FOR a service, in which he had to take his life-boat through a narrow, unchartered channel, infested with rocks, to a trawler whose bow was hard aground, Coxswain John Nicolson of Aith, Shetlands, has been awarded the R.N.L.I.'s silver medal for gallantry. The other seven members of his crew have each been accorded the Institution's thanks inscribed on vellum.

At 5.3 on the morning of ipth February, 1967, the Lerwick coastguard telephoned Mr. Robert Fraser, the Aith honorary secretary, to say the Aberdeen trawler Juniper was aground on Papa Stour, Fogla Skerry. Mr. Fraser immedi- ately agreed to launch the life-boat and telephoned the mechanic, Frank Johnston, who fired the maroons.

Because of the strong southerly winds the maroons could hardly be heard in the village, and Mr. Fraser had therefore to summon the various members of the crew by telephone. This caused some delay and as the second coxswain's telephone was out of order Mr. A. J. R. Tait, the assistant honorary secretary, volunteered to make up the crew.

The southerly wind was gusting to force 8 in squalls, and there were heavy showers of rain and sleet. In Aith Voe there was a strong choppy sea. It was still dark, and high water had been at 5 o'clock.

The life-boat John and Frances Macfarlane, which is one of the 52-foot Barnett class, put out at 5.48. At 7.15 she closed the north side of Papa Stour.

where she saw no fewer than seven trawlers standing by the casualty, but because of the rocks none of them was able to go to her help.

The Juniper was aground in Lyra Sound between Lyra Skerry and Papa Stour and partially obscured by the rocks and the stacks between her and the life-boat. The Papa Stour C.R.E. Company had taken up position on the cliff top but they were unable to get a line across.

SLEET AND RAIN The wind veered to the south south east, the sky was overcast, and the sleet and rain showers continued. Sunrise was at 7.34, and dawn was beginning. There was a considerable sea in the sound, but it was not breaking, probably because the wind and the tide were together.

Because of the rocks and skerries Coxswain Nicolson decided it would be extremely hazardous to approach the trawler from the north, and he therefore took the life-boat around the west side of Fogla Skerry, his plan being to anchor to the southward of the casualty and veer down on her. The life-boat approached the Juniper, but there was a big sea running and the rocks presented so many hazards that Coxswain Nicolson decided there was no chance of veering down successfully. He therefore turned the life-boat back to the northward, and she rolled heavily as she came round. The time was then about 7.30.

Coxswain Nicolson consulted the chart, which was on a small scale but indicated that there was a clear channel close to Lyra Skerry. Although hewas very familiar with the long coastline of the west coast of the Shetlands he had never been through this passage before. It is known that the natives of Papa Stour occasionally use it in their small boats but only in fair weather around high water.

Acting Bowman James Manson was stationed forward to look out for rocks and the coxswain took the life-boat at slow speed through the channel. There were dark patches of kelp alternating with holes, and the surface of one rock was only a few feet to the starboard side of the life-boat. There was a strong surge coming through the skerries, and as the life-boat approached the trawler her echo sounder indicated virtually no water under the keel.

The Juniper was lying in the middle of the sound heading north west.

Her bow was fast on the rocks and her stern afloat. She was drawing n feet.

Her engine room and fishing hold were flooded, giving her a list to port. Her upper deck forward was almost awash, and the seas were breaking over the bulwarks and washing loose gear about the deck.

HULL GROUND ON ROCKS The trawler was rolling and lifting in the seas, and her hull ground on the rocks as she fell in the trough. Her two inflatable life rafts had been launched, but they were not manned as the crew thought it likely they would be capsized or torn on the rocks to leeward.

About 7.40, as dawn was breaking, Coxswain Nicolson put the port bow of the life-boat alongside the port quarter of the trawler. Acting Second Coxswain Andrew Smith hove the nylon securing rope aboard, and this was rove through a block in the port after-gallows and secured to a handrail on the superstructure.

As the life-boat surged alongside the Juniper the tide kept her stern clear, and Acting Second Coxswain Smith veered and hauled on the securing rope while the coxswain worked the engines to prevent it from parting. Orders were given rapidly and the mechanics followed them skilfully under difficult conditions.

In groups of three and four the twelve men aboard the trawler were all taken off. At one stage the life-boat struck the capping of the trawler's bulwark. She was damaged on the water-line and her stem band was twisted. As she remained alongside, the life-boat rose and fell some 12 to 15 feet, and in the trough there was probably not much more than a foot under the life-boat's keel.

As the last group of trawler men tried to come aboard, the trawler rolled to port and crashed against the life-boat. The life-boat's forward guard rails were knocked flat and the foot rail was split. By 7.50 all twelve men had been taken off and the nylon securing rope was cut.

Coxswain Nicolson decided it would be too dangerous to try to turn and he therefore took the life-boat under the Juniper'?, stern and out through the sound to the southward, safely negotiating the many hazards.

Most of the trawler's crew were badly shaken and some had little clothing on.

During the passage back to Aith they were given rum and hot soup. The life- boat reached her station at 9.35, where the survivors were cared for by local people and the Royal National Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen.The seven members of the crew to whom the thanks inscribed on vellum were accorded were: Acting Second Coxswain Andrew Smith, Acting Bowman James Manson, Motor Mechanic Frank Johnston, Acting Assistant Mechanic Wilbert Clark, and crew members William Anderson, Kenneth Henry and A. James R. Tait..