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Volume XLVI Number 467 Spring 1979 25p

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THELIFEBOAT

Spring 1979

/~*\ .— y» x ft.^ 4- Q Notes of the Quarter, by Patrick Howarth I l l

Nigel Dixon: 'We give thanks for his life' 112

•17 i -\7--r -\ 7T Lifeboat Services 113Volume XLVIr^iit-r-ifipr- A,f\~l Clacton-on-Sea: Celebration of a centenary year, by Jack Froom 119

Lifeboats of the World: Part I—European organisations, by Eric Middleton 120

Lifeboat People 123Chairman:MAJOR-GENERAL R. H. FARRANT, CB Lleyn Peninsula: Abersoch, Criccieth, Porthdinllaen and Pwllheli, by Joan

Davies 124

Acting Director and Secretary:JOHN R. ATTERTON, MBE " Seaham station closes 127

Shoreline 128

Building a Rother Class Lifeboat: Part XI—Fitting out 129Managing Laitor:PATR.CK HOWARTH Here ̂ There 13Q

JOAN"DAVIES London International Boat Show 1979 131

Some Ways of Raising Money 132

Headquarters:Royal National Life-boat Institution, Letters 136West Quay Road, Poole, Dorset BH151HZ (Telephone Poole 71133). Awards to Coxswains, Crews and Shore Helpers 138

Offshore Lifeboat Services, September, October and November 1978 . . . 141London Office:Royal National Life-boat Institution, Inshore Lifeboat Services, September, October and November 1978 . . . . 14221 Ebury Street, London SW1W OLD(Telephone 01-730 0031). Index to Advertisers 144

COVER PICTURE

In this issue there are reports of four inshorelifeboat services to people cut off by the tideor trapped in cliffs or caves; it is a type ofservice for which ILBs are admirably suitedbut which may have to be carried out inhazardous conditions. Here is a photographtaken of Whitby D class ILB when she waslaunched on June 5, 1977, to help a man cutoff below cliffs by the rising tide. A veryheavy breaking swell, estimated at 7 to 8feet, was breaking along the shore. Thisservice, for which the thanks of the Institu-tion inscribed on vellum were accorded toHelmsman Michael Coates and Crew Mem-bers Brian Hodgson and Anthony Easton,was reported in full in the winter 1977/78issue of THE LIFEBOAT. The photograph wastaken by D. Barton.

Editorial: All material submitted forconsideration with a view to publica-tion in the journal should be addressedto the editor, THE LIFEBOAT, RoyalNational Life-boat Institution, WestQuay Road, Poole, Dorset BH15 1HZ(Telephone Poole 71133). Photographsintended for return should be accom-panied by a stamped and addressedenvelope.

Next issue: the summer issue of THELIFEBOAT will appear in July and newsitems should be sent by the end ofApril. News items for the autumn issueshould be sent in by the end of July.

Advertisements: All advertisingenquiries should be addressed toDyson Advertising Services, PO Box 9,Godalming, Surrey (TelephoneGodalming (04868) 23675).

Subscription: A year's subscription offour issues costs £1.40, including post-age, but those who are entitled toreceive THE LIFEBOAT free of chargewill continue to do so. Overseas, sub-scriptions depend on the cost of post-age to the country concerned.

Printers: The Friary Press, Dorchester,Dorset.

109

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NOTES OFTHE QUARTER

by Patrick Howarth

THE DEATH of Captain Nigel Dixon wasa serious and sudden loss to the R N L I .He became Secretary of the Ins t i tu t ion .a t i t l e which was later altered to that ofDirector, at a d i f f icu l t t ime in 1970. Notlong after he took over the Fraserhurghlifeboat disaster occurred. Followingso soon after the I.onghope disaster,th is led many people to question theq u a l i t y of R N I . I lifeboats and there wasconsiderable public controversy. TheCommittee of Management began areappraisal of its policy and decided ona major boat-building programme withthe object of having a fleet of lifeboats,v i r t u a l l y all w i th a self-righting capabil-i ty , w i th in about ten years.

There followed the many administra-tive problems aris ing from the move ofthe head office from London to Pooleand the great spate of fund raising andpublic relations ac t iv i ty which markedthe R N L I ' s I5()th anniversary in 1974.Like other chief administrators beforehim. Captain Dixon was faced withperiods of grave financial concern. Hefaced all problems as they arose wi thequan imi ty and good judgment , and hisleadership of the R N L I was exemplary.

We extend our deep sympathy to hiswidow. Jo, who supported him splen-d i d l y throughout his term of office, andhis family.

Christinas and New Year troublesFor the second year running lifeboat

crews have faced grave dangers at seaover Christmas and R N L I stationshave suffered damage in New Yearstorms. On Christmas Eve 1977Kilmore lifeboat capsized with theloss of one member of her crew. OnChristmas Eve 1978 Broughly Ferrylifeboat was launched late in the even-ing to go to the help of a coaster whichwas in trouble a few miles north of theentrance to the River Tay. The seaconditions were as bad as any this new

Arun class lifeboat had ever experi-enced. She was struck by what wasdescribed as 'a solid wall of water'estimated at between 30 and 35 feet.Nearly all the crew were injured anddamage was done to the lifeboat's mastand searchlight. Coxswain John Jacktore a l igament in his leg and the secondcoxswain, Hugh Scott, had a badlybroken ankle.

The worst storms in January 1978occurred on the east coast from theHumber to North Foreland. This NewYear. too. the east coast of Englandwas the scene of some of the worstdamage. At Clacton the doors of themain lifeboat house and those of theILB house needed extensive repairsand the t ipping cradle was distorted. AtWalton the pier wh ich gave access tothe lifeboat berth was washed away.Seaham and Sheringham were othereast coast stations to suffer damage totheir instal la t ions, and in the southwest of England repair work had to bedone at The Lizard-Cadgwith. LymeRegis. Penlee and Sennen Cove.

For sound financial reasons theR N L I carries its own insurance, andthe cost of put t ing right all the damagewhich occurred wil l once again run intomany thousands of pounds.

7d///i K. Anertim, MBE. /K/.V heen appointedActiiif; Director of tin' Institution h\ theCommittee of Management,

Helicopter rescuesThe crew of the coaster to which

Broughty Ferry lifeboat put out late onChristmas Eve were rescued by a SeaKing helicopter of the RNAS. This wasone of a number of fine rescues inrecent months by helicopters of theRoyal Navy and the Royal Air Force.All round our coasts lifeboatmen and

lifeboat officials are f u l l of admirationfor the manner in which the i r col-leagues in rescue helicopters have beencarrying out dangerous and exactingtasks. Unfortunately the successes ofthese helicopters have led to some notvery well informed public comments,in which suggestions have been madethat much of the work of lifeboats canand should be taken over byhelicopters.

All those wi th first hand experienceknow that the two types of rescue craft,the lifeboat and the helicopter, are inmany respects complementary, and asimilar view is taken in other countries.The United States has always beenahead of the rest of the world inhelicopter development ever since IgorSikorsky, the Russian who settled inthe United States in 1919. began hispioneer experiments. The UnitedStates Coast Guard, a h ighly efficientbody which is not starved of funds,operates both the lifeboat and helicop-ter rescue services around the coasts ofthe United States. In spite of all theprogress made in American helicopterdesign and construction the US CoastGuard not only continues to operate alarge lifeboat fleet but bui lds numerousnew lifeboats. It would hardly do so ifthe lifeboat was l ike ly to be obsoles-cent in the foreseeable fu ture .

Closure of a stationIt is always sad when a lifeboat is

wi thd rawn from a station, but th i s is aprice which has to be paid for themaintenance of an up-to-date fleet,including faster lifeboats with greaterrange, and for a policy of f l ex ib i l i t y .Earlier this year the lifeboat was w i t h -drawn from Seaham after detailedstudies had shown that the operationalrequirement for a lifeboat had consid-erably declined. The R N L I was alsothereby spared expenditure of up to£100.000 which would have beenneeded for the station's maintenance.

Seaham has a splendid record datingback as an RNLI station to 1870. Six-teen years earlier an independentlifeboat had been established there.The saddest event in the station's his-tory occurred in November 1962. whenthe Liverpool class lifeboat (icarin-

continued on pane 112

Walton and Frinlon: Two photographs taken b\ Motor Mechanic William Jenkins, put side h\side, .v/ioir the damage inflicted on Walton pier h\ the storms on New Year's Eve. The landingstage for the station's boarding hont mis completely isolated.

I l l

fThe late Captain Nigel Dixon, OBE RN,Director, RNLI

Nigel Dixon

'We give thanks for his life'

IT WAS WITH GREAT SORROW that thepeople of the Royal National Life-boatInstitution heard that their Director,Captain Nigel Dixon had died suddenlyin Poole Hospital on Sunday December3 after a short illness. Captain Dixonhad been appointed director of theRNLI in 1970 after serving on the staffsince 1967 and in those years of shareddedication he had won the affectionand high regard of everyone with whomhe had worked. Only a few weeksbefore his death Captain Dixon hadreceived from Her Majesty The Queenat Buckingham Palace the OBE,awarded to him in the 1978 BirthdayHonours List in recognition of his workfor the lifeboat service.

On Saturday December 16 the ParishChurch of St Edward's, Corfe Castle,the RNLI flag flying from its tower,was filled to capacity as family friendsand colleagues gathered to attend amemorial service for Captain Dixon.The Duke and Duchess of Kent wererepresented by Lt-Cdr Richard Buck-ley, cvo RN, and there were also rep-

resentatives from the Committee ofManagement, the Services, HM Coast-guard, Search and Rescue organisa-tions and overseas lifeboat societies.Lifeboatmen, voluntary workers andstaff of the RNLI had travelled from allover the British Isles and the Republicof Ireland to be present.

The service, which began with thepilgrim's hymn "He who would valiantbe', was conducted by the Reverend G.Squarey, Rector of Corfe Castle. Thelesson was taken from Psalm 107 andthen, after the singing of The Lord'smy Shepherd', the following addresswas given by Major-General RalphFarrant, CB, Chairman of theInstitution:

7 have been asked by Mrs Dixon—Joto many of her friends—to say a fewwords about Nigel. I doubt if I knew himas well as did some here today, but I didsee a lot of him over the past three yearsand I am glad to try to fulfil Jo's request.

'I am certain that we are gatheredhere in Nigel's local church, as friendsof him and of Jo, to give thanks for thevalue and the happiness of his life, so letme start with his boyhood.

'Nigel was born in Cheshire, some 30miles from the sea, of a family withoutanv strong seafaring tradition.Nevertheless, quite early, as a smallboy, to go to sea was his ambition and heentered the Royal Naval College, Dart-mouth, in 1933. At the same time hiscountry upbringing gave him a lastinglove of the countryside, of sport and ofdogs, as many of us know.

' The outbreak of war in 1939 broughtearly opportunities to Nigel as a sub-lieutenant for, at the age of 19, he wasgiven the command of a trawler.Another interesting experience was ser-vice in motor gun boats. A much moretraumatic one was the sinking ofTrinidad when he was serving in her onArctic convoy.

'Some time later in the warmer cli-mate of Ceylon, when he was in Vener-able, he met Jo Collett who was servingin the Wrens. They were married later, inEngland, and, as we are all aware, themarriage was a most happy one.

'After the war he served on LordMountbatten's staff in the Mediterra-nean Fleet and, later, was the NavalAttache at Ankara, Teheran andBaghdad, in the rank of captain. Beforehe could take up his next appointment,as captain of Ajax, he had the ill-luck tosuffer a severe back injury, but this led tothe interesting post of Deputy DirectorOperational Plans in the Ministry ofDefence, from which, after three years,

he was retired on health grounds in 1965.'It was, course, this unfortunate

injury, resulting in the curtailment of hisnaval career, which led to his joining theRNLI in 1967, becoming secretary in1970. The title of the post was laterchanged to 'director and secretary' tomark his increased responsibilities con-sequent upon a major re-organisation ofthe Institution.

'The next six years were ones withmany problems, including as they did,the move of the head office from Londonto Poole, the economic depression, the150th anniversary of the Institution, thealarming deficit in the 1975 accounts,and the move of the depot, not to men-tion the ever increasing cost of ourboats. The fact that the RNLI has comethrough this time so well and is now insuch good shape, is an indication ofNigel's ability and character, whichincluded the ability to draw the best outof the many different people who makeup the RNLI team. He managed toencourage them to use their individualtalents to the limit, whilst, at the sametime, fostering the communal spiritwhich is such an important part of theInstitution. He had the ability to come towise decisions, after due thought, andthen convey them to his staff in such afriendly but definite way that even theunpalatable ones were accepted withgood grace. It was his easy manner, hisunflapabi/ity and his quiet humour whichwere real assets to him in tackling themany problems of such a wide-rangingjob as Director, RNLI.

'In addition to those here today, andto others who could not get here, he willcertainly be remembered by the largenumber of our supporters who comeeach year to our annual awards meeting.I refer to his outstanding presentation ofthe citations for the medallists in theRoyal Festival Hall.

'May I sum up his contribution to theRNLI in nautical terms? It is abundantlyclear that we are a 'happy ship'; thisdemonstrates that in Nigel we in theRNLI have been fortunate in having hadan excellent captain. Whilst greatlymourning his loss, a great loss to theInstitution as well as to his family andfriends, we give thanks for his life.'

After the final, triumphant hymn,'Praise, my soul, the King of Heaven',the Blessing was given by the Bishop ofSouthampton, the Right Reverend JohnKingsmill Cavell, MA.

Then, as an epilogue, the congrega-tion went out from the church into thewinter afternoon of the Dorsetcountryside to the organ voluntary,'Hearts of Oak'.

Notes of the Quarterfrom page III

Elmy put out to the help of a fishingboat. The fishing boat's crew weretaken aboard the lifeboat, but as shewas returning to harbour the lifeboatcapsized with the loss of the wholelifeboat crew and four of the fivefishermen who had been taken aboard.

Record of serviceMembers of the RNLI's governing

body, the Committee of Management,who give their services voluntarily todecide policy, sometimes render out-standing services to their localbranches, too. An outstanding examplehas been Air Vice-Marshal Sir Geof-frey Bromet, a former deputy chairmanof the RNLI, who last year chose theannual general meeting of the NewRomney branch as the occasion forannouncing his retirement from thechairmanship of the branch in hiseighty-eighth year. Until Sir Geoffrey

became involved in lifeboat affairsthere was no RNLI fund-raising branchin New Romney. He became its firstchairman and continued in that roleuntil last year. Even last year he was tobe seen with a collecting box meetingevery train on the Romney, Hythe andDymchurch railway throughoutlifeboat week. Branch workers madehim a presentation on the occasion ofhis retirement, when he announced thathe would still be ready to help thebranch if needed.

112

Western Division

MFV agroundA RED FLARE fired over Barmouth Barwas seen by the honorary secretary ofBarmouth lifeboat station at 2140 onWednesday November 22, 1978. Justafter he had alerted Coxswain EvanJones, the honorary secretary heard bytelephone from Porthdinllaen Coast-guard that there was a casualty on thebar. Coxswain Jones, who is also theharbourmaster, had been informed thatMFV Boy Nick was on passage to Bar-mouth from Beaumaris. At 2105 he hadseen a green light to seaward of the barand assumed that the fishing boat wasstanding off until the weather abatedand it was safe to enter harbour.

The maroons were fired at 2143 andthe relief 35ft 6in Liverpool lifeboatBHMH, on temporary duty at Bar-mouth, launched at 2150. A westerlystrong breeze, force 6, gusting to neargale, force 7, was blowing and it wasraining; very rough seas were breakingover the bar. It was nearly two hoursafter low water neaps.

Coxswain Jones could see the greenlight on board the fishing boat andheaded down channel to a positionsouth of Boy Nick, aground on NorthBank. The light went out, but Cox-swain Jones could see hand flares beingfired to the east (to leeward) of thecasualty. The lifeboat's searchlightpicked upBoy Nick lying with her bowsfacing south east and her liferaft madefast to the bows, but these sightingswere only occasional because of theseas breaking over the lifeboat and thefishing boat.

Coxswain Jones decided to go intowards the casualty, but at the firstattempt grounded firmly. Going fullastern he regained the main channeland then, putting his engines full ahead,drove the lifeboat at the bar using thebreaking seas to close the liferaft. Thelifeboat grounded many times and wascontinuously being flooded to the topof her lockers. Nevertheless, theliferaft, now cast adrift from the fishingboat, was reached successfully and thecrew of the lifeboat pulled the twofishermen on board.

Although Coxswain Jones then wentfull astern, the lifeboat was picked up

Barmouth Bur and North Bank: Produced from a portion of BA Chart 1484 with the sanctionof the Controller HM Stationery Office and the Hydrographer of the Navy.

and thrown firmly on to North Bank.Her bows were heading north west andthe seas were breaking over her portside. Close to starboard, as CoxswainJones was very aware, was a bank ofrocks, but the seas made it impossibleto try to come round to port. As thelifeboat was lifted by the seas, there-fore, Coxswain Jones used his enginesto turn tightly to starboard and he man-aged to regain the main channel afterabout 25 minutes.

The lifeboat, which had sustained nodamage, returned to station with thetwo survivors; she was rehoused andready for service at 2345.

It was later learned that the crown ofBoy Nick's rudder had sheered as shewas crossing the bar. She had been car-ried on to North Bank and had beenflooded within five minutes. In a letterof thanks written on behalf of BoyNick's skipper and himself, the fishingboat's crew, Keith Allday, spoke of thelifeboat approaching:

'... Through this notoriously danger-ous stretch of sand bars and shoalingwater ... The rescue was an extremely-difficult operation and conditions weresome of the worst I have ever encoun-tered. I cannot praise the tenacity andbravery of Coxswain Jones and his crewtoo highly. Without their prompt actionwe should almost certainly have lost ourlives.'

For this service the bronze medal forgallantry was awarded to CoxswainEvan D. Jones. Medal service certifi-cates were presented to Acting SecondCoxswain John H. Stockford, Motor

Mechanic Dewi Wyn Davies, AssistantMechanic Evan E. K. Griffith, Honor-ary Medical Adviser and Crew MemberDr Robert A. Haworth and CrewMembers John Hopcroft and Peter H.Phillips.

Western Division

Trapped at cliff footTHE HONORARY SECRETARY of BorthILB station was in the boathousewhen, at 2025 on Friday August 18,1978, he was told that two people weretrapped by the tide half a mile southwest of the station. The informant hadsighted them while walking along thecliff top.

