Before 'n' After

Our boathouse is rather small and we often struggle to find space for training and storage. So when two old buildings behind the boathouse came up for rent it was decided to put a bid in for them. The first is the old Coastguard hut which we hope will in time become usable as a teaching space both for crew and for visiting school groups.

The other is an old munitions store and toilet block for the coastal defence battery which used to inhabit Peveril point.

It has been empty for some time now and with some work will make a good store for all of our Guild's fundraising supplies.

Today we held a work party for a couple of hours to clear all of the junk out of the two buildings in preparation for making them properly weather and water tight.
Tom took three or four loads up to the tip in his pickup.

While Dave, Kev and John cleared all of the growth off the roof.

By the time I left we had three relatively empty and clean spaces ready to begin work on their transformation in to usable spaces...watchthis space!

Getting ready...

So my old 'shout bike' has breathed its' last breath. It's had one dunking too many and seized solid. So, for some time now I have been looking into sourcing a suitable replacement. Unaccustomed as I am to paying for shout bikes, I today responded to an advert in the Co-Op for a man's mountain bike and, £30 later, I was the proud owner of this little beauty (not to mention a full compliment of accessories such as water bottle, lock, helmet, lights, panniers and trip computer). Understandably I'm pretty excited by it and looking forwards to a summer of cycling too and from the boathouse. And by the way Chad...it's locked up!

Stretched ILB

For some reason my waterproof camera was not behaving last night and the flash kept on deciding not to work. Consequently some of the photos were slightly odd. That said, I quite liked this one of the ILB launching. It looks fast and colourful and somehow exciting.

We've still got 'Fishermen's Friend' at the moment. Dave nipped over to Poole to trial our boat last week and found it still losing coolant from the engine. Unfortunately it is now going to have to have the cylinder head removed so it will be some time longer before we get her back.

The ILB crew were having some troubles last night too with them finding it hard to select gears on the engine. When this was investigated, it was hard to pinpoint the problem, thought it was narrowed down to the gearbox rather than the linkage. The Coastguard were informed and we were briefly off-service while a replacement gearbox was dispatched from Poole and fitted by Kev.

Hood off and lower leg removed the ILB looked strangely impotent.

Animation

Saw this on Facebook and love it. Created by Helen Peacock as part of a brief set by the Univeristy of Sunderland. Excellent stuff Helen!

In safe hands

I had the very real pleasure today of meeting the new CEO of the RNLI, Paul Boissier (who I nearly but not quite met in January). Kindly Paul gave up some of his time for a chat about his role and the state of the RNLI as he has found it.

What quickly became apparent was how impressed he is with what he has found from speaking with both the Crews, fundraisers and employees that he has met...but also, and I think very importantly, how keen he is to continue to build upon the RNLI's heritage and also it's reputation for innovating and providing a world leading rescue service.

It was clear from what he had to say that he recognises that he has inherited a truly treasured national institution and that he is looking forward with enthusiasm to spending the next decade of his life ensuring that he can pass it on in even better health than it is at the moment.

I hope to have some more photos and possibly even some audio from the meeting in the next day or two, so watch this space.

In the meantime, thanks Paul for your time and welcome aboard!

A couple of photos

A couple of photos from last night's shout taken by Dave Corb on his iphone I presume.

Here's the ALB being recovered, note the amount of PPE being worn by the slipway crew.

And here is what some of the other crew were up to while we were out...downloading the latest iphone apps I presume?!

March shout

There's nothing worse than sitting down to a Sunday roast only to be called from the table by a buzzing pager. However, needs must and it would seem that most of the crew left half eaten roasts to attend this evening's shout. Once we had assembled, it turned out that we were heading out to a 33ft yacht which had lost nearly all power in a dying breeze and so were unable to start their engine and were drifting pretty much at the mercy of the tide in the tidal race at St Aldhelm's race. Once on scene we put Rob aboard and rigged up a tow prior to towing them back to our mooring in Swanage. After an 8 mile tow we soon had them attached to our mooring and safely ashore.

I'm now sat here typing and enjoying cold crumble!

