Bank holiday gigging

Freshly back from the World Championships in the Scilly Islands. Our local Gig club had their annual regatta yesterday. Each year this seems to grow and yesterday I counted something like 12 gigs in attendance.

And it was almost the perfect activity for a start to the holiday. The comings and goings of the Gigs in amongst the holiday makers made for a fine spectacle.

Although not the sunniest day of the year, the afternoon brightened up and showed the brightly coloured Gigs off to perfection.

Meanwhile the services of Swanage Lifeboat remained uncalled for. Just as we like it!

Buffalo Bill

Matt is rapidly becoming one of our most versatile and competent crewmembers. His experience as a technician over at RNLI HQ in Poole has meant that he brings a lot of solid experience to the crew in his role as an emergency mechanic. He is also a very capable boat handler and spent most of last Wednesdays exercise driving from the USP.

I think you'll agree that he looks the part too?

So the Bank holiday approaches. It's likely to be busy. Let's hope that plenty of people have read the recent reports about Tombstoning and Coasteering and take heed of the RNLI's advice here.

Have a safe one...

On the rocks

So last night's exercise was a pretty busy one. Martin took the ALB with an experienced crew with the aim of running through a few medical type scenarios which involved extraction from the rocks at the base of the cliffs. On the way we did a few navigation exercises and seamanship drills (also known as laying the course for the Swanage Sea Rowing Club gig racing regatta this weekend)! Then got stuck into the guts of the exercise.

Steve rowed Becky ashore in the X-boat to act as our casualty. In the absence of the ILB the X-boat is our primary method of getting people to and from the shore in good weather. Once ashore, the X-boat party become known as 'Lifeboat X-ray' and that is used as their call sign.

We normally send it in with a line attached so that we can pull it back out to the lifeboat with casualties aboard.

Last night we had one of the First Aid MTU training staff with us for a familiarisation exercise so she also went ashore in order for her to better understand what we are trying to achieve and the context in which we are trying to do it.

Once all that was done the ILB arrived and landed some of the larger bits of kit like the main first aid kit, Oxygen and the basket stretcher.

Everything seemed to work well so on completion we packed everything up and returned to station ready for a quick pint in the Ship.

Well, you're the kinda guy
Who needs attention around the clock
Well you can't even talk
'Cause baby, it's on the rocks
Yeah, it's on the rocks
(The Donnas - It's on the rocks)

Recognition

On Thursday of last week it was the annual RNLI awards ceremony at the Barbican in London. As usual, medals for gallantry were awarded by the President of the Institution the Duke of Kent. However, a lot of awards were also made to some of the many volunteers who work tirelessly to keep the Institution afloat.

Our very own Diana receive her gold badge from the Duke of Kent - a just reward for all her sterling work for The Swanage Guild where she has been Souvenir Secretary for many years. She is the mainstay of our fantastic team of helpers not only in the shop but also at various fundraising events in Swanage and the surrounding area with her souvenir stall.

She was accompanied by her husband Dan and also Ann and Robin Tiller.

Our recently opened shop is a fine example of what a can be achieved with a great deal of hard work by volunteers such as Diana. Please visit if you ever get the chance.

Well done Dianna!

It's all bit of a blur

Every now and then I get a picture which wasn't meant to happen but for whatever reason I really like it. This is one which the camera decided to take itself during one Sunday exercise. Despite the fact that the camera was swinging from it's cord attached to my wrist, it still seems to have captured something which is discernibly a lifeboat image.

It may be a busy week this week. The mechanics are meeting this evening to do the routine lifejacket servicing. There is an exercise on Wednesday evening. Kev is ILB duty helm for the week and the DLA is Linda. Let's have a quiet one...

Happy Return

Mike Streeter (keen supporter of Swanage Lifeboat) recently sent me this photo taken (he thinks) on the day of the naming ceremony of our current boat the Robert Charles Brown. In the background circles the J.Reginald Corah but also the fishing vessel Britannia lies to her mooring. The Britannia was owned at the time by Pete Barrett who remains a local fisherman, all be it in a much smaller vessel.

Shortly after this photo was taken she was decommissioned by MAF. Ownership was then handed over by MAFF to the North East Lincolnshire Borough Council for the National Fishing Heritage Centre in Grimsby. She was identified as a vessel of heritage and historic importance to be matched by the Centre with an organisation interested in it's preservation. The National Fishing Heritage Centre in Grimsby subsequently hand the responsibility for Britannia over to the Mounts Bay Luggers Association. Subsequently she was restored both to her original name, Happy Return and her original configuration as a sailing lugger. You can read the full history here and I'm confident that you'll find it a worthwhile half hour!

