ILB was soon away with Steve, Gav and John Deas onboard.

Not the furthest shout we've ever conducted.......

Meanwhile back at the boathouse there was bit of a carnival feel in the air, lots of chatting, laughing and smiling.

TDI

Thanks to Dave Corben for this smashing photo of our launch yesterday. Those of you with sharp eyesight will notice that the slender fella on the starboard quarter is wearing a drysuit rather than the normal ALB foulweather gear. In fact it's not one of our crew but is Tom Mansell, one of our divisional inspection staff. It is normal that when the inspecting staff are on the station they accompany the crew on any shouts that occur. This allows them to get a more realistic insight into how we operate as a crew than by merely coming on exercise with us. Incidentally since Howard's promotion into the 'ivory tower' Tom has been promoted into Howie's old job (at least I think it was a promotion). Well done Sir!

Last April shout?

Over lunch time the ALB was launched in a hurry to attend a Motor yacht in trouble at Durlston head. As it happens I was here umpiring a cricket match so don't know the inside story. Here's the details from our website:

Crew: M. Steeden (Coxn), D. Turnbull, P. Elleray, G. Steeden, D. Lander, O. Clark, T. Mansell (TDI South)

Details: At 13:18 Portland Coastguard paged for an immediate launch of Swanage's All Weather Lifeboat. They had received a '999' call from the crew of a motorboat that had broken down near Durlston Head and was being blown towards the rocks. Nine minutes later the Lifeboat launched and headed for the casualty at full speed. As luck would have it an RNLI Training boat was in the area and they were standing by the casualty at the Southern end of Durlston Bay. Once on scene 2 Lifeboat crew were put aboard the stricken motorboat as one of their crew was suffering from seasickness and a tow needed to be rigged. With a towline connected the casualty was taken to the Lifeboat mooring in Swanage Bay. Once secured to the mooring Dave Turnbull, the Lifeboat's mechanic, had a look at the vessel's engines. They had both stopped at virtually the same time and the problem seemed to be dirty fuel. The system was bled and both engines started but after a short test run one stopped again and it was decided to leave the boat on the mooring until the fuel system could be properly cleaned. The 4 crew were then taken ashore aboard the Lifeboat.

Skill fade

There is no doubt that over time skills fade with lack of use. The RNLI invests a lot of time and money training it's crews in order to provide them with the skills needed to deal with the incidents they attend. It's not surprising then that they also wish to analyse how effective any new course or training method is. With this in mind, during our exercise last night we had a fairly comprehensive and realistic medical incident to deal with.

Our second Coxswain Robert had brought a Severn class lifeboat from Poole containing the full 1st aid training team from Poole, Howard Ramm and three casualties. In the course of our exercise we were tasked to attend this 'casualty' which had experienced an explosion onboard. The ILB got there first and tied up alongside allowing one person to attend each casualty.

Gavin was dealing with a fellow who was unconscious, had no airway and an immediate life threatening bleed. In pretty short order he temporarily stemmed the flow with a fist in the groin, applied a CAT (Combat Application Tourniquet) and then established an airway whereupon the casualty began breathing. As soon as the ALB crew arrived he had enough hands to administer Oxygen and begin immobilising an open fracture to the lower leg.

Meanwhile Chad had begun his assessment of the second casualty. She had rapid and shallow breathing and was propped in a tripod position so was quickly assessed as 'Big Sick' despite having no injuries (she was complaining of chest pain). Chad moved her to a more comfortable position, made a great job of reassuring her then continued with his assessment. It turned out she was under investigation by her GP for a heart condition. Chad got out his check cards and correctly applied GTN and a dose of Aspirin.

The extra hands who had arrived onboard from the ALB were deployed to help with each of the casualties. Dave established an equipment cache while I visited each of the casualties to establish our priorities for evacuation. Interestingly it was our third casualty, dealt with by John Deas who became our highest priority, despite being a walker and so a P3. She had been caught in the blast and had burns to her hands, neck and face. John dressed her hands with 'cling-film' then put her on oxygen. Our concern was that her breathing was laboured and seemed to be getting worse. Needless to say we suspected internal burns to her throat and perhaps lungs so wanted her treated ashore as a priority.

And with that we began our evacuation, no easy feat with two moving boats at sea but achieved safely and speedily.

Our subsequent debrief seemed to show that we had mostly treated the right things and done enough to keep the casualties alive! Indeed all of the staff seemed pleased with the relatively low level of skill fade shown across the crew. That's not so say that there wasn't stuff that we'd forgotten, however, we seemed to have remembered a great deal more and were more confident than after previous courses.

A good result I feel.............

Visitors

I seem to have a lot of photos like this in my collection. Whenever we have young visitors they always seem to want to visit the lifeboat and have a look round.

Rueben here has a well developed interest in Lifeboats and was clearly enjoying his visit.

Not that the girls were missing out on any of the fun. Indeed my two like nothing more than showing others around 'their' lifeboat!

Unusually it is an exercise tonight as we have the inspector arriving for some assessments. Naturally last night the mechanics were at the boathouse giving everything an extra spit and polish in preparation........and very smart it looks too.

TRG-136A

Congratulations to Paul Savage. Another milestone has been reached with the production of this new 'ready reference' guide to first aid on Lifeboats.

