Volume XLIV Number 457 Autumn 1976

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THELIFEBOATAutumn 1976

/^^ u. j. Notes of the Quarter, by the editor 183

Lifeboat Services ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 185

Naming Ceremony: Fleetwood ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 191

Volume XLIV T . n _ D . , _ . , n .In All Respects Ready for Sea, by Joan Davies ... 192

rSUmDci 457 Righting Trials of the first 37'Oakley lifeboat to be fitted with radar ... 196

Gifts in Kind 196

Chairman: Model Lifeboats ... 197MAJOR-GENERAL R. H. FARRANT, CB

Trinity House 198

Director and Secretary:CAPTAIN NIGEL DixoN, RN Maritime Buoyage System A 200

Obituary ... 201

Shoreline ... 202

Building a Rother Class Lifeboat: Part I ... ... ... 203Editor:PATRICK HOWARTH Around the Coast 204

Assistant Editor: Some Ways of Raising Money 205JOANDAVIES Letters 208

R/T Distress Procedure Changes ... 209Headquarters:Royal National Life-boat Institution, Two LP Records for the RNLI 209West Quay Road, Poole, Dorset BH15 R , Rpvipws ,,n1HZ (Telephone Poole 71133). Book Reviews 210

Offshore Lifeboat Services, March, April and May 1976 ... 213London Office:Royal National Life-boat Institution, 21 Inshore Lifeboat Services, March, April and May 1976 214Ebury Street, London SW1W OLD(Telephone 01-730 0031). Index to Advertisers 216

COVER PICTURE

Coxswain Arthur Liddon of Dover joined thelifeboat crew in 1950. He became assistantmechanic in July 1952, second coxswain inApril 1966 and coxswain/mechanic in 1967.He was awarded the silver medal for gallantryfor a service on the evening of last December1, when he took the 44' Waveney lifeboatFaithful Forester to the aid of the coasterPrimrose in storm force winds gusting tohurricane force. This photograph was takenby Peter Phillips.

Editorial: All material submitted forconsideration with a view to publicationin the journal should be addressed to theeditor, THE LIFEBOAT, Royal NationalLife-boat Institution, West Quay Road,Poole, Dorset BH15 1HZ (TelephonePoole 71133). Photographs intended forreturn should be accompanied by astamped and addressed envelope.

Next Issues: The winter issue of THELIFEBOAT will appear in January andnews items should be sent by the end ofOctober. News items for the spring issueshould be sent in by the end of January.

Advertisements: All advertising en-quiries should be addressed to DysonAdvertising Services, PO Box 9, Godal-ming, Surrey (Telephone Godalming(04868) 23675).

Subscription: A year's subscription offour issues costs £1.40, includingpostage, but those who are entitled toreceive THE LIFEBOAT free of charge willcontinue to do so. Overseas subscrip-tions depend on the cost of postage tothe country concerned.

181

Backbone ofthe FishingTrade.

This was one that didn't getaway. One of a thousand million.

A thousand million of thereasons why every day and nightmen put out to sea in all weathersto earn their living.

A thousand million reasonswhy lifeboatmen are needed asmuch as they are.

We at Birds Eye would like tovoice our appreciation of thelifeboatmen. We are proud of ourlong association with them.

182

NOTES OFTHE QUARTER

by the Editor

TO MARK THE FRIENDSHIP and mutualgoodwill shown during the bicentennialcelebrations of the American Declara-tion of Independence a number ofleading Americans in Britain havedecided to appeal to their fellow citizensto provide a new Waveney lifeboat forthe RNLI. Their choice of a lifeboat isgratifying evidence of the esteem inwhich the RNLI is so widely held.

Perhaps the best known of the Ameri-cans who have agreed to serve onthe committee is Douglas Fairbanks.Others who have signified their willing-

ness to serve include officials of theUnited States Embassy, leading servicechiefs (Admiral David H. Bagley,Commander - in - Chief U.S. NavalForces, Europe, is among them), repre-sentatives of oil interests, banking, thepress and commerce generally. FrankGoodhue, Vice-President of the NationalCity Bank, and Bruce Mitchell, Vice-President and Manager of the Bank ofAmerica in London, have agreed to actas honorary treasurers and an accounthas been opened at the Bank of Americaat 27-29 Walbrook, London, EC4.

British citizens who have agreed toserve on the appeal committee includetwo former Prime Ministers, EdwardHeath and Sir Harold Wilson, the FirstSea Lord and the Chief of the Air Staffas well as former ambassadors, leadingindustrialists and well known RNLIfigures such as the Duke of Atholl,Raymond Baxter and Vice-Admiral SirPeter Compston.

Details of the progress of the appealwill be announced in future numbers ofTHE LIFEBOAT.

Rarity of salvageThe old belief that RNLI crews

regularly claim salvage is effectivelydispelled by a detailed summary ofservices by RNLI lifeboats to pleasurecraft last year. Offshore and inshorelifeboats were launched to the help ofpleasure craft 1,604 times in all. Thevalue of the boats they saved is estimatedto have exceeded £2 million yet only fivesalvage claims in all were put forwardby crews. The total amount received insettlement is not known, but if dividedamong lifeboatmen generally it wouldbe extremely unlikely that it would buy

On July 6 HRH The Duke of Kent, President of the RNLI, visited three Scottish lifeboat stations:Invergordon and Macduff, both established in 1974, and Buckle, established in I860. At each theDuke inspected the lifeboat and met lifeboatmen, their families and station officials and he is seenin this picture, at Buckie, shaking hands with Kevin Philip, son of Assistant Motor MechanicGordon Philip (extreme right); introducing them is Coxswain George Wood.

photograph by courtesy of W. F. Johnston

them as much as half a pint of beer each.The number of RNLI services to

pleasure craft last year was high, amoun-ting to 63% of the 1688 launches byinshore lifeboats and 46% of launchesby offshore lifeboats. By far the com-monest reason for calling upon theservices of lifeboats was machineryfailure. Out of 251 services to pleasurecraft by offshore lifeboats when vesselswere saved, 127 were to the aid of boatswhose engines had failed.

Fire at Southern!The disastrous fire which wrecked

Southend Pier on the evening of July 29and which destroyed the Coastguardstation caused the RNLI less immediatedamage than had been feared. The twoinshore lifeboats, an Atlantic 21 and a16' D class boat, which are kept onthe pier were launched while the firewas raging. They helped the fire brigadethroughout the night and on thefollowing day, as did the Sheernesslifeboat which regularly transportedmen and equipment. At 1.30 am theinshore lifeboats answered an emergencycall which proved to be a false alarm.

The lifeboat house was not seriouslydamaged but it happened that plans hadbeen made to install a permanentlifeboat exhibition in the boathouse onthe day following the fire. Characteris-tically the Southend branch decided topress ahead with the setting up of theexhibition with as little delay as possible.

Mumbles MemorialA memorial window is to be placed in

the parish church of All Saints, Oyster-mouth, to the memory of eight menwho gave their lives nearly 30 years ago.They were the crew of The Mumbleslifeboat who put out on April 23, 1947,in storm force winds rising to a hurri-cane to go to the help of the steamerSamtampa. The whole lifeboat crew werelost. The coxswain, William JohnGammon, was a gold medallist who hadwon his award for the rescue of the42 crew from a Canadian frigate threeyears earlier. The lifeboat which replacedthe one lost at the time of the disasterbore William Gammon's name.

New lifeboat societiesBermuda's first lifeboat was formally

named Deborah B on Sunday, May 9.She came from New Zealand and waspresented by the Hon. Dudley Butter-field, whose wife named the boat. Onthe evening following the namingceremony she was called out to a fishingboat which had run out of fuel. Thewife of the owner of the fishing boathad notified the police as she had notrealised that the Bermuda Search andRescue Institute had come into being.Captain Sir David Tibbits, who was inBermuda at the time of the namingceremony, represented the RNLI, whichhas been in close touch with N. Lishman,Secretary of the Bermuda Search andRescue Institute, who was a delegate

183

to the Twelfth International LifeboatConference at Helsinki in 1975.

The RNLI has also received a letterfrom J. M. Kooijman of the CitizensRescue Organisation of the NetherlandsAntilles, whose headquarters are inCuracao, stating that funds are beingraised to purchase equipment for a newrescue institute. This institute will, theletter stated, be 'drawn after the lines ofyour prestigious organisation and bothDutch counterparts'. The new institutehopes to obtain at 40' utility-boat fromthe United States Coast Guard and isplanning to purchase an Atlantic 21ILB.

Pressure of spaceFrom time to time we are asked why

fewer accounts of services by lifeboatsappear in THE LIFEBOAT today than wasthe case ten, twenty or more yearsearlier. At one time this journalconsisted largely of a historical recordof the actual services carried out bylifeboats, but with the huge increase inthe number of calls which occurred inthe 1960s, largely because of the pleasureboat explosion, it became impossibleto maintain this record within theconfines of a quarterly journal. The

Deborah B, BermudaSearch and RescueInstitute's first lifeboatis a 15' GRP Hamiltonjet-propelled open launchfrom New Zealand. Onservice around Bermudashe will be operating inwaters beset with coralreefs and shallows: shedraws less than a foot.

opportunity was then taken to changethe nature of the journal, a processwhich has continued steadily. Our aimnow is to produce a high qualitymagazine of interest to all who care forthe lifeboat service, both crew membersand those who are actively engaged inthe fund-raising branches and guilds,as well as the growing number ofmembers of Shoreline.

Today we find continual pressure on

our space, and while it is our firm policyto pay due attention to the many out-standing services carried out by life-boats we find it impossible to record allservices in any detail. This is a cause forregret, but we have to make the choicebetween an attractive magazine with awide and growing circulation and some-thing approximating to the old historicalrecord. We hope our readers agree thatwe are making the right choice.

The AGM and Presentation of AwardsRoyal Festival Hall

TUESDAY, MAY 17, 1977

(Left) The future Yarmouth, Isle of Wight Arun lifeboat hull building atHalmatic, Havant. During a visit in April, (I. to r.) C. G. Dove, ChiefDesigner, Halmatic, showed the new boat to Major-General R. A. Pigot,president of the Isle of Wight Lifeboat Board, L. W. Noton, honorarysecretary, Yarmouth, and Coxswain David Kennett. Yarmouth lifeboatappeal has already reached nearly £10,000.

photograph by courtesy of The News, Portsmouth

(Below) Members ofHuddersfield ladies' lifeboat luncheon club visited Flamborough this summerto take part with members of Flamborough ladies' guild and luncheon club in a memorial serviceto the late Mrs Mabel Greenhalgh, first chairman of Huddersfield ladies' guild and founderchairman of its luncheon club. Mrs. Greenhalgh died in 1960; her family owned the land onwhich Flamborough lifeboat station is built. photograph by courtesy of Dennis Dobson

At the South East District Conference GeorgeA. Hodgkins (r.), vice-president ofReigate andRedhill branch, presented a cheque for £10,000to Vice-Admiral Sir Peter Compston, KCB,chairman of the Fund Raising Committee,watched by the branch chairman, F. CarlSeager, MBE. The gift, together with one fromLions International South East District, willbe used to provide an Atlantic 21 and herboathouse at Brighton. She will be namedLions International District 105SE. Astation branch committee has been formedat Brighton and a free berth in the new marinahas been given to the RNLI by BrightonMarina Company.

photograph by courtesy ofKent and Sussex Courier

184

South Eastern Division

Boarding boat rescuefrom saltingsREQUESTING THE LAUNCHING of Calshotlifeboat at 2207 on Thursday, January29, HM Coastguard told the honorarysecretary that at 2054 a red flare hadbeen reported in Ashlett Creek and. inview of the very shallow water in thismarsh area, Hamble Rescue, one of theseveral independent rescue units opera-ting in the Solent, had been asked tohelp. Their inshore rescue boat, aBoston whaler, launched from Hambleand set course for Ashlett Creek, but, asa result of the severe weather, haddifficulty in finding the channel in thecreek and when first one and then bothengines failed she was, at 2201, drivenashore on to the saltings.

Thus, at 2207, the Ashlett Creek areacontained two separate boats in diffi-culty with a total of three people injeopardy.

Calshot crew were called out by'Weeper' and the 40' Keith Nelsonlifeboat Ernest William and ElizabethEllen Hinde slipped her moorings at2220 and ran north towards AshlettCreek, towing Calshot's 15' 6" RFDinflatable boarding boat. CoxswainJames Mayor had decided before slip-ping that because of the shallow marshynature of the area the lifeboat would notbe able to get close enough to effect arescue direct or by breeches buoy; anychance of success depended on the use ofthe almost draftless inflatable dinghy.

Calshot Coastguard recorded thewind to be 140°T, gale force 8 gusting attimes to severe gale force 9. It was highwater; visibility about five nauticalmiles. It was bitterly cold with an airtemperature of I°F below zero. Galesfrom the south east had been blowingcontinuously for the previous 24 hours.

By 2226 Ernest William and ElizabethEllen Hinde had covered the miledistance between her moorings and theentrance to Ashlett Creek and anchored.Calshot Coastguard mobile ashore inthe area recorded wind direction eastsouth east, 44 knots (force 9).

At 2240, not without difficulty in theprevailing weather, the boarding boat setoff from the lifeboat under power fromher 6 hp outboard with Crew MembersPeter King, Christopher Smith andJohn Street, aboard. Coxswain Mayorhad flares placed aboard the inflatablebefore allowing her to leave but, stillconcerned about the lack of radiocommunication, asked that Calshotmobile should advise the lifeboatimmediately the inflatable was firstsighted and then send regular reports.

The south-easterly sea was breakingacross the marshes which appeared onemass of white water both from the landand from seaward. Having located theentrance to Ashlett Creek the boardingboat went up the channel and reachedthe first casualty at about 2300, where a .man was transferred to the RNLIinflatable and landed ashore to theCoastguard Land Rover at AshlettQuay at 2320.

At 2325 the boarding boat leftAshlett Quay to start the search for theHamble inshore rescue boat. At about2330 the second casualty was sightedaground on the marshes some severalhundred yards off the main channel. Thetide had now started to ebb and it wasclear that the Hamble boat would bemarooned on the marshes all night insub-zero temperatures.

The next 15 minutes were the mostdifficult of the service. The area com-prises numerous banks and gullies, sothat the boarding boat was constantlygrounding. For most of the two to threehundred yards the crew took it in turnsto drag the boat over the mud banks.

Calshot: (I. to r.) CrewMembers John Street,Christopher Smith andPeter King with the in-flatable boarding boat inwhich they rescued threemen from Ashlett Creekon the night of January29. Winds were galeforce 8 gusting to severegale force 9, the tem-perature below zero.

photograph bycourtesy of Southern

Evening Echo

Two of the crew would drag the boatwhile the third man remained aboardto give help as required. The two crewhauling were frequently up to theirarmpits in water and at times out of theirdepth, having to be pulled on board bythe third member of the crew.

At 2345 Peter King, ChristopherSmith and John Street had dragged theboarding boat up to the groundedBoston whaler where both occupantswere found to be extremely cold andnumb. The two Hamble crew memberswere taken safely aboard the inflatable,the whaler abandoned, and at 2351, thejourney to rejoin Calshot lifeboat begun.Once again, until the channel wasreached, the three Calshot crew membersdrove and hauled the boarding boatover the undulating marsh of thesaltings. Once into deeper water, coursewas set for Ernest William and ElizabethEllen Hinde, lying off the creek entranceat anchor. As soon as she was clear ofthe little amount of lee provided by thecreek the boarding boat was takinghead seas continuously and was fullmost of the time so that all aboard wereup to their waists in water. The windwas estimated to be east south east force8 to 9 with 5 to 7 foot seas.

By 0030 five very cold and numb menhad laid the boarding boat alongside thelifeboat and had been helped belowwhere blankets and hot drinks awaitedthem. All were so exhausted that theyhad been unable to climb aboard thelifeboat unaided. The 6 hp Evinrudeboarding boat engine had given un-failing service even on the return acrossthe marshes when it was partially underwater at times.

Ernest William and Elizabeth EllenHinde with the boarding boat in towset course for her moorings, which werereached at 0115. Five minutes later theHamble Rescue crew had been takenashore and were in the care of theCoastguard.

For this service the bronze medal forgallantry was awarded to Crew Mem-bers Peter J. King, Christopher J.Smith and John A. Street. Medalservice certificates have been presentedto Coxswain James A. Mayor, SecondCoxswain James W. M. Collis, MotorMechanic Samuel L. Tanner and CrewMember Raymond Scholes.

Scotland North Division

Crew of five rescuedABERDEEN LIFEBOAT, the 52' BamettRamsay-Dyce, slipped her moorings at1854 on Friday, March 12, and headedfor Aberdeen Bay, after informationhad been received from HM Coastguardthat MFV Karemma was broken downoutside the harbour.

The weather was overcast and clearwith a south-easterly wind force 7. Veryrough, heavy seas were breaking inAberdeen Bay and the tide was twohours after low water.

Ramsay-Dyce cleared the harbour

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Karemma ashore after her crew of five had been taken off by the 52' Barnett lifeboat Ramsay-Dyce on her last service at Aberdeen . . .

photograph by courtesy of Aberdeen Journals

breakwaters at 1858, her engine speedsbeing adjusted frequently as she felt herway through the seas; throughout theservice Acting Coxswain Charles Beggmanned the helm and Motor MechanicIan Jack manned the engine controls,the whole crew working as a perfectteam.

Karemma had no steerage andalthough she had been using enginesastern to try to combat drift she had beendriven north and west by the wind andwas slowly being driven towards thebeach. A tug, Sea Trojan, trying tosalvage Karemma, had gone alongsideto put a line aboard, but she had rolledand damaged the MFV and the line hadparted. When the lifeboat reached thecasualty at 1913 the tug was lying off.

By this time Karemma was about fourcables due east of the pavilion andheading west. As the lifeboat ap-proached, the MFV crew first asked for atowline to be passed, but agreed toabandon ship when the nearness of thesurf was pointed out.

With skilful use of helm and enginesthe lifeboat went alongside, port side tostarboard quarter. Two survivors werequickly taken off before a steep, rollingsea first drove the casualty down on tothe lifeboat and then separated the twovessels, filling the wheelhouse of thelifeboat and rushing into the after cabin.

At this time flood tide against windwas steepening the heavy seas andcausing the tops to roll, the effect beingmagnified by the ever-nearing beach.By skilful manoeuvring Ramsay-Dycewas again brought alongside Karemmain the same position as before, a ropewas passed from the casualty and madefast to the lifeboat's bow and two moresurvivors taken off. Once again a seaforced Karemma down on to Ramsay-Dyce before rolling her away, breakingthe rope and separating the two boats.The lifeboat was brought alongside athird time; the fifth and last survivor wastaken aboard and Ramsay-Dyce then

cleared astern. It was 1930 and Karemmawas about three cables east of thedance hall.

Ramsay-Dyce headed south and eastto gain sea room before streaming herdrogue to re-enter harbour through thevery confused cross sea and swell. Sheberthed at her mooring with all fivesurvivors aboard at 2010 after what wasto be her last service at Aberdeen beforebeing replaced on station by the 54'Arun lifeboat BP Forties.

For this service, carried out quicklyand efficiently with great courage, thebronze medal for gallantry was awarded

• to Second Coxswain Charles Begg. Thethanks of the Institution inscribed onvellum were awarded to Motor Mecha-nic Ian Jack and medal service certifi-cates were presented to AssistantMechanic George Walker and CrewMembers William Cowper, AndrewWalker and Francis Cruickshank.