There is a further lifeboat link here. The Happy Return was built in 1904 in Porthleven using money paid by subscription by the townsfolk of Folkestone to replace the lugger Good Intent. She had been wrecked in a storm which involved a heroic lifeboat rescue by the crew of the Folkestone Lifeboat. Read about it here.

Bike to work

Regular readers will be aware that I am a keen cyclist. So the sight which greeted me at the boathouse last Sunday warmed the cockles of my heart. I counted no fewer than 8 bicycles lent against various walls of the boathouse having been used by crewmembers to get down to the boathouse. Of course, they were all hideously expensive sports machines rather than 'proper' transport bikes which I prefer for this sort of journey, however, they were being used for transport all the same.

Perhaps it's time that we thought about some sort of bike rack or parking area?

Sadly I wasn't one of those on a bike as I am between 'pub' bikes at the moment. My last one met with a rather untimely end and pickings up at the tip have been rather sparse of late. Indeed, so desperate am I getting that I am considering actually parting with money and getting one of these as a round town load hauling machine. I figure I could get all the shopping and both of the kids on the deck at the back. What do you recon?!

Busy exercise (and sorry for the delay!)

Right...I'm feeling a little better now so here are a few more details from the weekend exercise.

In a sense Sunday's exercise was a big one for me. Since becoming one of the Stations Deputy Second Coxswains a number of years ago I have spent a lot of time acting as Second Coxswain for the other three (Martin, Rob and Dave) but very little time taking complete command of the lifeboat as Coxswain. So on Sunday I took the boat out for an exercise with my own crew...the sort of crew I would have is Martin, Rob and Dave were absent.

My intention was to give the engines a run, get Gav doing a little navigating and spend a bit of time running Paul E and Kev through a couple of seamanship evolutions with them acting as my Second Coxswains. Of course it didn't turn out like that. Events and colleagues conspired to scupper my plan.


Midway through out little Navigation exercise I overheard Deasy on the ILB talking to Portland about a kayaker which they had spotted in difficulty. It was agreed that they would take the kayaker onboard and head back towards Swanage along with his Kayak. After a brief discussion it was agreed that we would head off to meet them and take either the kayak or the Kayaker onboard. As it turned out we did both as the fellow was a bit cold from his swim.


Having practised this sort of thing last year the recovery of the kayak went smoothly and it was soon emptied of water. In short order it was stowed on the side deck and we returned to the slipway to land both the vessel and the casualty.


We then headed out to continue our exercise. And it was a busy day for kayakers in the bay. This bunch seemed well organised and had the added benefit of safety in numbers.


No sooner had we resumed our planned exercise than we had a 'For Exercise' shout from Portland Coastguard. They had had a report of an explosion on a fishing vessel 1/2 a mile SE of Peveril point. Of course we made best speed towards the casualty and dealt with what we found (burnt crewman, one crewman missing presumed overboard and a disabled boat). Kev and James boarded the boat to administer first aid. We did a quick search and found the casualty in the water, we then brought the casualty onboard the ALB before rigging up a tow to bring the casualty vessel home.

And it mostly went well and smoothly. So...a big thanks to Rob and Dave for arranging that little beauty for us!

LVO

This is Colin. He's our Lifeboat Visits Officer. It is his responsibility to co-ordinate visits by organisations (mostly schools) and make sure that someone is there trained and ready to tell them all about the RNLI and what we do. And he has a busy time of it. I'll have to ask him but I think we probably get a couple of such visits each week and quite possibly more in the height of the summer term when so many schools come to Swanage for their Annual residential trip. Since he has started as our LVO Colin has revolutionised how we do it. With Dave's assistance he has created an in-house multimedia show which demonstrates in great detail what we do.

This is not a service we charge for, however, donations are welcome (and are usually forthcoming) and Colin has a small shop stocked up with little gifts for the young people to buy. If you're reading this and wish to arrange a visit for a school party, please contact Colin via the 'visits' section of our website.

Please don't forget to vote for Lifeboat Scrapbook in the Dorset Muesli Little Blog Awards. We were leading but now seem to have been knocked off our perch!

Senior helm

Steve has been our Senior ILB Helmsman for the last 7 years. This is not an official position in the eyes of the Institution, but it is one which we have always had as we feel that it gives much needed leadership to the younger and less experienced part of our crew. And Steve has done this job tremendously well.


He is known for being a stickler for details and analysing how everything is done to ensure that we are always doing the right thing. He has also been a great teacher of new and inexperienced crewmembers (he inducted me into the crew) as well as having led from the front with demonstrably high level of skill as a boathandler on shouts.