It incorporates all of the new ideas from our training course over the winter and is designed to be carried by each first aider on the boat.It includes many blank form pages to be used to record casualty details during a shout and as such it expected that it will be used as a matter of course during first aid situations.

As you can see, each page is laid out clearly and guides a crew member through an incident. It uses the language from the course and will, I feel, be a huge help.

Well done Paul!

Good news

Becky's operation went well so we should be seeing more of her smiling face around the place soon. It was all done with key hole surgery so there should be no major scars and the recovery ought to be quick. Naturally she has demanded to be back home today so that she can get back to work! Sad girl.......

Rescue dinghy

I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned this before? Some years ago we were tasked to go out and locate a dinghy which had been spotted drifting by a passing yacht. It turned out to be this little plastic thing. Time passed and no one arrived to collect it so it has become one of the stations fixtures and fittings. It's useful too, not only for the crew to get out to their own boats on moorings but also for when we tow casualties in and put them on our mooring. My kids like it too as they can play inside without being told off.

Sadly, the dinghy next to it is no longer with us. During the winter it was washed away in a storm while not tied up (not sure who was responsible for that - Matt)! So if anyone knows where Martin can get another small dinghy he would be most greatful.

On a separate note, spare a thought for Becky who is having a operation on her Knee today. Something to do with a crucial ligament I think so let's hope it goes well.

It's also nick's birthday so happy birthday Nick!!

My new Shout bike...........

is a real beauty. Built very much in the mould of the sort of bicycle you might expect an English village vicar to arrive on. The kind of bike which it would be almost impossible to break into a sweat on. As usual it was procured from the town tip. The chap wanted £5 for it, I offered him £2 and we settled on £3 (don't tell him, I would have payed at least £7)! Needless to say it has attracted a certain amount of envy at the boathouse, to the extent that it keeps going adrift and turning up in the most unlikely locations. I shall have to take to locking it?

Let not the deep swallow me up...........

Is the motto of the RNLI and is the inscription on each medal issued by the institution. It is in fact a biblical reference taken from psalm 69. Martin's father-in-law (Victor Albert Marsh) was awarded a bronze medal in 1977 while serving as the second cox/mechanic (he later became Cox). Martin's sister-in-law has commemorated this achievement with an incredible tattoo of the J Reginald Corah and the words from the medal across her lower back. A fitting tribute? I think so......

Flaps

Each All Weather Lifeboat is designed so that it can not only survive a capsize but also continue to operate afterwards. Although the main cabin (wheelhouse) and the engine room are seemingly waterproof and sealed they do in-fact have a number of openings in their structures. For example, the engine room has openings to allow air in and out for cooling and also for the engines to be able to breath.

Each of these openings is marked on the deck with red paint and also numbered (odds to starboard and evens to port). In the event of a fire they can be manually shut to seal the space and prevent oxygen from reaching the fire. Some of them, such as this one, are also designed to self close in the event of a capsize to prevent water ingress.

Launched.......

I've mentioned my pal Mark here before. For the past 18 months or so he's been writing a Kayaking Guidebook to the South West peninsula (unlike lonely planet guides I have it on good authority that he has actually visited all of the places mentioned!)

This weekend was the launch of his book down in Devon. I was meant to go but for a variety of reasons couldn't make it. During the evening in the Southern most pub in Devon he gave a slide show of pictures from his travels and also held a raffle raising over £200 for the RNLI. Well done Mark, the book looks awesome and, if anyone reading wants to buy a copy they can do so here.

Newbies

So I've been away. Not just travelling the country but also heaving bit of a break from routine here at home. Hence no posts of late.

That's not to say that we've not been busy of course. Since returning from my sailing trip we've had an exercise and a couple of shouts.



Last night on the ALB we took our 3 'newbies' to sea for a taster of what we do. From left to right are Sam, Ty and Darren. All three keen as mustard and will no doubt prove their worth with time. Luckily for them we got a shout half way through the exercise so they got a bit of a buzz from that no doubt.

The ILB was out on exercise too and had Rob onboard so, for the second time in a week he got a shout on the ILB (not something he normally does).

Bizarrely the shout was to look for a young man suspected of trying to harm himself. Despite searching from the 'Western Mile Markers' to 'Chapman's Pool' we found nothing......not surprising really as it turned out he was in an altogether different part of the country (he was traced using his mobile phone signal I understand).

So, not sure how that one ended but we got to the pub in time for a pint.

Swimming and Smart Cars

In testament to the RNLI, staff at the RNLI Headquarters in Poole regularly carry out their own fund raising events. Last Friday a Swimathon was organised by Brett Shepherd. Brett is running the London Marathon this year and thought a Swimathon would be a good way of involving others in his fund raising efforts. Willing (I use the term loosely) staff volunteers took to the freezing cold survival pool. Not being a heated facility a variety of swimming kit was adorned, including wetsuits, dry suits and Speedo’s! The target of 26 miles had been set and 31 people rose to the challenge.


The picture shows Bob Bradfield, who is a member of Poole Coastguard and works here at the RNLI and managed 50 lengths in a dry suit. Our very own John Deas also took part, topping the table with a 106 lengths.

In total the team swam over 30 miles raising more than £1000. A great effort by all who took part.

On a separate note I look forward to seeing our local Coastguards in their smart new vehicles! Further details can be found on their blog, http://swanagecoastguard.blogspot.com/