On the afternoon of 22nd July, 1970, after parting company with the Y.L.A.

chairman homeward bound in his Black Cygnet, I was on passage in our 7-ton sloop Ar-Men from FAbervrac'h bound for Roscoff. It was a fine sunny after- noon with good visibility and a calm sea as with the flood tide under us we bowled along before a light westerly with genoa boomed out.

Off the Aman-ar-Ross reef we sailed close aboard a small decked fishing vessel about 30 feet in in length lying to an anchor. A shirt was displayed from a short spar and her crew waved and shouted to us as we passed. They were clearly in distress so we handed sail and cruised around slowly under power.

ENGINE FAILED The Bilic was out of Pontusval for an afternoon trip with the owner's daughter Franchise Morizur and friend Alain Levenec and when their engine failed off the reef, they wisely let go. Being some three miles off-shore in waters little frequented by other vessels, they now wanted a tow. Accordingly after Bilic had got her anchor, Ar-Men worked round to windward to pass the tow-line and making sail once again we resumed our course with Bilic in tow.

The crew of Bilic were anxious to be taken to Pontusval—a small drying port about six miles to the eastward—and accordingly I agreed to stand in close enough to allow Bilic to let go in a position where she could attract attention from the shore without difficulty.

Meanwhile, on board Ar-Men I explained to the ship's company—my sailingAll contributions for the Institution should be sent to the honorary secretary of the local branch or guild, to Captain Nigel Dixon, R.N., Secretary, Royal National Life-boat Institution, 42 Grosvenor Gardens, London, S.W.I (Tel: 01-730 0031), or direct to the Institution's bankers, Messrs. Coutts & Co., 440 Strand, London, W.C.2, or National Giro account number 545 4050.

All enquiries about the work of the Institution or about this journal should be addressed to the Secretary.

The next number O/THE LIFE-BOAT will be published in January, 1971, when a larger format will be used. The new Journal will have a coloured picture cover.

partner Peter Parley, my 18-year-old son Charles and his school friend—the wrinkles of towage and salvage and why it was important that we should pass our line rather than accept a line from the tow. The boys had visions of a crew's share of a substantial salvage claim and were rather disappointed to be told that Y.L. A. members would never dream of making a claim in these circumstances! Off Pontusval we met a launch with a powerful outboard (also belonging to M. Morizur) which had been despatched by the owner on a search-and-rescue mission. Accordingly we slipped the tow, after arranging to meet Bute's crew at the Cafe du Port, Roscoff, at 21.00.

A CELEBRATION Ar-Men then resumed her passage and made port without further incident.

We were very pleased to find Fairlight, R.C.C., alongside and later both ships' companies repaired ashore for supper. Alain and Francoise arrived punctually with a fine bottle of Remy Martin as a mark of their appreciation of the assist- ance rendered. They were persuaded to be our guests for supper and we had a most enjoyable evening together.

The following morning Fairlight and Ar-Men sailed for the Solent. We had a fast passage although 24 hours out the wind freshened to near gale force. The 'Fairlees' and the 'Armenians' dined together again in Yarmouth, I.O.W., on the night of 24th July. Later, as we all sat in the saloon of Ar-Men with a gale howling through the rigging, a glass of 'cognac de sauvetage et de remorquage' was particularly welcome! LIFE-BOATMEN THANKED It is always encouraging for the life-boat service to receive letters of thanks for services rendered. In this connection, following a towing service undertaken by the Clacton life-boat on the night of 23rd March, 1970, in respect of the Caprice, the following letter was received from Mr. S. B. Spencer, of Hawk well, Essex: 'I should be grateful if you would convey my most sincere thanks to them not only for their skill and competence for a successful tow without even a minor mishap under trying conditions but especially for their kindliness and cheerful- ness in turning out in the middle of the night.

'I don't know whether there will be any charge* for the life-boat service but if not I should like to make a suitable donation to the Institute to cover at least out-of-pocket expenses. I realise, however, that nothing can fully pay for the service rendered and I shall always be indebted to both the crew and the R.N.L.I.' *The R.N.L.L aids all vessels in distress—without charge.Some members who pay their subscriptions by bankers' order may have received renewal notices and reminders and we would ask these members to accept our apologies for our mistake. Anyone who has received such a notice can help by returning it to us informing us of the date and method of payment so that our records can be corrected. Please be sure to add your membership number.

Similarly some of those who pay their subscription by cash may have received reminder notices after payment has been made. In some cases this is unavoidable due to letters crossing in the post but in other cases an administrative error has occurred for which we must offer our apologies. Again it would be of great help if such notices issued in error could be returned to us with the information requested in the preceding paragraph.

SECOND BIRTHDAY OF Y.LA.

The Y.L.A. will soon celebrate its second birthday and complete its first year of dealing with subscription renewals—a year in which much valuable experience has been gained. By the New Year we hope to have all membership records fully mechanised and to eliminate mistakes as far as is humanly possible.

At the time of going to press membership of the Association is approaching 6,000 and our target for 1971 is to pass the five-figure mark. This week we received from Mr. E. W. Stokes (member No. 5048) a letter enclosing three application forms with covenants and bankers' orders completed for full membership. If every member would do his/her best to emulate this example during the coming year we shall achieve our target without difficulty. Thank you Mr. Stokes! SPONSORED SWIM More than 100 children from Filey County Junior School, Yorkshire, were made honorary members of the Filey branch of the R.N.L.I. at a ceremony in June. This was their reward for raising £106 for Filey life-boat in a sponsored swim.

In this connection it is worth remembering that the Y.L.A. has a school membership scheme. Annual membership for schools prepared to join the Y.L.A. is £3. In return for this the school receives a free copy of the Journal and every pupil in the school is entitled to purchase or wear a special Y.L.A. badge costing 6d..