Maroons were fired immediately.Most of the crew and shore helperswere close by the boathouse and thecrew were dressed ready for launchingat 2029.

The wind was westerly, force 3, witha very heavy ground swell running andbreaking on the beach. It was highwater springs.

Berth's drive-off trolley being awayfor repairs, the three crew memberswith two launchers pushed the D classILB on her relief trolley into the heavybreaking swell; launching was a verydifficult operation in those conditions.At one stage, with all five men holdingthe boat, they were lifted and thrownback over the trolley. Once the boatwas clear of the trolley, Crew Members

113

Dilwyn Owen and Richard Jeremy,holding her bow into the sea, were con-stantly under water.

The crew embarked and then asHelmsman Ronald Davies took theboat clear of the breaking seas herealised that her engine was notdeveloping full power. He found thatthe propeller was fouled by a mass of'sea lace' seaweed that had been in thewater close to the beach. It was sooncleared and the ILB headed at fullspeed for the scene of the incident.

The heavy ground swell was beatingagainst the cliff face, driving spray 20to 25 feet into the air, and two peoplewere sighted sitting on a ledge justabove the breaking sea. HelmsmanDavies manoeuvred through a rockyoutcrop and signalled by hand for theman and woman to move further alongthe cliff face into a partial lee formed bya large rock jutting out from the cliff.

On the first run in the ILB waspushed broadside to the swell, justclear of the cliff face. HelmsmanDavies put the engine astern, turnedquickly and headed out clear of thecliffs while remaining inside the rockyoutcrop.

The second run in was made at fullrevolutions and Helmsman Daviesbrought the ILB bow-on to the cliffface and held her there while CrewMembers Owen and Jeremy, one eitherside in the bows, held on to the cliffhelping to keep the boat from turningbroadside to the sea.

The ILB was being lifted and drop-ped about five to six feet by the swelland the two stranded people wereabout four feet above her on the top ofthe swell. The girl jumped into the boatbut just as the man was about to jumpthe sea took the ILB hard against thecliff and then sucked her away.Helmsman Davies used full throttle butcould not break the grip of the sea untilthe boat was about ten to twelve feetoff the cliff face. Once clear of thesuction, he brought her back againstthe cliff and the man jumped aboard.The ILB was then taken clear out to

Borth: Helmsman RonaldDavies was accorded thethanks of the Institutioninscribed on vellum for therescue on August 18 of twopeople trapped by the tideat the foot of cliffs. Thephotograph shows the areaat low tide: x marks theposition of the casualties.

sea and returned to station, making abeach landing. The man and womanleft after making a donation to the sta-tion, and the ILB was once again readyfor service at 2105.

For this service the thanks of theInstitution inscribed on vellum wereaccorded to the Helmsman Ronald J.Davies. Crew Members Dilwyn J.Owen and Richard W. Jeremy werepresented with vellum service certifi-cates.

South Western Division

Boy rescuedTWO PEOPLE IN THE SEA at Rocky Val-ley, Bossiney, near Tintagel, 6.7 milesfrom Port Isaac, were reported to thedeputy launching authority of PortIsaac lifeboat station by HM Coastguardat 1326 on Monday August 14, 1978.Maroons were fired at 1328 and threeminutes later Port Isaac D class ILBlaunched and set out at full speed.Helmsman Mark Provis was in com-

mand and Edward Fletcher andAndrew Walton were his crew.

It was one hour before high water ona neap tide, the wind was south west,moderate force 4, and a swell of tenfeet and more was coming from thewest; the weather was fine with goodvisibility.

After an uncomfortable passage of 24minutes, the ILB arrived at 1355 to findthat a boy had been hauled out of thewater by visitors on the cliff above,using a line and Kapok dumbell float.He was now on a narrow, sloping ledgeunderneath an overhang of rock, justabove the level of the highest swells. Ahelicopter from RAF Chivenor wasstanding by to seaward, unable toeffect a rescue because of the over-hanging rock.

Helmsman Provis decided to anchorand veer down under oars. However,the backwash was so strong that it wasnot possible to row against it and theILB had to be taken astern on herengine to within two feet of the cliff.Crew Member Fletcher jumped for therock but was unable to hold on and fellback into the sea, dropping into a fal-ling swell. The next wave carried himup to the ledge ten feet above and hewas able to land just below the boy.The ILB was thrown broadside on tothe rocks but Crew Member Walton,who was manning the radio, was ableto pull her clear on her anchor cable.

Meanwhile, Crew Member Fletcherclimbed to the boy who was in a stateof severe shock and who had lacera-tions to his hands and feet. He said hisfather was in the water and drowning.Edward Fletcher shouted this informa-tion to the ILB and Andrew Waltonrelayed it to the helicopter and Coast-guard mobile, but there was no sight ofthe man.

Edward Fletcher now tried to coaxthe boy down the sloping ledge towhere he could more easily get him intothe ILB, but the boy appeared unable

After the opening of Troon Marina last autumn, Troon's 44ft Waveney lifeboat ConnelElizabeth Cargill took part in a combined exercise with a Sea King helicopter from 819Squadron, HMS Gannet. photograph by courtesy of HMS Gunnel

114

to move on his own. Helmsman Provisbrought the ILB close to the cliff againand Crew Member Walton threw thepainter. Crew Member Fletcher had toreject this, however, as the boy wasstill being held fast by the line to thevisitors on the cliff top. EdwardFletcher shouted to them to pay out thewhole rope, but only about ten feet wasveered. This bight was eventuallytaken by Helmsman Provis whodecided to cut it and hold on to the endattached to the boy.

Two large swells in succession thennearly swept Edward Fletcher and theboy into the sea and, as the ILB wascarried away at the same time,Helmsman Provis had to let go the ropeto avoid dragging them off the rock.Once again Helmsman Provis broughtthe ILB close to the rocks and this timeEdward Fletcher pushed the boy intothe ILB as she rose with the swell. Hewas safely caught by Andrew Waltonand Crew Member Fletcher followed,just managing to land on the ILB'ssponson and being pulled inboard byHelmsman Provis.

Andrew Walton wrapped the boy inthe polythene exposure sheet and theILB headed seawards at 1405 to makerendezvous with the helicopter. Theboy was winched into the helicopterand the ILB then searched for hisfather unti l 1515 when the search wascalled off. On the return passage toPort Isaac the ILB was diverted toDelabole Point to help in the recoveryof a dead man. She stood by while theCliff Rescue Team recovered the bodyand then returned to station, arriving at1750. She had been at sea for more thanfour hours.

For this service the thanks of theInstitution inscribed on vellum wereaccorded to Helmsman Mark J. Provisand Crew Member Edward J. Fletcher.A vellum service certificate was pre-sented to Crew Member Andrew D.Walton.

Western Division

Trapped in caveTWO BOYS TRAPPED in a cave on thenorth side of Brean Down werereported to the honorary secretary ofWeston-super-Mare ILB station at 1625on Sunday November 12, 1978, byBarry Coastguard. Maroons were firedat 1632 and the crew assembled. Thehonorary secretary decided to launchboth the RFD D class ILB, D170,which would be the best boat to enter acave should this be necessary, and alsothe 18ft 6in McLachlan ILB, A507R, toact as a safety boat for the smaller ILB.Helmsman Julian Morris was in com-mand of the McLachlan with MichaelHawkings and Richard Spindler as hiscrew; Helmsman Nicholas White andCrew Member Anthony Blizzard man-ned the D class ILB. Both boatslaunched at 1637.

Weston-super-Mare: The cave on the south side of Brean Down from which three trappedboys were rescued on November 12; on that day a full southerly gale was blowing and therewas a rough sea with breaking surf. For this service the thanks of the Institution inscribed onvellum were accorded to Helmsman Nicholas White and Crew Members Richard Spindlerand Anthony Blizzard. photograph by courtesy of West Air Photography

A near gale force 7 gusting to galeforce 8 was blowing from the south.The sky was overcast and five minutesafter launch it started raining heavily.The sea was rough with breaking surf.High water springs was at 1715; sunsetat 1610.

While on their way towards BreanDown, the Coastguard told the ILBsthat the cave where the boys weretrapped was on the south side of thedown, not the north. Both boats alteredcourse to pass close to Howe Point, thewesterly tip of Brean Down. Weston-super-Mare Bay was reasonably shel-tered from the south so that both boatswere able to drive at full speed most ofthe time. Once round Howe Point,however, the full force of the gale wasfelt and in this area both boats had tokeep close in to the cliffs to avoidfishing nets.

On scene, the Coastguard mobile'sblue light flashing on top of the cliffmarked the position of the cave. Bothboats laid off and D170 went alongsideA507R to confer on the best method oftaking the casualties off. They had beentold by radio that two coastguards werewith the boys in the cave. It wasdecided that a swimmer would beneeded, so Richard Spindler transfer-red to D170. A507R laid off and illumi-nated the scene with her Aldis lamp.

By now, the wind, still from thesouth, was gale force 8. It was rainingheavily and large seas were breakingagainst the cliff face.

D170 approached the cave and, when20 yards off, Richard Spindler enteredthe water to check whether the boatcould approach without beingobstructed by rocks. The swim was dif-

ficult because of the backwash from thecliff face, but Richard Spindler signal-led for D170 to make her approach andprepared to help as the ILB entered themouth of the cave. Helmsman Whitedrove D170 into the starboard handside of the cave entrance and RichardSpindler pushed the bow to port, soturning D170 into the sea. CrewMember Blizzard also entered thewater to keep the bows pointing out tosea. The floor of the cave was coveredwith boulders and loose stones, and,with a depth of water between four andseven feet, the two men were con-stantly under water.

The ILB crew found that there werethree boys trapped in the cave. Theywere taken on board, Anthony Blizzardjumped into the boat and HelmsmanWhite took D170 out alongside A507R.Once the boys were transferred to theMcLachlan, D170 went back into thecave to pick up Crew Member Spindlerand the two coastguards. The ILB hadbeen constantly buffeted against theside of the cave and was full of waterfrom the confused breaking seas.

After being landed on Brean Beachby Helmsman White, the coastguardshelped the crew get the ILB off thebeach again, through heavy surf. D170then went alongside the McLachlan,took on board the three boys andlanded them on the beach also. TheILB was hauled clear of the sea andbaled out before relaunching, but wasonce more full of water by the time shehad cleared the surf.

Both boats started the return passageto station at 1756 and were rehousedand ready for service at 1830.

For this service the thanks of the

1 1 5

Institution inscribed on vellum wereaccorded to Helmsman Nicholas J.White and Crew Members Richard A.Spindler and Anthony C. Blizzard. Vel-lum service certificates were presentedto Helmsman Julian Morris and CrewMember Michael E. Hawkings.

Eastern Division

Three callsA CANOE with two children aboard,overdue on passage from Colne Pointto West Mersea, was reported to thedeputy launching authority of WestMersea ILB station by Thames Coast-guard at 2006 on Monday July 31, 1978.Maroons were fired, the crew assem-bled by 2010 and West Mersea's Atlan-tic 21 launched at 2017 to search.

There was a strong east-south-easterly breeze blowing, force 6, withheavy rain and poor visibility; thelaunching position was in the lee andthe sea was moderate. It was threehours before high water.

A search was started on the trackfrom West Mersea to Colne Point andas soon as Mersea Island was clearedthe ILB was heading directly into theby now north-easterly near gale, force7. The seas were rough and, with con-tinuous heavy rain, visibility was poor.To give Helmsman Graham Knott bet-ter visibility in the driving spray andrain one crew member stood forward ofhim and gave a lee. Best speed in theprevailing conditions was madethroughout.

At 2028 Bradwell Coastguardmobile, searching Sales Point, sighted ared flare and at the same time a reportwas received that the two childrenwere safe. The ILB at this time wasapproaching Colne Point. On hearing ofthe new incident she changed courseand made for the new search position atfull speed.

Arriving off Sales Point at 2035 theILB asked Bradwell mobile for a betterfix in the poor visibility and the shorewas closed so that the ILB couldsearch down the mobile's bearing ofthe flare. At 2037 a second flare firedby the casualty was sighted by the ILB,which then headed straight for her. Shefound a sloop, Blackbird, with anchordown but driven stern on to the sandsand shipping spray overall. At 2043 theILB went alongside Blackbird's portside and took off her crew of four, twomen and two women.

As a further incident had beenreported of two people in the water offWest Mersea, the ILB was asked toland the yacht's crew near Bradwellmobile and set off on the new search. Alocal fishing vessel in the area, Diana,agreed to try to tow off the casualty soat 2049 Blackbird's owner was putaboard Diana and at 2058 the otherthree people were landed on the beachnear Bradwell mobile. The incident offWest Mersea turned out to be a false

alarm, so the ILB returned to stand byBlackbird.

The yacht was towed clear by Dianaat 2115 and the tow started to WestMersea. The ILB picked up the threepeople from Bradwell Marina and putthem back on board Blackbird when, at2200, she was safe in West Mersea. TheILB was back on station and ready forservice at 2210.

The whole series of incidents hadtaken place in near gale force winds,rough seas and continuous heavy rainand fog which reduced visibility to aquarter of a mile.

For this service the thanks of theInstitution inscribed on vellum wereaccorded to Helmsman Graham M.Knott. Vellum service certificates werepresented to Crew Members Brian M.Jay and Jonathan P. French.

Ireland Division

Injured seamanTHE MARINE RESCUE CO-ORDINATIONCENTRE, Shannon, told Arranmorehonorary secretary at 1810 on SaturdayDecember 30, 1978, that a sailor onboard the Finnish cargo vessel Puhoshad lost three fingers in an accident.Puhos was 120 miles south west ofArranmore. There was no helicopter orship available to help and Puhos wastoo big to enter either Sligo or Kil-lybegs harbour.

The honorary secretary askedMRCC Shannon to instruct the captainof Puhos to head for Arranmore andthen, with Dr K. Flannery aboard, the52ft Barnett lifeboat Claude CecilStaniforth slipped her moorings at 2300.It was a fine night with good visibility.A strong breeze, force 6, was blowingfrom the north east and the sea waschoppy.

Claude Cecil Staniforth met Puhos at0100, took off the injured man andlanded him at 0300 at Burtonport wherean ambulance was waiting to take himto hospital.

North Eastern Division

Engine failureA FISHING VESSEL, Falke, on deliverypassage from the continent to Whitbyon Monday December 18, 1978, put outa 'pan' message saying that she wasbroken down 60 miles east by north ofFlamborough Head with no power orsteering and her batteries were startingto fail.

HM Coastguard telephoned Superin-tendent Coxswain Brian Bevan ofHumber lifeboat station at 0723, and, asthere were no other ships in the areaand Humber Radio was already havingcommunication problems due toFalke's failing batteries, it was decidedto launch. The wind was westerly force2, the sea slight and, on a clear morn-ing, visibility very good. The tide wasebbing.

Humber's 54ft Arun City of BradfordIV slipped her moorings at 0813 and setcourse for the last known position. Thefishery protection minesweeper HMSStubbington was also on her way fromnorth of Whitby to help find thecasualty.

HMS Stubbington sighted Falke at1227 and sent an engineer across in aGemini to see if he could help. He wasunable to get the engine started, how-ever, and so the lifeboat, which hadarrived at 1245, agreed to tow the boatto Bridlington. A tow was passed at1302. Course was set for FlamboroughHead and, although the casualty had nosteering, Bridlington Harbour wasreached safely at 2056.

After refuelling, and a meal for thecrew, City of Bradford IV returned tostation, arriving at 0102. At 0126 shewas back on moorings and ready forservice.

Following this service a letter ofthanks was received from Falke'sowner together with two cheques: onea token of thanks to the coxswain andcrew of Humber lifeboat and the othera donation to the Institution.

On December 18 Humber lifeboat, the 54ft Arun City of Bradford IV, towed MFV Falke toBridlington. The fishing boat had no power or steering and her batteries werefailing. photograph by courtesy of 'Hull Daily Mail'

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Lowesloft: When on August 30 Lowestoft lifeboat went to the help oj Jolie Brise, returningfrom Oslo to Harwich on the second leg of the 1978 Tall Ships Race, it was Thomas Knott'slast service as coxswain . . . photograph by courtesy of Michael Richford

. . . On his retirement Cox-swain Thomas Knott, whoseservice is recorded on page138, was presented with twopaintings by Norfolk artistJason Partner. (/. to r.) Cox-swain Peter Gibbons, MrsJoan Knott, Tommy Knott,Lord Somerleyton, presidentof Lowestoft branch, andMichael Chapman, stationhonorary secretary.

photograph by courtesy ofErnest Graystone

Jolie Brise, one of this century'smost famous, almost legendary,yachts, was the winner of the firstFastnet Race, in 1925, a race she was towin again in both 1929 and 1930. In theTall Ships Race from Yarmouth to Osloearlier in August, 1978, sailed by threeschool masters with a young crew, shehad taken second place in her class.

Eastern Division

Eastern Division

Help for Jolie BriseTHE GAFF CUTTER Jolie Brine, on herway back from Oslo to Harwich on thesecond leg of the 1978 Tall Ships Race,made to put in to Lowestoft for repairsafter two days of gales during which,due to rigging failure, she had lost hertopmast. At 0930 on WednesdayAugust 30 Lowestoft Coastguardinformed the honorary secretary of thelifeboat station that the yacht was atanchor about half a mile east of Lowes-toft Ness Point, the most easterly pointin the British Isles, and appeared to bein difficulty. Her engine had failed andMFV Dolly Bird was standing by.

Visibili ty was good, a moderate tofresh breeze, force 4 to 5, was blowingfrom the north and there was a moder-ate sea when, at 0945 Lowestoft's 47ftWatson lifeboat, Frederick EdwardCrick, slipped her moorings and set outat full speed. She arrived alongsideJolie Brise and took her in tow back toLowestoft where her crew of 14 werelanded.

The lifeboat returned to her moor-ings at 1030. It had been ThomasKnott's last service as coxswain.

MFV sinkingSKEGNESS LIFEBOAT, the 37ft OakleyCharles Fred Crantham, launched at1730 on Wednesday October 4, 1978, togo to the help of the fishing boat FairMaid aground three miles north of thestation in a dangerous position. It was afine evening with good visibility. Agentle to moderate breeze was blowingfrom the south south west, the sea wasslight and the tide had been flooding forthree hours.

