The Vicar of Dibley...

came to visit us tonight. No really, it was our AGM once more and our guest presenter was the new Head of the Lifeboat College, the one and only Geraldine Grainger. Understandably the pull of a major celebrity was tough to resist and the turn out (for a windy and wintry November evening) was impressive.

As it turned out, Geraldine wasn't actually the Geraldine Grainger. Still, she was a pleasant change from the usual old sea dogs wittering on and brought a certain amount of glamour to the whole evening. So thank you Geraldine for being so kind as to grace our AGM, and I apologise for any hint of disappointment you might have sensed from the audience (and for being so dull as to write a whole tedious blog post about what must seem to you like a very poor old joke)!

So there you go...another year in the bag. There were a whole host of awards for long service and good behaviour: David Haines (LMA), Russ Johnson (DLA), Gary Williams (Ex crew), John Dear (for something like a million years service as winchman), Diana for a mention for her Gold Badge and of course all the others who I forget.

Still, despite the company of the rich and famous and the lure of an awards ceremony, it was a relatively impromptu talk by Gav about his and Deasy's recent exploits with the RNLI Flood Response Team in Cockermouth which grabbed the attention and admiration of the assembled crowd. Well done Gav, fine words and fine deeds...

AGM

So, last nights AGM was everything I expected. Robin stood and spoke for a while, so did Neil, as did Diana and Martin and also Steve our Divisional Lifeguard Inspector (and was the most grown up looking Lifeguard I've ever met...he even had shoes and long trousers on)!

It is, more seriously though, our time of year for thanking people and making presentations and awards. Last night we said farewell to Gordon, one of our long-serving DLA's and also Myra our long-standing treasurer (34 years I think). Farewell and thank you to you both.

And then afterwards we had a pint and played some 'shove ha'penny' (no really, we did).

Shout...

Whilst at work yesterday the ALB went out on service at lunchtime. Martin ended up panicking slightly as he had yet to write his speech for the AGM. As I wasn't there I'll let Steve tell the story:

With Swanage's All Weather Lifeboat (ALB) in Poole for repairs it was the Relief Lifeboat 'Peggy & Alex Caird' that was called into action yesterday.

Portland Coastguard requested that the lifeboat launch to the assistance of a 35' yacht that had suffered catastrophic steering failure (the steering wheel fell off!) in the tidal race off St Albans Head. The lifeboat launched and met up with the yacht about 0.5Nm SE of Anvil Point. A towline was passed across and the slow tow against the strong ebb tide commenced, complicated by the yachts rudder being stuck to starboard. After looking at the weather forecast it was decided to tow the yacht to Poole as there was a possibility of NE wind overnight. Once the yacht was secured alongside Poole Quay the lifeboat was released to return to Swanage.

The good news is Martin's speech was every bit as good as it usually is...

A.G.M.

It's our A.G.M. tonight at the Pines Hotel in Swanage. This is a fairly reflective occasion where our Chairman Robin Tiller, our Treasurer, our Coxswain and various others will spend time talking about the year gone past. Perhaps because of it's backwards-looking nature, many of the crew find it a fairly baffling event. You see, most of us are more accustomed to looking forwards than looking back. By our nature we are inclined to train for the next shout rather than dwell on those from last year. We're more interested in planning next years fundraising than analysing last years.

Still, we all turn up year after year...it might be something to do with the bar?!

AGM

Tonight was our AGM. We have this every year. Obviously. In many ways it seems like the same year being repeated a number of times. You see, the same thing happens, again and again and again and again. Robin (our Chairman) stands and gives his speech. It's the same speech each year. Of course he changes the names and the numbers. But believe me, it's the same speech. Anne (Robin's wife and chairperson of the Guild) does the same. As does Neil Hardy (when he comes) and Martin. And us? Well, we sit and sip our pints and clap and laugh politely when required to.But of course, there is always a highlight. Each year we have someone from Headquarters along to fill us in on the latest initiative. This year we had the real pleasure of meeting Tamsin Thomas. She works in the Divisional base and takes charge of the Media and Public Relations (I think). She gave us a great talk about her work, and very interesting it was too.

I did have my suspicions though that she doesn't really approve of blogging. She mentioned 'Citizen Journalism' once and I don't think it was complimentary! I guess it's a bit of a worry for folk who are trying to put out a corporate message that there are idiots like me spouting out about whatever takes their fancy.Of course the real highlight of the evening was to watch our former crewmember Terry Pond receive his framed certificate of service. Terry has been on the crew for over 22 years but sadly suffered a stroke a year ago and has had to retire. He was an awesome character and in many ways formed the backbone of the crew. His certificate said it all:

Terence Frederick Pond
Served as a Helmsman and Crewmember of the Swanage Lifeboats
For 22 years and 4 months, during which period
the lifeboats rescued 248 lives from Shipwreck.
The council are glad to place this testimony
to his personal participation in the Lifeboat Service.

Amen