AN important extension of the Institu- tion's practice of encouraging rescues by shore-boats was put into effect in the summer of 1962 by the Institution in conjunction with the Ministry of Trans- port. Its purpose is to make wider and more co-ordinated use of the services of boat-owners who are prepared to put out to the rescue when the need arises.

The extended scheme was initiated experimentally on the south coast of England and the Isle of Wight between Selsey Bill and Swanage. The Ministry of Transport distributed to all coast- guard stations concerned a list of the boat owners who had agreed to co- operate and whose boats were known to be generally available. The list gave their telephone numbers and particu- lars of the type of boat they owned.

The Institution wrote to these boat owners and reminded them that they : were entitled to rewards on the same scale as those paid to members of a , life-boat crew and also to the cost of fuel and of replacing any gear lost or damaged.

The idea of launching this scheme arose, of course, from the growing ' concern felt at the number of lives lost through accidents to small craft at sea during the summer months. Al- though the scheme had not been in ! operation long before the summer came [ to an end, its value has already been shown. In the limited area in which the pilot scheme was launched it is known I that in a period of a little over two ) months 23 calls were made on the boat owners listed by the Ministry, and there is no doubt that other calls were answered by boat owners who, largely because they did not seek any rewards, did not report the incidents. There have not yet been any spectacular rescues, but in a report produced jointly by the district inspector of the Institution and the divisional inspector of H.M. Coast- guard concerned it was stated that the boat owners were "vociferously keen" on the new scheme.

IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE TRADITIONS The scheme for enlisting the help of boat owners is of course in accordance with the Royal National Life-boat Institution's general traditions. The Institution has always tried to make use of the willingness of volunteers to put out to the rescue rather than to establish large new organisations to meet new needs. Closer co-operation between the established rescue services and individual boat owners can be expected once the new scheme becomes more widely adopted, and if there were any doubt about the need for such co- operation the figures for launches by life-boats in the holiday months of 1962 would dispel it. Once again a record was established when life-boats were launched on service in September 117 times, the highest figure ever recorded for the month of September since the Institution was founded in 1824.

Many of the services were to small boats, but the outstanding rescue occurred on the 17th September, when for the first time a life-boat saved the lives of the crew of a hovercraft. The Rhyl coxswain, Harold Campini, was awarded the silver medal for gallantry, and another unusual feature of the service was the making of special awards to the shore helpers. A full account of this service appears on page 343.

COSTLY WORKS ON THE COAST From time to time the Institution engages in a major new enterprise such as the construction of a life-boat station. In recent years a new station was built at the Lizard/Cadgwith at a cost of approximately £100,000, and what was in effect a new station was constructed at Selsey as a consequence of coast erosion. These major under- takings aroused some public interest, but all the year round work has to be done at a variety of stations of a kind of which little is heard, but which is nevertheless costly. At one recent meet- ing of the Committee of Management, for instance, major improvements to three different life-boat stations, those at Aldeburgh, at Llandudno and at Penlee were decided upon. At Aide- burgh the provision of a new boat, alterations in the coast since groynes and a sea wall were built a few years ago, and the wearing of skids and turn- tables by wave-driven shingle have necessitated constructional work for improving launching conditions at an estimated cost of over £7,000. Subject to town planning consent the life-boat house at Llandudno will be altered in time for a new life-boat to be placed there, the estimated cost of the altera- tion being some £3,500. At Penlee the work needed to provide a new and more powerful boathouse winch is expected to cost over £1,500.

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE The ninth international life-boat con- ference, which is to be held in Edin- burgh early in June, 1963, seems likely to be attended by more delegates from life-boat societies abroad than any of the earlier conferences. At the time of going to press acceptances have been received from the two life-boat societies in both France and the Netherlands, and other countries which will be send- ing delegates are Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, India, Italy, Nor- way, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the U.S.A. It is also possible that there will be representa- tives from Canada, Chile, Iceland, Japan, Uruguay and the U.S.S.R.

Visiting life-boats from a number of European countries are likely to provide a major attraction at the conference..