However, Steve has now reached the grand old age of 45 and so has had to retire from sea-going duties in the ILB. Consequently he is no longer able to continue as the senior helm of the ILB.


So Steve now moves to being ALB crew only where his skills as a navigator, radio operator, first aider and yachtjumper will no doubt be in high demand. Good luck for the future and thanks for everything you've done in the ILB mate.


So some time ago the current ILB helms got together and decided amongst themselves who was going to succeed him. None of us are sure how this decision was reached, however, Tom's name rose to the top of the pile and so he has now taken over from Steve as Senior Helm. No doubt he will put his own unique stamp on the role! Good luck mate.


Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on that sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

(Dylan Thomas)

Tweet Tweet

Love it or loath it, Twitter is here to stay. What remains to be seen is exactly how people incorporate it into their online lives.

As a matter of fact, I love it and recently used it to good effect during a school sailing expedition which I ran during the Easter holidays. However, for some reason I recently seem to have had no end of problems with mobile twittering and either my phone won't remain registered, or it suddenly stops allowing me to upload, or I get 50 random texts from Twitter in a day. As you can imagine this has become somewhat frustrating though I'm guessing that this is just a result of their infrastructure failing to keep up with a demand for their services which is growing exponentially.

Anyway, the point of telling you this was two fold: Firstly I wanted to let you know that I fully intend to use Twitter again this summer when it is more stable, my plan is to try and maintain some sort of commentary on events as and when shouts unfold. However, if you can't wait that long, Dave has begun using Twitter as an add on to the official station website. Click here and register to follow the updates.

PanPan

15 miles to the south of Anvil point light is an excellent crab fishing area. It is also roughly on a line between the Needles fairway and Guernsey. Consequently, in good weather, the area is liberally populated with both Dhan buoys (pot marker buoys) and yachts.

Sadly the two don't go together that well. For a start, they seem to be magnetically attracted to each other. Secondly, when they do meet, they are invariably reluctant to part. And there is little that can be done about that.

So last night we were called from our beds (most of us) just before 2.30am. Pretty quickly the ALB was launched and we proceeded at best speed towards these fabled crabbing grounds. The facts of the situation filtered through pretty rapidly via Portland Coastguard. It turned out that a 12 metre yacht was firmly attached to some fishing gear in the water and the crew were unable to release it (no shame there...it's very hard to do when there is any tide or sea running). Unfortunately neither we or Portland had direct comms with the vessel. As a result a passing ferry (the Barfleur) relayed the PanPan and subsequent details to Portland. Once they had cleared the area this roll of relaying the comms was taken over by the cruiseship Aurora who's officer of the watch (or perhaps radio officer) did an excellent job of extracting what information Portland an we needed.

About an hour later we were alongside and in a position to assess the situation. After completing a couple of laps of the vessel to ensure that we would not be similarly impeded by the fishing gear we drew up our plan of action and got on with the job of trying to grapple for the line and either part it or cut it. As luck would have it we were successful in snagging it on our first attempt and with a gentle pull it parted.

After a brief discussion with the skipper he decided that there was no damage and that he would continue his passage to Guernsey. Once it was clear that all was well once more we cleared the area and headed back to Swanage and our beds. With the boat back on the slipway at about 5.45 most of us were back in our beds by 6.30am.

A long but successful night.

Thanks to all who have voted in the Dorset cereal 'Little Blog Awards'...if you haven't yet voted please do so by following this link!

Shorthanded

Yesterday our pagers went off at about 11am. As is often the way on a Saturday morning I was at home on my own with the kids. However, I generally drop things and head down to the boathouse with the wee ones just to see what's happening. As it turned out yesterday the shout was cancelled just as I pulled in to the boatpark. It turns out I wasn't alone, Matt was also looking after his nipper, Jack, and came down to see what was going on. And it's a good job we did too because if both boats had had to launch they would have been very shorthanded. It makes me think, perhaps we need a childminder on the crew who can come and look after the lifeboat nippers when we get a shout!

The Dorset Muesli campaign seems to be going well. If you haven't voted yet there's still plenty of time...

Vote Lifeboat Scrapbook....

The Dorset Muesli Little Blog awards were recently brought to my attention. I thought it might be fun to enter (well, I actually thought it might be a way to attract new readers to the blog). Of course, this is much more likely to succeed as a cunning plan if you were all to vote for the Lifeboat Scrapbook. Don't worry, there isn't anything in it for me (the prize would appear to be a woollen jumper for a boiled egg)! However, everyone who votes does get entered for a chance to win some cereal so what have you got to loose?!