Fair Maid's owner had made repairsto her engine and refloated with the tideintending to return to King's Lynn, butthe boat was damaged below water andbegan to sink. Three crew memberswere put aboard to bale while thelifeboat towed the fishing boat clear of

the danger area and then to the mudflats south of Gibraltar Point, whereshe finally sank. Her owner was takenaboard the lifeboat and landed at Skeg-ness at 2100. The lifeboat was rehousedand ready for service at 2215.

Scotland North Division

Oil rig supply vesselSHETLAND COASTGUARD informed thehonorary secretary of Lerwick lifeboatstation at 0305 on Friday October 27,1978, that the oil rig supply vesselAnglia Shore was ashore on ScorePoint on the north east side of theIsland of Bressay. The masterrequested the lifeboat to stand by.

A fresh westerly breeze was blowingwhen, at 0317, the 52ft Arun Soldianslipped her moorings. She arrived onscene at 0355 to find that the supplyvessel was damaged forward. As animmediate precaution, six members ofAnglia Shore's crew were taken off,the lifeboat's inflatable dinghy beingused to ferry them across to Soldian.

After pumping out her cargo of dril-ling mud, Anglia Shore refloated on theflooding tide and came off the rocksunaided. She was making water fast,however, and the lifeboat escorted herto Lerwick arriving at 0548.

A letter of appreciation was laterreceived by Lerwick honorary secre-tary from the supply vessel's ownersenclosing a donation for the RNLI.

North Eastern Division

Lost rudderA COBLE NEEDING HELP, with threemen on board, was reported to thedeputy launching authority of Seahamlifeboat station by Tees Coastguard at0955 on Sunday November 26, 1978.The message had been relayed from MVPlymouth which had seen the coble firea flare.

It was an overcast morning with fairvisibility. The wind was north northwest near gale, force 7, the sea roughand the tide flooding.

Seaham lifeboat, the 37ft Oakley TheWill and Fanny Kirby, launched at 1015and set an easterly course at full speedto where Plymouth was standing by thecoble Ambler.

Reaching the casualty at 1038, thelifeboat took off one of her crew. Theother two men asked to stay aboard thecoble, which was taken in tow sternfirst because she had lost her rudder.

By now the wind had increased tonorth north west, gale force 8, andthere was a heavy northerly swell sothat towing was at slow speed. At 1110the tow line, which had slipped off thecoble's towing bollard, was made fastagain and a second man asked to comeaboard the lifeboat.

Owing to the heavy swell, thelifeboat had to approach Seaham from

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the north. She entered harbour with hertow at 1133 and took the coble to NorthDock where her crew were landed.Because of the heavy surge on theslipway, the lifeboat had to moor in theNorth Dock until 1500 (three hoursebb). She was rehoused and ready forservice at 1630.

Some of the happiest culls on our lifeboatslire 'Christmas runs' to lightvessels and iso-lated lighthouses.

(above) Last December the 52ft BurnettEuphrosyne Kendal on temporary duty atYarmouth, Isle of Wight, rendezvoused inthe Solent with Air Commodore Brian Mac-namuru's yacht, Tamare, to pick up festivefare and deliver it to the Needles Light-house: because of swell right over the land-ing steps, the packets were passed across ona line. The Christmas fare is provided by theusers of Lymington River with help fromYarmouth yacthsmen: some of the moneysubscribed is saved over a number of yearsfor larger presents, such us a television.

photograph by courtesy of HMS Daedalus

Walton and Frinton lifeboat makes theChristmas run out to Sunk Lightvessel onthe Sunday before Christmas, taking fareprovided mainly by local shopkeepers. In1978 (left, above) Robin Davis, chairman ofEast Ham Round Table which funded thelifeboat's radar, dressed up as FatherChristmas.

The year before (left, below) a guest forWalton and Frinton lifeboats' run was MrMiller (I.), a physiotherapist who, blind him-self, does much to help other blind people:with him is Bowman Bobby Kemp.

photographs by courtesy of MotorMechanic William Jenkins

Ireland Division

OverdueTHE RELIEF 46ft 9in WATSON LIFEBOATSarah Townsend Porritt, on temporaryduty at Howth, slipped her mooringsand put to sea at 2230 on SundayOctober 15, 1978 following a report thata red flashing light and red flares hadbeen sighted off Lambay Island andthat a man who had gone fishing wasoverdue.

The night was fine with good visi-bil i ty. A moderate breeze was blowingfrom west south west and the sea wasslight. Having sighted the casualty'snavigation lights, the lifeboat wasalongside the motor boat by 2315 andfound that her outboard engine hadfailed. The fisherman was taken onboard the lifeboat and the casualtytowed back to Howth. The lifeboatreturned to her station at 0020 and wasremoored and ready for service tenminutes later.

Western Division

Broken mastABERDOVEY'S ATLANTIC 21 ILBlaunched at 1515 on Sunday November12, 1978, after being informed by HMCoastguard that a sailing dinghy hadcapsized in the estuary; her mast wasbroken.

It was raining at the time and visi-bi l i ty was worsening. A strong breezeto near gale force wind, force 6 to 7.was blowing from the south west andthe sea was choppy; the tide was flood-ing. The ILB approached the dinghy,Custard Torpedo, took off her crew oftwo, landed them ashore at 1525 andreturned to her station at 1528.

Western Division

Propeller fouledA SMALL YACHT reported to HM Coast-guard by VHP radio on the evening ofSaturday October 7, 1978, that a 28ftsloop on passage from Penarth to Por-lock Weir was broken down and drift-ing in Porlock Bay; she requiredimmediate assistance.

The honorary secretary of MineheadILB station was informed, WatchetCoastguard mobile was alerted and the

continued on page 141

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Clacton-on-Sea

CELEBRATION OF A CENTENARY YEAR

by Jack Froom

A CENTENARY DINNER AND DANCE Washeld at the Royal Hotel, Clacton, onApril 21, 1978, at which Raymond Bax-ter, guest of honour and a member ofthe RNLI Public Relations Committee,presented the centenary vellum to thebranch president, Harold Felgate, ac-knowledging one hundred years oflifesaving by one of the oldest lifeboatstations in Essex. After the cutting of ahuge centenary cake by CoxswainArthur Harman a large number ofguests danced unt i l the small hours.

Clacton lifeboat station was estab-lished in 1878, and the first lifeboat totake up residence in the newly-builtboathouse was a 34ft self-righter pre-sented by the United Grand Lodge ofFreemasons. She was named AlbertEdward to celebrate the safe return oftheir Grand Master, HRH The Prince ofWales, later to become King EdwardVII , from a grand tour of India. Ju ly 10was the day chosen for her naming anddedication ceremony, but alreadyAlbert Edward had proved her worth,for in the May of that year, with Cox-swain Robert Legerton in command,she had saved the lives of nine menwho were snatched from the brig Gar-land, stranded on the Gunfleet Sands.

A cheering throng accompanied thelifeboat as she was hauled on her car-riage by a team of heavy horses alongthe seafront, down Pier Gap to thebeach where in traditional form shewas dedicated to the service of those indistress at sea. Celebrations went onuntil late on that Ju ly day in 1878.

On a July day in 1978 clocks wereturned back one hundred years ascrowds once more thronged the sea-front to witness a lifeboat, hauled by

heavy horses, as she made her waydown Pier Avenue to the beach for herdedication: Clacton's new ILB, D262.Hundreds of lifeboat supporters andholidaymakers joined in the prayersand hymns and as strains of 'EternalFather, strong to save' drifted outacross the choppy sea, our minds wentback to those who have served in thelifeboat over the past hundred yearsrescuing nearly 1,000 lives, some, alas,also giving their own lives in theirendeavours.

These were two of the highlights ofClacton's centenary year, but that wasnot all.

The ladies' guild played an importantrole in the organisation of many eventsduring the year and they started the ballrolling with a spring fashion show inMarch which proved very popular andraised f 120 towards the branch's aim offunding its new ILB. In April asouvenir stand was manned at theTrades Fair held at Butlin 's HolidayCamp. Here on display was an 8ft by4ft carpet mural supplied by a localcarpet firm, with a detailed picture ofClacton's present 37ft Oakley Valen-tine Wyndham-Quin. In May thelifeboat herself gave an air/sea rescuedemonstration off the pier with ahelicopter from RAF Mansion.

June was a busy month for the sta-tion honorary secretary, Ken Broad,and his hardworking committee: firstan arts festival in the town hall and thena 'charity nite' on the pier whichproved a fantastic success. A wine andcheese party was followed by free rideson the amusements and, of course, avisit to Reg Bloom's famous dolphins.The result was £1,250 into the funds.

Carnival week, an ever-popular andimportant occasion in Clacton's calen-dar, was taken over by 'lifeboat fever'.The week's events included an ' I t 's aKnockout' competition in which thelifeboat's team distinguished itself. Thecarnival procession had Dennis Chil-vers' half size model lifeboat fromDagenham and together with thelifeboat crew dressed as pirates, butwith plastic buckets to the fore insteadof cutlasses, raised plenty of laughs aswell as amassing a heap of smallchange. During the week a raft racewas held round the pier, the new ILBacting as guard boat, happily notneeded.

Clacton Carnival Committee had in1978 decided to honour Clacton RNLIby making it their principal charity,hoping to donate a portion of the pro-ceeds towards the new ILB. In theevent an astonished Ken Broad waspresented with a cheque for £3,000,enough in itself to pay for the boatcompletely!

Clacton Sailing Club's annual regattaalso honoured the lifeboat, and what aproud sight as Walton and Frinton'sreserve lifeboat, the 46ft 9in WatsonMichael and Lily Davis, ValentineWyndham-Quin and an ex-lifeboatPentland Spier all rode at anchor offthe clubhouse on August 13. Beforegiving a demonstration with the Coast-guard and an RAF helicopter the twolifeboat crews did battle in a rowingrace, Clacton rightly taking the hon-ours, but only just. Later in the day thesailing club presented a cheque for £65.

The year's activities were concludedwith a wine and cheese party held bythe ladies' guild at Holland-on-Sea,raising £160, and in October a huge raf-fle and angling contest run by WestcliffBoat Angling Society which promptedan absolute armada of craft of all sizesto leave the shore in search of the 'bigone'.

Such was the interest and justifiablepride in Clacton's lifeboat that duringthe year donations came in steadily.Brentwood High School for Girls

continued on page 137

Romford and Dagenham Model Boat Club's modellifeboat passing Clacton's old lifeboat house.

photograph by courtesy of Clacton Picture Agency

Mo/lie Froom presents a centenary tapestry to Co.v-swain Arthur Harman and Ken Broad, Clacton's hon-orary secretary; Jack t'room is on the left. In her tapes-try, Mrs Froom embroidered the names of Clacton'slifeboats and coxswains for the past 100 years.

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Lifeboats of the WorldPART I—EUROPEAN ORGANISATIONS

by Eric Middleton

The International Lifeboat Confer-ence, for which the RNLI is the sec-retariat, has met every four years,except during the war, since 1924. Adifferent country acts as host on eachoccasion. The thirteenth conference isbeing held at The Hague from April 22to 26, 1979, at the invitation of the twolifeboat societies of The Netherlands.

IT is FITTING that an article on thelifeboats of the world should begin byacknowledging the fact that Great Brit-ain was the cradle of the lifeboat andthat from the early efforts of the'National Institution for the Preserva-tion of Life from Shipwreck' (as theRNLI was originally called) manynations took their cue. Indeed, as hap-pens today with the InternationalLifeboat Conference (ILC), a willinginterchange of ideas and designs tookplace from the beginning of theawakening interest in sea rescue.

One of the more surprising aspects ofsea rescue is the fact that thousands ofships and seamen had been lost over aperiod of many years before anyattempt at organised assistance for ves-sels in distress was made. As seabornetrade was vital to the wellbeing, andpossibly even the existence, of anumber of nations—and most certainlyof Britain—it is incredible that suchvaluable assets were squandered. Fromthe humane point of view it wouldappear to have been callous in theextreme but possibly in those days itwas looked upon as inevitable.

To move at once from the past to thepresent, since the inauguration of theInternational Lifeboat Conference withthe first meeting in London in 1924, theinterchange of ideas and experiencehas become progressively easier andmore efficient. What started by beingalmost a one way system is now whatmight be described as a 'spaghetti junc-tion' through which ideas, designs anddetails of experience flow in all direc-tions. The RNLI has not failed to takeadvantage of these facilities and thepopular Waveney class which stemmedfrom the US Coast Guard 13.4m steellifeboat is an excellent example of thisprofitable interchange. Possibly one ofthe most valuable features of the Inter-national Lifeboat Conferences is theopportunity they give to members toexplain particular problems. This mayresult in another member providing an

Cdr E. W. Middleton, VRD RNVR, joined theRNLI in 1946 as inspector of lifeboats(Western District), becoming district inspec-tor (general) in 1951. He was appointedassistant chief inspector of lifeboats in 1954and superintendent of depot in 1958. Sincehis retirement in 1964 he has helped thelifeboat service in a number of ways, suchas in the preparation of a review of coastaloperational activities from 1955 to 1965 andin the establishment of the YLA in 1969 and1970. He is the author of Lifeboats of theWorld (Blandford Press, price £3.75).

answer from personal experience but ifno immediate solution appears the factthat the difficulties are discussed andconsidered by a wide range of highlycompetent sea rescue authorities canonly be of great help.

But to consider briefly the Europeanmembers of the ILC it will be con-venient to start in the north with theScandinavian countries.

Norway, with some 1,400 miles ofextremely rugged coastline of whichnearly half lies within the arctic circle,has a rescue problem of some complex-ity and magnitude. To deal with thissituation a fleet of 37 fine powerful ves-sels has been built up, ranging from13.8m with a speed of 20 knots to amajestic 28m rescue cruiser. BothNorway and Sweden operate rescuecruisers which sail in company with

their fishing fleets, some of which worka long way from home.

Sweden, like Norway, has myriads ofislands off her shores and has to dealwith many calls for assistance fromthem. Much of the Baltic coastline isicebound in winter which adds to thedifficulties. The southern and westerncoasts border busy shipping lanes and,as may be expected, provide the rescueservices with plenty of exercise. TheSwedish Sea Rescue Service (SSRS)has a fleet of 29 lifeboats in five classes:three 23.8m rescue cruisers with aspeed of 12 knots; nine mediumlifeboats from about 17m to 22m LOA;eight light lifeboats around 13m to 14moverall; six fast lifeboats of up to 14.5moverall with speeds of 20 to 26 knots;and three 5.4m Searider semi-rigidinflatables capable of 30 knots.

Norway: Profile, deck plan andgeneral arrangements of the24.4m rescue cruiser Ada Waage;speed, 12 knots. Norwegianrescue cruisers acccompany theirfishing fleets to sea.

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Sweden: A. E. Appelberg, the 19.9m rescue cruiser stationed at Gryt. Swedish rescue craftoften have to work in severe ice.

Federal Republic of Germany:DGzRS has developed a range ofrescue cruisers with 'daughter boats'for work in shallow water: (from top)three 44m aluminium John T. Ess-berger class lifeboats, with helicopterplatform; three steel and aluminium26.6m Georg Breusing class boats;four 23.2m steel and aluminiumTheodor Heuss class boats; and five18.9m aluminium Otto Schiilke classboats. In addition, the West Germanfleet has two 14m steel rescue boatsand 19 beach boats ranging from 7mto 12m.

The Finnish Lifeboat Society is oneof the most lively and interesting of searescue organisations and in a countryconsisting to a considerable extent oflakes there can be few inhabitants whoare not at home on the water. As withSweden, much of the coastline isicebound in winter and four of therescue cruisers are of steel construc-tion to withstand the pressure of theice. The society maintains 34 lifeboatstations with volunteer crews number-ing about 300. On the Finnish lakes theSociety helps the police force andorganises boat owners to assist them.

Denmark one might say is nearly allcoastline and there are few places morethan 30 or 40 miles from the sea. TheDanish Rescue Service is run by thestate and in 1976 was reported to have25 motor lifeboats in commission.There are also a number of rocket sta-tions on the east and west coasts. TheDanish Rescue Service has consultedthe RNLI on a number of occasions.

Continuing southwards we come toWest Germany, the Federal Republic ofGermany, whose coastline fronts boththe North Sea and the Baltic. Althoughfor a short period after the war theGerman Society for the Rescue of theShipwrecked (DGzRS) had to acceptstate aid, by 1957 it was once more able

to relinquish the subsidy and revert to apurely voluntary system. In its big, fastrescue cruisers the DGzRS has pro-duced what is probably the mostrevolutionary post-war design for thisclass of vessel. For work in shallowwater a 'daughter boat' about 6m inlength is carried on a slipway in theafter part of the 'mother' lifeboat andthis 'daughter boat' launches throughdoors which open in the stern. With aNorth Sea coastline consisting of achain of islands interspersed with shal-low waterways, rescue conditions canbe extremely hazardous and a highdegree of local knowledge is essentialto the lifeboat crews.

In the Baltic the DGzRS guards acomparatively short piece of coastfrom the Danish border to the borderwith East Germany, the GermanDemocratic Republic. Here the SDDR,the East German sea rescue service,takes over and operates nine rescuestations with rescue cruisers, lifeboats,inflatables and rocket gear.

To remain in the Baltic, and goingeastwards beyond East Germany, thePolish Ship Salvage Company assumesresponsibility for rescue at sea. Theword 'Salvage' may cause misgivingsto some yachtsmen but this is not reallyjustified. In fact, the opinion of theWarsaw Pact countries is that the bestway to save lives is to save the ship andthere is a good deal of common sense inthis. The Polish coastline is in generalflat and sandy and ships which groundare rarely in much danger. This mightwell not apply to a yacht or small ves-sel, of course. The PRO, to take theinitial letters of the organisation'sPolish title, has 12 rescue and salvagestations with salvage tugs and vesselsof various types including ice breakers,also lifeboats of about 13.7m in length.All rescue operations are controlledby the rescue co-ordination centreGdynia.

Along the south and eastern shoresof the Baltic the USSR takes over searescue responsibility from Poland. TheSoviet rescue service is controlled bythe Ministry of the Maritime Fleet. Inaddition to the Baltic it has rescue sta-

Denmark: (below, left) A 15.2m self-righting lifeboat stationed on the west coast of Jutland.Finland: (below, right) The 20.5m steel Harmaja built to work in ice is one of the FinnishLifeboat Society's largest rescue cruisers.