North Western Division

Canoes caught outWHILE ON EXERCISE, on Saturday May 15,Beaumaris ILB Blue Peter II learned, at1350, that a group of 20 canoeists fromthe Nelson Outdoor Pursuit Centre atLlanfair were out in the Menai Straitsopposite Moel-y-Don and had beenovertaken by bad weather. Eight canoeshad capsized. A safety boat was inattendance but could not fully deal withthe situation. A rescue helicopter fromRAF Valley had been alerted.

There was a south-westerly galeblowing. The tide was running againstthe wind, resulting in steep, 6' waveswith breaking crests. Visibility wasmoderate and it was raining.

Three canoeists were picked up andtaken on board the ILB and one of thecapsized canoes was taken in tow toPort Dinorwic where the survivors werelanded.

The ILB returned to the scene andcontinued to search, when it was learnedthat another survivor had been rescuedby a local boat. The remaining canoeshad been lashed together to form raftsand had made their way ashore.

The ILB eventually returned to herstation and was re-housed at 1830.

A donation to branch funds wasreceived from the Nelson OutdoorPursuit Centre.

Western Division

Capsized motorcruiserAT 1150 ON FEBRUARY 22, Skipper TonyMeyler, on board MFV Western Seaslying alongside in Aberystwyth Harbour,was told by Peter Kokelaar that themotor cruiser Annabel II had justcapsized in heavy surf near the harbourentrance. Aberystwyth ILB was tempo-

. . . First service of Aberdeen's new lifeboat, the 54' Arun BP Forties, on July 28, was to Peter-head fishing boat Westerdale, which reported flooding in her engine room. BP Forties reachedWesterdale, 38 miles offshore east of Aberdeen, within two hours, transferred a heavy pump tothe fishing boat in afresh to strong wind and choppy sea and then escorted her back to harbour.

186

rarily off service and it had been arrangedby the station that Western Seas shouldact as standby boat for emergencies.

Telling his crew to prepare his boatfor sea, Skipper Meyler ran up on tothe promenade to ascertain the positionof the casualty; she was lying upside-down in a very heavy ground swell andsurf with her bows pointing south west,about 150 yards west north west of theend of the north harbour arm andsetting north-eastwards into shallowwater. Survivors could not be seen and,knowing the vessel's layout, TonyMeyler assumed that her crew must betrapped in the wheelhouse. Western Seassailed at 1153 with seven men on board,all but one of them ILB crew members.

The wind was offshore, south eastforce 5, and a very heavy ground swell,12 to 14 feet high, was sweeping clearover the south harbour arm. Visibilitywas good and the sky overcast. It wasabout three quarters of an hour beforehigh water, and the tidal stream wassetting north north east at about 1 knot.

On arrival at the harbour entrance,Annabel II was seen, rising and fallingon the ground swell, about 60 yardsfrom the north arm and still driftingto the north east. Alan Blair, a volunteercrew member and senior inshore life-boatman at Aberystwyth, having offeredto swim on a line to the casualty toattempt an underwater search, TonyMeyler approached Annabel II and hoveto about 80 to 90 feet to seaward of her,Wearing his ordinary clothing and anRNLI lifejacket, Alan Blair entered thewater attached to a 2" polypropylenerope. He was tended from the stern ofWestern Seas by Keith Stone, jointowner of the fishing vessel and herregular crew and also an ILB crewmember.

Alan Blair, hampered by his clothing,lifejacket and heavy surf, succeeded inreaching the casualty and banged on theup-turned hull, but there was noresponse. The time was 1200; more thanten minutes had passed since the capsize.Regardless of his own safety, Alan Blairsurface dived three or four times in aneffort to see if the crew were trappedbeneath the boat, but visibility was poorin the confused and shallow water. Theviolent movement of the boat preventedhim from swimming under it. Hecontinually banged the hull in the hopethat the crew were trapped in an airspace.

Using the bight of his safety line,Alan Blair tried to secure it to the fore-deck cleat of the up-turned boat, butwas prevented from doing so by the riseand fall and breaking surf. He eventu-ally succeeded in securing the line to theboat's pulpit rail and passed the signalto Western Seas to start towing. Thetime was 1205.

Tony Meyler estimated that there wasonly about four feet of water beneathhis boat when in the trough of the groundswell, and was relieved to receive thesignal to start towing. Western Seas was

headed westward into the sea and beganto tow Annabel II into deeper water but,shortly after the tow started, TonyMeyler was suddenly forced to increasespeed to maintain steerage way as anexceptionally high breaking wave sweptdown on to Western Seas. The suddenincrease in tension on the tow line torethe pulpit rail off Annabel H's foredeck.Alan Blair, still attached to the line,was dragged through the water andbecame fouled by the pulpit rail.Western Seas was stopped, Keith Stoneslacked away on the tow line and AlanBlair was able to release himself fromthe line. With the line inboard, TonyMeyler took Western Seas in a roundturn to port and hove to about 30 feetoff the casualty. A lifebelt attached to aline was thrown to Alan Blair who wastrying to swim towards the fishing vessel.He was pulled back on board WesternSeas at 1210, having been in the waterfor about 13 minutes at an estimated seatemperature of 46°F.

Western Seas stood off into calmerwaters and it was the unanimous opinionof all on board that, with the casualtydrifting north-eastwards towards thebeach, there was little they could do,and that there was very little chance offinding anyone alive in Annabel II.

Returning to harbour at 1224 thecrew of Western Seas went straight to thebeach to help recover the casualty, which.was almost ashore. She was pulled intothe spent surf at 1230 and righted. Hercabin was found to be smashed and twobodies were recovered and placed intothe care of a local hospital surgeon andambulance crew. The wrecked boat wassecured to the promenade railings andleft to dry out as the tide fell away.

For this service the bronze medal forgallantry was awarded to Senior CrewMember Alan Blair. The thanks of theInstitution inscribed on vellum havebeen accorded to Tony Meyler, skipperof MFV Western Seas and ILB crewmember, and medal service certificatespresented to Keith Stone, crew ofWestern Seas and ILB crew member,Leonard Gurnett, deputy launchingauthority Aberystwyth, Crew MembersTommy Ridgeway and GrahamEdwards, and Robert Lewis, a volun-teer.

Scotland South Division

Adrift on ebb tideTWO SAILING DINGHIES capsized offCrail Harbour were reported to thehonorary secretary of Anstruther life-boat station by HM Coastguard at 1524on Saturday, May 8. A local rescue boathad been asked to go out and the callwas a forewarning. The lifeboat crewwere alerted, but at 1530 the emergencywas cancelled and the crew stood down.At 1605 the Coastguard telephonedagain, requesting the launch of thelifeboat as the rescue boat had brokendown and one of the dinghies was still

adrift and being swept north-eastwardson the ebb tide.

It was cloudy with good visibility, amoderate to fresh south-westerly breezewas blowing and the sea was choppywhen, at 1632, the 37' Oakley lifeboatThe Doctors was launched. She set off atfull speed as the casualty was by nowheading for The Brigs.

At 1714 the lifeboat came up with thecasualty, a Mirror dinghy with twopeople on board. Both people and boatwere taken on board the lifeboat, whichreturned to her moorings at 1830. Shewas re-housed at 2028.

North Eastern Division

Engine failedMEMBERS OF REDCAR ILB CREW, Standingby in the boathouse on Thursdaymorning, June 10, sighted, at 1000, ared flare beyond Saltscar Buoy somethree miles east of the ILB station.

The ILB was launched at 1005 in aa near gale blowing from the west southwest. Visibility was good. Reaching thecasualty, High Hopes, at 1012 she foundthat the motorboat's engine had failedand her anchor was dragging. She wasdrifting seawards. One of her crew wastaken on board the ILB but the othertwo remained in High Hopes while shewas taken in tow to Redcar beach.

The ILB returned to her station andwas re-housed at 1200.

Western Division

FireHM COASTGUARD INFORMED the honorarysecretary of Cardigan ILB station at1224 on Wednesday, June 16, that avessel was on fire four miles north ofCardigan Head. There was moderatevisibility and a light westerly breeze.The sea was choppy and the tide was attwo hours ebb, when, at 1233, the ILBwas launched. She reached the casualty,the converted fishing vessel Suandra,some 12 minutes later and found that hercrew of two had taken to their dinghyas Suandra had on board some 800gallons of fuel and numerous diving aircylinders and there was a serious risk ofexplosion.

The two men were taken on board theILB and the explosion hazard wasreported to the Coastguard, who askedthe ILB to keep well clear of the blazingboat but to remain in the vicinity towarn off shipping.

Meanwhile, a helicopter had beenalerted and the New Quay 37' Oakleylifeboat Birds Eye had been launched,at 1255, and was on her way to relievethe ILB. The boom defence vesselUplifter was also on her way and onarrival at 1314 began dealing with thefire.

Birds Eye arrived at 1330, the twosurvivors were transferred to her and

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she remained in the vicinity until 1545,by which time the fire had been extin-guished. The ILB returned to Cardiganwhere she was re-housed at 1540.

The owner of Suandra borrowed twopumps from Uplifter and, with the helpof two of the lifeboat's crew, these weremanned while the boat was being towedby Birds Eye to New Quay.

On arrival, at 1840, Suandra wasbeached and her crew put ashore. Thelifeboat was eventually re-housed at0030 on June 17.

South Eastern Division

Near gale inChichester HarbourA CAPSIZED SAILING DINGHY with child-ren and an adult in the water, sighted atthe entrance to Emsworth Channel somefive miles from Hayling Island ILBstation, was reported to the honorarysecretary by HM Coastguard at 1412 onFriday, May 14.

There was a near gale blowing fromthe south west, the sea was moderateand there was a full spring tide ebbing atthe main area of operations. As theweather and sea were so forbidding, theILB station was already manned.Within a minute the ILB was launchedand ten minutes later found the capsizeddinghy, from a sailing school, withthree children and an elderly man, whohad been keeping the situation undercontrol, clinging to the hull. Conditionswere far from easy with strong windsagainst the ebb tide, but they were alltaken on board and landed, none theworse, at Emsworth Quay.

Meanwhile, a helicopter which hadbeen called to the scene reported acapsize in an isolated position someseven miles off in Thorney Channel. Nocrew were evident. As the ILB was so faroff and already occupied, the HaylingIsland Sea Rescue and Research Organi-sation (HISRrO) inflatable rescue boatwas launched. She reached the scene ofthe capsized dinghy in about fiveminutes and, finding no sign of the crew,began a search.

Having landed the crew of the firstcapsize, the ILB was making full speedfor this new incident when she cameupon the sailing school's attendanceboat towing in the first dinghy. Just atthis moment, the attendance boat hadher propeller fouled by a rope, but theILB's swimmer soon had it cut free,enabling the boat to go on her way withher tow.

The ILB continued on her course tothe scene of the second incident, whereher crew saw three people on anisolated sandbank; not, as it happened,from the abandoned sailing dinghy butfrom a cruiser which had grounded andhad been towed off by another craft—they had gone over the side to lightenand push their boat off and had beenleft behind. The HISRrO inflatable,

being the lighter of the two rescue boats,was asked to rendezvous with the ILBand effect the rescue of the threestranded people, all elderly, and takethem to Itchenor, leaving the ILB tocontinue the search for the crew of thecapsized dinghy.

After landing these three people atItchenor, the HISRrO inflatable re-turned to the scene and towed thecapsized dinghy to West Wittering,where she was registered. They alsotried, without success, to obtain infor-mation about her owner. The Coast-guard later found out that her crew ofthree had been picked up by a passingboat, but meanwhile the search hadcontinued.

Two further events intervened at thistime. A large day cruiser, Merry Dancer,had run into rough water over Chiches-ter Bar and had been dismasted. Thisincident was 'under control' but needed'checking out'.

The second incident was a capsizedsailing dinghy with two crew clinging toher which was being swept out on thestrong tidal outfall towards the veryrough sea off West Wittering. Thehonorary secretary decided that thedinghy's crew were in the greater dangerand diverted the ILB to her, sending theHISRrO inflatable to Merry Dancer.

The ILB finally picked up thedinghy's crew of two, cut clear thebuckled mast and gear and returned allto Hayling Island Sailing Club. TheHISRrO boat escorted Merry Dancer tothe calmer waters of the harbour.

Both rescue boats returned to theirstation and were re-housed at 1740.

Ireland Division

Broken mastA RED BAY CREW MEMBER, N. Murray,saw from his home a sailing dinghy introuble on Saturday, June 12. Heinformed the deputy launching authorityand the call out was signalled at 1915.The ILB launched three minutes laterand set course for the dinghy, two milessouth east of the station. The wind waswesterly, strong force 6 gusting to neargale force 7. The dinghy, with a three-man crew, was found to have her mastbroken in three places. She was towedback to the slipway. The ILB was re-housed at 1950.

Scotland North Division

Danish fishing vesselagroundKIRKWALL COASTGUARD fired maroonsto alert the lifeboat at 2045 on Friday,March 5, having seen a fishing vessel,Marianne Bodker of Denmark, ashoreon Coubister Skerries.

The 70' Clyde lifeboat Grace Pater sonRitchie set out at 2055 and foundMarianne Bodker aground, pounding

and rolling heavily. The wind wassoutherly, blowing at gale force, the seawas rough and it was low water. Thelifeboat had great difficulty in ap-proaching the casualty owing to theshallow water and reefs and did in facttouch bottom, slightly damaging one ofher propellers.

Eventually a towline was made fastand at 2310, after several attempts,Grace Paterson Ritchie succeeded inrefloating Marianne Bodker and escortedher into Kirkwall, where the fishingvessel was examined by a diver forpossible damage. The lifeboat returnedto her moorings at 0045 on March 6.

A donation was made to the Institu-tion by the fishing vessel's insurancebrokers.

Western Division

Engine broken downON TUESDAY, MAY 11, HM Coastguardinformed the honorary secretary ofTenby lifeboat station at 1337 that amotor yacht, Jondee of Saundersfoot,was in trouble 300-400 yards offLydstep Head, some five miles west ofthe lifeboat station. Her engine hadbroken down and she was dragging heranchor.

There was a moderate south-westerlybreeze and the tide was four hoursflood. Had Jondee continued to dragher anchor she almost certainly wouldhave been wrecked on Lydstep Head,where heavy surf was breaking. She hada crew of two and eleven other people onboard.

The 46' 9" Watson lifeboat HenryComber Brown was launched at 1347,closed the casualty at 1415 and took herin tow to Saundeisfoot, where theyarrived at 1515. The lifeboat thenreturned to her station and was re-housed at 1630.

South Western Division

On edge of surfA DORY IN TROUBLE just outside (he surfat Polzeath, six miles west of Port Isaaclifeboat station, was reported to thehonorary secretary by HM Coastguardat 1751 on Sunday, May 30.

It was overcast with visibility aboutfour miles. There was a fresh south-south-westerly breeze, the sea wasmoderate and the tide was at five hoursflood when, at 1754, Port Isaac ILBwas launched. She came up with thecasualty, the 13' dory Yukkie with twopeople on board, at 1818. Meanwhilethe yacht Mandriella, which had goneto Yukkie's assistance, found herself indifficulties as her steering linkage hadparted.

There was a heavy swell running andboth boats were within minutes of beingenveloped in the surf. Fortunatelyanother vessel, Tri-Star of Padstow, wasin the vicinity and went to the help ofMandriella, taking her in tow andleaving the ILB free to take Yukkie in

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tow. Both boats were towed to Rockwhere their crews were landed. TheILB returned to her station and wasre-housed at 1949.

North Western Division

EscortA CARGO VESSEL, Ivy, taking water andlisting 15 miles south of Douglas Head,was reported to the honorary secretaryof Douglas lifeboat station by HMCoastguard at 0900 on Saturday,January 3, and at 0920 the 46' 9" Watsonlifeboat R. A. Colby Cubbin No. 1launched in a north-west gale with roughsea and good visibility. It was threehours to low water.

The lifeboat came up with Ivy at 1034and started to escort her to a safeanchorage in Douglas Bay; but, onlythree miles from shore, the cargo vesselchanged course and headed out to sea.The lifeboat followed and when thecargo vessel stopped engines four milessouth east of Douglas Head, CoxswainJohn Griffiths persuaded her captain toaccept an escort to safe anchorage.Two-and-a-half miles from shore, how-ever, Ivy again stopped engines.

At 1300 Ivy lowered her ship'slifeboat and R. A. Colby Cubbin No. 1

went alongside and took on board thecrew of seven, although, after somediscussion with his captain, the engineerrejoined his ship.

Second Coxswain Robert Corranwent on board and having persuaded thecaptain to accept an offer of help, actedas pilot when, at 1502, Ivy made herway to Douglas Bay. Meanwhile thelifeboat headed for station with sixcrew members from Ivy on board; theywere landed at Douglas at 1539 beforeR. A. Colby Cubbin No. 1 took customsofficials out to the cargo vessel andretrieved the second coxswain. Aftergiving all the help she could, the lifeboatleft the cargo vessel at 1708 and returnedto station at 1810.

Next morning, at 0915 on Sunday,January 4, the Coastguard informed thehonorary secretary that, as the weatherwas deteriorating and Ivy was at anchorin Douglas Bay with only two crew onboard, her captain should be advised tomove to a safer anchorage in RamseyBay. The captain disagreed and refusedto move.

At 1315, in view of the weatherconditions, the lifeboat was placed onstandby. The rest of the crew of thecargo vessel, who were still ashore, didnot wish to rejoin their ship, but thecaptain still refused to move. As therewas little the lifeboat could do in the

circumstances the standby was can-celled at 1450.

Some two hours later word wasreceived that the cargo vessel hadweighed anchor and was sailing east-wards.

At 1615 R. A. Colby Cubbin No. 1launched in a south-west-by-west strongbreeze with a rough sea and poorvisibility and escorted Ivy until, at 1659,Ramsey lifeboat took over. She returnedto station at 1735.

Eastern Division

On service 11 hoursON MONDAY, MAY 31, HM Coastguardinformed the honorary secretary ofWalmer lifeboat station that a cabincruiser had broken down in a positionsome three to four miles south east of thelifeboat station; she was drifting towardsthe Goodwins and needed help. Anaccompanying cabin cruiser was unableto close her because she was too nearthe sandbanks.

There was a gentle to moderate west-north-westerly breeze, the sea waschoppy and it was low water. Visibilitywas poor with misty rain.

At 1816 the 37' 6" Rother lifeboatHampshire Rose was launched. She set

Douglas lifeboat, the 46' 9" Watson R. A. Colby Cubbin No. 1, which kept watch over cargo vessel Ivy, taking water and listing, on January 3 and4, is seen here launching to the aid of the pleasure boat White Rose at 1945 on Monday, July 28, 1975. On reaching White Rose at 2000 it waslearnt that the machinery defect which had caused the trouble had been put right, and the lifeboat escorted her back to harbour.

photograph by courtesy of Stanley Hughes

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Plymouth: 44' Waveney lifeboat Thomas Forehead and Mary Rowse II lying alongside theyacht Roy Fra Masnedo of Falmouth, after towing the 94-ton ex-Baltic trader safely intoMillbay Docks from one mile south of Burgh Island on the night of May 1 and 2. The wind wasnorth-north-easterly, fresh to strong and the sea rough. Second Coxswain F. E. Jago was incommand during what was a long and difficult tow.

photograph by courtesy of Patrick Marshall

course for the casualty but on the wayreceived a radio call from the Coast-guard saying that another cabin cruiserin the vicinity of East Goodwin Light-vessel was making water badly andneeded help. Coxswain Bruce Browntold the Coastguard that he would closethe first casualty, take off her crew,anchor her in a safe position and thengo on to the East Goodwins area.