Go one...give it a go.

That time of year again

Not only was Tuesday evening a busy one from the perspective of having the Inspector present. We also had a number of school parties come to visit us and watch the launch. As usual they were accompanied by one of our boathouse attendants (on this occasion Angela) who explained what was gong on to them and showed them around. I never cease to be amazed at the enormous appetite that these kids have for watching what we do and asking questions about it. Despite what the media might wish you to believe...there is nothing wrong with the youth of today!


As usual we got them to do a count down to the launch which they loved.


We launched from inside which is why the aerials are not up in this picture.

Guilding the lilly

The RNLI is supported across the country by various Guilds who work incredibly hard to help raise the millions of pounds needed to keep the Lifeboats afloat and the crews trained. Sometimes these are known as Ladies Guilds, but ours was re-named a number of years ago to reflect the hard work which many of the men put in (and also to avoid any accusations of sexism).

Our Guild host a number of events through the year to raise funds. One of the most eagerly awaited is the annual plant sale. This is to be held this Saturday in the Catholic Hall in Rempstone Road. There is also Brick-a-Brac on sale along with refreshments. This is always a good event so do come along (come early as securing the best plants is a surprisingly competitive activity)!

Belated congratulations also to Gloria marsh who has been elected President of the Guild. Gloria is Martins Mother-in-Law, Mother to Katrina, Grandmother to Matt, Gav and Chad and Widowed wife of Vic Marsh, a former Coxswain of the J. Reginald Corah. So you can see that she is supremely well qualified to take on this roll (as if she wasn't busy enough already as a District Councillor and School Governor)!

21 not out

Last night's exercise was a good one. Plenty of crew turned out, perhaps it was just curiosity and wanting to meet Adrian Carey our new inspector. Anyway, it was good to see almost everyone there. It was a busy night too. The ILB had it's inspection then went to sea for a further exercise. The ALB had it's exercise and was put through the whole fire, flood and pestilence routine. Meanwhile back in the boathouse Steve was busy giving a masterclass on various aspects of navigation and chartwork. Good busy stuff.



Afterwards Adrian introduced himself to those who hadn't been afloat, gave a short de-brief and then suggested that we all retire to the Ship for a chance to reflect upon the evening's activities.



Of course he also wanted us to turn up in the pub so that we could have a chance to present Jon Deare, our Head Launcher and Winchman, with his badge for 20 years of service to the RNLI. In actual fact he has now done 21 years service and we hope that he will make it at least to 25 if not a little further. As a bit of background, Jon is at the moment our oldest serving crewmember and as such commands a great deal of respect amongst all of the crew. A man of relatively few words he is able to keep the crew in order whilst the boat is away with little more than an arch of an eyebrow or a couple of well chosen words. He also presents on an annual basis the crew 'Rosebowl'. This was purchased in memory of his father with the un-drunk remains of his estate and is presented to the crewmember who has that year made the greatest single contribution (this could be an act of selflessness, bravery, comedy or idiocy). Jon, thanks for all you do...it's great to have you around.



So that was it. A good evening with much achieved. The inspection continues today with Dave being subjected to scrutiny ashore in the boathouse. Good luck!

Busy week

This week promises to be a busy one for the crew and Dave in particular. On Tuesday evening our inspector will be with us and will put us through our paces on shore and at sea. Prior to that he, and his team, will be having a good look round the station to make sure that everything is as it should be. No doubt everything will be in order but still, Dave will be working extra hard to put a polish and shine on all things.

ILB helm this week is Gav, DLA is Neil. The next planned launch will be on Tuesday at 7pm with the inspector on board.

One of life's little inconveniences

So, this morning I was helping some farming friends out transporting something in the region of fifty chickens from their farm to a farmer's market. Just as I was pulling out of their drive our pagers went off. So I quickly called them and let them know that they could find said chickens in the car down at the boat-park and to help themselves. I meanwhile jumped on the boat and headed out to sea.



Little more than 15 minutes later we came alongside the casualty, a newly purchased commercial fishing vessel, which had issued a Mayday due to engine failure and the strong tidal conditions off St Aldhelm's head. Both of the crew members onboard were OK so we decided to leave them where they were and place a crewmember of ours aboard to assist with rigging the tow and steering. Steve gallantly volunteered to do the heroics and quickly got things rigged on the heavily rolling vessel.



As the tow progressed towards Swanage, Dave, today's navigator, called Portland Coastguard and requested an updated weather forecast. As suspected this was promising a Force 4 South-Easterly wind which would have left the casualty rather exposed on our mooring. Consequently, Martin made the sensible decision to continue the tow up to Poole where we could guarantee the security of the casualty vessel.

