Visit to the
Royal National Lifeboat Institute
by Greg Turner
A trip to the United Kingdom would not be complete
without a visit to a lifeboat station, well that’s according
to VMR Southport Senior Skipper Greg Turner.
O
n a recent trip to England and Scotland we had arranged to visit
both the RNLI headquarters at Poole, and a lifeboat station at
Plymouth. Both facilities were equally impressive, but for quite different
reasons. The Plymouth Lifeboat Station is housed in the old Customs
House established in the mid-1800s, and converted into the lifeboat
station. It is a modest facility for the rescue crews but provides the space
needed for their individual kit, office space and meeting and crew rooms.
We were greeted by RNLI Plymouth’s Coxswain Dave Milford who
took us for a tour of the station and the lifeboats, which are berthed at the
nearby marina. Dave is one of two full time crew stationed at Plymouth
and his main role is to be ready for activation, as well as keeping the
boats and equipment in first class condition. The other full timer is
the engineer, who is tasked with keeping the lifeboats in operational
readiness. These two crewmen are supported by the station’s volunteers
who are available to respond for immediate call out.
The Plymouth Lifeboat Station has three rescue boats at the ready
with their main rescue boat being a 17 metre Severn Class lifeboat. We
got the full tour of this most impressive ship that has been in service
since 2002. This all-weather lifeboat, named Sybil Mullen Glover,
is in immaculate condition as she lay at her berth, all due to the care
of the crew and a recent 15 year refit. Each of the RNLI’s Severn
Class lifeboats is treated to a 15 year refit and the Sybil Mullen Glover
was beaming after her recent work. We were told that the Plymouth
station had the larger class of lifeboat due to the ferry activity at the
port requiring a larger boat on standby. It was amazing to hear that the
Severn Class boats can carry 180 persons, in an emergency situation,
provided they all stood up! The other rescue boats at the station were
rigid hulled inflatables of between 6 and 8 metres in length. These are
impressive looking craft that also have the ability to self-right in the
event of capsize.
The cost of a Severn Class lifeboat is around £3.5M, so taking good
care of them is paramount, not only for demanding rescue missions but
due to the fact that all funding for the RNLI comes from the community.
Amazingly the service is totally funded from donations, with no funding
coming from the government. The annual cost of running the service
throughout the UK, which has 238 lifeboat stations and over 350
vessels in the national fleet, is reportedly £170M. It was most evident
throughout our travels across the UK that the RNLI is a respected and
well-supported community service.
Our next RNLI visit was to the organisation’s headquarters in Poole,
England. Now this facility is on a whole other level to what we are used
to in Australia. The Poole facility is located on several hectares on the
waterfront with a number of buildings that house their boat building
facility, a college, administrative wings, and an accommodation wing
which include a restaurant and a well- stocked bar. We overnighted
at the Poole headquarters staying in the hotel where we enjoyed the
hospitality and friendliness of both the staff and other guests. Tours are
available of this impressive facility but we were out of luck as we visited
on a Saturday night with only the hotel and restaurant open.
The RNLI College is another standout feature of the Poole
headquarters. Crews from around the UK visit the college as part of their
training program throughout the year. The college has a sea survival
pool that can mimic storm conditions using large fans placed around the
pool. As the majority of rescue missions undertaken by the RNLI are
carried out in cold and rough conditions, crew members need to be well
trained in carrying out rescues whilst wearing bulky survival suits and
special kit designed especially for the cold climate.
As you sit in the restaurant and admire the view through large
windows overlooking the fleet of rescue vessels, either brand new or
just completed refit, we noticed a few of the boats did not have the
distinctive bright orange superstructure of the other RNLI rescue craft.
Of course, curiosity got the better of us, asking why some boats tied up
at their docks had a grey superstructure. “Good question” was the reply.
We were advised that they are different from the rescue boats as they are
the boats used specifically for crew training missions.
As we toured around England and Scotland we became more
impressed with the RNLI, how it is run and the respect the service has
amongst the general community. There is a lot to be learned from many
aspects of their operation and how they achieve their operational high
standard. If you are travelling around the UK or find yourself in Poole,
make sure you plan a visit to a lifeboat station or the headquarters, it’s
certainly an eye-opener.
Vsheet - DECEMBER 2018
13