At 1850 Hampshire Rose was along-side the first casualty, a 22' cabin cruiserPhase II. Her crew of three were takenaboard the lifeboat but considerabledifficulty was experienced in anchoringher due to damage forward and lack ofcable length. However, the lifeboat crewdid the best they could and then, asthere was not enough water for them tosteam directly north-eastwards to thelightvessel, made a detour round SouthCalliper.

The lightvessel was reached at 2100and the 36' cabin cruiser Raven wasfound made fast astern, her sole occu-pant exhausted with pumping andbailing. The lifeboat crew helped withthe pumping out and eventually Ravenwas taken in tow around GoodwinKnoll and into Ramsgate Harbour.

Meanwhile, the Coastguard had des-patched a local boat to tow Phase IIinto Dover but, because of poorvisibility in fog and misty rain, shecould not be found.

Coxswain Brown left Ramsgate andmade for the southern Downs to searchfor her and, with the help of theCoastguards, a radar echo was spottedoff Kingsdown. Continuing on coursethe lifeboat found this to be the missingPhase II, dragging her anchor. Withsome difficulty a towline was made fastand Ramsgate Harbour was reached insafety.

Hampshire Rose eventually returnedto her station at Walmer at 0520 onTuesday, June 1, having been on servicefor over 11 hours.

South Eastern Division

Immediate helpA REQUEST FROM HM COASTGUARD to

evacuate a severely scalded baby fromHayling Island was received at EastneyILB boathouse at 1740 on Sunday,June 27. The duty crew immediatelylaunched the Atlantic 21 Guide Friend-ship II and embarked the baby, motherand a member of the Havant AmbulanceService. All three were landed atEastney beach at 1744 where anambulance was waiting to rush themother and her injured baby to theRoyal Hospital under police escort.

Guide Friendship //returned to stationand was re-housed at 1748, the wholeaction from receipt of the first informa-tion to re-housing lasting only eightminutes. The prompt action of EastneyILB had helped to save the baby's life.

Ireland Division

Fishing boat sinksROSSLARE HARBOUR PORT AUTHORITY

informed the deputy launching authorityat 2220 on Saturday, June 19, thatMFV Hopeful with two men on boardwas taking water and sinking rapidlyin a position about two miles northwest of the lifeboat station.

The sea was calm and the tide twohours before high water when, at 2235,the 48' 6" Solent lifeboat R. HopeRoberts left her moorings. She came upwith the casualty ten minutes later andimmediately took on board the crew oftwo. An attempt was made to towHopeful, but by this time she wasawash and after a very short tow shesank.

The lifeboat, with the two survivorson board, returned to her station andwas re-moored at 2355.

Scotland North Division

Dinghy adrift instrong breezeTHE HONORARY SECRETARY Of ThurSO

lifeboat station saw a dinghy in difficul-ties in Thurso Bay with a small motorboat trying to tow her towards Scrabsterbut making little headway. Both boatswere drifting east towards the Spur ofMurkle. It was 1620 on Saturday,June 12.

With good visibility, a moderate tostrong south-westerly breeze gusting tonear gale force 7, a choppy sea and aflood tide, the 48' 6" Solent lifeboatThe Three Sisters was launched at 1635.She came up with the casualty, the

(continued on page 213)

Eastney's two ILBs on exercise: Atlantic 21 Guide Friendship II (/.) crewed by (I. to r.) Helms-man William Hawkins, Dennis Faro and Kenneth George with Operational Swimmer ColinBeeston, and D Class ILB crewed by Stephen Alexander and James Peplow with OperationalSwimmer Graham Jewell photograph by courtesy of Peter Bradley

* 4Ml.]

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The naming of

Lady of

Lancashire

FLEETWOOD'S NEW

44' WAVENEY LIFEBOAT

by

HRH The Duke ofKent

PRESIDENT OF THE RNLI

A LARGE CROWD lined the seafront atFleetwood to see HRH The Duke of Kentname the new lifeboat. The earlyevening sun was bright, and a force 7wind gave the 44' Waveney class Lady ofLancashire a chance to show how shetackles the sort of seas often encounteredon service.

Welcoming the Duke of Kent, boththe Fleetwood branch chairman, F. M.Hardman, and honorary secretary R. T.Willoughby, were clearly delighted thata member of the Royal Family was tocarry out the first lifeboat naming at thestation since 1939; it was particularlypleasurable that the man who wascoxswain at that time, Jeffrey Wright, aholder of the RNLI's silver medal, waspresent for the naming. By contrast, the

current Fleetwood coxswain, DavidScott, 27 a few days before, is theRNLI's youngest coxswain.

Following the interdenominationalservice, the Duke of Kent said that itwas always a pleasure to name a newlifeboat, and referred to the generosityand modesty of the anonymous donor,described as a Lancashire businessman(who was believed to be present).

The Duke of Kent took this oppor-tunity to make public the bold newfund-raising venture referred to onpage 183. A number of leading Ameri-cans in Britain, he stated, are planningan appeal to their fellow citizens toprovide a lifeboat to mark the friendshipand mutual goodwill shown during thecelebrations of America's bicentenary.

photographs bycourtesy of J. P. Morris

An example, the Duke concluded, of thegoodwill fostered by the cause oflifesaving at sea around the world.

With the bottle of champagne dulysmashed over the lifeboat's bows., theDuke embarked for a short trip in theWyre Channel. Protective clothing wasdonned as the lifeboat raced through therough water, and it was not difficult toimagine her on rather more urgentbusiness.—A.H.G.

(right) David Jones,divisional organiser(north west) introducedmembers of Fleetwoodand Thornton Cleveleysladies' guilds to theDuke of Kent, who alsomet the crew and theirwives and branch officialsbefore (left) namingLady of Lancashire.

SERVICES AND LIVES SAVED BY OFFSHORE AND INSHORE LIFEBOATSJanuary 1,1976 to Ju ly 31,1976: Services 1,197; lives saved 476

THE STATION FLEET

133 offshore lifeboats(as at 31/7/76)

123 inshore lifeboats operating in the summer47 inshore lifeboats operating in the winter

LIVES RESCUED 101,441

from the Institution's foundation in 1824 to July 31, 1976

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In all respects ready for seaSURVEY AND MAINTENANCE OF THE OFFSHORE FLEET

by Joan Davies

SPEAKING AT the annual general meetingof the RNLI last April, Major-GeneralRalph Farrant, Chairman of the Com-mittee of Management, made it quiteclear that, whatever economies mightbe necessary in these days of inflation,the first responsibility of the Institutionis to keep its active and relief fleets inAl operational order. This is an area inwhich there can be no compromise.When a lifeboat puts to sea on serviceshe has—and must have—her crew'sfull confidence; much may be demandedof her and of them. Her hull must be ingood heart to meet whatever furyawaits her; her engines must be runningwith the smooth power needed to driveher through high sea or respond towhatever manoeuvres may be called forin dangerous waters; her fittings mustbe strong enough to withstand excep-tional strain, with every moving partfree to move, every part that should beimmoveable standing fast; electrics mustfunction without question, albeit in theinimical world of damp air and saltwater; equipment must be ready tohand for sure use on a tossing, wave-swept deck.

As anyone who has any experience ofsmall boats will know, there is no shortcut to this happy state of affairs, it isonly achieved as a result of continuousthought, hard work and, inevitably,expense. So, what does it mean for theRNLI? In terms of hard cash, £370,300a year; and that figure is rising steeplywith the rise in the cost of living, and itdoes not take into account the main-tenance of 'docking' aids—slipway andwinch, tractor and carriage, boardingboat and ground tackle—all of whichmust be above reproach.

In terms of labour it means systematicand sustained effort, and a pattern hasbeen evolved of day-by-day mainten-ance and periodic survey which ensuresthe regular surveillance of all parts of aboat necessary if the high standardexpected is to be achieved.

It all starts at the station. Walk intoany lifeboat house and you will see aboat that is cherished. It is her crew'spride to keep her in good heart: clean-ing, greasing, oiling, touching upvarnish, polishing, whipping rope-ends . . . It was not chance that, speakingof the GRP 54' Arun class lifeboat whichhad made the passage to Helsinki forlast year's International Lifeboat Con-ference, General Farrant could say:'When she was shown to delegates . . .she aroused considerable interest andadmiration because she looked as thoughshe had been shipped under wraps

Photographs by A. Pyner

straight from the builder's yard.' That isthe standard at which everyone is aimingbecause an efficient boat will be a trimboat.

On stationAt each offshore lifeboat station there

is a station motor mechanic who is 'oncall' at any hour of any day in the year.Care of the boat's machinery is his mainresponsibility; while he also holds awatching brief for hull and electronicsand checks to see that all is in goodworking order, in these departments hewould not normally undertake anythingbut the simplest repair.

His machinery maintenance scheduleis built up from items listed in themanufacturers' handbooks. In arranginghis day-to-day programme of work hehas a fair amount of flexibility, but theRNLI does require that all engines mustbe started and run for some time atleast once a week. This routine ispossible even with housed or beachedboats because lifeboats have an enclosedwater cooling system; at sea the inter-nally circulating fresh water woulditself be cooled by trunked sea water,but this fresh water can hold down

-engine temperature on its own for theduration of the weekly trial run. Suchroutine precautions as battery chargingwill also, of course, come within themotor mechanic's sphere.

Supervision of machinery and elec-trical work is the immediate responsi-bility of the district engineer, helped byhis fleet mechanics. The RNLI has eightdistrict engineers (DEs), five in Eng-land, two in Scotland and one in Ireland,each assisted by two fleet mechanics(FMs). For work on the hull, there areeight district surveyors of lifeboats(DSLs) who cover the same districts asthe DEs, and there are also five elec-tronic engineers (EEs). If a boat isdamaged or there is malfunction, theappropriate DE, DSL or EE goes atonce to the station and is usually able,on the spot, to make the necessaryrepair. However, should the boat havesuffered such damage that she has to besent to a yard, or if a complete replace-ment of damaged equipment is necessary,the DSL, EE or, for machinery, DE willmake the necessary arrangements.

The RNLI depot, which has thisyear moved from Boreham Wood toPoole, has its own machine shop,inspection department and riggers' andcarpenters' shops as well as holdingspares for each class of boat, rangingfrom main engines through anchors,rudders, valves, sidelights and shackles

to cordage and nuts and bolts. There isa 24-hour telephone watch at depotwhich prides itself that it can deliverevery 'demand' to a lifeboat station ina matter of hours. The technicalorganisation on the coast of DEs,DSLs and EEs backed up by headoffice operational staff and depot andat all times in close liaison with thesurveyor of lifeboats (operations), FrankFutcher, the surveyor of lifeboats(maintenance), George Berry, and thesurveyor of machinery, Selwyn Ewart,at Poole headquarters, results in boatsbeing off service for a minimum amountof time.

Apart from calls to deal with emer-gencies, each member of the coastalorganisation makes periodic visits toeach station in his area and, while hisexamination is focussed primarily onthose aspects for which he is directlyresponsible, all act as members of aclosely knit team to ensure that allfunctions of the boat are maintained infirst class working order.

Periodic surveyIf day-by-day care on station with,

when necessary, emergency work is theforeground of the maintenance pattern,it is set against a background ofperiodic survey—inspection, partial sur-vey or complete survey—when a lifeboatis withdrawn from service for moresearching overhaul. Replaced on stationby a lifeboat from the relief fleet, shewill be taken to one of the 30-oddcommercial yards round the coast ofGreat Britain and Ireland which regu-larly—and usually traditionally—under-take work for the RNLI.

It has been found from experiencethat for housed boats, provided routineexaminations at station result in satis-factory reports, it is realistic to plan fora partial survey once in four years anda complete survey once in eight years.For boats kept afloat or on openbeaches, however, arrangements aremade for an inspection each year, thesecond annual check including someopening up; after four years a partialsurvey will be held and after eight yearsa complete survey.

One of the great strengths of thecoastal organisation is its continuity: amotor mechanic will probably see outhis full service at one station; DSL orDE may well spend the whole of hisRNLI working life in one area; innormal circumstances a lifeboat willreturn to the same yard for eachinspection and survey, each repair oralteration. The men know their boats.

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They know them intimately becausethey have seen the hull opened up, theengines and electrics stripped down; theyhave worked on them; they know theirhistory, their individual characteristics;they know any points which need par-ticular vigilance. Boat and enginesbecome old friends.

That is a very brief outline of a verylong story, so long that it would beimpossible to tell it all here. Perhaps,however, we can at least open a fewpages by spending a little while withone of the Institution's longest servingdistrict surveyors, Herbert Larter, andvisiting with him one or two of theyards working on lifeboats. His territoryis on the east coast of England—hishome country, for he was born atBurnham-on-Crouch and served hisapprenticeship there. In the 28 years ofhis service the bounds of his area havechanged from time to time, stretchingat one period from Skegness in the northdown to Selsey in the south and takingin the Channel Islands for good measure.He has worked as far north as Runswickand as far west as Yarmouth, Isle ofWight. Now his responsibility runsfrom Skegness to Walmer. Always,however, his area has covered essentiallythe same ground, and his relationshipwith the old Ramgsate lifeboat, the46' 9" Watson Michael and Lily Davis,for instance, is a good example of thatcontinuity about which we were talkingearlier: Herbert Larter was there totake over responsibility for her sur-veillance when she went on station fromthe builders' yard in 1953, and heoversaw her maintenance throughout heroperational life at Ramsgate until shewas replaced this summer by a 44'Waveney lifeboat. Would there be anyquestion that could be asked about herstructure or history he could notanswer? Surely not. Going back evenfurther, while working as a boatbuilderat Sussex Shipbuilding Co. of Shoreham,he helped build the 46' Watson lifeboatHenry Blogg; when he joined theRNLI she was stationed at Cromer andso within his competence—and thereshe remained until withdrawn to therelief fleet in 1966.

Like all coastal staff, Herbert Larterlives his life in, as it were, two gears.

There is the low-geared, planned work:regular visits to boatyards and tostations—he is as familiar a figure atthe one as at the other. At the formerhe will be calling to oversee work onboats undergoing survey, repair oralteration; at the latter, not only willhe be looking over the boat and dis-cussing any problems with the stationmechanic, but he may also need toinspect moorings or the boat's carriage,for which he is also responsible.

At any moment, however, day ornight, weekday or weekend, the un-expected may be superimposed on thisordered pattern, calling for an im-mediate change into top gear. Anemergency call from a station . . .perhaps a lifeboat damaged on service.At once, as DSL, he is on his way toassess the situation, see her throughrepairs and get her back on service asquickly as possible.

Of course, life being what it is, ifthere is one emergency call it is morethan likely that there will be another,particularly in bad weather. During thegreat Channel gale of July 28 and 29,1956, Herbert Larter received urgentcalls from no less than five stations:Dover, Shoreham, Selsey, Bembridgeand Yarmouth.

The emergency dealt with, it is backonce more to the planned programme;back to see how work is progressing at.such boatyards as, say, CardnellBrothers at Maylandsea on the RiverBlackwater, or Ian Brown at Row-hedge on the Colne, another of thequiet rivers of Essex. Both are familybusinesses, now in the second genera-tion, where, at almost any time of year,

Fig. 2: Even a child'shollow ball, acting as abuoyant scupper valve,will, in time, make itsimpression on steel.

Fig.l: There was littlegrowth of weeds orBarnacles on FriendlyForester when she washauled out this year, butHerbert Larter, districtsurveyor lifeboats (E),recognises the familiarmarks left by questingmullet mouths.

together with yachts and fishing boats,will be found, hauled out, at least onelifeboat. Both have that undefinableboatyard atmosphere of peace, content-ment and craftsmanship which speakswith confidence of good work.

At these two yards, early this summer,were three lifeboats which between themillustrate well the whole spectrum ofsurvey.

InspectionDover's 44' steel fast afloat Waveney

lifeboat Friendly Forester was at Card-nells for inspection and painting. She isthe boat which, last December, went outto help the coaster Primrose and, duringa six-hour service in hurricane forcewinds, was twice laid on her beam ends;her coxswain, Arthur Liddon, wasawarded the silver medal for gallantry.

On arrival at the yard for inspection,all loose equipment is removed. Thenthe DSL (being from the south-eastdistrict Friendly Forester comes underthe surveillance of Richard Belchamber)makes a thorough examination of allvisible surfaces and fittings; he wouldnot ask for further opening up unlesshe were to find signs of trouble. Anyworn or damaged parts are rubbeddown, made ready and protected fromsun, rain, frost and salt water withpaint and varnish. Her bottom isscrubbed and coated with fresh anti-fouling to prevent the growth of weedand barnacles which would rob her ofher vital speed through the water; lessgrowth can be expected on the bottomof a boat which lies in the pollutedwaters of a harbour such as Dover thanthere would be on a boat lying in clean,open water and, when she was hauledout this year, Friendly Forester wasremarkably clean (Fig. 1). No •barnaclesmaybe, but the marks left by mulletmouths sucking minute growth fromher bottom are a reminder that a life-boat is not alone in her element.

Nor is she immune from naturalforces within herself. The wasted sacri-ficial anodes below her waterline are areminder that a lifeboat must beprotected from a potential dangerinevitably built into her hull: thedanger of electric currents and electro-lytic action. On an afloat boat theanodes will need changing every year—but more of that later.

The extent of the wear to which aboat moored afloat and in service in allweathers is subjected is well illustratedby just one tiny point on FriendlyForester: To prevent backwash on toher decks, the Waveney's scuppers arefitted with a simple hollow rubberball—just such as a child would playwith—which will float up with eachwave, closing the way to incomingwater. After nine years on station, it ispossible on Friendly Forester to detectindentations in the steel made by theconstant movement of these lightweight,resilient, children's toys (Fig. 2).

Friendly Forester's machinery would

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have received from DE(SE), DavidNoyce, the same sort of checking overas the DSL had given her hull, with avisual inspection of all external glands,readily accessible bearings, piping andelectrical connections, clearances andadjustments and any external wearingsurfaces. All areas susceptible to cor-rosion are subjected to close scrutiny.Lubricating oil is changed and so areoil and fuel filters, while fuel injectorsare replaced.

It is usual for the overhaul of life-boat engines to be undertaken by fleetmechanics under the supervision of thedistrict engineer; they may have undertheir care any of the ten different makesof marine diesel engine fitted in theRNLI fleet, and there will be differentsizes and variations of each. Specializedknowledge—and tools—are needed.DEs and FMs are also, of course,responsible for the outboard engines ofthe inshore lifeboat stations in theirdistricts.

Partial SurveyIn the same shed as Friendly Forester

at CardnelPs yard was Walton andFrinton's 46' 9" wood Watson lifeboatEdian Courtauld, the only lifeboat inthe RNLI's fleet smaller than a 70'Clyde to lie at moorings in the open seawithout the protection of a harbour.

She is another boat which took part in aservice for which the silver medal forgallantry was given last year; hercoxswain, Frank Bloom, received theaward for the service to Tsunami instrong gale force winds last September.

Edian Courtauld was at Cardnells forpartial survey and, at the same time,installation of an air bag (an operationdescribed in the autumn 1975 issue ofTHE LIFEBOAT). It is the RNLI's policyto make this kind of structural alterationto a boat while she is in for surveywhenever possible.

At partial survey a great deal moreopening up is undertaken and this is atime when DSL, DE and EE will learnmuch about the boat. All buoyancy aircases (Figs. 3 and 4) and all pieces ofequipment in way of structural membersare removed so that the DSL can checkthat the hull is in good heart with nosign of rot or damage. Some ironworkmay need re-galvanising by this time.Some fastenings will be drawn to checkthat they have not been affected byelectrolytic action, which, unless greatcare is taken, can be one of the mainsources of deterioration in a boat,causing erosion of metal and 'nailsickness' in wood.