Once at the Town Quay in Poole the vessel was rapidly secured alongside with the assistance of the local Coastguards. We then returned home (minus Paul E who elected to remain in Poole so that he could join his partner for some light shopping).

By about 12.30 we were back in the boathouse and ready for further duties. Textbook stuff.

And of the course the chicken was collected and delivered to the market where it all sold I hope.

Get out of jail free card

In the centre of each crewmember's windscreen is a small sticker showing an RNLI flag and the words: Lifeboat Crew. We all like our window stickers. They are a badge of honour for many of us and a symbol of what we are and what we value. However, and I get asked this about once a month, they are categorically not any kind of 'Get out of Jail Free' card or indeed a licence to speed when on a shout/park wherever one wants to/drive on the pavement/leave a shop without paying!

And that is the point of this post. I just wanted to broadcast the answer widely as I get asked it so often. We are not entitled to do anything while in our cars on the way to a shout other than follow the highway code to the letter of the law. That's not to say that we all get it right all of the time, we don't...it has been known for the adrenaline to get the better of someones judgement. However, the management of our station take a very dim view of any transgressions. We are of course very visible and easy to spot (yep, you got it, the window stickers do have a function) and you can guarantee that if one of our crew has done something daft, Neil (LOM), will know about it before the boat returns. And, as people who know him will testify, he's not afraid to let people know what's on his mind in these situations!

Of course, the time is approaching when our small town will be so clogged with holiday makers and day trippers that going anywhere quickly by car becomes out of the question. At these times our crew will arrive at the boathouse by bike, scooter, running, lift-sharing, sail boat, kayak and powerboat. I keep hoping that one day I will get a crew sticker for my shout-bike...

BBC South

Tony Husband of the BBC has been having fun in the Environmental Pool at the College. Watch it here...

Current economic climate

It would seem that all of us have hard decisions to make at the moment when it comes to investing and spending our money. I read this article about Cowes Inshore Lifeboat with interest as it made me realise that despite the RNLI's reputation as being a well healed charity, we too have been hit hard by the Global Financial Meltdown. Plans still need to be made, money still needs to be spent, however, it is comforting to be reminded of the amount of care that those in the 'Ivory Tower' take over the funds so generously donated by you all. Long may this last...

(Photo Credit: RNLI Media Library)

I can see clearly now!

OK, so I've had Rob on the 'phone to re-brief me regarding future lifeboats at Swanage. It turns out that I was part right and part wrong in what I said a few days ago regarding FCB2. I'm afraid I had been guilty of making a few assumptions and, in the words of a former Commanding Officer of mine, 'Assumption is the mother of all cock-ups'!

So what is the genuine inside story? We'll, in this Lifeboat exclusive I can confirm today that, everything being equal, Mersey class lifeboats will all be replaced by FCB2. This includes us so FCB2 it will be. However, FCB2 is NOT designed to go on a slipway and it is NOT intended to change this. So, we will get FCB2 but as yet it has not been decided how we will operate it. Options, and this is pure, dangerous speculation on my part include lying to a mooring, being alongside a jetty, having a pen or being on a carriage in a re-designed boathouse. How exciting!

Watch this space for developments as they occur. I will make sure that in future I get at least some of my facts straight...(no comment needed Dave)!

(Photo: thanks to the RNLI image library)

Changes

Nothing stays the same for ever and nothing is permanent. As Lucretius said, dripping water hollows out a stone. And so small changes drip into our lives at the boathouse. Last month (or was it longer ago than that?) we saw the arrival of new Oxygen and Entonox bottles. Yesterday we were finally allowed to put our new Pyros onto the boat.

I'm not exactly sure why they have been replaced, they do the same jobs but are made by a new company rather than Pains Wessex of old. Anyway, they are operated in a different way to the old ones so before they could be put onto the boat a majority of the crew had to be trained to use them. Now that this is complete Dave has exchanged them with the old ones (which will go back to depot and go back into stock until they are out of date).


Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes
(Turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-Changes
Don't want to be a richer ma
Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes
(Turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-Changes
Just gonna have to be a different man
Time may change me
But I can't trace time
(Changes - David Bowie)

Congratulations

are in order for Chad and his Mrs - the lovely Jane. On the 20th of March Jane gave birth to their first child called Cameron Lee. Apparently he weighed 6 pound 4 which seems like a good healthy weight! Anyway, by all accounts little Cameron is fit and well and Chad is trying hard to convince himself that life isn't going to change much! Sorry for the delay and congratulations to you all.