Fishermen's Friends

I woke up to this story on the radio this morning. Funny really because only last night a number of the crew were involved in singing some shanties after the exercise. Perhaps we are in at the start of a resurgence? Even Johnny Depp is doing it!

Paradise?

Some days just take your breath away. Today was one of them. As a special mother's day treat I left Liz alone and went out for a paddle in the kayak.

I put the boat in at Shell bay in Poole harbour and then paddled out of the harbour and across Studland bay towards Old Harry. The tide and wind were at my back and the sun in my face as I passed some riders out from Studland Stables on the beach.

Passing through Old Harry I glanced back and caught a small yacht framed in one of the arches.

Looking the other direction moments later I caught sight of Pinnacle framed in another!

Heading across Swanage bay I passed numerous friends out on the water including Mrs Coxswain out in one of the Pilot Gigs.

Then stopped for a quick chat with Dave T out with the wonderful Angela before home for lunch and Mother's day cake baking with the girls.

Awesome I think you'll agree?

Busy day

It was a busier day here than normal yesterday, perhaps due to getting a little mention on the official RNLI facebook page. It never ceases to amaze me how interlinked and connected we can become in our online lives.

It's been a nice day here in Swanage, quiet on the lifeboat front but there have been a few folk out on the water. I bumped into Dave T down at the boatpark busy preparing his own boat for the season ahead, mines almost ready to go so with only one week of term left I am eagerly looking forward to some time on the water very soon.

Exercise with a difference

Well, last night's exercise was bit of an unusual one. Presently our own boat is in Poole at Headquarters having some work done to resolve an ongoing issue with coolant for the engines. So last night we put to sea in 'Fishermen's Friend', 12-33 one of the relief lifeboats. Within minutes it became apparent that we had a problem. Dave entered the engine room to check that all was well and returned commenting that there was a burning smell coming from the port engines starter motor.

The problem was that the starter motor on the port engine had jammed in (engaged) so was spinning with the engine. That basically turned it into an un-regulated generator which we think is what then caused the radar and laserplot to shut down. It also damaged the MF receiver, the Gyro compass for the radar and the power supply for the autohelm units, so, by the time we turned for home we had no electronics and no certainty that the port engine would still be running when we got back to station.

Luckily Martin re-housed quickly and safely and before we knew it most of us were heading for a pint leaving Dave to sort the damage!

So this morning Dave reported that all was well again: 'A new starter motor has been fitted, the batteries tested and all the electronics checked/repaired as required'. Well done mate...

(Sorry for the lack of photos...I've run out of storage space on my google account so it will take 24 hours to sort this out)

Young Charlie

Young Charlie here is a lifeboat fan.

This 5 year old from Bristol has been a lifeboat enthusiast since he visited a 'B' class lifeboat last year. Since then he has been asking to visit a bigger lifeboat.

So his Mother arranged for him to visit us on the day after his 5th birthday and these photos show his obvious delight at his visit.

In an incredibly generous act he raised £125 from his birthday money and donated it to the RNLI.

Thanks Charlie...you are an amazing young man!

Bowled over

Life remains busy and I am sadly very behind on posts here. The annual guild bowling extravaganza has finished and Colin Brixton was kind enough to send some photos over.

Knowing such a little about the sport of bowling (thought I have heard that the definition of a sport is any activity which can't be undertaken while smoking a pipe so perhaps bowling isn't a sport but rather an activity?) I feel unable to comment on what is shown here.

nevertheless, the competition has clearly been fiercely competed and, as importantly, enjoyed by all who have taken part in it. I understand it has also raised a significant sum of money.


Anyway, no sooner is this over and done with than Robin informs me that the summer croquet competition is about to begin:

John,

I've just put to bed our fundraising at The Indoor Bowls Club on Wednesday 17th only to be approached to start organising our summer event of The Croquet Competition which runs for several months commencing early Summer. We have to start advising prospective teams etc in March, in the meantime I have been busy distributing Posters advertising The Fairtrade Tea Party @ Swanage URC Hall. The Guild are organising the Refreshments & there will be a RNLI Souvenir Stall. The event will be held from 2.30 - 4.30 on Saturday March 6th, lets hope it's well supported & we generate some more funds for The Lifeboats!