Salt water is a good conductor ofelectricity. Put into it two dissimilarmetals and the equivalent of a battery

Fig. 3: Buoyancy air cases,each shaped to fit and markedwith its position, are takenout when opening up the hullfor examination at partialand complete survey . . .

Fig.4:.. . and stowed on oneside. Edian Courtauld, herdecks stripped for action,was at Cardnell Brothers forpartial survey. Her new airbag has already been fittedto her after cabin top.

Fig. 5: New sacrificial anodes are fitted toafloat boats each year. The wastage causedby electrolytic action can be seen by comparingnew anode with old one just taken off EdianCourtauld: Ji/6 of metal had been eroded intwelve months at sea.

cell is set up, with the baser metalacting as anode, the nobler metal ascathode and the water as electrolyte;current flows from the anode to thecathode and, its energy thus sapped, thebaser metal gradually wastes away. It iseasy to see how relevant all this is to aboat. If, for instance, she should have abrass propeller and unprotected ironpintles on her rudder, the pintles andthe wood round them would be injeopardy.

The electric current set up in thisway, although small, is very real. In atest made on Michael and Lily Davis,lying at moorings in Ramsgate Harbour,a recordable current was noted passingthrough her; all electrical equipment onboard had been switched off for twodays.

The first elementary safeguard is toavoid as far as possible the proximity ofdissimilar metals; fittings and theirfixings should 'match', brass fittingsbeing fixed with brass screws or bolts,stainless steel fittings with stainless steelfixings and so on.Thesecondsafeguardina simple situation is to fit plates of basemetal, such as zinc, in danger spots, sothat it is this sacrificial plate which iswasted rather than a vital part of the boat.

The problem is aggravated by theintroduction into a boat of electricaland electronic equipment and the powerneeded to run it. Any stray currents willbe trying to find their way to earththrough the sea and, unless 'tamed', willmake for the most direct hull fitting orfastening, turning it into the equivalentof a cell anode and despoiling it inpassage. Fortunately, these currentscan be tamed and the EE ensures thateach piece of electrical equipmentcarried in a lifeboat is earthed in such away that the current can only flow awaythrough one of the special sacrificialanodes, made by M. G. Duff and Part-ners, fitted to her hull. It is an area whichdemands continual vigilance.

Edian Courtauld was the original boaton which the RNLI experimented withsacrificial anodes. Lying as she does inclean, open water, she is subject togreater electrolytic action than mostlifeboats, just as she is subject to greatermarine growth. At first, ten anodes were

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fitted to her hull, but with experiencethese have been reduced to one largeand five small ones. The work they do iswell illustrated by Fig. 5, in which canbe seen a new 8| Ib anode which is tobe fitted in way of Edian Courtauld'skeel, and the old one which has justbeen removed. The old anode weighsonly 31 b: 5$ Ib of metal has beeneroded in a year.

In looking after her hull, HerbertLarter and the crew of Edian Courtauld

Fig. 6: Bob Stock, whomore than 36 years agowas awarded the bronzemedal for his part in aservice which took Doverlifeboat into minefields,adjusts the tappets on oneof Edian Courtauld'stwin Ford Barracudaengines.

have another, simpler but equallypersistent problem. Turnstones havechosen to roost in her cockpit and willnot be deterred. When she leaves hermoorings these little, protected birdsmove over to the boarding boat andwait . . .

At partial survey the work on theengines takes in all items listed for theinspection check over, and then probesfurther. Cylinder heads are removedand the cylinders are decarbonised andmeasured for wear and ovality; anyparts felt to be suspect are stripped,examined and repaired. Fuel, coolingand wiring systems are all checked, asare fuel tanks, electric starters, dynamos,alternators and fan motors.

Working on Edian Courtauld's twinFord Barracuda diesel engines was anunique member of the RNLI organisa-tion: C. R. T. 'Bob' Stock (Fig. 6). BobStock became assistant motor mechanicat Clacton-on-Sea under CoxswainCharlie Ellis in 1929; after a short spellat Dover he returned to Clacton asmotor mechanic in 1940 and in 1945was appointed a travelling (fleet) mech-anic. While at Dover, Bob Stock hadbeen one of the crew of the motorlifeboat Sir William Hillary which onNovember 26, 1939, under the com-mand of Coxswain Colin H. Bryant,went to the help of HM trawler BlackburnRovers whose propeller was fouled andwhose anchor would not hold. In a fullsouth-west gale and very rough sea SirWilliam Hillary followed BlackburnRovers into minefields, took off hersecret papers and gear and her crew of16, turned into the gale and for threehours fought her way back to Dover.Coxswain Bryant was awarded thesilver medal for gallantry; four bronzemedals were awarded, one of them toMotor Mechanic Bob Stock. Now over

Fig. 7: To provide theextra amps needed to runValentine Wyndham-Quin's new radar, FleetMechanic Steven Bet sonfitted an alternator toeach of her twin ParsonPorbeagle engines. Shewas at Ian Browns forcomplete survey.

70 years of age, Bob Stock still comesback part time so that the RNLI hasthe benefit of his lifetime's experience oflifeboat engines.

Complete surveyClacton-on-Sea's 37' wooden, housed,

Oakley lifeboat, Valentine Wyndham-Quin, was at Ian Browns for completesurvey and also for the fitting of radar(see page 196). She was hauled out inwhat was the old Lower Yard ofRowhedge Ironworks, a firm which inits day had built four lifeboats. One ofthese lifeboats was taken virtually offthe stocks to go to the beaches ofDunkirk; paid for by the Girl GuideAssociation, she was later to be stationedat Cadgwith and named Guide ofDunkirk.

Complete survey involves a fullopening up of the boat; all air cases,main engines, auxiliaries and themajority of fittings and equipment areremoved so that all structure is open toexamination, probing, test-boring orwhatever else is considered necessary toprove the integrity of the structure ordetermine the extent of repairs required.Apart from the unavoidable fact thatshe has aged, the boat, after havingundergone a complete survey, should beevery bit as sound as a new boat. Themain and auxiliary machinery is usuallystripped down completely and partsskimmed, repaired or renewed as foundnecessary.

The smaller the boat, the harder sheis to maintain. The recesses of the hullare more difficult to penetrate, and it ismost important that they should bepenetrated and cleaned because thesmaller the dark corner the easier it isfor damp-retaining dust and silt to buildup. That is how dry rot can set in.

One area which the DSL will inspect

most closely on an Oakley, both atpartial and complete survey, is thedouble bottom under the engine roomwhich holds the ballast tanks. When theboat goes afloat she takes in waterballast, and there is little chance that thewater will be clear. Clacton being inthe Thames Estuary, for ValentineWyndham-Quinn the problem is silt;further north, at Skegness, HerbertLarter knows the problem will be sand.

Valentine Wyndham-Quin's twinParson Porbeagle engines had alreadybeen removed (Fig. 7) to an immaculateworkshop where Fleet Mechanic StevenBetson was engaged not only in theexhaustive overhaul sketched out above,which would have been planned withthe DE, but also in the fitting of analternator to each engine to provide theextra amps needed to run the new radar.There will be new wiring to do, and theradar display to fit in the wheel-house,and all this new electrical equipmentwill have to be earthed to an anode.

Two engines on a workshop floor.Each weighs 9 cwt. Soon they will beback on board, bolted to the bearerson the engine room floor. If the lifeboatwere to capsize they would be suspendedfor the few seconds it took her to rightherself. The bolts, four of them to eachengine, would carry the weight. Theirstrength must be beyond question andthey would always be renewed longbefore they could have lost their virtue.That is just one example of a compara-tively small member which plays a veryimportant part; just one of many detailswhich must be checked. It is a longstory . . .

Survey and repainting complete, aircases, engines and fittings are allmethodically reassembled on board;fittings bedded down in a sealant, atouch of grease to lubricate each screw,wiring carefully insulated, connectionswatertighted. All work will be checked,tested and finally passed by DSL or DEbefore the lifeboat is launched from theyard. Following a partial or completesurvey the divisional inspector of life-boats will carry out a pass-out trialat sea. off the contractors' yard toensure the boat is in a satisfactorycondition operationally, and then shewill return to her station, in all respectsready for future service.

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The wire tautens . . .

RIGHTINGTRIALS

Of the first 37' Oakley

Lifeboat to be fitted

with radar

Frank Pen/old Marshall

ST IVES

. . . pulling her over . . .

ANOTHER MILESTONE on the path of life-boat development was passed in Maythis year when Frank Pen/old Marshall,the 37' Oakley stationed at St Ives, thefirst of her class to be fitted with radar,successfully passed righting trials andwent back on station complete with thisnew equipment.

At the time the 37' Oakley lifeboatswere being built, from the late 1950s tothe early 1970s, there was no radar unitmade suitable for installation on thistype of boat; those available were notlight enough, nor were they capable ofbeing folded for boathouse stowage, andpractically all Oakley lifeboats havebeen housed.

Also, the earlier boats of the class hadonly a limited generator capacity,

. . . release . . .

sufficient for the electronic equipmentof the day but possibly not so for thefuture. Drawing upon the experiencegained in larger lifeboats, the mechanicalproblems involved in the fitting of highoutput alternators with integral dioderectification were investigated andsolved, the first 37' Oakley to be fittedbeing the St Ives boat. When the Oakleyclass developed into the Rother, thisimprovement in power supply wascarried further with larger generatorsand a matching battery system. Con-currently a new generation of solid statelightweight radar units had appeared onthe market. The majority of these werestill not suitable for the harsh environ-ment of a lifeboat's deck but, with theco-operation of the manufacturers, two

Gifts in kind. . . YEAR IN, YEAR OUT, the RNLI receives from a number ofcompanies free supplies of goods for use in lifeboats; giftswhich are greatly appreciated both for their intrinsic value andfor the underlying continuity of support which they exemplify.All the Institution's marine engines, for instance, are lubricatedwith oil supplied by Alexander Duckham and Co. (who alsothoughtfully include tubes of a hand cleanser); stern tubelubricants come from B. R. Vickers and Son; sparking plugsfrom Champion; oil coolers and the spares to go with themfrom E. J. Bowman. There is steel, too, hexagon and roundbar from Plainer Halesowen.

Emergency stores for lifeboat crews on service and forsurvivors are not forgotten. Martell brandy comes in quartbottles from Matthew Clark, to be decanted into the smallerbottles shown in the accompanying picture. In the Republic ofIreland Edward Dillon and Co. make gifts of rum. Cigarettes:for UK stations, two packets of 20 are sealed in foil byGallaghers (on right of picture), while in the Republic ofIreland supplies come from P. J. Carroll and Co. Cadburys,Rowntrees and Cadbury Fry (Ireland) send chocolate forthe lifeboats. Cadburys also give individual packets of Marveldried milk, and all perishable goods are packed into tins atDepot, ready to go on board. In the Republic of Irelandbiscuits are given by Irish Biscuits and W. J. Jacob and Co.;for many years Associated Biscuits and United Biscuits didthe same for UK lifeboats, but because of the high cost ofdistribution biscuits are now obtained locally by each station.

These are just some examples of the gifts in kind on whichthe lifeboat service can rely, and for which it is most grateful.

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. . . and within seconds . . . . . she comes.

were modified for lifeboat use, the firstavailable, the EMI Electrascan, beinginstalled in Rother class lifeboats.

These advances meant that theproblem of fitting radar to the Oakleyboats could be re-examined. Both 37'classes of lifeboat have upper limits ofweight (because of carriage and tractorlimitation), dimensions (dictated byboathouse dimensions) and stability ofthe lifeboat. It was also necessary tolook closely into the effect of the extrabuoyancy of the radome scanner on theself-righting ability of the boat.

Careful checking of all these pointsshowed that it was possible to fit radarretrospectively to most of the 37'Oakley lifeboats and a programme forradar fitting as well as updating of other

communications equipment was drawnup. A special version of the Decca 050radar was selected to replace the EMIunit which had gone out of production.Frank Penfold Marshall, the St Ivesboat, was selected for the first fitting asher survey was the next in the class,being undertaken at Mashford Brothers,Cremyll.

Tank tests of the watertight integrityof the radome were jointly conducted by'Decca and the Siebe Gorman laboratoryat Chessington, the radome being sub-merged under a 12' head of water. Afterthe small modification of adding addi-tional fastenings to the radome flangesa radar was prepared and sent to Mash-fords in time for mounting on the StIves boat. The radome is mounted on a

tabernacled tripod mast which has abouttwice the strength fore and aft asathwartships; should the radar be hitby a head sea it will stand, but shouldthe boat roll over and capsize in shallowwater it will fracture. The hingingaluminium pins are all undercut forshearing to avoid the possibility ofdamage to the engine room super-structure on which the mast is mounted.The mast folds forward and down intothe forward cockpit for boathousestowage and can be quickly erectedafter the boat launches.

Since the first successful tests radarhas been fitted to Clacton-on-Sea life-boat, at Ian Browns of Rowhedge forcomplete survey (see page 195), and theprogramme is under way.

Model LifeboatsTHREE SCALE WORKING MODEL lifeboatsmeet on the water; each is radiocontrolled, powered by twin 6v electricmotors; each is painted in authenticRNLI colours; and each has been madeby a Lifeboat Enthusiast.

The model of the 42' Watson MabelE. Holland, Dungeness, (left) was built

by Roi Spurrell of Beckenham and hasbeen launched into the sea alongside thereal Mabel E. Holland during Dungenesslifeboat week. She is 1 : 1 scale, LOA 42"and the hull is constructed of doublediagonal planking using 2mm ply on\" marine ply bulkheads with \" x \"mahogany ribs. The superstructure is

Y ply and solid mahogany. Workingnavigation lights are included.

The 52' Barnett Joseph Hiram Chad-wick, Galway Bay, (centre) was modelledby David Reed of Crofton Park,London, in her original form. Built to16th scale, LOA 40", the hull is of twolayers of mahogany planks laid on |"mahogany ply bulkheads. The deck is2 mm marine ply and the main super-structure is a combination of mahoganyplanking and marine ply. She carriesnavigation and deck flood lights.

The model of the 48' 6" Oakley Rubyand Arthur Reed, Cromer, (right) wasbuilt by Brian King of Weybridge, towhom we are indebted for the photo-graph of the three boats. Hull, deck andmost of the superstructure are of GRP ;just the wheelhouse is of 2 mm marineply. The radar scanner revolves withthe aid of a small electric motor andgearing reduces the revolutions to thecorrect scale speed.

For the fittings of these meticulousmodels, copper, brass, perspex, obechie,plastic, steel, aluminium and balsa haveall been brought into use.

All these models play their part infund raising for the lifeboat service.

197

TRINITYHOUSE

AN ANCIENT FOUNDATION,

LOOKING AHEAD

FOR MORE THAN FOUR HUNDRED YEARS

the Corporation of Trinity House, withits headquarters on Tower Hill, London,has been concerned with the safety ofshipping, the progress of navigationand the welfare of seamen. Despite itsvenerable age, Trinity House has alwayskept its eyes firmly on the future. Atpresent, together with the other light-house and hydrographic authorities ofnorth west Europe, as well as those ofmany more distant nations, it is pre-paring to embark on the massive taskof implementing an imaginative, sim-plified international buoyage system—Maritime Buoyage System A, which isdescribed on page 200 and illustratedon the back cover of this issue. Perhaps,therefore, now is the time to look atboth the long and distinguished historyand the present work of this uniquemaritime organisation.

The service provided by Trinity Housefalls into three main functions. It is:

(i) The general lighthouse authorityfor England, Wales, the ChannelIslands, and Gibraltar, responsiblefor providing such aids to naviga-tion as lighthouses, light vessels,buoys and beacons.

(ii) The principal pilotage authority inthe United Kingdom with res-ponsibility for London and 40other districts, including such portsas Southampton, Milford Havenand Falmouth.

(iii) It is also a charitable organisationfor the relief of mariners and theirdependants, and has built homesand a hospital for former merchantservice officers and their depen-dants at Walmer, in Kent.

As a Corporate Body, Trinity Housestill retains its traditional titles whichare as venerable as those of the LiveryCompanies and Guilds of the City ofLondon, although they are now reservedmainly for ceremonial occasions. Themembers of the Corporation are dividedinto two main categories: Elder andYounger Brethren.

The Younger Brethren, who numberabout 300, are master mariners orsenior naval officers of high professionaldistinction. It is from this pool ofnautical experience that the ten membersof the Board are appointed, each withthe life title of Elder Brother, whotogether with the Secretary, the chief

administrative officer, control the day-to-day affairs of Trinity House. Inaddition there are a number of honoraryElder Brethren selected by invitation,in recognition of their distinguishedservices.

The 'head' of the Corporation is theMaster, a title dating back to theoriginal charter of 1514. By Charter ofJames I provision was made for theappointment of a Master's Deputy, atitle which today is reserved for theChairman of the Board. The presentMaster is HRH Prince Philip, and theDeputy Master, who is also an ex-officio member of the Committee ofManagement of the RNLI, is CaptainMiles Buckley Wingate.

The first known record of TrinityHouse is that relating to its incorpora-tion in 1514. It is clear that there wasat that time an association or guild ofshipmen and mariners of a semi-religious character with benevolentobjects, which some historians say wasfounded by Archbishop Stephen Lang-ton in the thirteenth century. Theassociation had certainly been longenough established to own a hall andalmshouses at Deptford and of sufficientimportance to apply for and receive acharter from Henry VIII.

On May 20, 1514, the Royal Charterauthorised 'oure trewe and faithfullsubjects, Shipmen and Mariners of thisour Realm of England' in honour of themost blessed trinitie and Saint ClementConfessor, to 'begyn of new and erecteand establish a Guild or Brotherhoodperpetually of themselves or otherpersons, as well men as women,whatsoever they be in the parishChurch of Deptford Stronde in ourCounty of Kent'.

Lighthouses, light vessels and buoysIn the reign of Elizabeth I, Trinity

House acquired its Grant of Arms(1573), and also authority to erect sea-marks. In 1594, the Lord High Admiralsurrendered to Her Majesty the rights ofbeaconage, buoyage and ballastagevested in him with the recommendation,which was adopted, that these bebestowed upon Trinity House. Therights of beaconage included, of course,lighthouses, although a long intervalelapsed before the Corporation had all

major English lighthouses permanentlyunder its control, owing to the practiceof the Crown of issuing patents orgrants of lighthouses to private indivi-duals who, on payment of a rent, hadthe right to collect the tolls. Theseprivate lights, as may be imagined,varied in efficiency and it was not until1836 that Trinity House was empoweredto buy them out, at a cost (aided by aloan from the state) of nearly£1,200,000.

Trinity House now has the solepower of erecting lights for generalnavigation and the service is responsiblefor fixed and floating seamarks, visual,audible and electronic aids to naviga-tion. Within its area of jurisdictionthere are 93 lighthouses, 22 light vesselson station and nearly 700 buoys, overhalf of which are lighted. Althoughsome local and harbour authoritiesmaintain sea marks within their ownport limits, these are regularly inspectedby Trinity House and the sanction ofthe Corporation must be obtainedbefore any changes can be made.

Trinity House is also responsible fordealing with wrecks around the coast ofEngland and Wales with the exceptionof those occurring within local portlimits and wrecks of HM ships.

The present day powers of TrinityHouse stem in the main from theMerchant Shipping Act 1894, and theservice is financed from light dueswhich are levied at every port in theUnited Kingdom and the Republic ofIreland and are based on the netregistered tonnage of the vessel. LocalCustoms officers act as agents for thecollection of dues and the fund, which isadministered by the Department ofTrade, is used to finance the threeGeneral Lighthouse Authorities.