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Democratic Republic of Germany: Poel is one of East Germany's 17.9m lifeboats; speed 10knots. The service also has two rescue cruisers and inflatable inshore lifeboats.

lions on the shores of the Barents andBlack Seas and on the Pacific coast. Awide variety of vessels is used includ-ing tugs, ice breakers, lifeboats andhigh-speed rescue craft. The USSR is asignatory to the International Conven-tion for the safety of life at sea and hasrescue agreements with countrieswhose waters adjoin its own—Sweden,Denmark and Finland in the Baltic;Norway in the Barents Sea and Japanin the Pacific. Agreements have alsobeen signed with China, North Korea,East Germany and Poland.

The emergency rescue service of theUSSR controls more than 200 motorlifeboats, 3,000 pulling boats and anumber of rescue cruisers.

The Netherlands: There have alwaysbeen very close ties between the RNLIand the Dutch organisations, of whichthere are two. These are the North andSouth Holland Lifeboat Institution(KNZHRM) and the South HollandInstitution (KZHRM). Both serviceswere granted the prefix 'Royal' in 1949on the occasion of their 125th anniver-

sary. The KNZHRM guards the coastnorth of Scheveningen and theKZHRM the remainder of the Dutchcoastline to the south. This divisionwas made at the suggestion of theDutch pilotage authority which took anactive interest in the formation of therescue service.

With a flat, nearly featureless coast-line and many sandbanks offshore thedangers to mariners are many. TheKNZHRM operates a number of dif-ferent types of craft, depending onlaunching difficulties and the dangers inthe vicinity. The KNZHRM controls 24rescue stations with a fleet of six20.37m self-righting lifeboats, five14.88m flat-bottomed launches, a12.52m fast lifeboat (28 knots), 1310.32m beach boats, two 9.7m flat-bottomed launches and a 14.98mlifeboat. The KZHRM maintains a fleetof four twin screw 'all weather' motorlifeboats, three of them 21m LOA, thefourth 17.8m, three single screw 9.8m'vlets' and three Atlantic 21s, as well asrocket apparatus. The two organisa-

Spain: the rescue fleet of the Cruz Roja del Mar includes more than 320 inshore lifeboats.

tions are supported by voluntary con-tributions and as in Britain the crewsare mostly volunteers with full-timemen employed where necessary forboats which need constant mainten-ance. Again as with Britian the crews aredrawn from men of all trades but all havea seafaring background and are com-pletely familiar with their local waters.

Belgium has a very short coastline ofonly 35 miles. As with other nationsinvolved in World War II the countrysuffered major losses of boats andequipment. Three 14m Watson typelifeboats were built at Cowes underRNLI supervision in 1948 and these arenow being replaced. A 16.5m steellifeboat is under construction. Rescuecraft are stationed at Ostend, Zee-brugge and Nieuport. The rescue ser-vice is under the control of the Belgiangovernment.

For many years France had two searescue organisations, the Central Soci-ety for Saving the Shipwrecked and theBreton Humane Society. In 1967 thesetwo bodies were merged into one,named the National Society for Rescueat Sea (SNSM). In 1977 the fleet con-sisted of 52 'all-weather' lifeboats, 90fast vedettes and 286 inflatables. Of the274 lifeboat stations, seven are in theWest Indies and ten in the Mediterra-nean. There is a considerable concen-tration of stations round the dangerous,rock-bound coast of Brittany.

In 1971 the Spanish Society for LifeSaving at Sea, which was founded in1880, was merged with a new organisa-tion, the Spanish Red Cross of the Sea.The new society showed great interestin RNLI designs and two Britishlifeboats visited Spain in the autumn of1971. These were a 14.8m Solent classand the 15.8m prototype of the Arunclass. The Solent class boat. The RoyalBritish Legion Jubilee, went to theassistance of a Spanish trawler duringher visit.

The Spanish rescue fleet consists ofthree lifeboats, nine launches and 323inshore lifeboats. More boats of allclasses are under construction.

In Portugal the Institution for theRescue of the Shipwrecked was formedin 1882 and throughout two world warsand right up to the present day therescue service has continued its workand improved its fleet and equipment.With the whole of its shoreline open tothe Atlantic, conditions are by nomeans easy but the Portugueselifeboatmen splendidly maintain theirlong seafaring tradition. The fleet con-sists of 21 lifeboats and five inshorelifeboats. The Institution also operates80 ILBs on inland waters. A 13.4mWaveney and two 11.4m Oakleylifeboats are under construction.

To return to the Mediterranean,details are lacking of the rescuearrangements over long stretches ofcoastline. Italy places the responsibilityfor sea rescue on the Ministry of Mer-chant Marine, with day to day controlin the hands of the port authorities, the

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France: Fast offshore rescue boat Anne de Bretagne stationed at Le Croisic.

Capitanerie de Porto. A number ofduties are involved (other than searescue) and various types of craft areused including RNLI Barnett typelifeboats, rescue cruisers of the Ger-man pattern and USCG steel 44ftlifeboats, with many smaller craft andinflatables.

It may come as something of a sur-prise to learn that Switzerland, with nosea coast at all, has a flourishing rescueorganistion with no less than 74lifeboats. These are stationed atstrategic points on the Swiss lakes

where storms of considerable intensityare liable to occur.

Apart from Spain, France and Italythere is little information availableabout the other coasts of the Mediter-ranean although it may be assumed thatGreece maintains rescue services. Tur-key has a sea rescue service controlledby the Turkish Maritime Bank butfacilities appear to be concentrated inthe Black Sea. In 1950 a 10.8m self-righter of RNLI design was built atCowes for the Turkish organisation.

(To be continued)

The Netherlands: <abo\'e) Gebroeders Luden, one of six 20.37m self-righting lifeboats in theKNZHKMfleet, (below) President Jan Lels, the oldest twin screw 'all weather' lifeboat in theKZHRM fleet.

Lifeboat PeopleIn the New Year Honours List, the

BEM was awarded to Frank Moore,motor mechanic of Barrow lifeboatsince 1954. He was assistant motormechanic at Barrow from 1937 to 1953.

* * *It is with deep regret that we

announce the following deaths:September

Colin Ross, a founder member ofRayners Lane branch and honorarytreasurer from 1963 to 1968. When thebranch was temporarily disbanded heacted as flag day organiser from 1968 to1975 and then, the branch beingreformed in that year, he once againbecame honorary treasurer. Mr Rosswas awarded the silver badge in 1978.At the wish of his family, donationswere made to the RNLI instead offloral tributes and £214 was given in hismemory.December

James Campbell, station honorarysecretary of Portpatrick since 1965. Hewas awarded binoculars in 1974.January

Wing-Cdr H. Alan Roxburgh, AFC,station honorary secretary of Lyming-ton from 1974 to 1978, after which hehad served as a deputy launchingauthority.

R. K. Sayer, MBE, station honorarysecretary of Newhaven from 1936,before which he had served as assistantstation honorary secretary for a fewmonths. He was awarded the goldbadge in 1964 and honorary life go vernor-ship of the Institution in 1975.February

George L. Bates, station honorarysecretary of Dungeness from 1965 to1978. He was awarded binoculars in1977.

William Shaw, a member of Stock-port Auxiliary Lifeboat crew for 31years and honorary treasurer at thetime of his death.March

Lady Qualtrough, a founder memberof Castletown ladies' guild. Isle ofMan, 60 years ago. She joined thecommittee in 1923, became honorarysecretary in 1954 and president in 1973,only retiring due to ill health in 1978.Lady Qualtrough was presented with arecord of thanks in 1950 and the silverbadge in 1965.

Model RallyA model lifeboat rally is being held

by Crosby Model Club at CoronationPark Lake, Crosby, Liverpool, onSunday June 17, with classes forscratch and kit built models, contestsfor working models and an annualaward for the best all round model.Demonstrations by the club willinclude a lifeboat launch and rescue.Details from Des Newton, PRO CrosbyModel Club, 29 Westminster Avenue,Bootle 10, Merseyside L30 5QY.

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Lleyn PeninsulaABERSOCH, CRICCIETH, PORTHDINLLAEN AND PWLLHELI

by Joan DaviesJUTTING OUT boldly into the Irish Sea,open to winter gales from most pointsof the compass, the beautiful LleynPeninsula of North Wales has its shareof hazards to shipping. Over the yearsmany vessels have been wrecked on itsshores and its people have been calledupon to play a gallant part in the annalsof saving life at sea.

To read the lists of service of theLleyn lifeboat stations is to trace asingle thread through the pattern ofsocial history. First there was tradeunder sail. The establishment of thefour present lifeboat stations—Cric-cieth (first established at Porthmadogin 1853 but moved to the better launchingsite of Criccieth in 1854), Porthdinllaen(1864), Abersoch (1869) and Pwllheli(1891)—was a reflection of growingindustry on shore and the resultantincrease of trade at sea, both coastaland overseas. Porthmadog was one ofthe main ports from which slate fromthe Welsh mountain quarries was ship-ped to all parts of the British Isles andto Europe. Porthdinllaen was a livelyport with its own shipbuilding yards.Pwllheli had been the main port for thearea in earlier days and small crafttraded in other havens along the coast.

For vessels entirely dependent onsail, onshore gales were the greatdanger. For boats on passage in thedays before modern navigational aids,hugging the shore, a rising, shiftingwind could change the coastline from acomforting help to pilotage into atreacherous lee. For vessels at anchor.

a change of wind direction during thepassing of a storm could be equally dis-astrous. At that time the lifeboats,were, of course, pulling and sail-ing—Pwllheli's first lifeboat, inciden-tally, was one of the few steel tubularlifeboats—and to battle through thoseonshore gales to go to the help of shipsin distress called for tremendousstrength and determination.

The sailing coaster bound for Porth-madog, approaching through CardiganBay, would leave to starboard St Pat-rick's Causeway (Sarn Badrig), a shoalextending 11 miles offshore, while toher port lay the rocky south-westextremity of the peninsula, BardseyIsland lying off its tip. Banks, shoalsand bays which have earned suchnames as Devil's Tail, Devil's Ridge orHell's Mouth, tell their own story. If,making for the shelter of St Tudwal's infog or bad weather, the master mistookhis landfall he might find himself inHell's Mouth in very truth; embayedby an onshore wind, with no escape,his only hope in the stoutness of hisanchor and its cable. The reference intoday's Admiralty Pilot reads:

'Forth Neigwl, or Hell's Mouth, isentered between Trwyn Cilan and TrwynTalfarach, 4'k miles WNW. There is astrong indraught into the bay, which isopen to the prevailing SW winds; the lat-ter quickly cause a heavy sea . . . "

St Tudwal's Roads, off Abersoch,offered a safe anchorage in all but east-erly gales. There the sailing vessel

Porthdinllaen: Centenary celebrations August 12, 1964. photograph by courtesy of JohnCharles

could await a fair tide or wind, but theapproach to Porthmadog itself wasthrough a shoaling bay, across a barsubject to changes both in depth andposition and along a channel withbanks also liable to move.

Save for the port of refuge at Porth-dinllaen, the north-west run of thepeninsula along the southern shore ofCaernarfon Bay presents an inhospit-able coast to shipping bound for MenaiStrait or Liverpool. From the Pilotonce again:

'Caernarfon Bay is entered betweenBardsey Island . . . and Holy Island, 32miles N. The SE side of the bay is formedby the NW coast of Lleyn Peninsulawhich is bold, rocky and mainly steep-to,rising inland to mountainous country ofwhich Snowdon, the highest peak andsometimes covered by cloud, attains anelevation of 1,083m (3,555ft) 10 milesinland . . .'

A look at just some of the records ofservice of the last century fills in thepicture a little: March, 1861: the shipDanube, laden with cotton from NewOrleans bound to Liverpool, agroundon St Patrick's Causeway in a westerlygale. December, 1863: the schoonerEconomy, from Middlesbrough toBarmouth with railway chairs, partedfrom her anchor and ran ashore southof Criccieth in a west-north-westerlygale. December, 1869: the ship Cas-tilian bound from Quebec to Liverpoolwith timber, aground on the south sideof Porthmadog Bar. February, 1875: theAmerican ship Edward O'Brien on avoyage from Mobile to Liverpool, onMorpha Bychan Sand in fog. January,1877: the schooner Annie bound fromDublin to Bristol flying distress signalswhile riding at anchor in St Tudwal'sRoads, her master i l l , her cable eventu-ally parting. May, 1879: Off Porthdin-llaen, the schooner Jane Anne draggingher anchor and a large barqueembayed. April, 1886: the smackEndeavour bound from Newport forAbersoch with a cargo of coal, partedboth chains; the schooner Eliza Bell,coal laden from Liverpool to Abersoch,parted one chain. October, 1889: thebarque Inveresk, for Liverpool fromNova Scotia, running under bare polesdirect for the east end of St Patrick'sCauseway. January, 1895: the ketchPeter Varkevisser, Bound from Porth-madog for Cardiff with slate, founderednear Penrhyn Du Point. June, 1898: theschooner Miss Hughes from Caernarfonladen with'slate for London, draggingher anchors and drifting towards therocks at Trwyn Nefyn . . .

Those were just some of the calls

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Peninsula: Produced from portion ofBA Chart No. 14/1 with the sanction of theController HM Stationery Office and of theHydrographer oj the Navy.

made upon the lifeboatmen of theLleyn Peninsula. Many seamen werebrought to safety; sometimes the mas-ter's wife and his children would beamong the rescued. Sometimes a crewtaken off a boat riding heavily to heranchor would be put back on boardwhen the storm had abated and thedanger was over.

The days of sail passed. With thecoming of steam came the freedom forships to choose their course regardlessof wind direction, and more power towithstand its strength. Improvednavigational equipment made it easierfor them to stand off from the land.Although there were still calls on roughwinter nights to ships on the main ship-ping routes, the pattern of rescue workwas changing, too. The number of callsbecame fewer and, with the coming of amotor lifeboat at Pwllheli in 1931, the43 ft Watson William MacPherson,Porthmadog/Criccieth and Abersochlifeboat stations were closed. A motorlifeboat, the 45ft Watson M.O.Y.E.,had already been stationed at Porth-dinllaen; she arrived in 1926 after hav-ing been exhibited at the BritishEmpire Exhibition at Wembley.

The early harbingers of today'ssummer pleasure craft were appear-

ing before the second world war. Thereis mention of small private fishing boatsas well as the occasional coaster.Porthdinllaen lifeboat launched to helpa small sailing boat in 1933; Pwllhelilifeboat launched to a disabled yachtmanned by three RAF officers in amoderate gale during the spring of1939. And then war came.

Time and time again in the next fewyears Porthdinllaen or Pwllhelilifeboats launched to search with RAFrescue craft for an aircraft, often atrainer, reported crashed in the sea; butthese were sad years and, even if some-times wreckage was found, it was sel-dom possible to save the airmen.

Peace—and with more free time andbetter roads and motor cars, more andmore people discovered what wonder-ful holidays awaited them on the LleynPeninsula. The slate trade came to anend at Porthmadog, in the 1950's but bythen there were yachts and motorboatsto take the place of the coasters. (Theysay that you can still see stacks of slateunder the water, standing intact, mark-ing the sites of earlier wrecks thoughthe boats have crumbled away. Stack-ing was a highly skilled job; if the slateswere stacked too tightly they split, ifthey were stacked too loosely theymoved.)

Families came to holiday at Cric-cieth, Pwllheli and all round the coast;there was bathing and boating and cliffclimbing for them to enjoy. The need

for greater lifeboat cover becameapparent in the early 1950s, and indeed,after a boating tragedy, urgent. Up tothat time Pwllheli lifeboat had lainafloat in the outer harbour, but siltingof the bar at the harbour entrancerestricted launching at very low water.So, in 1953, the 46ft Watson Manches-ter and Salford XXIX, which had beenon station since 1943, was replaced bya lighter, housed carriage lifeboat, the35ft 6in Liverpool Katherine and Vir-goe Buckland, which could belaunched either into the river or directinto the sea over the beach. Pwllheli'spresent lifeboat is another Liverpool,Anthony Robert Marshall, which wenton station in 1972 but the boathouse isnow being converted ready to receive a37ft Oakley.

In the same year, 1953, Cricciethlifeboat station was reopened, the oldlifeboathouse being repurchased, a newslipway built, and the 35ft 6in Liver-pool Richard Silver Oliver installed.Most of the launches in the next yearswere to sailing dinghies, small motorboats or bathers—services in shallowwater where speed can be vital. Sowhen inflatable lifeboats, quick tolaunch and fast on the water, wereintroduced into the RNLI fleet, oneILB was sent to Pwllheli in 1964 insupport of the offshore boat, andanother ILB was sent to Criccieth in1967; she was to take over from theoffshore lifeboat the following year.

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The value of offshore and inshorelifeboats working as a complementaryteam was well demonstrated when, inthe early hours of September 1, 1977, ayacht with two adults and two childrenaboard ran aground inside the bar toPorthmadog Estuary in a south-westerly near gale. Pwllheli's lifeboat,Anthony Robert Marshall, waslaunched under the command of Cox-swain William McGill but, with break-ing seas on the bar reducing the depthof water in the troughs to inches, it wasunsafe for her to enter the estuary.Criccieth inshore lifeboat was calledout. She successfully negotiated therough water over the bar and, in tworuns, was able to take the yacht's fourpeople safely ashore. During thishazardous operation, Anthony RobertMarshal stood by and lit the scene withher searchlight. For this service thethanks of the Institution inscribed onvellum were accorded to the crew ofCriccieth ILB, Helmsman James Owenand Crew Members Kenneth Robertsand Robert D. Williams.

Some years earlier, on June 25, 1972,Pwllheli lifeboat and Abersoch ILB hadcombined in a fine rescue of two menstranded on rocks west of Trwyn Cilanafter their dinghy outboard had failed.In a rising south-westerly wind andvery rough seas the ILB had been vee-red down from the lifeboat, herselfanchored and fully veered; a breechesbuoy got across; and the casualties pul-led aboard the ILB, then transferred tothe lifeboat. For this service the thanksof the Institution inscribed on vellumwere accorded to Acting CoxswainWilliam McGill and Crew Member RoyMorris (who joined the ILB crew) of

(Above) Criccieth, reopenedin 1953: Dedication and firstlaunch of the 35ft 6in Liver-pool Richard Silver Oliver.A D class ILB has beenstationed at Criccieth since1967.

(Left) Abersoch: The Atlan-tic 21 ILB, her tractor andboathouse were a/I providedby the people ofWolverhampton.

Pwllheli, and Helmsman Barrie McGilland Crew Member Michael Bosley ofAbersoch.

