Lifeboat heroes mark 60 years with battle to bring facilities up to scratch
Last updated 20:50, Thursday, 09 October 2008
THE FOUR men pulling length after length of tightly woven rope up and out of the choppy water are no ordinary sailors.
They are just a small part of a group of 30 men who will answer a distress call at any time and will work all through the night to save lives and recover stricken boats.
The men who are winding the tough rope over their well-built arms are members of Workington’s RNLI – and this year marks its 60th anniversary.
But this is no ordinary celebration with balloons, streamers and gallons of the finest ale.
They are taking part in a training exercise to retrieve a white fender that has been dropped into the ocean between Workington and Maryport.
The exercise is something the crew practise every fortnight to keep their lifesaving skills up to scratch.
Coxswain John Stobbart, who steadily steers the Sir John Fisher lifeboat towards the destination of the fender, has been a volunteer for the RNLI for 30 years.
In December 2001 he was awarded the thanks of the RNLI for the part he played in the rescue of the Siskin, a 70-foot fishing boat that suffered engine failure about six miles off Workington.
John says: “Working on the boat has become a big part of my life.
“It takes dedication, and every man who volunteers for the RNLI has to put his heart and soul into the job.
“Our volunteers have to give the job their all because they are working as a team and it is vital that they run the boat efficiently, because when we’re out at sea people’s lives are at stake – not just the people in distress but everyone aboard the boat.”
To increase their response times the men all agree that there must be improvements to their facilities in their building on the Prince of Wales dock, which fall well below the standard for lifeboat stations set out by the RNLI.
Captain Brian Ashbridge, operations manager at the Prince of Wales dock in Workington, has recently lodged plans for a two-storey extension to the boathouse.
The extension will house both the Sir John Fisher lifeboat and the team’s tractor so it can be moved on to the beach.
The ground floor of the new extension would include a changing and drying room and a workshop, while the first floor would contain a crew room and an office for the lifeboat operations manager.
It is hoped that work will be started by November and everything will be ready by next year.
Brian, 70, of Peatfield Road, Seaton, is an experienced seaman and has served with the crew for 21 years at various periods in his life, but had to step down to an onshore position when he reached his 70th birthday.
Designs have been kept in the planning stage for over five years and have continu-ally been cancelled due to financial reasons and lack of a contractor.
He says: “Finally I think something is going to be done. The lads have always had to work with the minimum of facilities.
“The changing rooms are really small for the amount of men that we have here; it really isn’t fair on them.
“It’s unfair to ask the lads to work in these conditions and it’s about time that some money was spent on the facilities here.”
The crew believes that the position of their dock is the reason why many people in the area do not realise that they even exist.
Each year the RNLI has to raise £120 million nationally to keep the charity running, with the Workington station receiving £400,000 from that pot last year.
Brian adds: “We have a tough time raising money because we’re on a secured dock and people don’t know that we’re here. We can’t even invite schools to open days without permission.
“We have to raise £400,000 every year. Most of this comes for the regional fund but we do have to collect ourselves.
“This money goes towards boat repairs and the running costs of the boat. That is why the facilities here have suffered for so long.”
Michael Cowling, 26, who mans the wheel house, says: “It is great to be part of something like this. Yes, the job’s really demanding and you can be called out at any time, but it is also so rewarding.”
Workington’s lifeboat has changed drastically since it first went to sea in 1880.
The Sir John Fisher, a 47-foot Tyne Class Alb with its Corten Steel Construction and Twin 425HP Diesel GM Engine, is worlds away from the RNLI’s first lifeboat Dodo.
Made of wooden planking, Dodo was powered by five men with oars and relied solely on a magnetic compass to keep her on course.
Today, the Sir John Fisher has a variety of modern technology on board such as satellite systems, a laser plotter, MF radio telephone link and depth sounders which enable it to get it to its destination in the quickest possible time.
The Sir John Fisher also works alongside The Shancock, an 18ft D Class Ilb boat.
This inflatable boat can reach 40hp outboard and is a vital element when the crew are on a mission to save people stranded at sea.