For administration the coasts ofEngland and Wales are divided into anumber of districts each under thecharge of a superintendent and havingits own store or depot and maintenancestaff. There is a fleet of six lighthousetenders of about 1,500 gross tons, fiveoperational and one in reserve. All theoperational tenders have two full crews,each crew working 14 days on boardfollowed by 14 days free from duty.The vessels are used for the relief andsupply of light vessels and offshore

198

lighthouses, the servicing of buoys andbeacons, the location and marking ofwrecks and for towing light vesselswhich have no propulsion of their ownto and from station. Two tenders arebased at Swansea, the main coastaldepot for the west coast, and threetenders and the reserve tender arebased at Harwich, the main coastaldepot for the east coast; their areas ofresponsibility meet on the south coastat the Isle of Wight, the east coast tendersalso servicing aids to navigation in theChannel Islands.

The Corporation's main workshops,where skilled men are employed in theservicing, maintenance and, sometimes,making of equipment, are at Blackwall,in London. With the continual object ofimproving seamarks, Trinity Housekeeps well abreast of technologicaladvances and much headway has beenmade in the development of lightsources and fog signals. New equipmentis tested and evaluated at a researchstation at Dungeness.

Each of the large fleet of light vesselsstationed at important navigationalpositions around the coasts of Englandand Wales has a crew of five men.These light vessels are expensive tobuild and maintain and so TrinityHouse has embarked on an ambitiousprogramme of replacing some of themby other devices: by towers standing onthe sea bed such as those at RoyalSovereign and Inner Dowsing; by highfocal plane buoys, as at Gorton, MidBarrow and Barrow Deep; and by largeautomatic navigation buoys (LANBYS)as at Morecombe Bay, Owers andLynn Well.

Buoys also play a vital and majorrole in safeguarding the seas. TrinityHouse has maintained unlighted buoysfor over 300 years, but it was not until1880 that a lighted buoy was first used.Today all buoys in the service are ofmild steel or wrought iron and vary indiameter from 5' to 12' and weightanything from three to 12 tons, withoutmoorings; which, perhaps, gives someidea of the sheer physical magnitude ofthe task which Trinity House and thelighthouse authorities of Scotland and

Ireland have ahead of them in the nextfew years.

Lighted buoys burn dissolved acety-lene, and in addition to the light, somebuoys carry sound devices such as bells,whistles and sometimes small electricfog signals; most are fitted with radarreflectors. Electric lighting and plasticconstruction are two of the changeslikely to take place in buoy developmentover the next decade or so.

The Corporation is also responsiblefor marking routes for specific purposessuch as for deep draft vessels within itsarea of jurisdiction, whenever justifiedand necessary. For example, the twoway traffic separation in the EnglishChannel/Strait of Dover through whichsome 400 ships pass a day. The routeshave been marked and are maintainedjointly by Trinity House and theFrench lighthouse service.

PilotageThe history of Trinity House as a

pilotage authority has taken a straight-forward course. The Charter of 1514gave Trinity House general powers toregulate pilotage and in 1604 James Iconferred on it rights concerning thecompulstory pilotage of shipping andthe exclusive right to license pilots in theRiver Thames. The Trinity House Out-port Pilotage Districts were establishedby George III in 1808, but it is clearthat many of them had existed long 'before that time.

The Corporation licenses but does notemploy the pilots; they are self-employed. Like the lighthouse service, thepilotage service is entirely self suppor-ting and receives no government funds.Its income is derived from a levy onpilots' earnings, dues paid by vessels forshipping and landing pilots, and fromlicence fees.

There are about 800 Trinity Housepilots of whom about 500 are in theLondon district. To qualify, a Londonpilot must be of British nationality,physically fit, possess a foreign-goingmaster mariner's certificate and havehad eight years' experience as a watch-keeping officer and be under the age of35. Having been interviewed and

selected, the candidate pilot has at hisown expense to accompany fully quali-fied pilots on their trips for a period ofthree to six months, depending on hisprevious experience of the area. Aftercompleting his qualifying trip, thecandidate is examined by a member ofthe Board and if satisfactory, issuedwith his licence as a third class pilot.Even then it will take four more yearsand two more examinations before he isable to pilot ships of every size.

In districts other than London, thepowers and duties of Trinity House areexercised and performed by a committeeappointed for each district.

Fast launches and ancillary craft formthe fleet of pilot cutters. One majordevelopment in the running of thepilotage service has been the replace-ment of the pilot cruising cutters, wherepossible, by fast shore-based launchesbacked up by new shore communicationcentres. The first replacement schemetook place in 1957 when the cutterstationed at the Needles entrance toSouthampton was replaced by fastlaunches based at Totland. Fast launcheshave since been introduced at Folke-stone, Harwich and Ryde. The onlyremaining cruising cutter station main-tained by Trinity House is that at theSunk which marks the northernapproach to the London Pilotagedistrict and is used for providing apilotage service for ships bound to andfrom London. Its position is such thatthe shore station/fast launch operationwould be impracticable to introduce.

Tradition and evolution go hand inhand in the story of Trinity House, andfor more information about its latestservice to navigation, turn the page.

(Left) Alderney Lighthouse, in the Channel Islands. Light-houses, light vessels (below) and pilotage (above) all comewithin the province of Trinity House.

photographs by courtesy of (above) James Manning, and(below) East Anglian Daily Times

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INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LIGHTHOUSE AUTHORITIES

Maritime Buoyage System AA COMBINED CARDINAL AND LATERAL SYSTEM, RED TO PORT

To be introduced in North West European and many other waters by stages, starting April 1977

FROM APRIL NEXT YEAR work will beginon the introduction around our coastsof a new buoyage system, MaritimeBuoyage System A (MBS A), which willnot only have all the merits of logic andsimplicity but also the advantage ofgeneral acceptance. It is being adoptedthroughout North West Europe, so thatwithin a few years, in this area, there willbe just one common buoyage systemwhere up to now there have been no lessthan seven. Many other nations, includ-ing those around the Mediterranean andsome African maritime states, will alsobe adopting MBS A. If not universal, itwill indeed be truly international.

It is not perhaps surprising that in theyears of developing sea trade differentways of marking navigable channels andoff-lying dangers should have grownup. The marks were there for the benefitof the coastal shipping of their owncountry. But now the world has growncloser; power and speed have madedistances relatively shorter; the timehas come, and the climate of opinion isright, for international agreement on acommon policy.

At the request of the Inter-Govern-mental Maritime Consultative Organiza-tion (IMCO) the International Associa-tion of Lighthouse Authorities (IALA)tackled the problem of rationalisation.After much discussion between light-house and hydrographic authorities ofmany nations, IALA presented its newschemes MBS A and MBS B (for nationssuch as America which do not wish toconform to the lateral marks of MBS A)to IMCO which, on March 24 this year,gave the schemes its approval.

Our own three lighthouse authorities,Trinity House, the Northern Lighthouse

Board (Scotland and the Isle of Man)and the Commissioners of Irish Lights,have all been deeply concerned in thisoperation; the Chairman and Secretaryof the IALA buoyage technical committeeare both members of Trinity House,Captain J. E. Bury, a member of theBoard, and N. F. Matthews, Chief ofAdministration, respectively.

Perhaps, before talking about the newsystem itself, it would be as well to lookat the proposed timing of its introduc-tion round these islands, shown in adiagram on this page. Stage 1 will beundertaken in 1977, starting in April;stage 2 in 1978; stage 3 in 1979; stage 4in 1980; and stage 5, the greater part ofthe Baltic, not shown in the diagram,1981. It is a massive undertaking. ForTrinity House 260 buoys will be involvedin stage 1 alone. Not only will it meansome alteration to every establishedbuoy except for solid red port handbuoys with red lights, but the wholeoperation can only be done in conjunc-tion with the publication of new chartsprepared by the Hydrographer to theNavy.

Maritime Buoyage System A is acombined cardinal and lateral system(red to port) and provides five differenttypes of mark: lateral, cardinal, isolateddanger, safe water and special marks, allof which are illustrated on the backcover of this journal.

These marks will be used in conjunc-tion with a conventional direction ofbuoyage which in rivers and estuarieswill continue to be from seawardinwards, but at sea will in general followa clockwise direction around continentalland masses. These directions will beshown on charts, and a careful watch

MALIN HEAD TORMINNS OF ISLAY

B R I T I S HSi"

ISLES

OLD HEAD Of KINJALITO

LAT. 47*5O'NLOHS. OS' 30'W

30°

:s(

IALA Maritime Buoy-age System A imple-mentation target 1977-1980. Stage 1, startingnext April, will bebounded to the west bylongitude 0°, the Green-wich Meridian, to thesouth by latitude 50° 20'N and to the north bylatitude 52°10'N; it willtake in the Straits ofDover and the ThamesEstuary.

should be kept, when the time comes, forchanges from the traditional direction ofbuoyage. A diagram showing the newconventional direction of buoyage whichwill apply round these islands is alsogiven on the back cover of this journal.It is important to note that on the eastcoast, north of Orfordness, buoys willbe laid out in a completely oppositedirection from at present; they are laidout now from north to south, in themain stream of the flood tide; in futurethey will be laid out south to north, inaccordance with the new clockwiseround-Europe buoyage direction.

But to return to the marks themselves.Their good sense is something whichsoon becomes apparent. The number ofvariables is reduced, and the new markshave features built into their designwhich are in themselves aids to memory.The topmark of each is clear, individualand will be very easy to see; those at seawill be 3 feet across and those in estuaries2 feet. Starboard hand lateral marks willbe green (except possibly where achannel runs so close to land that greenbuoys would be lost against turf ormeadowland, when black would beretained). Day and night presentationwill be the same, red buoys having redlights, green buoys green lights, yellowbuoys yellow lights, and the three typesof mark which will have white lights(cardinal, safe water and isolated dangermarks) each having their own distinctiverhythms.

Lateral marks: Used in conjunction witha conventional direction of buoyage,generally for well defined channels. Thesemarks indicate the port and starboardsides of the route to be followed:

Port hand:Colour redShape (buoys) can or sparTopmark (if any) single red canLight (when fitted) colour, red: rhythm,

any

Starboard hand:Colour greenShape (buoys) conical or sparTopmark (if any) single green cone,

point upLight (when fitted) colour, green:

rhythm, anyIf marks at the sides of a channel arenumbered or lettered, the numbering orlettering will follow the conventionaldirection of buoyage.

Cardinal marks: The four quadrants(north, east, south and west) arebounded by the true bearings NW-NE,NE-SE, SE-SW, SW-NW taken from thepoint of interest, or danger. A cardinal

200

marks is named after the quadrant inwhich it is placed and indicates that itshould be passed to the named side ofthe mark. It may be used, for example,to indicate that the deepest water in thatarea is on the named side of the mark, orto indicate the safe side on which topass a danger (such as rocks, or a sand-bank or wreck); it may also be used todraw attention to a feature in a channelsuch as a bend or a junction, a bifurca-tion or the end of a shoal:

North cardinal mark:Topmark 2 black cones, one

above the other,points upward

Colour black above yellowShape pillar or sparLight (when fitted) colour, white:

rhythm, very quickflashing (VQF) orquick flashing (QF)

East cardinal mark:Topmark 2 black cones, one

above the other, baseto base

Colour black with a singlebroad horizontalyellow band

Shape pillar or sparLight (when fitted) colour, white:

rhythm, VQF (3) orQF (3)

South cardinal mark:Topmark 2 black cones, one

above the other,points downward

Colour yellow above blackShape pillar or sparLight (when fitted) colour, white:

rhythm, VQF (6) +long flash or QF (6)+ long flash

West cardinal mark:Topmark 2 black cones, one

above the olher,point to point

Colour yellow with a singlebroad horizontalblack band

Shape pillar or sparLight (when fitted) colour, white:

rhythm, VQF (9) orOF (9)

It will be seen that the rhythm of cardinalmark lights follows the pattern of a clockface: north, 12 o'clock, continuous flash-ing; east, 3 o'clock, three flashes; south,6 o'clock, six flashes (with a long flash tomake quite sure it is not miscounted andmistaken for east or west); west, 9 o'clock,nine flashes.

Isolated danger marks: Erected on, ormoored on or above, an isolated dangerwhich has navigable water all around it.

Topmark 2 black spheres, oneabove the other

Colour black with one ormore broad hori-zontal red bands

Shape pillar or sparLight (when fitted) colour, white:

rhythm, groupflashing (2)

Safe water marks: Indicating that thereis navigable water all round the mark;

these include centre line marks and mid-channel marks. Such a mark may alsobe used as an alternative to a cardinalor lateral mark to indicate a landfall.

Topmark (if any) single red sphereColour red and white vertical

stripesShape spherical, pillar with

spherical topmark orspar

Light (when fitted) colour, white:rhythm, isophase,occulting or one longflash every 10seconds

Special marks: Indicate a special area orfeature, such as spoil ground, or a cableor pipe line. When a navigator sees aspecial mark, in fact, it tells him that hemust look for further information on hischart or in other nautical documents.

Topmark (if any) single yellow X shapeColour yellowShape optional but not

conflicting withnavigational marks

Light (when fitted) colour, yellow:rhythm, any, otherthan those describedfor cardinal, isolateddanger or safe watermarks.

Wherever possible, the shape of yellowbuoy chosen would be in character withits position. For instance, a yellow canwould be chosen for a port hand mark, aconical yellow buoy for a starboard handmark.

New dangers: Newly discovered hazardsnot yet indicated in nautical documents:naturally occuring obstructions such assandbanks or rocks, or man-madedangers such as wrecks. New dangerswill be marked in accordance with thegeneral rules, using in the main cardinalmarks, although others would be usedwhere appropriate. If a danger isparticularly grave, at least one of themarks will be duplicated: the duplicatemark would be identical to its partner.

This article is only intended as anintroduction to Maritime BuoyageSystem A, and should only be taken asthat. Fuller information will, of course,be promulgated through the normalnavigational publications. MBS A will bethe central feature of Trinity House'sstand at next year's Boat Show at EarlsCourt, so from January 6-16 there willbe an ideal opportunity of obtainingexplanations at first hand.

Obituary

The understatementof the year. ..

Seen by David Rees, a New Quaycrew member, in a western newspaper onJuly 28:

Two holidaymakers spotted clinging to acapsized dinghy off Tenby yesterday wereback on dry land in just 13 minutes afteran Olympic-speed launch by Borth in-shore lifeboat crew.Well, they only had to come, wha t . . .

90 miles?

With deep regret we announce thefollowing deaths:

AprilDr Robert Rees Prytherch, a lifelong

supporter of the RNLI who had beenhonorary medical adviser at Cricciethsince 1956 and chairman of the stationbranch for many years. He was awardedthe silver badge in 1966.

JunePhilip Hodgson, JP, honorary secre-

tary of Filey lifeboat station for 13years. Tireless and dedicated, he enjoyedthe warm regard and respect ofcoxswain, crew and all who workedfor the station.

Eric Hudson, district engineer(eastern). Mr Hudson joined (he In-stitution as motor mechanic at Sunder-land in 1946, became a travellingmechanic in Scotland in 1950 and hadbeen district engineer in the south eastor east since 1967.

AugustMrs O. E. Lloyd-Jones, who joined

Llandudno ladies' guild in 1944, becamehonorary treasurer in 1947 and vice-president in 1973. In that year she wasawarded a gold badge for her long andvalued voluntary service.

Oliver Warner, the distinguishednaval historian who was the author ofThe Life-boat Service, a history of theRNLI from 1824-1974, written to com-memorate the 150th anniversary of theInstitution.

George Parsons, who served in TheMumbles lifeboat crew for 36 years and,more recently, has been head launcherfor the boat. He was assistant mechanicfrom 1952 to 1957.

Practical thanksWhen Huddersfield ladies' guild this

year broke its standing flag day targetof £1,000 by raising £1,155, two of itscollectors were young people who, withtheir dog, had been rescued by Flam-borough lifeboat; they had beenstranded on rocks in the face of anincoming tide, the young man with abroken knee.

Used postage stampsB. Smale, who collects used stamps

for the RNLI, has moved from Chester.He now lives at 17 Station Road, Oke-hampton, Devon, and parcels of stampsshould be addressed to him there.

Sea Rhine foundersIn the summer issue of THE LIFEBOAT

we published a letter of thanks to theGreat Yarmouth and Gorleston lifeboatcrew from Douglas Sewell; we apologisefor mis-spelling his name.

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ShorelineSection

WE HOPE ALL SHORELINE MEMBERS haveenjoyed the fine summer. It would seemdifficult not to have enjoyed the sun-shine, even though our thoughts havebeen very much with the members offire services all over the country andwith those of our members concernedin agriculture or other occupationsbadly affected by the drought.

* * *Now—news of our own future life-

boat, RNLB Shoreline. The keel will belaid in the next few weeks: that is themeasure of the wonderful response wehave received to the appeal launchedwith the last issue of THE LIFEBOAT. Eachmember was asked to introduce at leastone new member; with our numbers

over 31,000, if this operation weresuccessful there would be funds enoughto put a new Rother class lifeboat on thestocks.

The response began by return of post.Our normal intake of new members roseby 100%. There were donations: any-thing from £1 to £250. One member,Mrs E. Roberts, quickly organised acoffee morning and sent us the results—£30—towards the new boat. Within afew days a fiftieth of the cost hadalready come in.

Perhaps, however, the most encourag-ing aspect of these early days has beenthe number of members who havewritten asking for more enrolmentforms. Some have asked for ten or twelve,to give to friends; some requests havebeen for enough forms to send out toevery member of a yacht club. It looksas though the stream which has alreadystarted could turn into a flood. And, ofcourse, we shall need a flood if theremaining 49/50ths are to be raised. Thestart has been magnificent. Your quick,spontaneous generosity has given us theconfidence that success will be achieved.

Please keep up the good work; if weare to win the privilege of naming alifeboat Shoreline we must maintain thestart that has been made, and we aredepending on your continuing efforts.Even if you have recruited your new

Prepare to cast off forward!Paul Richard Wilkinson, ofHigh Wycombe, is only justa year old, but has all theingredients of an old seadog. He loves boats, andanything to do with them; sohis family, who call him thesea pup, have enrolled himas a member of Shoreline.

member, might there not be someoneelse you know who would like to join?We will gladly send extra forms and giveyou any other help you need.

Our normal staff is doing its best totake the great increase of work in itsstride; if there should be any delay incorrespondence we hope you will under-stand and forgive us.

As we told you in the summer issue ofTHE LIFEBOAT, we plan to follow thestory of RNLB Shoreline right throughher building, trials, naming and service.So, we are starting at the beginning and,on the opposite page you will find anarticle on the plans of the 37'6" Rotherclass lifeboat.

* * *

Before the Shoreline appeal wasannounced, Mr M. Silver of NewtonMearns, Glasgow, had started on arecruitment drive of his own, holding asherry morning at his home on March 28with the express purpose of encouraginghis friends to join. As a result he signedon many new members and was able tohand in £90 to the Glasgow branchoffice. Mr Silver is now planning anothersuch party. How splendid! All strengthto his good work!

* * *

Just at this exciting time, my periodof office as membership secretary isregrettably reaching its end, and I shallbe returning to my original sphere ofwork, connected with the operationalside of the Institution. Thank you foryour kind letters and for all your help.

