SPEAKING AT the annual general meeting of the RNLI last April, Major-General Ralph Farrant, Chairman of the Committee of Management, made it quite clear that, whatever economies might be necessary in these days of inflation, the first responsibility of the Institution is to keep its active and relief fleets in Al operational order. This is an area in which there can be no compromise.

When a lifeboat puts to sea on service she has—and must have—her crew's full confidence; much may be demanded of her and of them. Her hull must be in good heart to meet whatever fury awaits her; her engines must be running with the smooth power needed to drive her through high sea or respond to whatever manoeuvres may be called for in dangerous waters; her fittings must be strong enough to withstand exceptional strain, with every moving part free to move, every part that should be immoveable standing fast; electrics must function without question, albeit in the inimical world of damp air and salt water; equipment must be ready to hand for sure use on a tossing, waveswept deck.

As anyone who has any experience of small boats will know, there is no short cut to this happy state of affairs, it is only achieved as a result of continuous thought, hard work and, inevitably, expense. So, what does it mean for the RNLI? In terms of hard cash, £370,300 a year; and that figure is rising steeply with the rise in the cost of living, and it does not take into account the maintenance of 'docking' aids—slipway and winch, tractor and carriage, boarding boat and ground tackle—all of which must be above reproach.

In terms of labour it means systematic and sustained effort, and a pattern has been evolved of day-by-day maintenance and periodic survey which ensures the regular surveillance of all parts of a boat necessary if the high standard expected is to be achieved.

It all starts at the station. Walk into any lifeboat house and you will see a boat that is cherished. It is her crew's pride to keep her in good heart: cleaning, greasing, oiling, touching up varnish, polishing, whipping ropeends . . . It was not chance that, speaking of the GRP 54' Arun class lifeboat which had made the passage to Helsinki for last year's International Lifeboat Conference, General Farrant could say: 'When she was shown to delegates . . .

she aroused considerable interest and admiration because she looked as though she had been shipped under wraps Photographs by A. Pyner straight from the builder's yard.' That is the standard at which everyone is aiming because an efficient boat will be a trim boat.

On station At each offshore lifeboat station there is a station motor mechanic who is 'on call' at any hour of any day in the year.

Care of the boat's machinery is his main responsibility; while he also holds a watching brief for hull and electronics and checks to see that all is in good working order, in these departments he would not normally undertake anything but the simplest repair.

His machinery maintenance schedule is built up from items listed in the manufacturers' handbooks. In arranging his day-to-day programme of work he has a fair amount of flexibility, but the RNLI does require that all engines must be started and run for some time at least once a week. This routine is possible even with housed or beached boats because lifeboats have an enclosed water cooling system; at sea the internally circulating fresh water would itself be cooled by trunked sea water, but this fresh water can hold down -engine temperature on its own for the duration of the weekly trial run. Such routine precautions as battery charging will also, of course, come within the motor mechanic's sphere.

Supervision of machinery and electrical work is the immediate responsibility of the district engineer, helped by his fleet mechanics. The RNLI has eight district engineers (DEs), five in England, two in Scotland and one in Ireland, each assisted by two fleet mechanics (FMs). For work on the hull, there are eight district surveyors of lifeboats (DSLs) who cover the same districts as the DEs, and there are also five electronic engineers (EEs). If a boat is damaged or there is malfunction, the appropriate DE, DSL or EE goes at once to the station and is usually able, on the spot, to make the necessary repair. However, should the boat have suffered such damage that she has to be sent to a yard, or if a complete replacement of damaged equipment is necessary, the DSL, EE or, for machinery, DE will make the necessary arrangements.

The RNLI depot, which has this year moved from Boreham Wood to Poole, has its own machine shop, inspection department and riggers' and carpenters' shops as well as holding spares for each class of boat, ranging from main engines through anchors, rudders, valves, sidelights and shackles to cordage and nuts and bolts. There is a 24-hour telephone watch at depot which prides itself that it can deliver every 'demand' to a lifeboat station in a matter of hours. The technical organisation on the coast of DEs, DSLs and EEs backed up by head office operational staff and depot and at all times in close liaison with the surveyor of lifeboats (operations), Frank Futcher, the surveyor of lifeboats (maintenance), George Berry, and the surveyor of machinery, Selwyn Ewart, at Poole headquarters, results in boats being off service for a minimum amount of time.