FCB2

Is the project name for the replacement lifeboat for the Mersey class. It stands for 'Fast Carriage Boat 2' (the Mersey class was the first fast carriage launched boat in the fleet). Although the Mersey is no longer what could be considered a fast boat (16 knots), when it was introduced it roughly doubled the speed of the classes of lifeboats that it replaced. FCB2 will be almost as great an increase with a top speed of 25 knots. Once it has entered service and replaced all of the existing Merseys, every All Weather Lifeboat in the RNLI fleet will have a 25 knot capability.

And why is this important? Well, obviously it means that we can respond more quickly and get to casualties faster for any given distance. It might also reduce costs. It could do this because with faster boats it could be argued that fewer boats are required to maintain the current response times.

Of course here in Swanage we have been following the FCB2 project with a great deal of interest. Rob, our second Coxswain has been heavily involved in the trials programme and has been keeping us up to date with developments. However, the project has not been entirely straightforward. Some years ago a hull was designed and a prototype built. Rob was the Trials Officer then and took part in the testing of this hull. During the trials in 2008 it became apparent that the performance of the experimental FCB2 boat’s original hull design in rough seas did not meet the operational requirements for an RNLI lifeboat, especially when travelling up-sea in steep waves. The very difficult decision was taken to delay the project and introduction of the boats and redevelop the hull. (As a crewmember this was a very comforting decision. It sends a clear message that as far as the RNLI is concerned, they would not equipe with anything other that the best possible tool for the job).

So the design of the hull was put out to tender and 7 designs were received, one in-house and 6 from other companies. Six scale models were then built and tested by Seaspeed Marine Consulting Ltd both in open water and at QinetiQ’s Ocean Basin and Ship Tank at Haslar, Gosport (3 days of time in the Basin were generously donated by QinetiQ). The outcome of this testing was revealed yesterday. It was announced that the in-house had performed best in the widest possible range of conditions. This is no surprise as a I seem to remember that a similar thing happened with the design of the Atlantic 85. Many of the other designs could do something better than the in-house design, however, what the RNLI requires is an all-rounder...something which is good in all conditions is preferable to something which is brilliant in some conditions but poor in others.

So, what's next? The plan now is to further optimise the hull form to improve performance with fuel economy being an important factor. The hull will then be moulded and fitted out before completing sea trials scheduled for mid 2011.

You can read more about the trials here and there is also some video footage:

(Photo/video: RNLI, with thanks)

Flares...

...are a pretty hot topic of conversation at the moment. The MCA has announced that they are withdrawing the white illuminating parachute flares previously used for search and rescue by their officers on patrol. This will mean that the only pyrotechnic routinely carried by Coastguard Officers are orange smoke generators for marking potential landing sites for rescue helicopters. This will then leave the MCA in the odd position of no longer being a significant user of pyrotechnics, but still being the organisation which is turned to by recreational sea-goers to dispose of their old ones.

Understandably, the MCA is no longer happy to act as the receiver of out of date flares (and they have never been under any statutory obligation to do so) due to the risk of handling them, the logistical difficulties and also the cost. Indeed, their hand is being forced as they have historically used the MOD to actually effect the destruction of these flares and the MOD, which has become more commercially minded itself, is reluctant to continue providing this service.

So Peter Cardy, the Chief Exec of the MCA, has opened up the debate and asked the question, ‘do recreational sea-goers need flares at all’? And it’s a tricky question to answer. Most rescues are initiated electronically (VHF, Mobile, EPIRB etc) and not by flares. However, flares more commonly play their part in the later stages of a rescue when they act as an aid to identifying the exact location of a casualty. Could this perhaps be done using other means? Perhaps Lasers or Strobes?

And what about us as Lifeboat crew? As ever, there has been some confusion about our position in the press. However, we continue to carry and use a pretty wide variety of pyrotechnics. Orange smokes for marking locations, white parachute flares for illumination, red flares for distress, white flares for attracting attention, rocket lines for firing lines across gaps and of course our personal issue ‘day and night’ flares carried on our Lifejackets. The only area where there has recently been a change in what we use has been the use of Maroons which we now seldom fire.

So, if you’d like to add to the debate, feel free to comment here and I’ll pass the comments on to Peter Cardy.

Serious Fun

A year ago I was contacted to ask if I would help with filming a short piece about safe kayaking. This was for a series of short DVDs that the RNLI were filming for a new campaign called 'Serious Fun'. The wonderful Becky from Headquarters got in touch recently to let me know that the campaign has now gone live and that many of the films have footage of our station, our crew and indeed others in Swanage (see if you can spot them).

