DESPITE COLD NORTH-EAST WINDS Straight off the sea, hundreds of people gathered at the Fishmarket, Macduff, on Saturday April 3, for the naming of the station's 48' 6" Solent lifeboat Douglas Currie.

She was named by Miss Caroline Currie, grand-niece of one of the principal donors; other donations include a legacy from the estate of the late J. J.

Davidson and a gift from the Glasgow Ladies Guild.

The lifeboat had been handed over to Sir Charles McGrigor, convener of the Scottish Lifeboat Council and a member of the Committee of Management, by Sir Alastair Blair, senior trustee of the Douglas Currie Trust. She was accepted on behalf of the branch by George Mackay, honorary secretary and himself an ex-coxswain.

* * * Swanage, on May 6, was luckier in its weather. It was like a summer day, with sunshine, blue skies and a calm sea lapping the beach; just the day to welcome a royal visitor, and this was the first occasjon on which a member of the royal family had ever come to the station. HRH The Duke of Kent, RNLI President, was to name the 37' 6" Rother class lifeboat /. Reginald Corah.A red helicopter of the Queen's Flight, bringing the Duke from Poole, flew in over the little grey town to land him on Peveril Point. Children lined the route of the short walk over the downs to the lifeboat station where the official enclosure, the foreshore and even the distant pier were crowded. At sea were Poole lifeboat and ex-lifeboat Gill, dressed overall, while on shore the band of the Royal Marines played music to set the heart dancing. One guest the branch was particularly pleased to have with them was the widow of the late J. Reginald Corah, after whom the new Swanage lifeboat has been named.

R. L. Wessel took an unusual dual role in proceedings: as a trustee of the Corah Foundation he handed over the lifeboat to the RNLI, and then, as a member of the Committee of Management, delivered her to the care of Swanage branch. She was accepted by Captain D. A. N. Aldridge, honorary secretary.

In his speech, the Duke paid tribute to our 'incomparable crews', to the dedication of their wives and to the strong family traditions and the generosity of the town of Swanage..