Moving on west, St Tudwal's Roads,once the refuge of sailing barque andschooner, now provide summer moor-ings for ocean racer and family cruiser,for Abersoch has become one of thefinest sailing centres in the country,presided over by South Caernarfon-shire Yacht Club. The RNL1 stationwas reopened in 1965 with a D classILB and now has an Atlantic 21. At theheight of the summer there may be 200to 300 yachts at anchor and 600 ding-hies parked ashore. The club puts onraces every weekend and Wednesdaynight throughout the season and in Julyand August there may be as many asten starts each day of the week; dinghyraces, round-the-buoys cruiser races,ocean races across to Ireland. The bayis a wonderful sailing water for dinghychampionships and last year, forinstance, it was chosen by the NationalMerlin/Rocket class for its principalmeeting.

The yacht club, of course, has itsown rescue boats and the ILB is notlikely to be called on during the day. Itis in the evening, between 1830 and2100 that trouble usually comes. That isthe time when families realise that ladswho had set off round the shore, orfishing parties, have not returned. Asunny summer morning with a lightnortherly wind blowing offshore seemsjust the day to choose for a picnic onthe islands; but with the heat of the daythe wind will increase and there may bedifficulty getting back. Hell's Mouth isstill waiting for the unwary; small plan-ing motor boats may go round the

corner on a quiet day, and when thewind gets up find that they have not thepower to claw back through the roughwater.

There is great community spirit atAbersoch and the bonds between thelifeboat station and the yacht club areclose. All lifeboat crew members arehonorary members of the club. Thecommodore of the club, H. C. Moun-sey, is a member of the Institution'sCommittee of Management; BertOwen, vice-commodore of the club, isthe station administrative officer. Thelifeboat crew members include boat-men, hoteliers, boatbuilders and themanager of a caravan site. The aux-iliary coastguard who organises cliffrescue is on the lifeboat committee.

Visitors, too, have taken their part.Abersoch has become a favourite holi-day resort for the people of Wol-verhampton. They are so appreciativeof the protective role of the ILB that, in1977 and early 1978, they raised enoughmoney to pay for the new Atlantic 21,her tractor and boathouse.

At Abersoch they run a crew rota;three members are on duty for 24 hoursstarting at noon each day, and three areon standby. When the maroons go, theduty crew goes afloat, the standbycrew comes down to the boathouse andthe chances are that all the rest of thecrew will be there too.

The service boards of Abersoch'soriginal lifeboat station have an hon-oured place in the new boathouse, and,going back, Abersoch had a very closelink with Porthdinllaen in those earlierdays. Both the stations had as theirfounding honorary secretary, for theirfirst year, the Reverend Owen LloydWilliams, son of the Reverend JamesWilliams and his wife Frances whowere instrumental in starting the earlierAnglesey Association for Preservationof Life from Shipwreck. Owen Wil-liams was to be honorary secretary ofboth Abersoch and Porthdinllaen from1871 to 1888; he himself went out inlifeboats both in Anglesey and on themainland and was awarded the silvermedal and bar for gallantry.

Last year saw the retirement ofanother outstanding member of Porth-dinllaen station. Back in 1937 J. E.Roberts, MBE, a local farmer, was per-suaded to take on the office of stationhonorary secretary and treasurer for a12-month period; on his retirement atthe end of 1977 Mr Roberts told the'Cambrian News':

'That 12 months has extended to 40years, and I have enjoyed everymoment.'Mr Roberts, who had also served his

community in many other ways andwho had been a Justice of the Peace for12 years, was awarded binoculars forhis lifeboat work in 1949, a gold badgein 1964, a bar to the gold badge in 1973and honorary life governorship in 1978.

As mentioned above, Porthdinllaen,sheltered from all but north-easterlywinds, offered the only refuge on an

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otherwise havenless coastline and inthe early part of the nineteenth centurymany vessels and their crews were lostin Caernarfon Bay, either on passage orcaught out at anchor by a wind change.From the time of its establishment in1864 Porthdinllaen was a busy lifeboatstation. Today the only sailing boatswhich put in on passage are yachts, butthere are motor fishing and commercialboats as well and every week tankersbound for Caernarfon, awaiting a suit-able tide to cross the bar, may be seenanchored off.

The Irish Sea can be as wild as ever.On August 8, 1951, the 46ft 9in CharlesHenry Ashley with Second CoxswainWilliam Dop in command was called tohelp the yacht Waterhell and her crewof three, anchored close in to Forth Oerin a mass of breaking water. With therising winds blowing athwart the tideand strong eddies off the coast, seaswere washing over the lifeboat fromevery side. Unable to anchor and veerdown because of the rocky sea bottomand knowing he probably would nothave enough depth to turn the lifeboatinshore, Second Coxswain Dop drovein through the shallow water, bowsfirst; came alongside the yacht's lee sothat the three men could be taken off;and brought his boat out again sternfirst, the seas surging into her cockpit.For this fine and courageous piece ofseamanship Second Coxswain Dop wasawarded the silver medal for gallantry.

Ten years later, on October 23, 1961,Charles Henry Ashley was called out ina south-south-westerly gale, approach-ing storm force, to stand by a Panama-nian steamer drifting 10 miles southwest of Bardsey Island while makingtemporary repairs to her broken steer-ing gear. By the time the lifeboat hadescorted the steamer on her way toHolyhead and returned to station shehad been at sea for twelve hours. Sobad had been the seas washing over thelifeboat that her radio had been put outof action and, with no news, such wasthe anxiety ashore that Holyhead,Pwllheli and Criccieth lifeboats and ahelicopter had all put out to search forher. A doctor living in London, whoheard on the morning BBC news thatthe lifeboat was reported missing,made a substantial contribution as athank offering for her safe return.

Porthdinllaen lifeboathouse, towhich alterations have recently beenmade ready for the 47ft Watson Kath-leen Mary soon to go on station, iswithin the bay's western arm and hasone of the longest slipways in the coun-try. The approach to the boathouse forthe crew, first by road, and then a mileover the headland, must be among thelongest, too. Nowadays the crew comeby motor bicycle and the boat islaunched within 12 or 15 minutes fromthe time the maroons are fired. MrRoberts remembers well a war-timeservice when an injured officer wastaken off a Dutch steamer bombed offBardsey. He weighed 18 stone and had

Pwllheli: Lifeboat and ILB on exercise with a helicopter from RAF Valley, which worksclosely with all KNLI stations in the area. photograph by courtesy of J. Tulloch

to be carried on a stretcher up over theheadland. As he convalesced he tookgreat interest in the station and eventu-ally himself joined the crew when thelifeboat went out to another casualty.

Porthdinllaen's boarding boat hasplayed a prominent part in awards ser-vices. Back in 1925 T. A. Hooper,foreman in charge of constructing thenew slipway ready for the first motorlifeboat, with three of his men, mannedthe boarding boat and rescued two menfrom a sinking punt. Mr Hooper alsoformed one of the crew the nextChristmas Eve when the lifeboatlaunched to help ss Matje, dragging heranchor in a gale. In recognition of thesetwo services the Institution presentedhim with an inscribed barometer.

Nearly 50 years later, on September20, 1974, the lifeboat was launched in asouth-west gale gusting to force 9 tosearch for two people lost from thetender of a yacht moored in the bay.Coxswain Griffith Jones, who was onleave, nevertheless went down to thecliffs. By the lights of a CoastguardLandrover turning on the cliff, Eric, his

14-year-old son, spotted one of the menclinging to a rock about a quarter of amile north of the boathouse. Father andson ran down and, with one of theyacht's crew, launched the boardingboat, negotiated the rough, confusedseas in the channels between the rocksand brought the man to safety. Thebronze medal was awarded to Cox-swain Jones and an inscribed wrist-watch to his son. In 1976 Crew MemberGlyn Roberts was put ashore from thelifeboat in the boarding boat oneAugust night to help a boy trapped in acleft of rock at Porth y Nant. He had toclimb 80ft up the almost vertical,loose-faced cliff to bring down thefrightened boy and he was alsoawarded the bronze medal. The thanksof the institution inscribed on vellumwere accorded to Second Coxswain JohnScott, helmsman of the boarding boat.

More than 600 lives have beenrescued in all by the stations of LleynPeninsula, Criccieth, Pwllheli, Aber-soch, and Porthdinllaen, and betweenthem they have been awarded sevensilver medals and two bronze.

Seaham station closesAt about 1500 on Saturday February

24, the 37ft Oakley lifeboat The Willand Fanny Kirby launched down theslip for the last time, circled the har-bour and headed out to sea escorted bySunderland and Hartlepool lifeboatsand with the added tribute of a flyoverby an air sea rescue helicopter.

On the first bright, dry day of theyear, about 300 people met to join in aservice of thanksgiving conducted bythe Vicar of Seaham; music was playedby Peterlee Band. Among those pres-ent with lifeboat people to say farewellto Seaham lifeboat as the station closedafter more than 100 years service wereMr and Mrs Kirby Welch, representa-tives of Easington Council, the Police,Coastguard and Clergy.Seaham lifeboat launches for the last time.

photograph by courtesy of the 'Echo'Sunderland

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ShorelineSection

THE LONDON INTERNATIONAL BOATSHOW at Earl's Court from January 4 to14 was for us a memorable occasionbecause we were celebrating ten yearsof Shoreline. It was at the 1969 BoatShow that the first member of the orig-inal Yachtsmen's Lifeboat Supporters'Association, Sir Alec Rose, 'signedon', thus inaugurating the membershipscheme; now, ten years later, ourmembership has grown to over 54,000.More than 1,000 visitors to the 1979Boat Show joined Shoreline, a successwhich could not have been achievedwithout the stout work of our band ofvoluntary supporters: Jim Mead, EwartMyer, John and Denora Caller, RoyRudd, Harold Appleton, David Parker,Jeff Needham. Ian Taylor and DickWilson. They gave up their time to help

Morning: Harold Appleton, one of theShoreline Bout Show team, talking to CrewMember Lex Fay of Blyth.

me throughout the show and I wouldlike to thank them all for theirenthusiasm and support in our workwhich enabled us to beat all previousrecords.

On Friday January 5 the order of theday was—celebrate. It was not onlyShoreline's tenth anniversary, but theappeal to provide funds for a Shorelinelifeboat had topped £101,000 and SirAlec Rose, member number one, wasthere to hand over a giant lifeboat-shaped cheque to Major-General RalphFarrant, chairman of the Institution.The ceremony was watched by DrReginald Carr, honorary secretary,together with Coxswain George Turnerand his crew who had travelled fromBlyth, where the new Rother classlifeboat to be named Shoreline will bestationed.

In the evening the Midland Bank,long established friends of the RNLI atthe show, hosted a birthday party forShoreline. Among the guests were SirAlec and Lady Rose, some of the origi-nal YLA members and representativesof the Yachting Press which has doneso much to publicise Shoreline. SirAlec said that joining Shoreline'. . . really is something which ayachtsman should do as part of hisinsurance . . .' and of lifeboatmen,'We, as yachtsmen, are very grateful

for all they do. They are always on call,24 hours a da\, 365 days a year. Theygo to sea when everyone else is chasingfor harbour.' Vice-Admiral Sir PeterCompston, chairman of the Fund Rais-ing Committee, then presented Sir Alecwith a pair of cuff links and gave LadyRose a silver marcasite RNLI flagbrooch.

At the Boat Show we introduced forthe first time a Shoreline MembersHandbook, a book which is now avail-able from Shoreline office at a cost of30p. We have also re-introduced intoour range of insignia cuff links of a verygood quality; they cost £3.50 and alsocan be obtained through the usualsources.

Shoreline's youngest member, eight-week-oldHelen Trotter, being 'signedon' by LynnPowell, a member of Shoreline staff. Thephotograph was taken by Helen's father,David Trotter.

A report of the show is given byHarold Appleton, one of our helpersthis year, and I would like to thank himfor his contribution to our page.

* * *The International Boat Show, 1979,

proved a milestone for Shoreline. Lastyear we beat all previous records fornew members by over 200, and reacheda target of 900. This year we set ourtarget at 1,000. I doubt if any of us seri-ously thought it possible, especiallyafter the first three days of the show,which proved very slow. Then on thefirst Sunday, previously a very poorrecruiting day, we surged ahead, finish-ing 20 up on last year.

From then on we rarely paused, evenfor meals. Roger Thompson, managerof our bank at the show, Midlands,promised to be the 1,000th member, sowe were even more determined.

The last Sunday morning dawnedwith st i l l 73 needed to reach our target.Up to midday the goal seemed impos-sible. The team due to start at 3.45 pm

continued on page 137

Afternoon: Shoreline member No. I , Sir Alec Rose (r.) hands over toMajor-General Ralph Farrant, chairman of the Committee of Management, aRather-shaped cheque for £101,000, the result of the Shoreline appeal which willgo towards the funding of the 37ft 6in Rother to be stationed at Blyth. With themare Coxswain George Turner and other members of Blyth crew, Dr Reginald Carr,Blyth station honorary secretary (fourth from r.), and Peter Ho/ness, RNLImembership secretary.

photographs by courtesy of Peter Hadfield

Evening: At Midland Bank's Shoreline tenth anniver-sary party, presentations were made to Sir Alec andLady Rose by Vice-Admiral Sir Peter Compston. chair-man of the Fund Raising Committee (I.), watched byPeter Holness and (r.) Dennis R. West, regional directorof Midland Bank London South West Region. Specialguests included members of Blyth lifeboat crew.

photograph by courtesy of Photocall Features

128

Buildinga Rother Class

LifeboatPART XI: FITTING

OUTBUILDING OF the 37ft 6in Rother classlifeboat which will be RNLB Shoreline isnearing completion at WilliamOsborne's yard at Littlehampton; allwill be ready for a spring launching.With principal members in place, workis now concentrated on deck and cabinfittings, pipework and electrics. Everypiece of equipment will have its ownindividual stowage. But this is a stagebest left to photographs . . .

(To be continued)

After deck stowage for drogue and, at stern(port), drogue fairlead. Rectangular bronzeemergency tiller housing is mounted onsteering gear box.

Looking down through freeing trunk inwheelhouse deck to propeller, with freeingtool standing by.

Propeller tunnel now complete with propel-ler in place.

(Above) Wheelhouse, looking for-ward from steering position pastwheel and compass in its binnacleto the engine room after bulkhead.Various control switches and therevolution counters are under thecoxswain's eye. Housings for radioand radar can be seen to port andfor engine instrument panel to star-board. Note grids over relievingscuppers in cockpit deck.

(Right) Forward cabin, looking aftto engine room bulkhead on whichare sited electrical distributionboard and first aid stowage. Bat-tery box forms a step forward ofhatch. A ventilation trunk runsbelow side deck and a flexible venti-lation pipe to the battery box can beseen running down the side cabin.

(Below) Now that the twin Ford27I2E marine diesels have beeninstalled, fitting is going ahead ofall pipework, such as exhaust,closed water cooling and fuel sys-tems, as well as electric wiring forcontrols.

129

llfracombe celebrated its 150th anniversarywith an hour-long ceremony at the lifeboatstation on the pier on Saturday September23, 1978, when (left) a commemorative vel-lum was presented by Mrs Georgina Keen, amember of the Committee of Management,to L. Boyles, branch chairman. After a dis-play by llfracombe Corps of Drums CadetBand (above), the Vicar of llfracombe con-ducted a service of dedication.

(Right) HRH Princess Michael of Kentreceives a bouquet from Arabella Romilly atthe Lifeboat and Mermaid Ball lastNovember. It is the first time Prince andPrincess Michael of Kent have attended theball, which is held at the Dorchester Hotel,London. More than £17,000 was raised.

photograph by courtesy of DesmondO'Neill Features

When you havefinished with your

copy ofTHE LIFEBpATPlease pass it on.

Lerwick's new 52ft Arunlifeboat Soldian with her crewand crew reserves. She wasnamed by HRH The Duke ofKent, president of the Institu-tion on September 12, 1978.Included in the report of theceremony published in thewinter issue of THE LIFEBOAT,was a photograph of the Dukedisembarking from an Arun,wrongly said to be Soldian. Shewas in fact Brought? Ferry's52ft. Arun Spirit of Tayside atwhose naming ceremony onJuly 17 the photograph wastaken. We apologise to bothstations for the error.

Here and There'A Queen's Gala' will be staged onSunday June 10 in the beautifulgrounds of Pitcaple Castle, Aberdeen-shire, where Mary Queen of Scots wasentertained in 1562. An afternoon offun will include dancing scenes fromthe life of Mary, a costume contest,games, competitions and stalls as wellas a chance to see through this fifteenthcentury castle which is still a familyhome. Further details from CaptainP. C. Burges-Lumsden of PitcapleCastle, Inverurie, Aberdeenshire, AB59HL.

# * *A set of 16 RNL1 lifeboat picture

cards and album based on the oldcigarette card format are now avail-able. Information about each picture isprinted both on the card and in thealbum. Each set of cards 60p, album30p, p. and p. 15p. Full details fromT. Stibbons, chairman of Spalding andDistrict branch, 4 Rainton Court,Spalding, Lincolnshire PEI2 6BD.

V

Fl Lt J. A. Cowan and Sergeant Dick Guy ofRAI- Brawdy were awarded the 1978 L. G.Groves Memorial Aircraft Safety Prize fortheir invention of the 'Brawdy Homer'. Thisinstrument will enable ships to home on toany emergency locator transmitter used by-people adrift in life rafts in the sea. BarryDock's 52ft Arun helped with trials of theprototype and in this picture can be seen thetwin aerials mounted one on each side of theradar platform.

With John Atterton, acting director, lookingon, Harry H. Corbel! hands Mrs TeresaReiley of Urchfont, Wiltshire, the keys ofthe Saab 99 Combi Coupe car she won in theSouthern District 1978 competition whichraised £10,000 for Lymington's new ILBhouse. Standing behind the bonnet of theSaab, donated by Saab (Great Britain) Ltd,is W. Gilbert, regional sales manager forSaab South West.

photograph by courtesy of the 'EveningEcho', Bournemouth

130

London International Boat Show 1979

EARL'S COURT, JANUARY 4-14

THE COMBINATION OF BLIZZARDS andtransport strikes at the beginning ofJanuary might have seemed enough toscupper any exhibition—but not theLondon Boat Show. In spite of thesedifficulties and a stand which was smal-ler and less central than usual, theRNLI had a record year for Shorelineenrolments (see Shoreline page) andgood results on the sales of souvenirsand lottery tickets.

The battle for the 1,000th Shorelinemember and the challenge of sellingevery coastal calendar turned the stand

into a market stall at times and it wasthe energy of the voluntary workerswhich brought success on these fronts.