Robin

I hope that any local reading this will feel able to support these events...

Every boat should have one of these...

It is normal practise to limit the number of holes passing through the hull of a seagoing vessel. However, Mersey class lifeboats have at least two more than the majority of craft. The red hatch cover in this photo shows our port-side 'freeing trunk' which is in the aftermost compartment of the boat called the 'tiller flat'. Even while at sea it is perfectly safe to remove this hatch cover as the trunk below extends above the waterline of the boat and so very little water comes in. The idea is that should a rope get wrapped around the propeller or propeller shaft and not be cut free by the shaft rope-cutter then it is possible to open the hatch and use a large knife (also stored in the tiller flat) to cut the rope free.

In practice we have never had to do this, but we do deal with a great number of boats which have got ropes, nets or plastic bags wrapped around props and rudders. Perhaps if all vessels had a freeing trunk or other such precaution we might have fewer shouts to attend?

Testing times

Apologies for the lack of posts but I've had all sorts of trouble with my broadband at home. It's all fixed now, thanks BT engineers.

One of the good things about being so close to RNLI HQ in Poole is that we get to test and evaluate all sorts of new bits of kit. Some good, some not so good. Last week we were given a new camera to trial. It's a Casio Exilim EX-G1 and it seems pretty good so far. Casio have given the RNLI some cameras to trial and we've been asked to send in feedback by the end of March.

I had a look at the pictures taken on last Sunday's exercise and there were some quite good ones (and the usual very blurry out of focus ones). This one was my favourite though.

We are also currently trialling a new Man Overboard Recovery system called a Hypo Hoist. The week before last we were testing an anchor that could possibly be fitted to the replacement for the Mersey, FCB2 (Fast Carriage Boat 2).

Total

The totals for the SOS day are now in. Yesterday Robin sent this message around to us all. Good news!

Hi Dave

Here are the Totals for SOS Day:

Co-Op Bucket Collection £220.94
Soup & Sweet at Roman Catholic Hall £330.05
Soap Our Saloons £501.67

The Ship Inn Langton Matravers received donations from diners etc at the weekend amounting to £99.50 , this helped bolster our Grand Total to £1,152.16

This is a great result, only possible with the hard work so many gave to our fundraising for SOS Day and to the people of Swanage who supported our various events & gave generously.

Robin

On another note, I will be spending the next week in the North of the county but my mind will be on other things so Dave will be keeping things going here in my absence...cheers mate, look forward to reading about it!

SOS

So Friday was the annual RNLI SOS day. Over here in Swanage we had a collection outside the CO-OP on the Friday which raised £224 which got us off to a great start.



Car washing at Jewsons on the Saturday was once again a popular draw and raised over£500.



Sam was busy.



Even Jon Deer was spotted washing cars (more than could be said for me)!



For Dan, car washing junkie, it was his idea of heaven.



And then in the Catholic hall was the Soup and Sweet event which was also very well attended (though I've forgotten exactly how much was raised I do know it was several hundred and brought our total to very close to £1000)



Of course, the Glorious one was there holding the fort as ever!

Thanks for your support everyone...

Among other things

Last night Skid spent time going through emergency steering with the 3 more junior crewmembers who came to sea with us. Once they had all had a go at setting it up we then spent some time motoring around in circles (lots of circles) getting the feel for it...or not!

Watch closely

and see if you can see our Second Coxwain Rob Aggas in this video of Sennen Cove's crew taking their new Tamar class lifeboat to London. The man gets, literally, everywhere!

Statistics

It's all in the news that 2009 has been the busiest year ever for the RNLI. As it happens, it wasn't us but it seems to have been for many other stations in the South West and the rest of the UK. Perhaps as a result of more people deciding to take a holiday in the UK rather than going abroad? Anyway, don't read too much into it but to repeat Adrian's comment...don't become a statistic this year!

Just a reminder...

That the annual RNLI SOS day is nearly upon us. This year the Guild are staging a Soup and Sweet event at the Roman Catholic church hall next Saturday (3oth Jan) between 12 and 2pm. Tickets are available for £5 from Corbens and the Lifeboat Shop. Please make an effort to attend.

