15 • BACK IN TIME 15 • GINETTE
Michelle is brimming with information on the station, crew, the history and the RNLI in general. Asked how she became interested, she laughed and admitted that it was through her husband Simon who has been involved with Shoreham RNLI all his life. His father was a volunteer crew member for 41 years at the station. The entire station is manned by volunteers apart from one full time mechanic. There are currently approximately 60 volunteers – from those who run the souvenir shop and do tours of the station, to the crew including the coxswain who is in charge of the crew and lifeboat, Steve Smith. There are 25 lifeboat crew who can be called upon 24/7, 365 days a year, to man the lifeboats. A crew of seven would go out on the all-weather lifeboat. All crew go through an intensive training programme and live no further than five minutes from the station. You have to be medically fit to apply and aged between 17 and 40. Once through the initial training (you are then on probation for a year), the crew will do routine training every two weeks whether there has been a call out or not. We were extremely lucky to be given a tour of the allweather Tamar lifeboat by Simon Tugwell, second mechanic and second coxswain. The general public are not usually allowed aboard, so we were all really excited. The inside was so much more high tech than I ever imagined. One button switched everything on. There were 3 seats (akin to an aircraft) at the front that myself, Jessica and Cameron were soon strapped into. Nick was busy looking in the engine room and discussing rather high tech stuff with Simon. We also saw the first aid area and the small Y boat which can be launched from the Tamar when it cannot get close enough to the rescue. 118 people can fit onto the boat if needs be – quite a squash I imagine, but a small price to pay for your life being saved. We were also shown the crew changing room where the different types of kit were all hung up, ready for action. Nick tried on one of the lifejackets which was pretty heavy. It had a whole host of useful gear including night and day flares and a first aid card. We then went to see the rigid inflatable D-class inshore lifeboat. Open topped, this is crewed by three people who are low down in the boat on their knees. More for the younger generation I guess! Moving back to the subject of the awful weather we have been experiencing, Simon explained that it had not really affected them. The RNLI have their own flood rescue teams which can be deployed around the country to floods. They are the ones you have probably seen on TV – volunteer crew members rescuing stranded people. At Shoreham, the inshore lifeboat can be busy responding to stranded jet skiers, swimmers in distress, small broken
down boats and stranded windsurfers while the allweather lifeboat can deal with bigger jobs further our or in rougher conditions. Heading up to the crew room, we finished our visit with a cuppa and an amazing view out to sea from their static binoculars. It made 9.5miles look 2 feet away! The RNLI is a charity and funded by donations and legacies. It receives no government funding. If you ever see someone in distress in the water, dial 999 and ask for the coastguard. They may well send a lifeboat... The lifeboat station is open 10am to 2pm Monday to Friday and 10am to 4pm Saturday and Sunday. Phone number is 01273 596376. No appointment is necessary for families or small groups. There is no charge for tours but a donation to the RNLI would be appreciated. For large group tours or school visits either pop into the lifeboat station during the hours above to arrange in advance or email shoreham-lifeboat-visits@hotmail.com with your contact details
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Village Living • March 2014