During the show several presenta-tions took place. The public relationsawards (below, left) were presented byThe Duke of Atholl to John Beattie (1.),assistant editor of the Sunday Expressin Manchester who has written severalseries of lifeboat stories for his news-paper, and Robert Malster, a local his-torian and journalist from Ipswich whohas written extensively on lifeboats inhis area. The two other recipients,

Jimmy Savile and Harry Berry, couldnot attend and will receive their awardsat other events. The Eastbournebranch and guild (below, right) jointlypresented a cheque for £34,000 fromthe Eastbourne Lifeboat Appeal toVice-Admiral Sir Peter Compston,chairman of the Fund Raising Commit-tee; Lt-Cdr and Mrs Bradford wereable to announce that the appeal wasapproaching £50,000, a figure whichhas now been passed. Liptons pre-sented a cheque for £10,000, the resultof the nationwide foreign coin appealheld in their stores.

Lifeboat crews and supporters fromall over the country called in to renewold friendships and once again theshow was a happy and hard workingone for all taking part.—R.K.

Fourth lotteryTHE FOURTH NATIONAL LOTTERY of

the RNLI was drawn by Ed (Stewpot)Stewart on Wednesday January 31 atRNLI headquarters, Poole. Supervis-ing the draw were Major-General RalphH. Farrant, chairman of the Committeeof Management, John Atterton, actingdirector, and Cdr E. F. Pritchard,appeals secretary. As well as other visi-tors and members of staff, a party ofschoolchildren from South Road Com-bined School, Poole, witnessed thedraw, and when 'Stewpot' cried'Crackerjack!' he got a tremendous

response. Each child went away withhis autograph, and they all sent beauti-fully written letters of thanks to theRNLI. One little girl wrote:

'My dad is a fisherman and the lifeboatsaved his life in 1970. He says if it wasnot for the lifeboat he would be dead bynow . . .'

Ed Stewart was currently appearingin 'Dick Whittington' at the PavilionTheatre, Bournemouth and in the chil-dren's TV show 'Crackerjack', as wellas introducing 'Junior Choice' on BBCRadio 1 and 2 each Saturday and Sun-day morning.

The prizewinners of the fourth lot-

tery, which raised approximately£24,000, were:£1,000: K. D. Murkin, HMS Phoebe.

£500: B. A. Baker, Bristol.£250: Mr Puszet, Cyprus.

£25: Miss B. Parr, London SW16; MissKyd, Coverack; Mrs L. Bartlett, LondonSE2; J. A. Nichol, Aberystwyth; Mrs M. D.Hardwick, Dorchester; S. W. Chitson,Godalming; Mrs S. Lewis, Bury; L. K.Wilkinson, Mill Hill; Doris Cummings,Warley; Miss J. E. S. Bunch, Sherborne.

The serious business of the lottery drawover, the chairman and acting director joinEd Stewart and the children in the fun of'Crackerjack!'

THE ORIGINAL

T I L L E R M A S T E RWITH THE LONG-LASTING MOTOR FOR WHEEL OR TILLER1st and 3rd Route du Rhum transatlantic solo

1969/70California to UK and back in 36ft sloop.

1978Round Britain Race—Our autopilots wereaboard three of the first four home—two

had already crossed the Atlantic.

Wind, water and solar batterychargers available.

DAVID JOLLYLong Range and Emergency Radio Consultant

3 Little Russel, Lytchett Minster, Poole, Dorset BH16 6JD.Tel: 0202 622142 TELEX: 41495.

131

(Some

A raft race organised by Mr and Mrs C. Horton for Moelfre ladies' guild, was a highlysuccessful event. It took place on August 26, flag day. £500 was raised.

Aberdeen lifeboat ball, one of themain social events in the Scottishlifeboat year, raised over £2,300 thisyear. Held on February 2 the ball had,as its principal guests, Coxswain AlbertBird and the crew of Aberdeenlifeboat and their wives, Rear-AdmiralJ. R. D. Nunn, Port Admiral Rosyth,and Mrs Nunn, and the Reverend W.Geraint Edwards, Minister of the WestChurch of St Nicholas, and MrsEdwards. Seaforth Maritime Ltd verygenerously met all expenses and, aswell as gifts for the tombola, manyfirms donated items to be auctioned;three flights over the Forties oil fielddonated by BP were sold for a total of£250.

St Anne's luncheon club recentlycelebrated its tenth anniversary. Acheque for £800, which included a £100donation from Dalmeny Hotel, venueof the club, was presented to DonaldRedford, a Committee of Managementmember. Since the club was formed£4,500 has been raised. The honorarysecretary, coxswain and mechanic ofthe Lytham lifeboat and their wives,and also the Mayor and Mayoress,were invited to the anniversaryluncheon. Russell Braddon, the wellknown author and broadcaster, wasguest speaker.

For one of the Royal Dart YachtClub's regular winter lectures EdwardTuson was invited to talk on handmadejewellery. During the talk one of MrTuson's craftsmen was actually makinga delightful pendant; a golden yachtwith silver sails, sailing in a sea ofgreen agate set in silver. After the talkMr Tuson asked that the pendant beraffled in aid of the RNLI; it raised £58.

The Royal Naval College, Greenwich, was the splendid setting for a cheese and wineevening, held last November. The 400 guests sampled the delights of Dutch cheese, kindlyprovided by the Dutch Dairy Bureau; Martell donated a gross of miniatures and a gallonbottle of brandy and Messrs Saccone and Speed, with other sponsors, greatly helped todefray costs.

photograph by courtesy of Peter Hadfield

A ten-mile sponsored walk wasundertaken by regular customers of theDewdrop Inn, Rainham, Gillingham,Kent, last September. A cheque for£435 was presented to John Darby-shire, ADOS South East, by JaneTerry, the reigning Miss Medway; themoney was donated to Chatham andRochester branch.

Also from Gillingham comes anexcellent fund-raising idea; the sugges-tion of Helen Hicks, an SRN andHealth Visitor. At meetings non smok-ers sponsor smokers for not smoking somuch every 10 or 15 minutes, whilesmokers pay 5p for each cigarettesmoked during the evening; all themoney being put in a collecting box.

A barbecue and disco was held at theOld Dunstonians' Club, West Wick-ham, last September. The event,organised by Orpington and Districtbranch, raised £229.58.

Broadstairs ladies' guild held a suc-cessful Autumn Fair in October whichraised £829.41. During 1977/78 thebranch raised a record amount of£2,750.

John Young of San Francisco is donatingmoney each year to the RNLI to buy WhiteHorse whisky for distribution to crews. MrYoung has also asked his lawyers to amendhis will to ensure that the gifts continue.Richard Evans (r.), ex-coxswain of Moelfrelifeboat, receives the cheque for 1,000dollars from Gordon Mclntosh, PublicityDirector of White Horse Distillers.

132

A junior branch has been formed inassociation with the Bare and Tor-risholme ladies" guild. The three mem-bers, Helen Catchpole and Meg and JoWiseman, meet each Friday eveningand among their activities are campingin their back gardens and cookingmeals on the beach. Each is compilingan individual book; birds of prey, IanBotham, the cricketer, and the RNLI ,being the subjects. During October thegirls worked hard making needle cases,dishcloths and candles for Mrs Wise-man's coffee evening; with help fromMrs Catchpole they raised £9.20.

West Wight ladies' guild have cer-tainly had a tremendous year of fundraising. One of the many successfulevents organised was a coffee morningheld at the home of Mrs Gilchrist. Dur-ing the morning Christmas floral decor-ations, made by Mrs Gilchrist and MrsS. Muggins, raised £157. In addition £51worth of souvenirs were sold.

A collecting box sent by E. Burton-wood, assistant secretary of Warring-ton branch, to his friends Bill and BerylSymons who own the Oliver Twist Barin Gibraltar has, in just a few months,raised £64 for the RNLI .

Rutland ladies' guild held a wine,cheese and pate party at RockinghamCastle in December, by kind invitationof Commander and Mrs Michael Wat-son. Log fires blazed in the great halland panel room and together withdecorations and candles added to theatmosphere of Christmases of bygoneyears. More than 200 guests enjoyedthe evening and £450 was raised for thelifeboat service.

Elstree and Borehamwood branchreceived an unexpected donation fromthe crew of MV Dixcove, the master ofwhich is the husband of Mrs K. Smith,branch treasurer. While at anchor atKoko, Nigeria, three crew memberswalked round the promenade deckcovering about 28 miles in four hours,raising £57.31 from sponsors. Later, ata bingo evening, several crew membersdonated part of their winnings, bringingthe total up to £63.71.

North Lincolnshire Riding Clubgenerously donated the proceeds froma recent gymkhana, over £379, toGrimsby ladies' guild. The guild raisedmore than £350 with a raffle and a blan-ket collection in the ring brought in afurther £30.51.

During 1978 a group of sixth formboys of the Duke of York's RoyalMilitary School in Dover organised amarathon five-a-side football match.The boys played for 62 hours, breakingthe world record and playing their wayinto the Guinness Book of Records.The money raised from this event wassplit equally between the RNLI andone other organisation and as a result acheque for £191.92 was sent to RNLIheadquarters.

Matthew Clark and Sons, the UKagents for Martell brandy, who supplyeach lifeboat with a bottle of three-starbrandy for the survival kit , donated aUS gallon of Martell to Penlee branch.It was raffled and over £700 was raised.

With a population of only 2,002,Moffat, as far from the sea as you canget in Scotland, raised £1,066 last year.

The presentation of a chequefor £949.70 was the result ofa sponsored run from RAFSciimpton in Lincolnshire toBrighton, made by personnelfrom the RAF Base. Thejourney, made over two dayslast June, was run in relaysof three. Hartford Motors ofLincoln kindly lent threetransit vans as back upvehicles, used for eating,sleeping and relaxationrespectively.

photograph by courtesy of'Lincolnshire Echo'

Members of Adlingtonladies' guild inspect itemsdonated for their bi-annualChristmas Fair, held inAdlington Hall, a beautiful,privately owned Tudor man-sion which is open only tothe public on certain days ofthe year. In all, this eventraised, £2,281. Second fromright is Lady Johnston, atthat time chairman of theguild.

A lifebelt cheque for £200was paid into Banbury andDistrict branch's bankaccount, the money beingthe profit from a RoundTable dinner at Brackley atwhich Raymond Baxter, amember of the RNLI's Pub-lic Relations Committee wasguest speaker. Mike Long,chairman of Brackley RoundTable, and Jason Watkins,Banbury branch chairman,are ho/ding up the lifebelt.

photograph by courtesy ofBetty Black

With Christmas in mind, we are st i l lhearing from carol singers. Children ofSt Peter's Church of England PrimarySchool and St Clement's PrimarySchool, both in London, with staff andparents sang in the Kensington HighStreet Arcade each evening for a week;a cheque for £50 was sent to the RNLI ,one of a number of charities helped.Richmond-with-Kew branch held a

Vice-Admiral Sir PeterCompston (r.), chairman ofthe Fund Raising Committee,and Glyn Williams (I.), DOSWales, visited members ofBridgend ladies' guild inOctober. During the visit,Sir Peter Compston was pre-sented with a cheque for£1,725 for the RNLI from theguild.

133

\.':

In a New Year's Day'stug-of-war, Beaumarislifeboat crew (left) beat theRoyal Anglesey YachtClub for the second yearrunning. As the two teamsgot their breath backJohn Berry presented acheque for £1,200 to MrsNancy Lomax, chairmanof the ladies' guild; thiswas the amount the RoyalAnglesey YC's team effortin the Jimmy Savile, QBE,sponsored walk for thelocal lifeboat. John Berryalone had raised £777. As athank you (right) CoxswainWilliam Pritchard pre-sented Mr Berry with atankard.

An exhibition in the ArndaleCentre, Litton, duringOctober raised £1,626. AnAtlantic 21 ILB and an A runmodel were just two of theexhibits. Mr and Mrs W. J.Mobbs, the inspirationbehind these annual exhibi-tions, are seen here with theMayor of Luton, CouncillorW. Copeland.

One of the most prolific fund raisers of theIpswich and District branch is MarjorieJackson. In the last five years Mrs Jacksonhas made over 500 soft toys, raising £300 forbranch funds. In 1978 Mrs Jackson madesouvenirs for the Cup Final appearance ofIpswich Town Football Club.

Regular customers of the Brewery Shadespub, Crawley, raised £89 by dropping coinsand notes behind a glass screen in the bar.A competition to guess how much wasbehind the screen was won by Rufus, a dog.Shelagh A'Court, landlady of the Shades,Audrey, the barmaid, with Sid Layland andReg Bray of Crawley branch are seen count-ing the money.

photograph by courtesy of 'CrawleyAdvertiser'

When Leeds ladies' luncheon club cele-brated its 21st anniversary last October theoldest member, 92-year-old Mrs Rose Skel-ton, cut the birthday cake; it was later soldat lOp per portion, raising £5.50.

photograph by courtesy of JiJl Mason

During a cocktail party, organised by Kid-lington branch in November, a Solent classlifeboat cake made by Mr Franklin of LaPatisserie, a local cake shop, was presentedas a raffle prize. The party, attended by SirAlec and Lady Rose, raised £248.

very successful carol service at StMatthias Church in December; about360 local children took part, as well asThe Elizabethan Singers; the choirswere conducted by Dr Malcolm Wil-liamson, CBE, Master of the Queen'sMusic; the service was so well attendedthat even standing room was veryquickly filled, and about £300 wasraised. A carol service arranged by theSalvation Army and choirs ofBeechgrove Church of Scotland andTorry United Free Church of Scotlandraised £288 for Aberdeen branch.Thirteen-year-old Donna Simpkins ofWeybridge, Surrey raised £5.31'/2 bycarol singing.

Last September Bradford ladies'guild and luncheon club arranged afloral display at the home of Mrs S. H.Chippendale, a committee member andpast chairman of the guild. 'A Preludeto Autumn' was opened by RichardWhiteley of Yorkshire Television. Witha sherry evening, a coffee morning andvarious stalls, £954 was raised, bringingthe total raised for the RNLI in MrsChippendale's home over the years to£8,000.

Tim Gabriel and Pauline Dagleishfrom Leigh-on-Sea raised £90 by mak-ing their first ever parachute jump,sponsored, of course. Unfortunately,Tim hurt a foot on landing and had tospend the next three weeks with hisankle in plaster.

St Albans County Constitutional Club held adinner dance in November and during theevening filmed horse races were shown withthose present sponsoring horses in eachrace. A cheque for £600 resulting from thissponsorship was handed over by John Hill-ard, president of the club, to Betty Mar-riner, secretary of St Albans branch.

photograph by courtesy of the 'HertsAdvertiser'

134

A splendid bonfire, representing the Houses of Parliament, was builtby the crew of the Calshot lifeboat for their annual bonfire andfirework party which this year raised £1,700.

A display at Barclays Bank, Liscard,by kind permission of the manager, wasstaged by Wallasey guild last autumn.A 'lifeboatman', the display model forwhich was generously loaned by Bur-tons, was the centrepiece of the displaywhich also included photographs,souvenirs, and charts of Liverpool Bayshowing launches and rescues of theNew Brighton lifeboats. Altogetherover £200 was raised from the display,the sale of souvenirs and Wallasey'shouse-to-house collection.

Junior members of Wicklow Sailing Club, helped by Patrick Keogh,coxswain of Wicklow lifeboat, organised a 24-hour sponsored sail lastAugust which raised £520. The money was donated to Wicklowbranch funds.

An auction held at the Cross KeysInn raised £625 for Dinas Powisbranch. Brian Williams, the auctioneer,keeping everyone laughing, refused toaccept bids unless rounded to thenearest 50p. The lots included bottlesof wine, selling for £5; whiskey wentfor £9, and three plates of faggots weresold for £7.50.

A garden party, organised by Cam-berley branch last J u l y , raised £250, anincrease of £90 on last year's total.

In the last issue of the journal men-tion was made of the Point Battery ArtExhibition held at Old Portsmouthfrom May to September each year.Unfortunately it was not made clearthat the £975 raised for lifeboat funds in1978 as well as the monies collected inprevious years represents the volun-tary 'commissions' the artists pay onany pictures sold together with collec-tions made in boxes at either end of theexhibition area. In addition, the sale ofsouvenirs during the five summermonths of 1978 made a profitapproaching £250.

We regret that in reporting the har-vest home at The Old CoastguardHotel, Mousehole, in the last issue ofthe journal, an error was made in thenames of the organisers. The event wasarranged by Mrs Mary Williams who,in nearly 50 years service for the RNLIheld the office of chairman and secre-tary of Penlee ladies' guild for manyyears and was awarded the silver badgein 1977. She was helped by MrsRichards, the mother of the coxswainand Mrs Madron, wife of the motormechanic.

A gift of gratitude was pre-sented to Ryde stationbranch by members of 'TenMess', HMS Fife. Thirteenyears ago Petty Officer Bri-dle was rescued from a fish-ing boat accident by thelifeboat and last year he andhis shipmates collected over£400 for the RNLI. The'treasure chest' wasreceived for Ryde branch byMrs Vicky Barnes (I.),chairman, and Mrs OliveChalkley, a committeemember.

photograph by courtesy ofPortsmouth and Sunderland

Newspapers Ltd

Members of Northamptonladies' guild man therefreshment stall at a marketorganised by the branch atthe end of last year. Held inthe town's Guildhall theevent raised £535.

photograph by courtesy of'Northampton Chronicle

and Echo'

Over £241 was collected in abottle at the Jersey Tavern inWeymouth. CommanderBarney Morris, honorarysecretary of Weymouth sta-tion, with Mr and Mrs JohnWoodrow, smashed open thebottle just before Christmas.

photograph by courtesy ofBaker, Dewlish, Dorchester

135

Letters...It is a comfort to know . . .

On Sunday October 22, I was a guestaboard Yarmouth lifeboat when shewas required to answer the tragic call inChristchurch Bay. Although the seawas quiet at the time, I must say that Iwas deeply impressed by the sheer skilland professionalism displayed by thecrew.

It is a comfort to know that, in thesematerialistic times, such men, all vol-unteers, do still exist and give of them-selves freely to help those in trouble atsea.—PHILIP FINE, 5 Cannons Drive,Edgware, Middlesex.

