Busy Year for the Station
In the last issue of Walrus I reported we had 40 ‘shouts’ so far this year – well the pressure has not eased much in the last couple of months, we have now reached 59. Operational ‘shouts’ combined with our programme of regular training sessions for the crews of our lifeboat and hovercraft has turned this into a very busy year.
12th August – Wirral lifeboats in Night Search for Canoeist
Both our craft were out along with Hoylake’s ‘Lady of Hilbre’ following the report from a member of public of a canoeist seen paddling off the Gunsight, Leasowe towards the wind farm in Leasowe Bay as it was going dark. It was not a pleasant evening with drizzle and the tide was coming in. However after an extensive search where flares were fired to illuminate the area no one was found. If anyone is planning doing night canoeing / sailing in these busy waters please let HM Coastguard know of your plans.
10th September – Kite Surfer rescue
The ‘Charles Dibdin’ was called out to a kite surfer in difficulty in about 1 mile off Harrison Drive – wind was blowing force 5-6 , sea choppy and the person was lucky to be seen mainly due to making himself as visible as possible by waving his surf board in the air.
30th September – Rescue of 3 Fishermen
Night rescue of crew of a 14ft fishing boat with engine failure. They were reported to be 1.5 miles out in Liverpool Bay off Leasowe lighthouse. The boat did not carry VHF radio and was not where the crew thought they were. After almost an hours search the lifeboat eventually located them up on Radar and towed them to Meols slipway.
They were lucky that their mobile phone picked up a signal however if they had VHF radio they would have been found much quicker by the lifeboat crew as it is equipped with Radio Direction Finding gear.
1st October – Boat on Fire
1:50am lifeboat launched to boat on fire and person reported to be in the water at Tranmere. After an extensive search no one was found and boat was beached by the fire service.
2nd October – Person in Water
Lifeboat launched to person in water near Brunswick Dock – police managed to get them ashore before lifeboat arrived.
We have had other call outs but these ones have featured in the press.
For more information on these and other rescues please have a look at
www.rnli.org.uk and go to the New Brighton station page.
Interested in Becoming a Volunteer Crew Member
Some of our crew are nearing the end of their operational lifeboat careers and we would welcome enquiries from persons aged between 18 and 35 with good eyesight, live or work in the New Brighton area and have their own transport. Prior nautical experience though desirable is not absolutely necessary as only 1 in 10 of today’s lifeboat crews have a maritime background.
Want to know more give Cliff Downing Lifeboat Operations Manager a ring on 0151 639 5297.
£50,000 Fundraising Campaign for Crew Training & Equipment
The campaign to raise £50k for crew training and equipment is going really well with over £40k raised to date. Here is a small sample of the support we have had during the last couple of months:
Magazine Bowling Club – £500 raised via their ‘Magazine Charity Cup’ bowling competition.
Liverpool Buccaneers Sea Angling Club – £200 resulting from a fishing competition between themselves and Ceredigion Sea Angling Club in memory of fisherman Tom Anderson.
Jack & Jill Nurseries – £500 from a fun day with 122 under 5 children dressed as pirates and sailors.
Pete Carr - local photographer who raised £1000+ for running the Liverpool Marathon in memory of his mother a long term supported of RNLI.
These are a small sample of the generous support that we have had from all sorts of individuals and organisations and apologies if you have not been mentioned here. I hope to list all the donations when the campaign is finished.
Wallasey Ladies Lifeboat Guild
These stalwart supporters of the station running coffee mornings, flag day collections and lots more have a new website with details of what they are doing and how you can help them if you have some spare time – see.
www.wallaseyladieslifeboatguild.org.uk
Bob Warwick, RNLI New Brighton Volunteer Press Officer