Here are a few details about the campaign:

The campaign is titled Serious Fun because we want everyone to go out on the water and enjoy their chosen watersports to the maximum, but we also want individuals to take their fun seriously by raising skill levels and staying safe. The campaign aims to engage with a wide range of sea users.

According to our rescue statistics, around half of all RNLI lifeboat launches tend to be to watersports related rescues, i.e., dinghys, yachts, motorboats, windsurfers, sea angling, dive boats, personal watercraft, kayaks, canoes, and kitesurfers. Each of these watersports groups needs to be addressed in a way that's relevant to them so we have produced a DVD as part of the Serious Fun campaign. Featuring 11 short films - each is dedicated to a different watersport and aimed at all levels of skill and experience - the DVD is full of practical tips from experts and action footage, this is also a film about the RNLI and how to support the charity.

We hope this campaign, with the help of the DVD, will prevent more accidents at sea, and save lives - that's what the RNLI is all about. We also hope that it will remind watersports users that they might one day need the RNLI, so we need their support too.

To find out more about Serious fun and to request your copy please visit www.rnli.org.uk/seriousfun

Unfortunately it doesn't seem possible to view each DVD online but it is free to order from the RNLI and is sponsored by Helly Hansen so I presume that ordering one doesn't cost the RNLLI anything.

Shhh...

It seems like we have got away with it today. It has mostly been a nice, sunny and warm day but with little wind so plenty of folk have been tempted onto the water. Thankfully though they all managed to stay safe in our patch.

And what do the crew do when the weather is like this and there is no lifeboating to do? Well, we go afloat in some way (while monitoring our VHFs for trouble brewing). Becky, Gav, Kim, myself and the kids went kayaking. My wife, Liz, went swimming in the sea for the first time this year (1 mile wearing a wetsuit). Meanwhile, Dave and our newest recruit, JFL (I'll tell you another time!) were out in Dave's raider with their other halves cruising the bay. We all met up on the water for a chat before heading for some refreshments.

A good day.

Typical 'Bank Holiday' job

Well, the bank holiday is progressing with the usual mixture of 'run-of-the-mill' shouts. All trivial nonsense really, AA jobs if you like. Except they're not. For those people whom we help these sort of shouts make a huge difference. Put yourself in the position of the parents of the two girls who the ILB rescued today. You're there on the beach having a nice family day out. The kids go out for a paddle their dinghy. The next thing you you know they are being blown rapidly out to sea and you are unable to help. What next? Well, might I be so bold as to suggest that the arrival of the lifeboat may have come as something of a relief to the distraught parents?!

So, job done...two scared young people brought ashore and tow parents mightily relieved...it's what we are here for.

What's next I wonder?

Incidentally, well done to Becky for getting on the shout today. As far as I am aware this was her first shout after a long lay-off due to injury. Good to have you back Haddock!

So what happens?

When you're at the end of a long journey, safely executed and you loose all of your power? If on a yacht there's no problem...hoist the sails and continue your journey. Except, you're 10 miles out to sea, in a reasonably busy shipping route and it's dark so once your power is exhausted you can show no Navigation lights.

The sensible thing to do of course is to call the Coastguard and make them aware of your position. They can then decide whether to; leave you out there and take the chance of you being struck by another vessel or ask for a lifeboat to launch to tow you into a safe anchorage.

This is exactly what happened last night to a group of well organised yachtsmen (and women) at the end of a passage from La Coruna in Northern Spain delivering a 42ft yacht to its' owner. We were called at about 9.55 and asked to proceed to a position about 10 miles south of St Aldhelm's head. Once on scene it was obvious that the crew knew what they were doing and so we left them to attach the tow to their own vessel which they did. Making about 7 1/2 knots we towed them back towards Swanage where they could await an engineer to fix their problem this morning.

What was clear was that they had had no company other than their own for the best part of a week as they were extremely chirpy and chatty. De-mob happy almost!

Anyway, sorry for the absence...call it writers block (and a skiing holiday). Happy Easter to you all.

New wire

Much of our launching and recovery hardware has been replaced recently; We have new rollers on half of the slipway (the other half will be replaced soon), we have new strops for holding the boat during recoveries, we have also just had a replacement for out old winch wire fitted. This is a fantastic hi-tech piece of rope made from some exotic fibres (spectra I think). One real benefit of this new rope is that it is much lighter than the old one so is easier to rig up. It also won't corrode so doesn't require to be greased. Therefor the whole job of launching and recovering should be much cleaner and easier. Good news.

During last nights crew meeting both Andy Lyons and Mark Stuart were successfully signed off as having completed their probationary periods. They both work very locally so will be able to significantly enhance our day-time cover. Great stuff, well done lads and welcome.