My successor will be Peter Holness,whom some of you may already knowas he has been organising secretary forSouth London area for the past sixyears. I am sure that he will enjoy thesame happy association with ourmembers which has been my pleasurethese last few years.—G. R. 'BOB'WALTON, Membership secretary, RNLIWest Quay Road, Poole, Dorset, BH15lHZ(Tel. Poole 71133)

To: SHORELINE, RNLI, WEST QUAY ROAD, POOLE, DORI should like to be a part of such a worthwhile voluntary cause b

and joining the Institution as :

A Life Member and Life Governor: minimum donation £60,including journal

A Member and Governor: minimum annual subscription £10,including journal

An Offshore Member: minimum annual subscription £3,including journal

SHORELINE LIFEBOAT

Total subscription

NAME

SET, BH15 1HZ.y becoming a SHORELINE member of the lifeboat service

SfIt

orelii'nchi

Da

Sig

Below are the variousitems you are entitled towear or fly as a memberof SHORELINE:Members' tie (Terylene) £1 .50Lady's brooch £0.50Metal car badge £1 .55Pair of cuff-links £1.758 "hoist flag £1.2512" hoist flag £2.00Dinghy burgee £1.25

Insignia payment

ie Giro number is 294 7056e P.Ojchequelcash for £

te

nature

202

Building a Rother Class LifeboatPART I:THE PLANS

KNOWLEDGE OF SHIPS AND THE SEA, ofdesign and engineering brought to bear,with imagination, on the problemsposed in the reconciling of requirementswith limitations; calculations; drawings—of profile, section and plan—buildingup on flat sheets of paper a three-dimensional form; large scale drawingsof detail; and more calculation. . . .That is naval architecture, its end resultthe design of a boat and the workingplans from which she will be built.

Very often one design will grownaturally out of another; meeting newrequirements; building in improvementssuggested by experience or madepossible by development of availablematerials and equipment. In just such away the 37' 6" Rother lifeboat grewout of the 37' Oakley. The 37' Oakleywas the first modern lifeboat with aself-righting capability, achieved by thetransference of water ballast frombeneath the engine room to a rightingtank under the port deck. Later,modifications were made to give theboat enough inherent buoyancy forself righting without the need for waterballast transference. The superstructure,now of aluminium alloy, was extendedover the forward well, and a wheel-house, open at the after end but carryingbuoyancy blocks in its roof, was added.Other advantages gained were a forwardcabin for survivors and more protection

for the crew. This modified Oakley wasre-named the Rother.

A full set of working plans is madeup of many sheets of detailed drawings,but it is only possible here to reproduceone or two key examples; a deck planand centreline elevation and twosections, numbered so that their posi-tions can be located on the full lengthplans. Section 6 is looking aft at themain watertight bulkhead from insidethe engine room. Section 7 looksforward from the steering position tothe outside of the same bulkhead; noteradio and D/F loop to port and thecompass binnacle under the coxswain'seye forward. Note, too, buoyancy blocksbeneath the wheelhouse sole and in itsroof, and the beginning of the run aftof the propeller tunnels.

So much can be learnt from even oneview. The elevation shows not only themain layout of foredeck, cabin, engineroom, wheelhouse and after deck, butalso such detail as how the radar on theafter end of the wheelhouse roof andthe mast, forward, pivot down so thatthe Rother can be housed; a look at thedeck plan shows that the mast is in facta tripod. From different views of the-same detail a rounded picture can bebuilt up. For instance, the propellershafts can be seen in both sections 6 and7 and in the elevation.

(To be continued)

LOABeamDraftDisplacement, loadedEnginesMaximum speedRange at maximum speedCrew

37'6" (11.4 m)11'6" (3.5 m)37" (I.I m)13 tons

Twin 52 hp diesel8 knots154 nautical miles7

203

Aroundthe coast

SECOND OF THE STEEL HULLED 18 knotfast afloat Thames class lifeboats,Elizabeth Ann, 50-002, recently com-pleted her first comparative trials withthe prototype, 50-001, and with anArun class boat, 52-02. Although onlylight to moderate weather conditionswere encountered, 50-002 comparedwell with both of her running mates.The main improvements are a bowmodification, which reduces wetness,and a better layout for the crew cabin.Some further small modifications remainto be evaluated in heavy weather afterwhich, all being well, the experimentalGRP bow will be replaced by a steelstructure.

Elizabeth Ann, 50-002, seen astern of Sir William Arnold, 52-02, at Guernsey in August.photograph by courtesy of Brian Green

On the very hot, sunny day of June 6, Mrs Irene Carrington, wife ofthe president of the St Ives, Huntingdonshire, Rotary Club, named thenew D class ILB for Wells station Spirit of Rotary, pouring champagneover her bows. The St Ives branch of the Rotary Club had raised themoney for the replacement boat in the short space often months, anda number of their members travelled to Wells to be present at theceremony.

photograph by courtesy of RNLI Enthusiasts Society,Cromer and District Research Group.

After naming West Mersea's new Atlantic 21 Alexander Duckhamon July 1, another brilliant summer day, and unveiling an inscribedplaque, R. A. G. Joseph, marketing director of Duckhams (I.) withS. R. Page, publicity manager, went aboard for a trip afloat. The giftof this ILB commemorated both Duckhams 75th anniversary and the150th anniversary, in 1974, of the RNLI. From the time she went onstation at West Mersea at the beginning of April until mid July,Alexander Duckham had launched on service 25 times and rescued19 lives. photograph by courtesy of Alexander Duckham

The Marquis of Normanby, CBE, LordLieutenant of North Yorkshire and a memberof the Committee of Management, presentedCoxswain William Sheader, Scarborough,with the BEM awarded to him in the New YearHonours List at Mulgrave Castle, Whitby,on June 26.photograph by courtesy of Dennis Dobson

Anniversaries: Three stations, Arklow,Blyth and Dungeness, are, this year,celebrating their 150th anniversaries,and one, Eyemouth, its centenary. Aspart of the celebrations at Dungeness acollection of oil paintings of itscoxswains was unveiled by Lady Norton,a member of the Committee of Manage-ment, on July 18. The paintings arepart of a special display at The Britanniainn, which includes a scroll listing crewsfrom 1915 to the present day and apictorial history of Dungeness lifeboatsand their rescues.

* * *Aberdeen lifeboat, the 54' Arun BPForties, visited Stonehaven in earlyAugust at the time of Stonehaven ladies'guild annual gala. She was the firstoffshore lifeboat to come to this Kin-cardineshire harbour—which now has

an inshore lifeboat—since the lifeboatstation was closed in 1934. The gala,helped by BP Forties' presence and ajoint display by the ILB and HM Coast-guard, raised £1,700.

* * *Horton and Port Eynon has, in the past12 months, been provided with a latestmodel radio for the boat and amagnificent steel flag pole, togetherwith a crosstree and an aerial whichmakes monitoring over a wide areapossible. After many months of hardwork, overcoming problems, the stationhas also a water supply. All theseadditions are the result of the generosityof the station's supporters, whose helpis practical as well as financial: laying awater pipe from main road to station,for instance, and installing the 2J-tonpole from which the RNLI flag flies.

204

(Some

The chairman of Saintfield branch,Belfast, has written a history of theparish which is being sold in connectionwith the bicentenary of the re-buildingof its church and, as an appreciation ofhis work, the Select Vestry has given £50to the Saintfield branch of the RNLI.As well as recording local history, thebooklet, Saintfield Parish Under theMicroscope, includes details of villagelife in the past 200 years.

Dorset Brass Quire, enrolled inShoreline, has sent a donation of £30.05,the proceeds from outdoor concerts inthe Scilly Isles. Most was raised by afloating concert in St Mary's Harbour,the brass group playing aboard apleasure boat to an audience on the sea-front. Handel's Water Music wasincluded in the programme. The secondconcert was given close by Bishop RockLighthouse. Can this be the furthest westconcert in England ?

Their stint done: a nine-year-old and his dogwho, on June 9, with 274 other pupils of StPeter's Church of England Junior School,Harborne, Birmingham, helped to raise£1,200 for the RNLI on a sponsored walkround Harborne Cricket Club field—fivecircuits for the younger, eight for the olderchildren.

(Right) Fifty minutes of sponsored silencefor the five to eleven-year-olds at GrendonRoad Junior School, Birmingham, raised£252.08 for the lifeboat service.

photographs by courtesy of BirminghamEvening Mail

The seventh Elmore Angling Festivalin aid of lifeboat funds was held at Lee-on-the-Solent on Sunday, April 4. Thisyear's festival raised more than £1,300,taking the grand total for the sevenyears to over £5,000. About 1,000 anglersfished from 11 am to 4 pm. During theweigh-in Eric Pearman, vice-chairmanof Eastney lifeboat station appealcommittee and chairman of Gosportbranch, presented to Mrs GeorginaKeen, a member of the Committee of

Miss E. M. Lloyd-Jonesorganising secretary,Scotland, presents prizesfor the RNLI art com-petition arranged byGrangemouth branch forlocal schoolchildren. The300 and more picturesand models submittedwere judged by FrankDonnan.

photograph bycourtesy of

The Falkirk HeraldStudios

Management, £8,000 towards the costof the new ILB house at Eastney. Thismoney had come from numerous events,including last year's Elmore AnglingFestival. Leslie Crowther presented theprizes to the anglers.

Grangemouth branch, which hasraised over £2,000 in two years, recentlyorganised an RNLI art competition inwhich more than 300 children took part.Several of the winners came from MorayMiddle School, some of whose pupilshave since raised £1.65 for the lifeboatservice with a hamster tote. Twentysmall numbered boxes, each with a littlefood in it, were placed round a run, anda Ip ticket was sold for each number;the hamster, Topsy, put in the run, ranaround and then into a box and theperson who had the correspondingticket won 5p.

Reigate and Redhill branch raisedmore than £3,000 in 1975 for the secondyear in succession. More than 30 schoolsin the area have seen the film 'Let Notthe Deep Swallow Me Up', made forthe Inner London Education Authority.It was met with great enthusiasm andduring Surrey appeal week the children

205

gave some £200 pocket money, while£1,000 worth of souvenirs was sold topupils through school staff and thebranch chairman, F. Carl Seager, MBE.

Some time ago, each of the 12members of Masham ladies' guildcommittee, in the heart of the YorkshireDales, was given 25p token money—£3in all. Each was asked, starting with hertoken, to make as much as possible, andat their recent AGM the money raisedwas counted; it totalled just over £58.The treasurer, by baking bread, hadturned her original 25p into £24.

Stockport crew of lifeboat auxiliariesput up their flag day collection thisspring by 50% with a total of £786: noless than 18,000 coins! The result wasachieved by 13 collectors, one of whom,the secretary Wallace Lister Barber, didtwo shifts of eight hours.

Mrs Beryl Robertson of Alfred TerraceWalton, Essex, helped by her mother MrsWin Garratt, collected 150 Ib of stamps from

friends and local shops during the past yearrealising £40 which she gave to the RNLI.Mrs Robertson is still collecting stamps andwelcomes contributions.

photograph by courtesy ofEast Essex Gazette

Broadway ladies guild is lucky thatits honorary treasurer, Mrs J. Morris,lives in a lovely Cotswold house, Dere-ham House, Willersey, and is also amember of Chipping Campden FlowerClub. The club decorated DerehamHouse over the Spring Bank Holidayweekend, moving in on the Friday andputting flower arrangements into sixbedrooms, four bathrooms, four recep-tion rooms and the kitchen. Coffee andtea were served and after three days£150 had been raised which, by MrsMorris's wish, was donated to the RNLI.

The top juniors (11 years old) of StJames Junior School, Whitehaven,Cumbria, presented a special assemblyon June 22 based on a project onWorkington lifeboat. Afterwards thehonorary treasurer of Whitehavenbranch, Mrs Morris, was presented witha cheque for £267 raised by the childrenwith a sponsored spelling bee. Theeffort was promoted by Mrs Bell, one ofthe teachers whose father is the auxiliarycoastguard, and encouragement andhelp was given by Bob McLoughlin, asenior crew member of St Bees ILB.

The' two—and only—members of theGeorgian branch, Cliff Jardine, landlord ofthe George Hotel, Beaconsfield, and his friendSandy Bailey have raised il,500 for the life-boat service in two years with dinner-boxingand pro-am golf tournaments outside the town;they have more events planned.

photograph by courtesy ofThe Bucks Free Press

Herne Bay branch held a sponsoredbeach clearance on April 10, ready forEaster. The clearing was done by AnneSutherland, daughter of the honorarysecretary, and her friends, who raised£120 for the RNLI.

Following their initial sponsored walkon behalf of the lifeboat service lastyear, when £180 was raised, the HullWykehykers undertook a furthersponsored Lyke Wake Walk, fromRavenscar to Osmotherley, on Sunday,April 11. The 42-mile crossing wascompleted by 21 of the 24 starters in anaverage time of 17 J hours, and £200 wasraised. The youngest walker was AllisonCarter, aged 11.

A voluntary collection among childrenin the second year of Great CornardMiddle School in Suffolk resulted in acheque for £5.65 for the lifeboat service.

Harpenden ladies' guild, formed inJune 1974, has raised since then nearly£2,500 for Walton and Frinton lifeboatswith cheese and wine evenings, barbecuesand other fund-raising events. Last May,29 members visited Walton and Frintonwhere they were welcomed aboard thelifeboat by Sir James and Lady Barkerand by members of the lifeboat crew.Sir James is president of both the localbranch and Harpenden branch.

Shoreham's lifeboat week, organisedjointly by Shoreham lifeboat society andShoreham Harbour ladies' guild, realiseda record £1,000, nearly a 25% advanceon 1975. The climax of the week was atour of the town by Shoreham HarbourILB; the parade was led by the band ofTS Fearless of the Nautical TrainingCorps. The cadets, who gave a splendiddisplay, came to help the RNLI at theirown expense, even though they aredesperately trying to raise funds to re-build their own headquarters, destroyedrecently by fire.

(Below) Once a week (whenever the weather allows) Mrs Joan Bagley,honorary secretary of Totnes branch, sets up shop in the privateforecourt of Kingsbridge Inn, with the kind permission of the ownerPhilip Potter, or at the town summer Elizabethan Market, sellingbooks: paperback lOp, hard-covered books 20p. By June this year £52had been taken. photograph by courtesy of Howell Evans

(Above) There were 129 participants, from all over Sussex, in a five-milesponsored swim in the River Adur at Shoreham last March. It wasorganised by the Brighton branch of the British Sub-Aqua Club, and the£2,048.30 raised in a single morning was donated to the memorial fundfor John Fox, coxswain of Shoreham lifeboat, who died on New Year'sEve. The aim of the fund is a radar for Shoreham lifeboat.

206

More people than ever before attendedthe coffee morning organised by MrsDiana Wells at her home in Sawbridge-worth on Friday, June 11, and a recordsum of £812 was raised. Nearly £100 ofthis money was donated by friends inmemory of Mrs Wells' husband, Sewell,who had worked with great dedicationfor the lifeboat service.

The children of the Lower School atPershore High School decided, throughtheir school council, to support theRNLI during the last school year. Eachform organised its own effort, such assponsored walks, selling home-madesweets or jumble sales. Raffles were heldand souvenirs sold. No less than £289was raised.

At an evening party held on May 12at Kettlethorpe Hall, near Saxilby, bycourtesy of Judge and Mrs Daly Lewis,an auction of paintings was conductedby J. H. Evans of J. Hunter and Sons,Auctioneers and Valuers, helpedby Wilson Millington as the clerk.Fifteen original paintings were put upfor sale and realised £287. One water-colour was donated by Cecil Thornton,two miniature watercolours by his wife,Marion Thornton, and six watercoloursof sea and shore by Jason Partner; allthree artists, enthusiastic supporters ofthe RNLI, travelled to Saxilby to bepresent at the party. Three paintingswere donated by Judge Daly Lewis andvarious other paintings and a pen andink drawing were given by local artists.With this most enjoyable evening,Lincoln ladies' guild raised £400.

East Bridgford ladies' guild's terri-tory is as far from the seas as is possiblein England, between the Vale of Belvoirand the steep, wooded south bank of theTrent between Nottingham and Newark.It is in this country that the guild hasstaged four sponsored walks which havebrought in over £2,000. This year ahundred walkers, including threegenerations of one family, set out bylanes and footpaths along the edge ofthe Vale, then down to the river, whereNottingham Sea Cadets' rescue boatferried them across to a picnic lunchprovided by the guild and BleasbyWomen's Institute. A final six milesalong the towpath, over GunthorpeBridge and up the hill again to EastBridgford completed the 15-mile course.The walk earned more than £700 for theRNLI.

(Above) Leeds appeal committee organised acharity greyhound meeting at Elland RoadStadium on May 6. Various firms in the citysponsored the eight races, to £100 each, anda very successful and enjoyable occasionyielded about £1,300. The photograph, takenbefore racing, shows Miss Leeds Lifeboat,Judith Vtley, with members of the appealcommittee and some of the dogs with theirkennel-maids.

Mrs V. Gambles, honorary secretary ofBridlington ladies' guild, helps J. Ward holdboth the monster Easter egg he gave to theguild to raffle and the resultant £80 cheque.The winner of the egg gave it to children in alocal hospital, photograph by courtesy of

Bridlington Free Press

Rayners Lane branch set 30 streetsas their target for a sponsored inshorelifeboat push on Saturday. June 5. The'launch' was at 0930 at The Glen andby mid-day successful passage had beenmade through 15 streets. From 1300 to1430 the ILB was 'moored' in theshopping centre, where great interestwas shown in the boat and explanatorynotice board. With an afternoon push

COMPETITION RESULTMiss K. M. Brown of Harpenden thoughthe was saying:

'Will you grasp the Shoreline ?'

This was deemed the best entry and winsthe prize of £5. We regret that no receiptshave been sent owing to the cost ofpostage.

Leslie Crowther (I.) and Robert Keegan weretwo of the guests at the RNLI gala at Ash-burton Park on July 3, which was also attendedby the Deputy Mayor and Mayoress ofCroydon. During the afternoon, opened byLeslie Crowther, more than 5,000 peopleenjoyed entertainment by military bands andfield displays by Sea Cadets and Scouts; theseincluded an assault course competition of tenobstacles won by a team of five boys fromCroydon Sea Cadet Unit. There were sideshows manned by no fewer than 25 RNLISouth London branches and by such supportersas Round Tablers and Rotarians, as well asstatic displays by the Royal Navy, Army,Royal Air Force, Fire Service, AmbulanceBrigade and commercial firms. The grossreceipts were £2,500.

the boat was finally 're-housed' offTorbay Avenue at 1500 and about £400had been raised.

Since The Admiral Vernon at Tor-rington was taken over by Jack andJoyce Boyd last June they have raised£750 for Appledore lifeboat; amongother events, a chicken dinner is raffledevery Saturday night. On July 24, JackBoyd presented Captain Colin Lowry,chairman of Appledore branch, with acheque for £466.68, the results of a life-boat week organised by himself andLawrence 'Lardo' Alexander, thefounder of the Torrington Cavaliers,which had included a Black and WhiteMinstrel Show. With a house-to-housecollection and coffee morning organisedby Appledore ladies' guild and theprofits from Captain Lowry's souvenirstall, the week's final total was £612.

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Letters...Re-count . . .

In a branch house-to-house collectiontwo boxes may, rarely, be found tocontain the same amount when opened,but how about this ?

Two collectors worked on the oppositeside of each road in their area, together,and on two consecutive evenings. Onthe third evening they took separateroads, but were helped by a thirdcollector who worked with each of themin turn for half the time (and had hisown box).

The two boxes concerned wereconsecutively numbered, and were issuedto a husband and wife.

The amount found in each box by thetreasurer (Lloyds Bank) was £15.7H.

As branch secretary T questioned thetotals on the chance that, with the samesurname, an amount had been put downtwice in error. Also, as one of the twocollectors concerned, I just did notbelieve it. Do you? HONORARYSECRETARY, Bodmin and District Branch,High Bank, Love Lane, Bodmin,Cornwall.

Twice savedWill you please convey to the crews

of the Beaumaris and Holyhead lifeboatsour very sincere thanks and appreciationfor the services they rendered to myselfand three crew members on May 22 and24? After many years of sailing, my 25'yacht Sabine was involved in twoseparate incidents which endangeredlife.