Simultaneously the crew will be washing cars once again outside Jewsons from 9.30am until 4pm, there is no fixed price for this, just make a donation (grab a bargain or get the most expensive car wash of all time depending on how generous you are feeling!) Needless to say, the crew are experienced and careful and take pride in a job well done.

Be there...we need your support.

Washing down

I can't remember ever posting any photos of us washing down the boat after an exercise or shout...I guess I must have, but somehow the memory escapes me! Anyway, typically we land on the slipway (well done Dan last night for a fine job done) and then as we are hauled up the lads/lasses on deck begin to wash down with hot soapy(car wash) water and sponges. Once that is done everything is hosed off with fresh water then the boat is hauled into the boathouse.

So, busy with the sponges last night were Nick...

Ant...

And Dan...who for some reason seemed to be wearing the washing up water!

More weather

It's exercise night tonight, typically the weather has come in again and it is due to pour with rain. Hopefully the wind will hold off sufficiently for us to get out to secure in the knowledge that we can revover the boat onto the slip at the end end of the exercise safely.

Confounded

My hopes of a paddle in the kayak were dashed but a leisurely stroll about the town and Durlston bay revealed that the people were continuing to make good use of the sea. Heading home I watched 'San Gina II' steam across the bay and so popped down to have a quick chat with skipper Tom. He was returning after one of his first trips of the year and reported slim pickings...at least you had the weather Tom!

Blue skies and calm seas

So finally the dreary snow, ice, howling wind and general atmospheric misery has given way to blue skies and calm seas. Walking along the sea front this morning there were 3 gigs plying their oars in the bay and a fleet of dinghies out from the sailing club. Further offshore there is little trade. It is certain that here in Swanage the first hint of clear weather sees us all race to get back into our own particular craft and take to the seas again. Hopefully I can get a peaceful paddle in this afternoon with no demands from my pager...

Sad news

It was very sad to hear last week of the sudden but peaceful death of the ex Swanage Lifeboat Cox'n, Ron Hardy at the age of 91. Ever since I have been involved with the crew, Ron has been a seemingly constant presence nearby at the angling club and has been a source of loyal and wise support for us and the work we do.

It is therefore a huge honour that the crew have been asked to be pall bearers and provide a guard of honour at the funeral next Monday at 1pm at the URC church in Swanage. Though I can't be there my thoughts will be.

Of course, every good man is supported by an equally capable woman, and our thoughts are with Ron's wife, Joan, whom he leaves behind. Joan too has been a huge supporter of the lifeboats. Just over a year ago she stood down as the President of the Swanage Lifeboat Guild after many, many years of loyal service.

The picture above shows Ron as Cox'n of the R.L.P. sometime in the early 70's.

I would be delighted if anyone who remembers Ron's time on the crew and as Cox'n could leave a memory or two as a comment here.

RIP

The Boss

So, our new boss, Paul Boissier, is coming over to visit us this week. Naturally this is very exciting as he is not only ex-RN but also a breadmaking sailor like myself!

I am temporarily indisposed in the North with family sadness but hope to return in time to meet the man himself and perhaps ask him a few questions (I've never done an interview). Perhaps you'd like to let me have some questions that you'd like answering and I will do my best to get them answered. Either attach as comments or e-mail them to me.

Trim

'The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea' defines Trim as being, "The way in which a ship floats on the water, in relation to it's fore-and-aft line". In this picture you can see that a heavy object has been placed on the bow of the ILB and it has altered the Trim of the vessel by sinking the bow somewhat and lifting the stern out of the water...

Extras

Although the ILB requires a crew of 3, during the winter months or when the sea is a bit rougher, we tend to get an extra couple of crew kitted up prior to launching. These extras can be a big help with launching by pushing the trolley into the sea, helping crew into the boat if need be and then of course recovering the trolley once the boat has gone. It's also 'Sods Law' that if only 3 crew get kit on, then one of them will tear a drysuit seal or have another similar incident so preventing them from getting on to the boat thus increasing the time it takes to launch.

Marooned

We used to use this bit of kit a lot. As you can see from the state of it, it is pretty much redundent nowadays. Can anyone guess what it is/was?