THANKS 0 We would like to thank you for the copy of THE LIFE-BOAT. We have regularly received free ones over the years and feel that, owing to increased costs, we would like to help meet this as we always take a great interest in the work of the Institution and its gallant crews around our coasts.—L. Jordan, Victoria Avenue, Bloxwich, Walsall, Staffs.

P.S.

My sister fell and badly damaged her arm.

1 reached a scarf from the hall stand to make a temporary sling. I reached for her coat to put round her shoulders and took her to hospital.

On the hospital steps, a man asked, 'What have you done?' 'Oh', she said, 'there are worse disasters at sea'. As the man burst out laughing I suddenly realised that on her coat was her guild badge and the scarf was my life-boat scarf with the crest plainly showing.

• May I congratulate you on the excellent appearance of THE LIFE-BOAT. The quality, layout and contents are so attractive that I cannot see anyone begrudging the nowadays meagre sum of 15p asked for it. From now on I would like to pay for my copy.

I am, incidentally, a member of the Life-boat Enthusiasts' Society. Readers may like to know that I made a model of the life-boat kit put out by Rovex (January Journal, page 24).—R. S.

Fawcett, Lime Grove, Draycott, Derby.

Mr. Fawcett's model—he sent us a coloured photograph which, however, we cannot reproduce here—shows the 37-foot Oakley The Royal Thames and it is an attractive piece of work.

THE ONE AND ONLY • The 1971 R.N.L.I. calendar took me back very many years—1923 if memory serves—to the one and only time I took a life-boat out onactive service. I was test engineer for J. S. White & Co. at the time, and that company was building boats and engines for the R.N.L.I.

whose chief engineer had designed an engine which would continue to function even when totally submerged.

After completing its bench tests the engine was duly installed in the boat and I spent some 6-8 months running sea tests in all sorts of weather. In due course it was considered that the boat was ready for service, but it was considered that, as it was fitted with a new type of engine, an experienced man should stand by and take it out on its first actual service call.

Yours truly was told off for this job. Accordingly I delivered the boat under its own power to Penlee Point in Mounts Bay.

We did not have long to wait. A 10,000 ton Yugo-Slav tramp was rounding Lands End, empty, in a pretty hefty gale and its propeller blades were knocked off as the vessel plunged in the high seas. The SOS was sent out and the Sennen boat tried to answer, but very high seas prevented that boat from being launched.

The call was then moved to us in Mounts Bay which was more sheltered, and away we went.

If memory serves again, it took us 3 to 4 hours to reach the tramp which although it had its anchors down was drifting towards the Runnel Stone rock. We took off the crew but the skipper would not leave, and consequently we had to hang about. Eventually I said that we would have to return to harbour as fuel was getting very short, and then the skipper decided to come with us.

We returned to harbour, refuelled, and out we went again, only to find that the vessel had foundered and all that was left was some dunnage floating about.

This was my only experience in sea rescue— we were out, all told, for 19 hrs., and was I seasick! —A. J. Spilman, Grinstead Lane, Lancing, Sussex..