The first incident occurred whileboarding the yacht, which was on moor-ings three-quarters of a cable south eastof Beaumaris Pier; after four trips withcrew and provisions, on the last trip,for reasons not yet ascertained, myinflatable dinghy deflated causing theoutboard to fail. One crew member wasrecovered by heaving line thrown fromthe yacht and hoisted aboard, but thesecond member was blown by a strongsoutherly wind, still in the dinghy, sea-ward. Both were wearing inflatablelifejackets.

A red flare was sent up at 0010. It iswith admiration that I report that owingto the efficiency of your service atBeaumaris, both crew member anddinghy were returned safely to Sabineat 0035. For a rescue involving launch-ing and search to be executed in just 25minutes takes some believing, but it isa fact: times were recorded and entriesmade in the log.

The second incident occurred whilewe were on passage from Beaumaris toAbersoch when, with Bardsey Islandlight bearing 175°T distance 7 miles, we

experienced very strong winds whichrequired us to reduce sail down,eventually, to a storm jib. As the windwas south-easterly and so offshore Idecided to make for Nefyn under motorand obtain shelter from the coast: theengine, however, refused to start, despitejust having undergone an expensiveoverhaul by professional engineers.

Not wishing to make a landing duringdarkness, I then decided to ride it outin deep water until daylight. We wereunable to make headway during thenight and owing to tide and wind werebeing constantly swept north west. At0732, with a further increase of windstrength forecast and my crew becomingexhausted, I radioed for assistance. Thismessage, though weak (the batteriesbeing low after the attempts to start theengine), was picked up by Holyhead andFishguard Coastguard. Anglesey Radiobroadcast a general call to all ships inthe area. At about 1100 on May 24 theShell tanker Lovellia was sighted and weset off two orange smoke flares, whichshe saw. The master of this ship kindlymade a lee for us and informed RadioAnglesey of our position, 11 miles southwest of the Skerries.

Your Holyhead lifeboat reached ussome hours later and at 1630 we weresafely moored in Holyhead Harbour.

Please thank the coxswain and crewfor their kindness in taking two membersof my crew aboard, one of them a lady,and for the hospitality extended to themwhile aboard.

To the members of these two lifeboatcrews we send our very grateful thanksand hope sincerely we shall not requiretheir services in the future. But it is niceto know that all ended well owing to thehelp we received from the RNLI andthose gallant lifeboat men. Their praisewill be high in the yacht clubs we visit.—B. EVANS, 46 Heyes Drive, Wallasey,Mersey side, L45 8QW

Continuing kindnessMy son and I were involved in a sail-

ing accident off Shoreham Harbour earlyon Saturday, May 29. One reads daily ofthe rescues effected by the lifeboatservice, but I doubt if people realise thekindness which continues after therescued are safely ashore.

During the very trying period whenmy son was in hospital with a fracturedskull, individual members of the RNLIaccommodated me, fed me, and nevergave my morale a chance to drop, thoughall the ferrying and companionshipinvolved must have made a nonsense oftheir own bank holiday weekend plans.

To a service for which I have always

had immense respect I can now addsincere affection—for mums, sons,husbands, wives, the lot.

Incidentally, my son's injury, fromwhich he is now recovering, did notprevent him from retaining command ofhis boat. Until the time he was helpedup the ladder on to the quay he was incomplete command of the situation, andI merely acted on his orders. Thank you,Shoreham.—MARY MACLEAN, Royal AirForce Yacht Club, Humble, Southampton.

At 0247 on Saturday, May 29, RLP, the41' Watson lifeboat temporarily on dutyat Shoreham Harbour, launched toinvestigate a red flare sighted two milessouth of the harbour. Visibility wasmoderate and there was a moderateeasterly breeze. She came up with thecasualty, a Tango class trimaran, at 0320,took her in tow and brought her back toShoreham. As one of the crew of two hadsustained a head injury the lifeboatradioed for an ambulance to meet them asthey came ashore.—THE EDITOR.

Lifeboat 'houses'Here's another way in which the

lifeboat service can be publicised by localpeople. At Gunfleet Secondary School,Frinton-on-Sea, the houses are namedafter the local lifeboats. They haveCourtauld House, named after theWalton and Frinton lifeboat, RNLBEdian Courtauld, Graham House afterRNLB Margaret Graham at Harwich, andWyndham House after RNLB ValentineWyndham-Quin at Clacton. They havea fourth house called Trinity namedafter the Trinity House depot at Harwich.

Last summer the school had a newextension built and they called thisHillary after the founder of the RNLI,Sir William Hillary, p. A. EDWARDS,Farnham, 22 Kenilworth Road, Holland-on-Sea, Essex.

Anglers in distressOn behalf of the Firth of Clyde Sea

Angling Association and all competitorswho took part on May 16 in the ClydeOpen Boat Championship at Helens-burgh, may I extend to you and yourstaff, in particular the officers active atHelensburgh, a most sincere apprecia-tion for the outstanding and promptservice rendered to anglers in distress ?

May I also thank you for the promptassistance of officers at the Helensburghstation regarding notification to theorganisers of anglers stranded due to thesevere gales on the day of the champion-ship?

I would be indebted if you couldconvey our appreciation to everyone atHelensburgh. ALEX A. FORREST, ChairmanFirth of Clyde Sea Angling Association,97 Cockles Loan, Renfrew.

During the afternoon of Sunday, May 16,a sudden southerly gale caught out anumber of small boat sailors and fishermenin the Gareloch. Helensburgh 1LB, withGeorge Hulley, S. Massie and S. Douglas

(continued opposite)

208

R/T procedure changesTHE FOLLOWING PROCEDURE modifica-tions introduced in the new edition ofthe Handbook for Radio Operatorsshould be noted:

Control of distress traffic: The word'PRUDENCE' (pronounced PRU-DONCE)has been introduced, thus following thepattern that French is used for distresspro-words. It indicates that the silencewhich has been imposed on a distressfrequency (2182 kHz or channel 16)is no longer considered completelynecessary even though the distresssituation still exists, and that restrictedworking for urgent messages can beresumed. Complete silence can be re-imposed by the ship in distress or thestation controlling the distress trafficwith the words 'SEELONCE MAYDAY' (fromthe French again—silence and ni'aider),or by another station deeming it neces-sary with the words 'SEELONCE DISTRESS'.When distress traffic has completelyceased, normal working is resumed bythe words 'SEELONCE FEENEE' (the Frenchfini).

Urgency signal: The urgency signalnow consists of three repetitions of thegroup of words 'PAN PAN' (this is alsoderived from the French, panne meaningbreakdown): e.g., 'PAN PAN . . . PANPAN . . . PAN PAN'.

AccommodationROUND ABOUT CHRISTMAS, thoughtsturn to summer holidays and from thenext issue of THE LIFEBOAT, winter1976/77, a new heading will be intro-duced into the classified advertisementsection: ACCOMMODATION. It may wellbe that among our supporters arethose who have hotel, guest house orbed and breakfast accommodationavailable and who would welcome otherlifeboat people as visitors—the pleasurewould surely be mutual. As a service toour members and supporters, a specialprice is offered of £6 for up to 50 words(including address and/or telephonenumber); for longer insertions thenormal price of 20p a word wouldapply for each word over 50. Each ad-vertisement will be inserted in strictorder of receipt. Those for which there isnot space in one issue will be carried overto the next, unless other instructions arereceived. Please type or print your adver-tisement and send it with a cheque orpostal order payable to the RoyalNational Life-boat Institution, to the ad-vertisement manager at Dyson Advertis-ing Services, P.O. Box 9, Godalming,Surrey.

TWO LP RECORDS FOR THE RNLIMembers of the Orpheus MaleChoir of Rhos near Wrexham,which this year has produced arecord as a tribute to lifeboat-men, visited Rhyl during thesummer and (above) werewelcomed aboard the lifeboatby the crew and station officials.'For those in peril' is ananthology of sacred music, seashanties and songs, Englishand Welsh, with solos by JohnWilliams and Walford Jones,'Eternal Father' opens side 1.The director of music is JohnGlyn Williams, LRAM ALCM, thepianist Anne Phillips, ALCMand George McArdle, ARCO,the organist. Copies, pricei.1.95 plus 25p postage andpacking, from RNLI WelshDistrict Office, The Exchange,Mount Stuart Square, Cardiff,CFl 6ED.

For more than 30 years theLifeboat Mixed Voice Choir ofForest Row, Sussex, has sungcarols at Christmas time forthe RNLI and, in that time, hasraised more than £5,000. Whatstarted as a small band ofsingers has grown into anexperienced choir and its recordof 18 carols is full of warmthand enthusiasm. Last ChristmasCoxswain Joe Martin (seen onthe sleeve, right) and MotorMechanic Joe Shoesmith ofHastings joined the choir foran evening's carol singing.Copies, price £2.10, includingpostage and packing, fromRNLI South East DistrictOffice, 9 Union Square, ThePantiles, Tunbridge Wells, orfrom George Ralph (conductor),Fairways, Blackwell FarmRoad, East Grinstead.

Popular Christmas Garols

Letters(from page 208)

as crew, was out on service for If hours.First she towed to safety two fishingdinghies, both with swamped outboardengines and both with four people aboard;one was taken to the weather shore at

Clynder, the other to Rosneath. Eighteenother people were landed at Rhu Pier; theyincluded members of fishing parties takenoff one motor launch blown ashore atHelensburgh and another in Rhu Bay, aswelt as the crews of six boats at moorings,in varying degrees of danger and unable toget ashore because tenders had been lost

or because the weather made it too hazard-ous for the use of tenders. So, in all, 26people were landed from craft in placesfrom mid-Gareloch to Helensburgh.

Sending on to us Mr Forrest's letter,George Paton, secretary of Glasgow branchadded, 'It is so encouraging when people say"Thank you"!'—THE EDITOR.

209

REVIEWS• The history of Britain's Coastguardis an extraordinarily colourful one, andit is surprising that hitherto no fullhistory of the service has been published.The deficiency has now been made goodby William Webb in an admirable workentitled Coastguard! An Official Historyof HM Coastguard (HMSO, £4.95). ThePrince of Wales contributes a foreword,in which he recalls his own experiencesas an auxiliary coastguard when he wasat Gordonstoun School.

Not the least attraction of Mr Webb'sbook is the clear and uncomplicatedstyle in which is is written. Research intothe Coastguard records has clearly beenextensive and Mr Webb has benefitedboth from earlier research carried outby the former Chief Inspector of Coast-guard, Commander Peter Bartlett, andfrom information provided by a numberof members of the service.

The history of HM Coastguard fallsroughly into three periods. The firstbegan in 1822, when a Treasury minutedirected that 'the Preventive Service,consisting of Preventive Water Guard,Cruizers and Riding Officers' was to be'termed in future the Coast Guard'. Thisfirst period, during which the primaryconcern of the service was the fightagainst smuggling, ended in 1856, whenthe Coastguard was placed underAdmiralty control. For some 60 yearsthe Coastguard existed mainly to providea reserve for the Royal Navy. Only afterthe war of 1914-1918 was its principalfunction officially acknowledged to bethat of helping to save life.

The liveliest passages in Mr Webb'sbook are, understandably, concernedwith the story of the fight againstsmuggling. The activities of suchnotorious smugglers as the Hawkhurstgang are duly recorded, but much otherinformation of interest also emerges.For example Mr Webb quotes theEmperor Napoleon, while in exile onElba, stating that during the war withBritain 'all the information I receivedfrom England came through thesmugglers'.

The smugglers' organisation wasimaginative and effective, and to protectthem from the penalties which appliedto British citizens caught in the act, manysmugglers arranged to have their childrenborn on the other side of the Channel sothat they could acquire French nation-

210

aiity. The coastguards who tried tocombat the smugglers had a hard anddangerous life, and Mr Webb quotesone old coastguard, who stated: 'It wasenough to kill a horse and only a strongman could stand it'.

In depicting the struggle between theforces of law and order and the smugglersMr Webb tends perhaps to exaggeratethe venality of the revenue officers andto give the Coastguard rather too muchcredit for the part it played in bringingsmuggling to an end. Honest revenueofficers did exist. One of them wasWilliam Arnold, the father of DrThomas Arnold, the headmaster ofRugby School, who receives only a briefmention in Mr Webb's work. The realdestroyer of smuggling was of course theintroduction of free trade, an event whichMr Webb passes over rather lightly.

In his treatment of the period whenthe Coastguard served mainly to supple-ment the manpower of the Royal NavyMr Webb seems to me very sound in hisjudgment. The Coastguard has sufferedover the years more than it deservedfrom battles for power between variousgovernment departments. As Mr Webbputs it, 'the Coastguards, in their longhistory, seem to have been perpetuallysubjected to reviews by authority, whichwere intended to benefit or re-organisethe service and they have been shuttledabout between one authority or anotherwilly-nilly'. Nevertheless, it was duringthe period of Admiralty control that theCoastguard developed the versatility andwide range of activity which have longcharacterised the service. Coastguardsduring these years operated the breechesbuoy lifesaving apparatus, they launchedtheir own boats to supplement the workof the lifeboats of the RNLI, they wereresponsible for the administration of theWild Birds Protection Act, and they hadto clean rare fish and send them to theNatural History Museum in SouthKensington.

Mr Webb also pays a well deservedtribute to the work of the voluntary life-saving brigades and quotes to advantageQueen Victoria's son, the Duke ofEdinburgh (Affie), who in his capacityas Admiral Superintendent of NavalReserves said of the Coastguards: 'Theyare foremost at all wrecks, they areconspicuous at all our great wateringplaces, and are looked upon as examples

of the officers and seamen serving in theRoyal Navy.'

After war broke out in 1914members of HM Coastguard fulfilled therole for which they had primarily beenappointed, that of providing the neces-sary naval reserve, but as a result therewas a deplorable shortage of people tocarry out the other Coastguard duties.In practice the work tended to fall largelyon the wives of Coastguard officers andon Sea Scouts.

When the war came to an end thefamiliar departmental power strugglewas resumed. The first Chief Inspectorof Coastguard, Captain Vernon Rash-leigh, who seems to have had both astrong character and an effective turn ofphrase, commented: 'It is unfortunatethat there are to be found in theAdmiralty a certain number of navalofficers now holding minor adminis-trative posts who, without giving thequestion mature thought, are voicingthe opinion that on conclusion ofhostilities the Coastguard should notbe given back to the Ministry'. The navalofficers holding minor administrativeposts were defeated, and the Coastguardin its modern form as a lifesavingorganisation gradually came into being.Nevertheless, when the Coastguard onceagain came under the control of theBoard of Trade in 1964 it had servedeight different ministries in 140 years.Readers of THE LIFEBOAT may reflecthow fortunate the RNLI has been tobe spared all this juggling and disloca-tion. Whether it could have avoided it,had the service ever come under statecontrol, is an open question.

The recent history of the Coastguardis one which must command respect andadmiration, and Mr Webb does well tocall attention to the activities of a varietyof individuals. One such was P. A.Woodford of the Sandown RescueCompany, who was awarded a longservice medal. When this was conferredon him in 1973 it was discovered that hehad rescued 22 people, four dogs, twosheep and a cat.

I find Mr Webb's treatment of theCoastguard's co-operation with otherservices a little flimsy and much couldwith advantage have been written, forexample, on the importance of theintroduction of helicopters for lifesavingpurposes. There is also a regrettablemistake in Mr Webb's treatment ofrescue organisations in countries outsideBritain. He states: 'In Europeancountries search and rescue is carriedout by the services with the assistance ofsupport ships which are in attendanceon their fishing fleets'. To the manyadmirable voluntary lifeboat organisa-tions in Europe this statement is likelyto seem strange.

There are some excellent photographs,and as is so often the case with bookspublished by the Stationery Office, thestandard of printing is exceptionallyhigh. It seems a pity therefore to findSOS appearing as S.O.S.

The absence of a bibliography is alsoto be regretted in what must surely befor many years to come a standard workof reference on the history of an impor-tant national service.—P.H.

• Owning a Boat by Hugh Marriott(Nautical Publishing Co., £4.85) is notthe first book which has been writtenon the subject.' However, it must be oneof the most authoritative and up-to-date,written as it is by a man who is not onlya true devotee of sailing for pleasure butwho also has at his fingertips a rich fundof information and practical experienceof the problems and expenses whichconfront a boatowner as seen from theyacht broker's office. These facts aretoo often obscured by the rose-tintedspectacles assumed by those who firsthear the call of the sea.

It is written in the breezy style whichbespeaks an amusing sailing companion.I was delighted to encounter Old Harry'sLaw and its numerous corollaries withwhich I have been long acquaintedalthough under a more familiar name!Also the Hornblower Factor whichmakes one feel that it is slightly disgrace-ful to talk about going downstairs to thekitchen in a boat. The author hints atthe pitfalls which accompany the applica-tion of the common vocabulary of sea-men to yachting. I can support this; ifyou are in any doubt, look at Reed'sAlmanac, page 854—Glossary ofNautical Terms:

'BEAR UP: To put the helm up, i.e.keep further away from the wind.'

I can almost hear Hugh Marriott'sconspiratorial laughter!—K.M.

% Lindisfarne or Holy Island, whichwas once one of the principal centres oflearning and the arts in England and onwhose rocky territory the presence of 311different species of birds has beenrecorded, is the subject of a new book inDavid and Charles's enterprising islandsseries: The Holy Island of Lindisfarneand the Fame Islands by R. A. and D. B.Cartwright (£4.50).

Holy Island's period of greatestdistinction, when the famous illuminatedLindisfarne gospels were produced,lasted for some 200 years before theViking attacks in the late ninth centuryforced the monks to retreat to the main-land, taking their gospels with them.Much of the later history of the islandhas revolved round shipwrecks.

The authors have unearthed aninteresting account of a fight which tookplace in 1643 between the minister ofthe parish and 'a gentleman dwellingnear the island', both of whom coveteda cask full of beaver hats which had beenrecovered from a wreck. The minister, itwas recorded, 'did sore wound thegentleman'. The close association of allthe inhabitants with the sea was illus-trated by the fact that two successivevicars acted as coxswain of the lifeboatin an emergency.

In their informative and well illus-

trated account of the history of a smallcommunity the authors do justice to themajor part played by the lifeboats. Oneoutstanding service, when 60 villagers,25 of them women, had to wade waistdeep into the sea to launch the lifeboat,took place in January 1922 during asouth-easterly gale and a blinding snow-storm. The lifeboat, which was namedLizzie Porter, was recently discoveredin the River Trent and is to be preservedin perpetuity at St Katharine YachtHaven, London.—P.H.

• 1975 saw the 100th anniversary ofone of the most important of allMerchant Shipping Acts: that whichintroduced the load-line, or Plimsoll lineas it has always been known. SamuelPlimsoll himself was known as 'thesailors' friend', and George Peters'biography The Plimsoll Line (BarryRose, £2.25) shows us a remarkableman, accurately described by one of hissupporters as 'bold, earnest and rash'.

Before the 1875 Act, it was easyenough for corrupt shipowners to makeprofits from insurance claims on policiesas heavily overloaded as the shipsthemselves. A member of Parliamentfrom 1868 to 1880, Samuel Plimsollfought, for that is the best description,the owners of such 'coffin-ships', andgoaded governments which were byturns timid and stubborn. Even with thePlimsoll line embodied in law, it took 15years further struggle to get the res-ponsibility given to the Board of Trade.

