V-Sheet December 2018 | Page 15

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