My wife won a raffle trip for eight on the Dunbar offshore lifeboat, and Sunday 16th October was to be the day. When we arrived at the lifeboat station near Torness power station my five pals and I were looking forward to the experience never really knowing what was to come.
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The coxswain” Mark” introduced himself after locking the gates to the RLNI secure compound he asked us to group together for a short safety brief. He started by saying, if we get a “shout” we might ask you to – he was interrupted by one of the crew who came quickly out of the office to tell him they were on a shout. My buddy Paul had a wry smile on his face and told me later that he thought that all the theatricals was for our benefit and that this was just an exercise. Mark excused himself and after a short trip to the office he gave the order to launch the RIB Rubber inflatable to get us out to the lifeboat which was moored in the middle of the harbour. The speed at which things were happening made us very aware that this was not an exercise.
Once onboard the all weather Trent class lifeboat we were politely told to take seats in the upper cabin and don lifebelts while the crew very rapidly fired up all the equipment, started the twin diesel engines and in no time the racket of all the systems alarm buzzers and bells gave way to the roar of the engines, the nose (bow) of the boat rose towards the sky and we were on our way at over twenty knots toward a stricken pleasure fishing boat which had tangled its propeller in some rope.
It was fascinating listening to the VHF chatter between the Coastguard and the two life boats (ours and the inshore boat) as we raced toward the stricken vessel. The Eyemouth coastguard station despatched a RNLI mobile unit to Dunbar harbour and the plan was to get the fishing boat back to Dunbar to meet it. The problem was the tide was too low for the big lifeboat to get into Dunbar harbour so the inshore boat had been scrambled too. .
I had hardly had time to take in all the equipment that was surrounding us, although I was happily snapping away with my camera when on the horizon we could see the white fishing boat and off to the left the orange rubber inshore lifeboat racing out from Dunbar. Both lifeboats arrived at almost the same time and once again the efficiency of the crews was obvious as they boarded the pleasure craft, attached a towrope and slowly pulled it towards Dunbar with the RIB alongside the fishing boat. It was decided by Mark that because the weather was so good the risk of transferring the six people on the fishing boat over to the lifeboat meant he was happy for them to remain aboard their own boat while under tow.
So excitement over, the long slow journey back to Dunbar gave us the opportunity to go outside and take in more of this fantastic vessel. The guys and girls who volunteer to crew this boat were a cheery bunch and very knowledgeable. My pal Henry who has been in the royal navy all his life was asking Mark all the technical questions and Mark certainly knows every inch of this boat and I came away with a much greater understanding and admiration for the people who selflessly give up their time and risk their lives to rescue others.
When we arrived outside Dunbar Harbour the small lifeboat transferred to its towrope and pulled the fishing boat into the harbour, after a short wait for our crew member to come back on board we were off again this time at full pelt towards the Bass Rock. It was glorious day with hardly a cloud in the sky, what an experience, up on the flying bridge deck shooting pictures of the gannets on this huge rock in the middle of the forth in the sunshine, Sundays don’t get much better than this unless your name is Darren (my young employee). Poor Daz, his first boat trip and his face was greener than the sea.
On the way back to Torness we buzzed a tanker ship heading up the forth (more pictures) Once back at base the crew have to wash the boat down and refuel the 400 litre diesel tanks before they can go home. We all had a great time (apart from Daz) and I would like to thank Mark and his colleges again for their dedication and professionalism.
Today I made a donation to the RNLI it’s a worthy cause if you would like to give something please go to http://www.rnli.org.uk/how_to_support_us/donate/
