Saving lives at sea: BBC 1
Discussion
That was a very emotional episode - it's not often that we see a rescue that doesn't end in a happy outcome. I'll give my experience of such.
I was Honorary Secretary of an RNLI station in the 1990s when I received a call from the Coastguard about 9pm on an autumn evening, requesting launch of our Arun class lifeboat to assist for a search for three fishermen who were overdue on a fishing trip from a small village, 10 miles by road but 25 miles by sea. The crew were on the way within 15 minutes and on scene within 2 hours. A coastguard helicopter was also tasked and found one of the crew lying on a beach. He was winched up and airlifted direct to hospital - he survived. The helicopter reported that an upturned boat was nearby. Our boys went to that location and indeed found the missing boat upturned. In a tangle of lines behind the boat was the body of another of the missing men. He was taken aboard but had obviously died hours before. The crew continued searching until first light.
I arranged a relief crew and a road tanker for refuelling. Our lifeboat come into a local village to arrange these, and to hand over the body to the police. The crew then went back to sea and continued searching until the Coastguard called off the search 12 hours later.
When the lifeboat returned to station it had been on service for over 24 hours. Our chaplain (the local Church of Scotland minister, who had been an RAF chaplain) was waiting and, after the Arun was refuelled, sat with us and said prayers. I'm not a religious bloke, but found this a great relief - as did, I think, the crew.
The funeral of the bloke we recovered (a young local guy and a newly-wed took place the next week. A lot of tears - a lot of the crew were at the service.
The third body has never been recovered.
I was Honorary Secretary of an RNLI station in the 1990s when I received a call from the Coastguard about 9pm on an autumn evening, requesting launch of our Arun class lifeboat to assist for a search for three fishermen who were overdue on a fishing trip from a small village, 10 miles by road but 25 miles by sea. The crew were on the way within 15 minutes and on scene within 2 hours. A coastguard helicopter was also tasked and found one of the crew lying on a beach. He was winched up and airlifted direct to hospital - he survived. The helicopter reported that an upturned boat was nearby. Our boys went to that location and indeed found the missing boat upturned. In a tangle of lines behind the boat was the body of another of the missing men. He was taken aboard but had obviously died hours before. The crew continued searching until first light.
I arranged a relief crew and a road tanker for refuelling. Our lifeboat come into a local village to arrange these, and to hand over the body to the police. The crew then went back to sea and continued searching until the Coastguard called off the search 12 hours later.
When the lifeboat returned to station it had been on service for over 24 hours. Our chaplain (the local Church of Scotland minister, who had been an RAF chaplain) was waiting and, after the Arun was refuelled, sat with us and said prayers. I'm not a religious bloke, but found this a great relief - as did, I think, the crew.
The funeral of the bloke we recovered (a young local guy and a newly-wed took place the next week. A lot of tears - a lot of the crew were at the service.
The third body has never been recovered.
I'm interested in the dynamics of a small coastal communities and what makes young people volunteer
for what is essentially unpaid dicing with death on a regular basis.
Being an old cynic, there must be some sort of pay-off, their sacrifice of time and energy can't be solely altruistic,
is there a cache in being a crew member in the community, a higher public and social profile, a macho thing, pints bought
for you, discount at the garage ?
for what is essentially unpaid dicing with death on a regular basis.
Being an old cynic, there must be some sort of pay-off, their sacrifice of time and energy can't be solely altruistic,
is there a cache in being a crew member in the community, a higher public and social profile, a macho thing, pints bought
for you, discount at the garage ?
coppernorks said:
I'm interested in the dynamics of a small coastal communities and what makes young people volunteer
for what is essentially unpaid dicing with death on a regular basis.
Being an old cynic, there must be some sort of pay-off, their sacrifice of time and energy can't be solely altruistic,
is there a cache in being a crew member in the community, a higher public and social profile, a macho thing, pints bought
for you, discount at the garage ?
It gets you a level of respect in coastal communities for obvious reasons, other than that there isn't much upside other than camaraderie and "giving something back".for what is essentially unpaid dicing with death on a regular basis.
Being an old cynic, there must be some sort of pay-off, their sacrifice of time and energy can't be solely altruistic,
is there a cache in being a crew member in the community, a higher public and social profile, a macho thing, pints bought
for you, discount at the garage ?
In other news...
I did a charity walk for the RNLI with my daughter yesterday (and have the blisters to prove it). Talking to the guys at Appledore Station they were saying how badly fundraising has been hit because of Covid stopping events and collections. So if you can afford it, they could really do with a few quid to keep the boats and crews going.
boyse7en said:
It gets you a level of respect in coastal communities for obvious reasons, other than that there isn't much upside other than camaraderie and "giving something back".
In other news...
I did a charity walk for the RNLI with my daughter yesterday (and have the blisters to prove it). Talking to the guys at Appledore Station they were saying how badly fundraising has been hit because of Covid stopping events and collections. So if you can afford it, they could really do with a few quid to keep the boats and crews going.
Fundraising may have been effected but as most of the money comes from legacies in wills it’s not really a big dent for them. I think it’s about 2 years of no income before they’d really start to feel the pinch. In other news...
I did a charity walk for the RNLI with my daughter yesterday (and have the blisters to prove it). Talking to the guys at Appledore Station they were saying how badly fundraising has been hit because of Covid stopping events and collections. So if you can afford it, they could really do with a few quid to keep the boats and crews going.
ecsrobin said:
Fundraising may have been effected but as most of the money comes from legacies in wills it’s not really a big dent for them. I think it’s about 2 years of no income before they’d really start to feel the pinch.
No idea how much comes from wills Vs fundraising, but I know (according to the treasurer) that the fundraising in this area is down by about 75%, which if it is reflected nationally has to make a dent. 
coppernorks said:
I'm interested in the dynamics of a small coastal communities and what makes young people volunteer
for what is essentially unpaid dicing with death on a regular basis.
Being an old cynic, there must be some sort of pay-off, their sacrifice of time and energy can't be solely altruistic,
is there a cache in being a crew member in the community, a higher public and social profile, a macho thing, pints bought
for you, discount at the garage ?
I suppose our station would be classed as a coastal community, an island 10 miles long and 2 miles wide in the Atlantic.for what is essentially unpaid dicing with death on a regular basis.
Being an old cynic, there must be some sort of pay-off, their sacrifice of time and energy can't be solely altruistic,
is there a cache in being a crew member in the community, a higher public and social profile, a macho thing, pints bought
for you, discount at the garage ?
We had lots of youngsters on the crew and a queue waiting to join, they loved it (mostly).
Someone in everyone’s family was/is a fisherman or had been on the crew, you could visibly see their pride.
I think I was 40 when I started, relationship had just ended badly and I needed something to do.
My first shout was around 19 hours, the on deck crew consisted of me and an 18 year old and a seasoned fisherman that refused to wear a life jacket, age did not matter that day, at the time I had received no training, it was the 18 year olds first call (his dad had been cox), Joe sure had his hands full that day, luckily by the second body we were grand.
8 p.m.I've watched every one of these from the start but even for me the Birnbeck Pier rescue stood out. 2 fellas already in the dinghy when they went to save a couple from drowning and then another man who had jumped in to help the couple. The descriptions of what happened from the young woman were very moving and the thought that the final guy to be rescued might have died is harrowing. What a great bloke.
Edited by Randy Winkman on Wednesday 11th November 11:44
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