Whaling

Each year we try to improve upon last year's Lifeboat Week with ever more imaginative and exciting activities and fundraising events. This year my responsibility is for booking the bands for the Friday and Saturday night. Martin has also tasked me with finding some way of broadening the appeal of Saturday afternoon when we hold our 'build-a-boat' competition. One of my ideas is to hold a sort of mini sea shanty festival. It's certainly in keeping with our maritime nature and would (I think) be perfectly suited to the location in Prince Albert's garden and of course the fine weather which we have booked! I'll keep you posted on my progress with this...

What do you think? Like the idea? Hate it? Please let me know (of course, if you have any other ideas for what we can do please let me know about those ideas too).

What happens when you can't make it?

Typically, yesterday evening when our pagers went off, my wife, Liz had just gone out for a run. Unfortunately one of the children was ill too so I was unable to take them down to the boathouse with me. Consequently, I was unable to respond to my pager's insistent call and had to sit idly by and watch the boat launch without me.

So what happens when crew are unable to respond like this? Well, for precisely this reason we have a great deal of 'built in redundancy' in the crew. In the broadest sense we require a minimum of 10 to launch both boats, 6 crew on the ALB, 2 on the ILB, and a winchman for each. Altogether we have something in the region of 25 crewmembers so we have 150% more than we need. We then train each of these crewmembers in a number of roles, thus we have 4 qualified coxswains, a similar number of emergency mechanics, 8 or so navigators, 4 helmsmen for the ILB etcetera. So when the pagers go off, those who can respond do so and a crew is created out of who turns up.

Yesterday for the ALB this meant Martin our Coxswain was missing so Rob (our Second Coxswain) took his place. Dave (mechanic) was there, I was missing so Gav took my place, all of the rest of the top 6 crew were there (Skid and Paul) so Rob then chose another 3 crew to make up 8 in total (James, Dan and Matt).

So, what did they have to do? Well here in the words of our website are the details:

At 17:43 Portland Coastguard requested the launch of Swanage's All Weather Lifeboat to go to the assistance of a 26' yacht in difficulties in the tidal race south of St Albans Head. The yacht's engine had failed and with the falling wind the yacht was being swept West into the overfalls. The lifeboat launched and was alongside the yacht 25 minutes later. Assistant Mechanic Matt Steeden was put aboard the yacht to secure a towline and check the yacht's crew were OK. With the towline rigged the slow tow home started, both boats made it back to Swanage just over an hour later. The yacht was secured to the lifeboat mooring and the crew brought ashore so they could make arrangements to get the yacht fixed.

Just watching this...

made my stomach churn!

This is Thurso lifeboat out on a shout rescuing a broken down crabbing boat in force 7 - 8 winds. I would imagine that they would have had a fairly bouncy trip out to the casualty followed by a lot of wallowing about trying to connect the tow and then a long slow passage home. Well done lads.

Details

It never pays to under-estimate the amount of effort a lifeboat mechanic puts into attending to even the smallest of details. Our Oxygen and Entonox sets have just been replaced with new ones (composite bottles and different valves/masks) and no longer fit into the original stowages which are built into the boat below the Helmsman's and radar operator's seats. Consequently Dave has been occupying some of his time trying to re-arrange things. And this is what he has come up with:

Hi

Now that the new Entonox & Oxygen sets are in the fore-cabin this has left the two foot lockers in the wheelhouse (where the Entonox & Oxygen used to be) virtually empty. The one under the radar has the spare Entonox & Oxygen cylinders in, the other is empty.

In order to stop the spare gas cylinders rattling around and because it seemed sensible I have now put 2 of the 4 blankets carried on board (the other 2 are still in the locker by the main first aid kit) in the locker under the radar seat.

I have also put an orange survival bag in the bag with each of the blankets as it seemed a logical place to put them.

Any questions please ask or better still come and have a look on the boat to see what I mean.

Cheers

Dave

Did You know...

about Dave's Text message service?

Some time ago Dave set up a service where you are able to subscribe to a text message alert system that will send you a message within minutes of our Lifeboats launching. Messages are charged at 25p each, 10p of which will be donated to the RNLI. At the moment we raise a small but significant amount of money in this way. As they say, every little helps.

To subscribe to this service simply text the following:

RNLI-SWANAGE START

to 60300 on your mobile phone. You will receive a confirmation message to say that you have successfully subscribed.

Once you have done that you will get a text everytime we are launched on service. Don't worry...you won't be exactly inundated at the moment!

Alternatively you could set up a Virtual Pager from the RNLI website to let you know whenever we (or other stations) launch.