While on exercise in the vicinity of theNeedles Light on Sunday morning,October 22, 1978, Yarmouth, Isle ofWight, lifeboat, the 52ft Arun Joy andJohn Wade was asked to go to a positiona quarter of a mile west south west ofChristchurch Ledge Buoy where afisherman had been trapped underwaterby the anchor warp of his boat. Thelifeboat's inflatable dinghy waslaunched, the body recovered andbrought ashore.-EDnoR.

Boathouse concertOf all the events held in aid of Sen-

nen Cove station each year, the concertgiven by St Buryan Male Voice Choir isone of the most popular. About tenyears ago the choir volunteered to givea concert in the boathouse and to thedelight of both local residents and visi-tors alike has returned annually sincethen. Last year was no exception. Theboathouse was filled to capacity withmen, women and children anxious tosample the sound of Cornish voicessinging in the unequalled atmosphere ofa lifeboat house.

Our boathouse is very large andhouses a lifeboat on a turntable. Fromthe boathouse two slipways stretch out

to sea: the long slip for launching andthe shorter one for recovery. The sizeof the house gives excellent acousticsand also plenty of room for anappreciative audience and that is whatwe get each year.

Even though the concert is lookedforward to each year, the coxswain andmost of the crew are always there toensure a quick and safe launch of thelifeboat should the occasion arise. For-tunately the choir has not yet beenlaunched into the Atlantic singing 'Forthose in peril on the sea' but there havebeen a couple of near misses. Once thechoir arrived for rehearsal for a concertto find no boat on which to rehearse asshe had been called out on service, andon another occasion the boat was cal-led out about 15 minutes after the con-cert had ended.

The amount raised by the choir hasincreased each year; last year £75 wasadded to our funds and everyoneassociated with Sennen Cove branch ismost grateful to the choir for itshelp.—VERONICA HUTCHINGS, 10 SeaView Terrace, Sennen, Land's End,Cornwall.

Helicopter rescuesI am currently engaged in research

into the subject of helicopter rescueoperations in, and around the coasts of,the United Kingdom between 1950 andthe present day. I would be most grate-ful if any of your readers who had beenrescued by a helicopter could write tome. As an amateur yachtsman myself Ican assure them that I would not wantto dwell too much upon any embarras-sing circumstances leading up to suchan event! I am, however, anxious toobtain as many first-hand accounts aspossible and it would be especiallyvaluable to talk to the rescued as wellas to the rescuers.

It would also be particularly interest-ing for me to make contact with thelifeboat crews who had been involvedin rescues in conjunction with RoyalAir Force, Royal Navy or civilianhelicopters.—JOHN CHARTRES, 5«Rivington Road, Hale, Altrincliam,C hex hi re.

RNLI of yesteryearAs an ardent supporter of the RNLI

and also a keen deltiologist (collector ofold postcards) what better than tocombine both activities. My collectionof postcards of yesteryear is devoted tomaritime themes, those featuring theold lifeboats and their crews being myfavourites. I have quite a comprehen-sive collection of such cards which nowand again I put on display at localfund-raising events for the RNLI. I also

Margate Launch of life Boat.

Lifeboat postcards of other days: (above) Launch of the lifeboatfrom Margate Pier, 1903 . . .

. , . and (right) South Shieldscoat of arms, 1850.

St Buryan Male Voice Choir onboard Sennen Cove's 37ft dinRather class lifeboat DianaWhite. For a number of years nowthe boathouse concerts given bythe choir have been among themost popular events in Sennen'scalendar.

136

give talks about them and write aboutthe service in various collectors'magazines. Here are just two of mylifeboat postcards.

My first introduction to the servicewas as a lad, when I lived for some 17years at Cullercoats, a small fishing vil-lage between Tynemouth and WhitleyBay, Northumberland. Just across theTyne is South Shields, the home ofWilliam Wouldhave, who first put for-ward the idea that lifeboats should beself righting, and Henry Greathead,who built the 'Original'. The SouthShields coat of arms of 1850 is bothinteresting and appropriate, inset with'always ready' and the motto 'courage—humanity—commerce', and featuringa picture of six men rowing a boat.

Now down to Margate, and thelaunch of the .lifeboat in 1903. This isone of my earliest cards. The scene israther nostalgic. The lifeboat washoused on the pier itself and launcheddown a steep ramp, and it was only inJanuary of last year that Margate pierwas so badly damaged by storm thatthe lifeboat crew had to be winched

down to the boathouse by helicopter torecover the lifeboat: another missionsafely accomplished with the co-operation of two services.—GORDONCAMPBELL, 4 Bollinbarn, Macclesfield,Cheshire.

Forrest HallReading with interest the article pub-

lished in the spring 1978 issue of THELIFEBOAT about the painting of the pic-ture of Lynmouth lifeboat on service toForrest Hall after the famous 'overlandlaunch' I was reminded of further helpgiven to Forrest Hull in 1906. Comingfrom South America, this three-mastedschooner met with severe weather andspent months at sea, with the resultthat her sails were ruined, her steeringgear fouled with barnacles and shedrifted for the Irish coast.

Forrest Hall ran into severe weatheroff south west Kerry and it happenedthat some fishermen saw her. Theymade for the schooner and the captainexplained his plight. The fishermengave them water and provisions andpiloted the vessel into the then Coast

Guard station at Ballinskelligs Bay, justwhere I live. She was kept for weeks inthe harbour at Ballinskelligs for repairand her crew were cared for by localpeople.

I was 50 years in the Coast Life Sav-ing Service at Waterville and alsohelped the RNLI; during the war wealso helped crews of wrecked vesselsthat came ashore.—T. O'MALLEY,Spunkane, Waterville, Co. Kerry.

RNLI National lotteryThank you so much for the cheque

for £25. It is only the second raffle Ihave ever got anything back from in mylife!

We are always thinking of thelifeboatmen whenever we are afloat;and if, by some extraordinary mishap,they do not manage to salvage us whenneeded, we have left them a little some-thing in our wills.—MARGARET D.HARDWICK, Eastfield, Cheselbourne,Dorchester, Dorset.

Mrs Hardwick was one of the winnersof the fourth lottery.—EDITOR.

Shoreline from page 128

had already arrived, so joined their col-leagues for a 'hard sell'. The excite-ment grew. We put up a notice tellingthe public of our aim. We wrote boldlythe number now needed, periodicallycrossing it out and substituting the newlower number. At about 2.45 pm wesent a message to the bank. Just before3 pm our 1,000th member arrived at thestand, and at 1505 ceremonially signedhis name.

After that we experienced somethingof an anticlimax, though numbers stillgrew. When the show closed we hadenrolled 1,015 new Shoreline members.Next year . . . well perhaps we'll waituntil we get our breath back before westart thinking of new targets!

Last year I was interested to find thatwe enrolled several members fromabroad, particularly from Belgium andThe Netherlands. The trend continuedthis year, and we are spreading our

membership surprising widely. Twonon-English speaking Italians asked fora Shoreline badge. We explained thatthey were for members only—so theyjoined! A yachtsman from Greece andalso some Australians are nowShoreline members. In fairness we hadto tell them that there was no RNLIboat near their own sailing waters, butthanks to our worthy membership sec-retary we overcame the problem. Peterhas agreed to our suggestion that heshould keep a dinghy moored at Poole,and that he should row out to far-flungwaters should any of our membersneed help! It is rumoured that he isalready planning to get in training byrowing round the harbour each morn-ing. Whether or not this influenced ournew members I do not know, but weare delighted to welcome them into ourexclusive circle of enthusiasts.

We were the same team as last year,and we look on the show as a time ofreunion. In addition to recruitment, wewere kept busy selling insignia and

renewing membership. Some membersmake a point of coming to Earl's Courtfor that purpose. Indeed, it is a time ofmeeting old friends and scarcely a daypassed without our greeting someonewe knew. It was especially pleasing tosee several small parties of lifeboatcrew members, some from as far awayas Scotland. With so many memberswearing Shoreline badges and ties itmeant that we could extend a welcomeinstead of eye-ing them hopefully andsaying, 'Can we interest you inShoreline membership?'

It was a tired but very happy partywho went for a modest celebrationafter the show had closed.—HAROLDAPPLETON.

In conclusion, may I wish you all ahappy summer season, and good sail-ing.—PETER HOLNESS, membershipsecretary, RNLI, West Quay Road,Poole, Dorset, BH15 1HZ (Tel. Poole71133).

Clacton from page 119

raised £630 to pay for the radio in theILB. Clacton Round Table presented£100. St Osyth Training College gavethe proceeds of its annual rag week,£300. Clacton Operatic Society pre-sented £150. Tollesbury Sailing Club£214; Clacton Swimming Club £113;York Road Bowls Club £55; ClactonHotels and Guest Houses raised £50 andClacton Golf Club £55. But it wasnot only local organisations that helpedso generously. Wyboston Sailing Club,based at Hatfield, generously gave£1,200; Newport Pagnall GrammarSchool raised £330 and RNLI branches

at Stevenage, Harlow, Wembley andCuffley also sent donations.

First day covers were sold over theyear and the RNLI philatelic agentsreported a sell out, resulting in nearly£400 to the RNLI. A Century of Val-our, the history of Clacton's lifeboats,sold over 3,000 copies and the souvenirstand run by George Ellis in the boat-house also had a record year.

The result of this 'year of thelifeboat' at Clacton? It was a lot of hardwork for the ladies' guild, committee,the crew themselves and helpers andthe never-tiring honorary secretary,Ken Broad. It was also fun and in thefinal count out raised over £10,000.How proud the Clacton folk are of theirlifeboats!

Now available . . .For model makers: Model flag transfers(scale lin to 12in) from headquartersprice 40p per set of two, including p.and p. Please send order, with remit-tance, to APRO, RNLI, West QuayRoad, Poole, Dorset, BH15 1HQ.

For stamp collectors: RNLI com-memorative cover catalogue and refer-ence book, giving details of every offi-cial cover and special postcard issuedto the end of 1978 together with anup-to-date price list. There is also asection on other covers associated withlifeboats. Price £2, including p. and p.,from RNLI Philatelic Agents, 13 BestLane, Canterbury, Kent.

137

Awardsto Coxswains, Crews

and Shore Helpers

The following coxswains, members oj lifeboat crews and shore helperswere awarded certificates of service on their retirement and, in addition,those entitled to them by the Institution's regulations, were awarded anannuity, gratuity or pension.

AldeburghM. Watson

R. W. Wood

ArranmoreP. M. Boyle

BallycottonM. C. Walsh

Barra IslandJ. MacLeod

BuckleG. G. Wood

CampbeltownW. Wareham

CoverackH. J. Martin

CricciethR. E. Jones

CromerD. F. Abbs

L. J. Harrison(Posthumous)

FalmouthC. Barnicoat

Flam bo roughG. R. Pockley

FoweyJ. Turpin, BEM

GirvanG. Moffat

Assistant Mechanic 20 years.

Coxswain 20 yearsSecond Coxswain 4 yearsBowman 1 yearBronze medal 1972.

Assistant Motor Mechanic 9 yearsCrew Member 15 years.

Bowman 21 '/4 yearsCrew Member 3'/2 years.

Coxswain 14 yearsSecond Coxswain 5 yearsBowman 2 yearsCrew Member 7 years.

Coxswain 4 yearsSecond Coxswain 4 yearsCrew Member 7 years.

Coxswain 4 yearsSecond Coxswain 2 yearsBowman 6 yearsCrew Member 2 years.

Crew Member and Shore Helper 37 years.

ILB Crew Member 11 years.

ILB Crew Member IO'/2 years.

Assistant Motor Mechanic 30 Vi years.

Shore Signalman 20 years.

Coxswain 8 yearsSecond Coxswain 2 yearsBowman 1 yearCrew Member 8 yearsBronze medal 1971.

Coxswain 19 yearsAssistant Mechanic 11 yearsCrew Member 10 years.

Crew Member 20 years.

HumberR. W. Major

IlfracombeA. B. Schiller(Posthumous)

LerwickJ. A. Mouat

Littlestone-on-SeaH. F. Slade

LowestoftT. V. Knott

Lytham-St Anne'sG. Harrison, BEM

G. Holt

MargateF. T. M. Durrani

MontroseW. Sorbie

NewcastleD. Murphy

NewquayR. A. Eglington

North SunderlandR. Dawson

PadstowA. W. Warnock

PlymouthF. E. Jago

Port IsaacD. G. Bolton

D. B. Knight

R. W. T. Parsons

PortpatrickA. A. Mitchell(Posthumous)

D. S. Tail

Port rushG. Chambers, BEM(Posthumous)

W. H. Lee

Crew Member 1% yearsMotor Mechanic (Flamborough) 2% yearsAssistant Motor Mechanic(Flamborough) 4'/4 yearsCrew Member (Flamborough) 4 years.

Crew Member 21 years.

Assistant Motor Mechanic 18 yearsCrew Member 2 years.

ILB Crew Member 12 years.

Coxswain/Mechanic 10 yearsMotor Mechanic 12 yearsBronze medal 1974Bar to his bronze medal 1976.

Motor Mechanic 39% yearsBronze medal 1940.

Shore Signalman 11 years.

Head Launcher 6 yearsCrew Member 9 years.

Motor Mechanic 213/4 yearsAssistant Motor Mechanic 3 yearsReserve Mechanic l'/3 years.

Bowman 16 years.

ILB Crew Member 13 years.

Assistant Motor Mechanic 10 yearsAssistant Tractor Driver 11'/2 yearsILB Crew Member 9 years.

Coxswain 63/4 yearsMotor Mechanic (Seaham) 4 yearsCrew Member (Humber) PA yearsReserve Mechanic 1 '/4 yearsSilver medal 1977.

Second Coxswain 6% years-Crew Member 3 yearsILB Crew Member 5'/z years.

ILB Crew Member 11 years.

ILB Crew Member 11 years.

ILB Crew Member 10 years.

Coxswain/Mechanic lO'A yearsReserve Mechanic 18 years.

Second Coxswain 12% years.

Second Coxswain/Mechanic 23A yearsMotor Mechanic 28'/3 yearsAssistant Mechanic 23A years.

Bowman 14 yearsCrew Member 12 years.

138

PwllheliM. Faulkner

RamseyJ. E. Collister

RunswickJ. Clark

W. Cole

G. C. Harrison

N. Hinchley

S. H. Rowe

G. Theaker

G. Verrill

J. Wright

W. Wright

St Peter PortR. Munson

ScarboroughT. W. Rowley

W. Sheader. BEM

Sennen CoveH. K. Pengilly(Posthumous)

SunderlandJ. Finn

R. Finn

J. Todd

SwanageR. J. Hardy

TorbavG. E/Dyer

WellsG. Jay

Assistant Mechanic 2V< yearsSecond Assistant Mechanic 3'/4 yearsCrew Member 4 yearsII,B Crew Member 7V: years.

Assistant Tractor Driver andTractor Maintenance Mechanic26 years.

Crew Member 12 years.

Motor Mechanic 26V: years.

Coxswain 3-'/4 yearsSecond Coxswain 4 yearsCrew Member 16 years.

Coxswain IV: yearsCrew Member IS'/2 years.

Tractor Driver 1 1 yearsAssistant Tractor Driver 8 years.

Shore Helper and Head Launcher1 1 years.

Assistant Motor Mechanic 8-'/4 yearsCrew Member 22 years.

Second Coxswain I 'h yearsCrew Member 18V: years.

Crew Member 17 years.

Crew Member 21 years.

Second Coxswain 20 yearsBowman 2'/4 yearsCrew Member 3 yearsBronze medal 197.1.

Coxswain 20 yearsSecond Coxswain 3 yearsBowman 3 yearsSecond Assistant Motor Mechanic

4 yearsCrew Member 3 yearsSilver medal 1970.

Coxswain/Mechanic 9 yearsCoxswain IV< yearsSecond Coxswain 3'/3 yearsReserve Mechanic 2 yearsSilver medal 1977.

Crew Member 21 years.

Crew Member 21 years andILB Crew Member 7 years.

Crew Member 25 years andILB Crew Member 3 years.

Coxswain 12 yearsSecond Coxswain 14 yearsBronze medal 1970Bar to his bronze medal 1976.

Coxswain 2V: yearsSecond Coxswain 4 yearsCrew Member I91/: yearsBronze medal 1978.

Crew Member and Shore Helper23 years

Head Launcher 7 years.

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Lifeboat Servicesfrom page 118

Auxiliary Coastguard Porlock setwatch.

Minehead Zodiac Mark V ILB, withHelmsman D. James in command andK. Escott and S. Canning as crew,launched at 1955 into a choppy sea andheaded west for Porlock Bay at fullspeed. There was a fresh to strongbreeze blowing from the south southwest and it was 2'/2 hours to high water.

The yacht was soon sighted, drifting.A rope had fouled her propeller, pullingthe shaft from the coupling. She wasclose inshore and, with the tide flood-ing, was in danger of going on therocks.

Crew Member Canning boarded theyacht and helped to get her anchor, thechain of which had fouled in thehawsepipe. She was then taken in tow,reaching Minehead Harbour safely at2205. With a cross wind, which by thenhad risen to strong to near gale, and arough and confused sea it had been avery difficult passage.

The ILB returned to station at 2210and was rehoused and once again readyfor service at 2245.

Eastern Division

Cut off by tideCRIES FOR HELP heard at Stone Bay,4'/2 miles west of Margate lifeboat sta-tion, were reported to HM Coastguardby telephone at 1843 on TuesdayOctober 10, 1978. Margate D class ILBlaunched six minutes later and set off atfull speed.

It was high water, the sea wassmooth and a gentle breeze was blow-ing from the south south east. Arrivingon scene the ILB found two young girlswho had been cut off by the tide. Twoboys who had tried to rescue themwere themselves in a dangerous posi-tion. All four were embarked in theILB, landed at Broadstairs Harbourand taken home by Coastguard mobile.

The ILB returned to her station at1941 and was rehoused and ready forservice ten minutes later.

