Thanks to George for this round-up of 2011 for Cowes RNLI. In his own words. Ed
The past year has been the busiest for Cowes lifeboat since the operation was taken over by the RNLI in 2008.
“The dedication and commitment of our crew members, especially during the working day, has been quite extraordinary, ,” said station operations manager Mark Southwell. “This is particularly appreciated when considering the relatively small number of crew members we have.”
53 callouts for Tabby Cat
During 2011 the Cowes Atlantic 85 RIB, Tabby Cat, attended a total of 53 calls to incidents, involving 102 persons. Another three call-outs were cancelled by Solent Coastguards before the crew could take the boat out from its berth at Shepards Wharf Marina. A large number of boats had mechanical problems and, because of recurring windy weather, there were a number of dismastings.
Although the lifeboat was on the water as a precaution during most of Cowes Week, the event that was the most demanding for the crew – as for crews with other lifeboats in the Solent area – was the gruelling Round the Island Race in June. The lifeboat was on duty for more than 12 hours, during which it attended several incidents.
£1 million Cowes lifeboat station appeal
“Another example of the crews’ approach to their life-saving role is that the boat was taken out on over 70 exercises during the year, and there was good attendance at the near-weekly on-shore training sessions,” said Mark. “And in addition quite a number of the crew participated in various fund-raising events for the new £1 million Cowes lifeboat station appeal.”
Meanwhile Mark is pleased with on-going efforts to recruit more crew members, and noted that one of those who has recently signed up to train was a woman.
Mark said it was planned to stage a number of public open days in the new station, after it becomes ready for occupation – hopefully at the end of April.
Image: © Used with the kind permission of Rick Tomlinson
