IN THE DOGHOUSE—One particular boat's crew of the Royal National Life-boat Institution is in dead trouble. It rescued the crew of a cabin cruiser from a dangerous situation—which, of course, was regarded as meritorious and praiseworthy by just everybody. But it went further still and—with considerable difficulty—towed the distressed boat into harbour. So, out of a nasty situation, came 100 per cent success. Still everyone applauded.

Then, exercising their rights as individuals (i.e. not as members of R.N.L.I.), the crew claimed a salvage award for recovery of the boat. The back-slapping stopped and the name-calling started—quicker than I take to write it. Money grubbers, bounty hunters, bargainers-under-duress: these and many more ruderies have been bandied about by affronted weekend-sailors and the popular press. So I think it is time professional sailors put something on paper. For we have lived with maritime risk, insurance policies and the harsh sea throughout our working life.

LAWS FAIR The laws of salvage are among the fairest and squarest forms of bargaining in this imperfect modern world of ours. Nobody will ever applaud an arbitrator's ruling or a judge's decision any more than two League teams praise a referee; it is part of the game to maintain that a decision was slightly unfair. But even the dissentients subscribe wholeheartedly to the system's usefulness and practical wisdom. I think nobody will dispute that—so let's get back to that cabin cruiser.

There was, of course, the alternative of bargaining on the spot for a fixed-price tow. But the press would really have gone to town on this with 'Shylocks at Sea' headlines. To my mind the Lloyd's Open Form principle (even if the form is not actually used) is in almost all cases admirable; it ensures the promptest and fullest assistance in the urgency of the moment, while leaving the financial details to be settled by experts ashore. And let it be said that those experts can give hours of consideration in offices that are not rolling and pitching and 'shipping 'em green': how much more satisfactory than an agreement conceded in a brief moment of emotion in a vessel on her beam ends. At sea, of course, the 'No Cure: No Pay' principle ensures for the owner that the very utmost endeavour will be made to make the project successful. It is absolutely no use the salvor having a 'good try' but losing the ship: he may have risked himself through hell and high water but he will get no payment for his labours.

TO SAVE LIFE That really leaves only one important question. Should the life-boat's crew have claimed anything at all or should they have given the service for free? Here we must leave fact and go to opinion—chacun a son gout. And this is my particular gout. The primary and paramount task of the life-boat is to save life: but if—with no detriment to the primary task—it can undertake the secondary task of prompt property saving, then it is great commonsense to do so.

And having saved such property, it is also great commonsense to abide by the law of the sea and to claim an award. Assured of the fairness of the system of salvage assessment, every participant should be reasonably happy. The owner *Reproduced by permission of the Nautical Magazine from their issue of October, 1968.gets his property safe; the insurers meet a claim which their premium income should cover—if they have done their sums right; and the life-boatmen will have an amount of money which, however small, is more satisfying than 'thanks on vellum'.

To sum up. The sea is harsh. Maritime law is just. The adjudicators are fair.

Given those factors, then anyone who has risked life and limb should be entitled to submit a claim without being vilified. They will not be awarded a fortune.

But it may, in quite inadequate manner, be some slight recompense for scores of occasions in which life and limb have been risked for nowt.

THE VOLUNTARY SPIRIT Finally, one categoric statement must be made. No private organisation could engage a nation-wide life-boat service on a 'permanent job' basis. Basic pay, plus overtime, plus time-and-a-half or double-time at weekends, plus hazardous duty allowance, plus 'on call' allowance, plus 'special clothing' and one or two other such entitlements—all these factors would price a professional (salvage element in pay 'in lieu of salvage awards') life-boat service out of existence. At present, the service is run by volunteers motivated by love of the sea, a perverse love of danger, and a desire to be useful to mankind. Although that makes them stand 10 feet tall in our estimation, they remain no more than ordinary citizens in the eyes of the law. And—as such—they should not have less right to claim salvage than other less worthy ordinary citizens..