Services by OffshoreLifeboats, September,October and November,1978Amble, NorthumberlandOctober 7Angle, DyfedOctober 1, 7 and November 4Anstruther, FifeSeptember 28Arklow, Co. WicklowOctober 2

Arranmore, Co. DonegalSeptember 18, 20, October 4 andNovember 5Ballycotton, Co. CorkNovember 8Baltimore, Co. CorkNovember 7Barmouth, GwyneddOctober 5 and November 22Barrow, CumbriaOctober 13Barry Dock, South GlamorganSeptember 6 and 13Beaumaris, GwyneddNovember 21Bridlington, HumbersideSeptember 12, October 7, 10, November 1,11, 12 and 15Broughty Ferry, AngusSeptember 3, 16, 17, October 6 andNovember 23Buckie, BanffshireSeptember 22Calshot, HampshireNovember 4, 15 and 19Campbeltown, ArgyllshireSeptember 14Clacton-on-Sea, EssexSeptember 26 and November 4Clovelly, North DevonOctober 8Cromer, NorfolkSeptember 4 and 13Dungeness, KentOctober 22Dun Laoghaire, Co. DublinNovember 12Exmouth, South DevonOctober 10Falmouth, CornwallNovember 27Filey, North YorkshireSeptember 16 (twice), 17, November 3, 26and 30Fishguard, DyfedOctober 4Flamborough, HumbersideSeptember 12 and November 1Fleet wood, LancashireSeptember 11, October 8, 24 andNovember 5Fowey, CornwallSeptember 19 and October 30Galway Bay, Co. GalwaySeptember 4 and October 8Girvan, AyrshireNovember 8 and 20Great Yarmouth and Gorleston, NorfolkOctober 7Hartlepool, ClevelandSeptember 3, November 3 and 28Harwich, EssexSeptember 9, 24, October 10, November 22and 25Hastings, East SussexSeptember 11, October 12 and 18Holyhead, GwyneddSeptember 1 and 5Howth, Co. DublinSeptember 10, 29, October 15 andNovember 6Hoylake, MerseysideOctober 31Humber, HumbersideSeptember 2, 13, 16, 18 (twice), 24,October 2, 4, 14, 27, November 19, 22, 25and 26Islay, ArgyllshireSeptember 14Kirkcudbright, KirkcudbrightshireOctober 6Kirk wall, OrkneySeptember 16, October 14, November 18and 19

Lerwick, ShetlandOctober 21 and 27Llandudno, GwyneddSeptember 10 and October 9Lochinver, SutherlandSeptember 23 and 28Lowestoft, SuffolkOctober 1, 15 and November 15Lytham-St Anne's, LancashireSeptember 11, 18 and November 12Margate, KentOctober 27Moelfre, GwyneddOctober 12 and November 15Newbiggin, NorthumberlandNovember 19North Sunderland, NorthumberlandNovember 27Oban, ArgyllshireSeptember 10Padstow, CornwallSeptember 8 and November 5Peterhead, AberdeenshireNovember 10Poole, DorsetNovember 2Port Erin, Isle of ManSeptember 8Pwllheli, GwyneddSeptember 16Ramsgate, KentSeptember 24, October 3, 29, November 10and 24Redcar, ClevelandOctober 30Rhyl, ClwydOctober 22Rosslare Harbour, Co. WexfordOctober 13 and 28St David's, DyfedOctober 12St Helier, JerseySeptember 26 and November 5St Ives, CornwallOctober 6, 29 and November 5St Peter Port, GuernseySeptember 16, 17 and November 17Salcombe, South DevonSeptembers, 15, October9, 11, November6, 14 and 22Scarborough, North YorkshireSeptember 1, 16 and November 24 (twice)Seaham, Co. DurhamNovember 3, 4 and 26Selsey, SussexSeptember 15, 16 and 22Sheerness, KentSeptember 19, 27, October 13, November11 and 19Sheringham, NorfolkSeptember 8Shoreham Harbour, West SussexOctober 10Skegness, LincolnshireSeptember 11 and October 4Stornoway, Ross-shireNovember 20Stromness, OrkneyOctober 14Sunderland, Tyne and WearOctober 3Swanage, DorsetSeptember 10Teesmouth, ClevelandSeptember 3Tenby, DyfedSeptember 19Thurso, CaithnessNovember 9Torbay, South DevonSeptember 14, 15, 27, October 10,November 11 and 30Tynemouth, Tyne and WearSeptember 7 and 10

141

Walmer, KentSeptember 3 and November 1 1Walton and Frinton, EssexSeptember 16 and November 2Weymouth, DorsetSeptember 10 (twice). 24, October 7,December 12 and 14Whitby, North YorkshireSeptember 16 and November 24Wicklow, Co. WicklowSeptember 10Workington, CumbriaSeptember 2 and November 12Yarmouth, Isle of WightSeptember 9, 10, October 22. 31 andDecember 2Lifeboat ON 1046 on trialsSeptember 30Lifeboat ON 912 on passageNovember 20

Services by InshoreLifeboats, September,October and November,1978Aberdovey, GwyneddSeptembers, November 12 and 30Abersoch, GwyneddSeptember 16 and 17Aberystwyth, DyfedOctober 13Aldeburgh, SuffolkSeptember 23Atlantic College, South GlamorganSeptember 2. 3 and October 15Barmouth, GwyneddSeptember 8 and 9Beaumaris, GwyneddSeptember 25, October 8, 17 andNovember 10Blackpool, LancashireSeptember 9 (twice) and October 7Berth, DyfedOctober 20 and 29Bridlington, HumbersideSeptember 5,17, October 8 and 29Brighton, East SussexSeptember 9 (twice) and November 5Broughty Ferry, AngusOctober 8 and 15Bude, CornwallOctober 16Burry Port, DyfedSeptember 20Cardigan, DyfedSeptember 6Clacton-on-Sea, EssexNovember 12 and 28Conwy, GwyneddSeptember 3 and 23Craster, NorthumberlandSeptember 20Criccieth, GwyneddSeptember 16 and November 3

Cromer, NorfolkSeptember 9 and November 2Cullercoats, Tyne and WearSeptember 10Dunbar, East LothianSeptember 2 and 24Eastbourne, East SussexSeptember 8, 24, 30. November 12 and 25Filey, North YorkshireSeptember 17Fleetwood, LancashireSeptember 16Flint, ClwydSeptember 15Great Yarmouth and Gorleston, NorfolkSeptember 3, 5, 19 and November 23Happisburgh, NorfolkSeptember 10 and 16Hartlepool, ClevelandSeptember 3, 7 and October 12Harwich, SuffolkSeptember 6, 20, 23, October 1 andNovember 26Hastings, East SussexSeptember 14 and October 18Hayling Island, HampshireSeptember 7, 9, November 10, 11 and 12Helensburgh, DunbartonshireSeptember 9, 15, 28 (twice) and November25Howth, Co. DublinOctober 7Largs, AyrshireSeptember 2, 14 and 16Littlehampton, West SussexSeptember 9, 12, 14, 23, October 8, 22 andNovember 12Llandudno, GwyneddSeptember 7, 16, 17 and October 9Lyme Regis, DorsetSeptember 3 and November 1Lymington, HampshireOctober 18, November 4 and 5Lytham-St Anne's, LancashireSeptember 16, 18 and November 12Margate, KentSeptember 8 (twice), 10 and October 10Minehead, SomersetSeptember 2, October 7 and 15 (twice)Moelfre, GwyneddOctober 5 (twice)Mudeford, DorsetSeptember 10, October 15, 18 andNovember 9New Brighton, MerseysideSeptember 1 ,5 , 23, 24, October?, 13 and14New Quay, DyfedOctober 31Newquay, CornwallSeptember 9Oban, ArgyllshireSeptember 2 and 10Peel, Isle of ManSeptember 5, October 2, November 1. 24and 25Poole, DorsetOctober 18 and November 18Porthcawl, Mid GlamorganOctober 1

Port Isaac, CornwallSeptember 4Portsmouth (Langstone Harbour),HampshireSeptember 8 (twice), 10, 24, November 5, 6and 12 (twice)Queensferry, West LothianOctober 21, November 12 and 13Ramsgate, KentSeptember 15 and October 27Redcar, ClevelandSeptember 13, October 8 and 22Rhyl, ClwydSeptember 8, 19 and October 5Rye Harbour, East SussexOctober 1St Bees, CumbriaSeptember 2 and 6St Catherines, JerseySeptember 10St Ives, CornwallSeptember 4, 15, October 11 and 14Sheerness, KentSeptember 2, 10, 18, October 1. November1 and 10Shoreham Harbour, West SussexSeptember 22, October 10 and 22Skegness, LincolnshireSeptember 4, 9, 13, 21 and 24 (twice)Southend-on-Sea, EssexSeptember 3 (twice), 4, 7. 10 (three times),15, 17, 18, 19, 24 (twice), 26, October 1. 7(three times) 19, November 5 and 26Southwold, SuffolkNovember 27Staithes and Runswick, ClevelandSeptember 20 and October 30Stonehaven, KincardineshireSeptember 9 and 10Stranraer, WigtownshireSeptember 17 and October 26Tenby, DyfedSeptember 24The Mumbles, West GlamorganOctober 14Torbay, South DevonSeptember 1 1 (three times), 30, October I(twice), 13, 28 and 30Tramore, Co. WaterfordOctober 31Trearddur Bay, GwyneddSeptember 22Tynemouth, Tyne and WearNovember 23Walmer, KentSeptember 3 (twice)West Kirby, MerseysideSeptember 17 and November 12West Mersea, EssexSeptember 1, 3. 14, 16. 22. 24 ( twice) . 30.October 1 . 2 1 . November 5 and 13Weston-super-Mare, AvonSeptember 13, 16 (twice), 24 ( twice) , 26(twice), October 27, November 7 (twice)and 12 (twice)Whitstable, KentSeptember?, 10. 16. 19, 24, October 22.November 5 and 21Withernsea, HumbersideSeptember 9. October 4 and 8

SERVICES AND LIVES SAVED BY OFFSHORE AND INSHORE LIFEBOATSJanuary 1, 1978 to December 31, 1978: Services 2,334; lives saved 911

THE STATION FLEET(as at 31/12/78)

133 offshore lifeboats 125 inshore lifeboats operating in the summer50 inshore lifeboats operating in the winter

LIVES RESCUED 104,191from the Institution's foundation in 1824 to December 31, 1978

142

TWA is pleased to beassociated with the

Royal National Life-Boat Institutionand offers every good wish for the future.

No. 1 across the Atlantic.

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143

Index to Advertisers PageBirds Eye Foods Inside back CoverDavid & Charles (Publishers) 110Even Sailwear Ltd 140Functional Clothing . . .Inside Front CoverGlanvill Enthoven & Co Ltd HODavid Jolly (Tiller Master) 131Brian Manby Photography Ltd 140Maritime Book Society Back CoverMermaid Marine Engines Ltd 139Nauticalia Ltd 144NECO Marine Ltd 140RNLI Kensington Branch 144Temple Insurance Brokers 143Trans World Airlines 143Whites (Farnborough) Ltd 110

Classified AdvertisementsAll Classifieds are subject to pre-payment at20p per word, minimum ten words.

ACCOMMODATIONBR1XHAM, Devon. Beside outer harbour,overlooking Torbay Lifeboat. Comfortablyfurnished self catering holiday apartments,each with lounge/diner, fridge, televisionand modern electric facilities for 2-6 per-sons. (Children over 8 years.) Residentproprietors associated with TorbayLifeboat. Stamp please for brochure: G. A.Smith, "Harbour Lights", 69 Berry HeadRoad, Brixham. Telephone 4816.PORT ISAAC, Cornwall. Overlooking PortIsaac Bay on North Cornwall footpathroute. Family Guest House, Bed and Break-fast, evening meal optional. Cornwall regis-tered accommodation. Proprietress: Mrs K.M. Castle, 12 Tintagel Terrace, Port Isaac.Telephone Port Isaac (020888) 383.

NORTH DEVON. Period farm cottage. 2miles from Welcombe Beach. Sleeps six.Cooker, refrigerator and television. Tele-phone Holsworthy (0409) 253030.

NORTH WALES, ABERSOCH,GWYNEDD. Licensed family hotel.Located in the centre of this attractive holi-day village. Adjacent to all amenities, yachtand golf clubs, horse riding and fabulousbeaches. Ideal centre for exploring thebeauty of the Lleyn Peninsula. Dinner, Bedand Breakfast. "Carisbrooke" Hotel. PhoneAbersoch (075881) 2526.

BRIGHTON, E. SUSSEX. Small familyguest house. Bed/breakfast/optional eveningmeal. Five minutes from sea, shops andpavilion. Brochure from Shoreline member,Mrs Beard, Queens Park G.H., 20 QueensPark Road, Brighton. Tel: (0273) 685230.

MALIN HEAD, Co. DONEGAL. Sceneryand solitude in traditional cottage on Ire-land's most Northerly headland. LooksWestward over sea to mountains, head-lands. All modern comforts. Suitable for 2/3adults ONLY. May £30.00, June/September£35.00, July/August £40.00 per week. MrsMcCormick, Brooklyn, Greencastle, Co.Donegal. Tel: Greencastle 5.

ROCK. Sheltered estuary resort on beauti-ful North Cornish coast between Padstowand Port Isaac. Shoreline member offersfamily guest house accommodation backingonly St. Enodoc Golf Course and only 400yards beaches/sailing. Comfort and goodfood. B and B, evening meal optional,reductions for children. "Speedwell",Rock, Wadebridge. Phone: Trebetherick(020 886) 2260.

THE OLD HOTEL, RUSWARP, WHITBY.Delightful Jacobean Hall bordering theglorious North Yorkshire moors andbeaches. Ideal for fishing, boating, walkingor relaxing. Residential proprietors ensurewarm hospitality and good food. 20 bed-room family hotel, radio and baby listeningsystem, lounge, television lounge, restaurant,bar. Brochure—Whitby (0947) 2801.

PAINTINGSYOUR LIFEBOAT IN OILS. On canvas36" x 28" £45.00. s.a.e. Lee, 9 Esplanade,Weymouth, Dorset.

TROPHIESRace Sets-Mainsails-Dinghies-Cups. W. &E. Astin, 7 Westerly Lane, Shelley, Hud-dersfield. Kirkburton 2368.

INSURANCEFOR ALL INSURANCE. Phone, call orwrite J. A. HARRISON (Brokers) Ltd,'Security House', 160-161 BromsgroveStreet, Birmingham B5 6NY. Tel: 021-6921245 (10 lines). For keenest rates, serviceand security.

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Retirements, Presentations and Trophies.Fully detailed replicas of individual boats,with crews, mounted on realistic sea basesin perspex showcase. Each a tiny gem pro-viding a truly 'live' unique miniature.Details: Brian H. Williams, Marine ModelArtist, 'West Rock', The Cleave, Kingsand,Nr Torpoint, Cornwall PL10 INF (0752)822638.

MISCELLANEOUSPOSTERS in sepia, 20" x 15". 4-mastedBarque, Rowing Lifeboat, Norfolk Wherry,Cromer Fisherman, Scots Fishergirls atYarmouth. All early 1900s; 45p each plus pand p 25p any quantity. Dept LB, Poppy-land Publishing, 4a Chesterfield Villas,Cromer, Norfolk.FISHERMAN'S SMOCKS, navy drill. Allsizes £4.95 delivered. Rockall Wear, 138Narrow Lane, Halesowen B62 9NX.

SPONSORSHIPAdvertiser/Sponsor wanted for 1980OSTAR. John Beharrell, 2 St. Luke's Close,Holmes Chapel, Cheshire CW4 7BT. Tel:(0477) 33546.

RNLI Symbol Sweater

This unique sweater in navy courtelle or botany wool has the RNLI symbolwoven

Adult sizes 34" to 46" and crew neck style only.

BotenyWool £12.50 Prices include P & P (UK)Limited stocks only can be held, so allow 8-10 weeks for delivery.Branches and Guilds ordering 12 or more for direct delivery from the factory,

deduct 10%, but allow 12 weeks.Cash with order please, stating size, to

Mrs. M. W. Heaton, RNLI Kensington, 41 a WarwickGardens, London W14 8PL (Tel: 01-603 9373).

'US...

IN TOPQUALITYPOLISHED

BRASS

Sent, engraved,by RETURN

parcel postDeep-engraved

with name of

vessel, port,date, etc or name of your house, pub or club.

The proportions of these bells, and the metal used,give them a fine ringing tone which meets maritimeauthority requirements. They are sand-cast, turnedon the outside, polished to a brilliant finish, andlacquered. Each bell is bolted to a swan-necked wall-mounting bracket. The clappers, fitted with lanyardrings, are steel hung for durability. Engraved lettersare machine cut, proportionate to the size of the bell.

4in. bell £9.70 Engraving 30p letter Post 75p5in. bell £13.70 Engraving 30p letter Post 95p6in. bell £17.10 Engraving 60p letter Post 95p7in. bell £20.90 Engraving 60p letter Post £1.20Sin. bell £32.70 Engraving 60p letter Post£1.30

Hand-made decorative bell-ropes:For4-6in. bells £3.50 For 7-8in. bells £6.95

GNauticatiaDept. LB4

121 High Street, Shepperton-on-Thames, MiddlesexTW17 9BL Tel: Walton-on-Thames 44396

144

The Captaintakes his hat off

totheRNLL

SAIL IN SAFETYTake these 2 books

FOR ONLY £ Iwhen you join the bi-monthly

POST FREE

,

YACHTMASTERThe Art ofSeamiiiishib

Publishedat £9.90

Weekend sailor or ocean-goingmariner, would-be boat-owner orarmchair traveller, whatever yourinterest in ships and the water,the Maritime Book Society has abook for you.

Step-by-step guides to the con-struction, maintenance and repairof boats of all types; sailing, powerboating and water sports; weatherforecasting, navigation and equip-ment; canals and inland water-ways; the seashore; marinepainting; maritime history andwarfare: these are just some ofthe subjects covered in a wealthof practical and information /books.

The Maritime Book Societyoffers publishers' own editions'ata discount of up to 25% off tttepublisher's price and sometimeseven more!

You have time to choose —the society newsletter con/es toyou FREE every two morwhs. Itis packed with the very best mari-time books and all we as)c is thatyou select four books during yourfirst year of membershy

>: Maritime Book Society. PO Box 6, Newton Abbot, Devon

I would like to join the MARITIME BOOK SOCIETY and claim CoastalNavigation and Yachtmaster Offshore at the special price of £1 POST FREE(and Little Ship Meteorology if I return this coupon before 11th May 1979). Iagree to take 4 books (in addition to the introductory offer) during my firstyear of membership and will pay upon receipt for any books I choose.

(Please allow up to 21 days for delivery)

Mr/lv1rs/Miss_

Address

Signature.tor if under 18 signature of Parent or Guardian j/^ -*

FREE GIFT!// you return this coupon before"11th May 1979, you will alsoreceive ABSOLUTELY FREE LittleShip Meteorology (published at£3.95), which shows yachtsmenhow to form a general picture ofthe weather and the way it ischanging.

Little ShipMeteorology