Samuel Plimsoll was backed in hiscampaign by facts made available bythe RNLI, which had called attentionto overladen and unseaworthy ships inTHE LIFEBOAT in 1867, even beforePlimsoll took up the cause. Whenmoney was collected in appreciation ofhis work, Plimsoll directed that itshould be spent on a lifeboat. Accor-dingly, the Samuel Plimsoll lifeboat wasnamed by him at Lowestoft in 1876. Itwas a fitting tribute to a man who wasborn three weeks before the RNLI wasfounded, and who did so much for theBritish seafarer.—A.H.G.

• This is Sailboat Cruising by J. D.Sleightholme (Nautical Publishing Co.,£4.85), a 168-page booklet, provides anexcellent primer which employs thestrip-cartoon teaching technique for thebenefit of the boat owner who may bedaunted by the more traditional treatiseon seamanship or navigation but who,without guidance, could be liable to runinto trouble. The RNLI should becorrespondingly grateful to Des Sleight-holme and hope that his book has awide circulation.

The instruction and advice containedin the text is without exception soundand the illustrations by Peter Milneare clearly the work of a competentdraughtsman, although he shares aweakness of this breed when it comes toportraying the human figure.

If anything, the illustrations are

overdone. Is it really necessary to includea picture of a cup of cocoa and a bar ofchocolate (page 165) to assist the readerin the understanding of the text?—K.M.

• Three publications concerned withWelsh maritime history, and in par-ticular with that of Gwynedd, haveappeared recently. One, An Island'sHeritage by J. P. Morris, tells in greatand careful detail the story of 150 yearsof lifesaving on Anglesey, from theplacing of the first lifeboat on the islandat Llanddwyn in 1826 up to the presentday. During those years Anglesey's life-boats have launched over 2,000 timesand saved more than 3,100 lives. Forrescues around the island's coast ninegold, 61 silver and 51 bronze medalsfor gallantry have been awarded,including the gold, silver and bronzemedals awarded for the services toHindlea in 1959 and Nafsiporos in 1966.Each station, past and present, has itschapter, several of them recalling thepioneering work of the Rev. JamesWilliams and his wife Frances. AnIsland's Heritage, price 25p (postageand packing lOp) is available from theRNLI Welsh District Office, TheExchange, Mount Stuart Square, CardiffCF1 6ED.

Photographs of the Rev. James andFrances Williams and their son, theRev. Owen Lloyd Williams, who wastwice awarded the silver medal of theRNLI, appear among a selection ofnineteenth and twentieth century photo-graphs reproduced in a delightfulbooklet by Aled Eames entitled Shipsand Seamen of Gwynedd (GwyneddArchives Service, County Offices, Caer-narfon LL55 1SH, £1). There are photo-graphs of sailing ships, boatyards,ships' logs and a fine portrait gallery ofcaptains, their crews and sometimestheir families.

Aled Eames, Lewis Lloyd, BrynParry and John Stubbs are the editorsof an ambitious new journal, MaritimeWales (Gwynedd Archives Service,price £1.25), the aim of which is to bringtogether articles, notes and news reflect-ing the current interest in maritimehistorical studies in Wales. Among animpressive list of contributions to thefirst number of the journal is a paperentitled 'The Statutory Ship Registers ofthe Welsh Ports' by Grahame Farr,who needs no introduction to lifeboatpeople.—J.D.

• Among other books received aretwo with very different approaches toessentially the same basic theme: thequality of command at sea. One,Command at Sea (Cassell, £4.95) isby the late Oliver Warner and looks atgreat fighting admirals from Hawketo Nimitz. The other, Deep as the Sea(Eyre Methuen, £4.95) is a biography ofAdmiral H. A. 'Bertie' Packer by hiswife, Joy; a story of one naval officer'scareer and his family's life, dedicatedto their four grandsons.—J.D.

211

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212

Lifeboat Services(from page 190}

Enterprise dinghy Spirtle with one manon board, at 1648. The Pentland FirthYacht Club's guard boat, The Mendi-cant, was still in attendance but wasunable to make headway in the pre-vailing conditions.

The Three Sisters took the dinghy intow and escorted The Mendicant toScrabster, where they arrived at 1740.The lifeboat then returned to herstation and was re-housed at 1800.

Ireland Division

From South RockCOASTGUARD ORLOCH informed Cloug-hey/Portavogie lifeboat station at 1135on Monday, February 2, that thecaptain of South Rock Lightvessel hadhad a heart attack. As it proved impos-sible to get a doctor to the harbourquickly, it was decided at 1204 to launchwithout a doctor, and the 41' Watsonlifeboat Glencoe, Glasgow cleared Porta-vogie Harbour at 1205. The lifeboatarrived at South Rock at 1245, wherethe weather conditions were rough. Thesick man was eventually taken on boardand brought back to Portavogie where,at 1330, he was landed into the care ofan ambulance.

Scotland South Division

Hospital runTHE LOCAL DOCTOR asked Barra Islandlifeboat to convey an urgent maternitycase from Tangasdale to Lochboisdale,South Uist. It was 0425 on Monday,March 8. With good visibility, a fresheast-south-easterly breeze and a choppysea, the 52' Barnett lifeboat ThomasForehead and Mary Rowse, on tempor-ary relief duty at Barra Island, left hermoorings at 0505 and, with the womanon board, ran at full speed to Lochbois-dale, where the woman was taken tohospital.

The lifeboat returned to her stationand was on her moorings at 1030.

South Eastern Division

Search in dense fogA FLARE IN CHAPMAN'S POOL was reportedto the deputy launching authority ofSwanage lifeboat station at 2130 onMonday, June 14. Visibility was clearat the Coastguard lookout but there wasa dense fog bank at sea level. Swanagelifeboat, the 37' 6" Rother J. ReginaldCorah was placed on alert while theCoastguard made further enquiries. At2137 the emergency was confirmed./. Reginald Corah launched at 2147and drove into the spring flood tide. Shewas off St Aldhelm's Head at 2230 andfound a dense fog bank in Chapman'sPool. With the aid of her radar and echosounder she began a search and at 2247found the 35' motor cruiser Forrester,

with three people on board, 40 yardssouth of Freshwater Steps. Visibilitywas about 50 yards but lifted a littleshortly after Forrester was sighted.

As Forrester was not damaged andcould use one engine J. Reginald Corahescorted her through the rock ledges toopen water and then to St Aldhelm'sHead where Anvil Point Lighthousecould be seen.

Forrester's crew reported hearing anexplosion to the south east some timeafter 2100 and so, having seen hersafely on her way, the lifeboat started tosearch to the south east. Nothing couldbe found and it was concluded that theexplosions heard were the lifeboatmaroons; the search was called off at0013 on Tuesday, June 15. /. ReginaldCorah returned to station and was re-housed at 0130.

Eastern Division

Fishing vessel sinkingORANGE SMOKE observed one mile east ofChapel Point and six miles north of thelifeboat station was reported to Skegnesshonorary secretary at 1557 on Tuesday,June 29.

In good visibility and with a light east-north-easterly breeze, a slight sea and thetide at two hours flood, the SkegnessILB launched at 1604. Thirty minuteslater she came up with the casualty, thefishing vessel Dolphin of Kings Lynn.Her engine had failed, she was takingwater and sinking. The crew of the ILBboarded her and began baling but,realising they were fighting a losingbattle, asked for further help. Lady Lynnfrom Chapel launched with pumps onboard which were put into use untilSkegness lifeboat, the 37' OakleyCharles Fred Grantham arrived and tookup the tow. The crew of the ILB remainedon board Dolphin and continued pump-ing and baling out throughout thepassage. Dolphin's crew were exhaustedhaving had little sleep the night before.

The ILB returned to her station andwas re-housed at 2140 having seenDolphin safely moored.

Services by OffshoreLifeboats March, Apriland May, 1976Aberdeen, GrampianMarch 12.Aith, HighlandMay 11.Angle, DyfedMarch 31 and April 11.Anstruther, TaysideMay 8.Arklow, Co. WicklowApril 17.Baltimore, Co. CorkMay 7.Barmouth, GwyneddApril 12 and May 2.

Barra Island, Western IslesMarch 8, April 21, May 3, 16 and 22.Barry Dock, South GlamorganMarch 12, May 3, 5, 14, 20 and

31 (3 times).Bembridge, Isle of WightMay 6.Bridlington, H umber sideMarch 12, 20 and May 29.Calshot, HampshireMarch 14, 28, April 29 and May 15 (twice).Campbeltown, StrathclydeApril 27.Clacton-on-Sea, EssexMarch 12.Clovelly, North DevonMay 30.Douglas, Isle of ManMay 2 and 10.Dover, KentApril 5 and 18 (twice).Dungeness, KentApril 4, May 22 and 31.Dun Laoghaire, Co. DublinMay 15 and 25.Eastbourne, East SussexMarch 20 and April 30.Falmouth, CornwallApril 26.Filey, North YorkshireMarch 5.Fishguard, DyfedMay 23 and 26.Flamborough, HumbersideMay 9.Fleetwood, LancashireMarch 17 and May 13.Galway Bay, Co. GalwayApril 19, 30 and May 28.Girvan, StrathclydeApril 10.Great Yarmouth and Gorleston, NorfolkMarch 5, April 23 and May 26.Harwich, EssexApril 15, 23 and May 4.Hastings, East SussexMay 1 and 18.Hoij head, GwyneddMay 13 and 24.Howth, Co. DublinApril 4 and May 11.Humber, HumbersideMarch 7, April 1 and 21.Kilmore, Co. WexfordMarch 24.Kirkcudbright, Dumfries and GallowayMay 16.Kirkwall, HighlandMarch 5 and April 23.Lerwick, HighlandMarch 11 and April 6.Llandudno, GwyneddMay 17.Longhope, HighlandMay 12.Lowestoft, SuffolkMarch 28, April 15, 24 and May 16.Lytham-St Anne's, LancashireMarch 29.Macduff, GrampianMay 5.Mallaig, HighlandMarch 22 and May 18.Margate, KentMarch 21 and April 16 (twice).Moelfre, GwyneddMarch 21 and 30.Montrose, TaysideMay 24.Newcastle, Co. DownMarch 10.Padstow, CornwallMarch 12, 15 and April 9.

213

Penlee, CornwallMay 1.Peterhead, GrampianApril 20 and May 17.Poole, DorsetApril 18 (twice), and 26.Porthdinllaen, GwyneddMay 2 and 16.Port St Mary, Isle-of-ManMarch 27.Ramsey, Isle-of-ManMay 20.Ramsgate, KentMarch 3, April 17, 18 and May 21.Redcar, ClevelandMay 23 and 25.Rhyl, ClwydMay 20.St David's, DyfedMarch 5.St Ives, CornwallMarch 18, 25, April 17, 21, May 11 and 12.St Mary's, Isles of ScillyMarch 14.St Peter Port, GuernseyMarch 22, 23, April 10 and May 18.Salcombe, South DevonMarch 7 (twice).Selsey, West SussexMay 3 and 30.Sennen Cove, CornwallMay 25.Sheerness, KentApril 5, 16, 17, 20, 21, 22, 28, May 1, 15,

20, 22 and 29.Sheringham, NorfolkApril 3.Shoreham Harbour, West SussexMay 28.Skegness, LincolnshireApril 7.Stornoway, Western IslesMay 2.Stromness, HighlandMarch 5.Sunderland, Tyne and WearMay 29.Swanage, DorsetApril 4, 16, 18 (twice), 22, May 2 and 3.Teesmouth, ClevelandMay 30.Tenby, DyfedMay 11.Thurso, HighlandMarch 14 and May 21.Torbay, South DevonApril 17, 18 and May 24.Troon, StrathclydeApril 12, 25 and May 1.Tynemouth, Tyne and WearMay 16.Walmer, KentMarch 28, April 1, May 18 and 31 (twice).Weymouth, DorsetMarch 5, 7, 10, 31, April 4 and 12.Whitby, North YorkshireMarch 12, 21 and 24.On Passage ON 1049March 2.

Services by InshoreLifeboats March, Apriland May, 1976Aberdovey, GwyneddMarch 21, 24, April 17, 19 and 23.Abersoch, GwyneddApril 13.Aberystwyth, DyfedApril 27 (twice).

Arran, StrathclydeMay 29.Atlantic College, South GlamorganMarch 17 and 28.Bangor, Co. DownMay 27.Barmouth, GwyneddMay 30.Barrow, CumbriaApril 16 (twice), 22 and May 5.Beaumaris, GwyneddMarch 19, April 17, 21, May 1, 15, 16

and 22.Berwick-upon-Tweed, NorthumberlandApril 17.Blackpool, LancashireMarch 13.Blyth, NorthumberlandApril 25.Berth, DyfedApril 19, 27 and May 23.Bridlington, HumbersideApril 3, 24 and May 13.Broughty Ferry, TaysideApril 17 and May 8 (twice).Burnham-on-Crouch, EssexApril 24 and 28.Burry Port, DyfedMay 12 and 16.Cardigan, DyfedMay 30.Clacton-on-Sea, EssexApril 11, 19 and May 16.Conway, GwyneddApril 3 and 4.Criccieth, GwyneddApril 21.Eastbourne, East SussexApril 11.Eastney, HampshireMarch 14, 28, April 17 (twice), 25, May 2,

15 (twice), 17, 23, 30 and 31.Eastney (D 530), HampshireMarch 28, May 15, 17, 23 (twice), 25, 29,

30 (twice) and 31.Exmouth, South DevonApril 18 (twice), 22, May 12 and 30.Filey, North YorkshireApril 4.Fleetwood, LancashireApril 17 and May 29.Flint, ClwydApril 26, May 2 and 13.Great Yarmouth and Gorleston, NorfolkMarch 21, April 4 and 7.Hartlepool, ClevelandMarch 3, April 17, 25 (twice) and 30.Harwich, EssexApril 1,2, 11, 18 and May 16.Hastings, East SussexApril 8, 13, 19 (3 times), May 1 and 9.Hayling Island, HampshireMay 14 (4 times) and 29.Helensburgh, StrathclydeMarch 10, April 28 and May 16 (twice).Horton and Port Eynon, West GlamorganApril 19 and May 9.Howth, DublinApril 7 and May 8.Kinghorn, ForthMay 4 (twice) and 31.Kippford, Dumfries and GallowayApril 18 and 19.Largs, StrathclydeMarch 27, April 18, 19, 21, May 2, 12 and

21 (twice).Littlehampton, West SussexApril 12, 20, 30, May 1 and 30.Llandudno, GwyneddMay 8 and 17.Lyme Regis, DorsetApril 3, 21, May 2 and 30.Margate, KentApril 6, May 2, 11, 15 (twice) and 16.

Minehead, SomersetMay 20 (3 times).Moelfre, GwyneddApril 17, May 15 and 30 (twice).Morecambe, LancashireMay 2.Mudeford, DorsetMarch 22, April 10 and 16.The Mumbles, West GlamorganApril 13.New Brighton, MerseysideApril 25, 27 and May 2.New Quay, DyfedApril 22, May 2, 16 and 31.Newquay, CornwallApril 15 and 16.North Sunderland, NorthumberlandApril 18.Oban, StrathclydeApril 5, 15 and May 20.Poole, DorsetMarch 7, April 11, 18 (twice), 22, May 19,

26 and 30.Porthcawl, Mid GlamorganMay 30.Port Isaac, CornwallApril 19 and 30 (twice).Port Talbot, West GlamorganMay 28.Queensferry, ForthMarch 2, 23, May 2, 4, and 23.Ramsgate, KentApril 14, 18, 28 and May 28.Red Bay, Co. AntrimMay 27.Redcar, ClevelandApril 9, 18 and 19.Rye Harbour, East SussexApril 19 and May 11.St Abbs, BordersMay 17.St Agnes, CornwallApril 13 and 20.St Ives, CornwallApril 19 (twice), May 9 and 29.Selsey, West SussexApril 14, 19, May 3 and 29.Shoreham Harbour, West SussexApril 9, 24 (twice), 25 May 19, and 30.Silloth, CumbriaMay 26.Skegness, LincolnshireApril 21, May 16 and 30 (3 times)Southwold, SuffolkApril 16, May 3 and 20.Stranraer, Dumfries and GallowayApril 16, May 19 and 24.Sunderland, Tyne and WearMay 5 and 1 1 .Tenby, DyfedApril 19, 20, May 12, 16, 23 and 30

(4 times).Torbay, South DevonApril 13, 19, 21, May 8, 15, 23 and 25.Tramore, Co. WaterfordMay 14.Trearddur Bay, GwyneddApril 19 and 21.Tynemouth, Tyne and WearApril 24 and May 16 (4 times).Walmer, KentApril 19 and May 16.Wells, NorfolkApril 18.West Kirby, MerseysideMarch 28, May 16 and 26.West Mersea, EssexApril 5, 16, 18, 23, 24 (3 times), 29, May 11,

15 (4 times), 16, 19, 23 and 29.Weston-super-Mare, AvonApril 9, 14 (twice), 15 (twice) and 31.Whitstable, KentApril 24.

214

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Index to Advertisers

Birds Eye Foods ...Cogswell & Harrison LtdEvett Sailwear LtdFairey Marine LtdFunctional Clothing Ltd.David Jolly (Tiller Master)Mermaid Marine Engines LtdNeco Marine LtdOld EnglandRNLI (Edenbridge) Big Band ConcertRNLI (Tunbridge Wells) Record OfferTiller Master (David Jolly) ...Waine Research Publications...V. WebsterC. P. Witter Ltd

Inside Front

Inside BackInside Back

182215212212

Cover216215212

CoverCover

215216216216216

TEDDY BEARS PICNIC

When your organisation holds its next fund raising effort at acarnival, fete, donkey derby, boat show or similar activity youcan make an additional £200 in a few hours by running aTeddy Bears Picnic. No financial risk as all stock is supplied atwholesale price on full sale or return, nothing to pay untilafter the event, then you pay for what you use, return thebalance. Send for full details giving Club/Guild name andstatus to:

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WILD ROSE aground in the fiver Dee near Queensferry. The fast flowing tidessometime* lead to groundings but the vessels usually refloated on the next tideRegntered dimensions were 100.9'x 18.0'x B.B' Tonnage 104 gross. Built IS83.

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KNEBWORTH • HERTSTELEPHONE: STEVENAGE 813431

INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LIGHTHOUSE AUTHORITIES

Maritime Buoyage System ATo be introduced in N.W.Europe & many other waters by stages starting in April 1977

(For explanation see page 200)

LATERAL MARKSPORT HAND

or

or

Top mark (if anvlsingle red can.Light (when fitted)red, any rhythm.

CARDINAL MARKS

NW

Light (when fitted]white; rhythm,

VQFyvorQF.

Light (whenfitted) white;rhythm, VQFI3)or QF(3).

Light (whenfitted) white;rhythm, VQFOIorQFO) .

Light (when fitted) white; rhythmVQFI6) + LF orQF(6) + LF

sw SE

VQF: very quick flashing. QF: quick flashing. LF; long flash.

LATERAL MARKSSTARBOARD HAN

or

or

Top mark (if any)single green cone.pointLight (when fitted)green, any rhythm.

SAFE WATERMARKS

o

or or

Top mark (if any) single led sphere.Light (when fitted) white; rhythm, isophase,occulting or long flashing.

ISOLATED DANGER MARKS

Light (when f itted) white; rhythm, groupflashing(2).

SPECIAL MARKS

or or or

Top mark (if any) single yellow X shape.Light (when fitted) yellow; rhythm, any,other than thoseused for Cardinal, Isolated Danger or Safe Water Marks.

Shape, optional but notconflicting with navigationalmarks.

CONVENTIONAL BUOYAGEDIRECTION

To be introducedconcurrentlywith IALABuoyageSystem A,

Direction of buoyage in rivers and estuarieswill continue to be from seaward inwards.