Apart from calls to deal with emergencies, each member of the coastal organisation makes periodic visits to each station in his area and, while his examination is focussed primarily on those aspects for which he is directly responsible, all act as members of a closely knit team to ensure that all functions of the boat are maintained in first class working order.

Periodic survey If day-by-day care on station with, when necessary, emergency work is the foreground of the maintenance pattern, it is set against a background of periodic survey—inspection, partial survey or complete survey—when a lifeboat is withdrawn from service for more searching overhaul. Replaced on station by a lifeboat from the relief fleet, she will be taken to one of the 30-odd commercial yards round the coast of Great Britain and Ireland which regularly —and usually traditionally—undertake work for the RNLI.

It has been found from experience that for housed boats, provided routine examinations at station result in satisfactory reports, it is realistic to plan for a partial survey once in four years and a complete survey once in eight years.

For boats kept afloat or on open beaches, however, arrangements are made for an inspection each year, the second annual check including some opening up; after four years a partial survey will be held and after eight years a complete survey.

One of the great strengths of the coastal organisation is its continuity: a motor mechanic will probably see out his full service at one station; DSL or DE may well spend the whole of his RNLI working life in one area; in normal circumstances a lifeboat will return to the same yard for each inspection and survey, each repair or alteration. The men know their boats.They know them intimately because they have seen the hull opened up, the engines and electrics stripped down; they have worked on them; they know their history, their individual characteristics; they know any points which need particular vigilance. Boat and engines become old friends.

That is a very brief outline of a very long story, so long that it would be impossible to tell it all here. Perhaps, however, we can at least open a few pages by spending a little while with one of the Institution's longest serving district surveyors, Herbert Larter, and visiting with him one or two of the yards working on lifeboats. His territory is on the east coast of England—his home country, for he was born at Burnham-on-Crouch and served his apprenticeship there. In the 28 years of his service the bounds of his area have changed from time to time, stretching at one period from Skegness in the north down to Selsey in the south and taking in the Channel Islands for good measure.

He has worked as far north as Runswick and as far west as Yarmouth, Isle of Wight. Now his responsibility runs from Skegness to Walmer. Always, however, his area has covered essentially the same ground, and his relationship with the old Ramgsate lifeboat, the 46' 9" Watson Michael and Lily Davis, for instance, is a good example of that continuity about which we were talking earlier: Herbert Larter was there to take over responsibility for her surveillance when she went on station from the builders' yard in 1953, and he oversaw her maintenance throughout her operational life at Ramsgate until she was replaced this summer by a 44' Waveney lifeboat. Would there be any question that could be asked about her structure or history he could not answer? Surely not. Going back even further, while working as a boatbuilder at Sussex Shipbuilding Co. of Shoreham, he helped build the 46' Watson lifeboat Henry Blogg; when he joined the RNLI she was stationed at Cromer and so within his competence—and there she remained until withdrawn to the relief fleet in 1966.

Like all coastal staff, Herbert Larter lives his life in, as it were, two gears.There is the low-geared, planned work: regular visits to boatyards and to stations—he is as familiar a figure at the one as at the other. At the former he will be calling to oversee work on boats undergoing survey, repair or alteration; at the latter, not only will he be looking over the boat and discussing any problems with the station mechanic, but he may also need to inspect moorings or the boat's carriage, for which he is also responsible.

At any moment, however, day or night, weekday or weekend, the unexpected may be superimposed on this ordered pattern, calling for an immediate change into top gear. An emergency call from a station . . .

perhaps a lifeboat damaged on service.

At once, as DSL, he is on his way to assess the situation, see her through repairs and get her back on service as quickly as possible.

Of course, life being what it is, if there is one emergency call it is more than likely that there will be another, particularly in bad weather. During the great Channel gale of July 28 and 29, 1956, Herbert Larter received urgent calls from no less than five stations: Dover, Shoreham, Selsey, Bembridge and Yarmouth.

The emergency dealt with, it is back once more to the planned programme; back to see how work is progressing at.

such boatyards as, say, Cardnell Brothers at Maylandsea on the River Blackwater, or Ian Brown at Rowhedge on the Colne, another of the quiet rivers of Essex. Both are family businesses, now in the second generation, where, at almost any time of year,together with yachts and fishing boats, will be found, hauled out, at least one lifeboat. Both have that undefinable boatyard atmosphere of peace, contentment and craftsmanship which speaks with confidence of good work.

At these two yards, early this summer, were three lifeboats which between them illustrate well the whole spectrum of survey.

Inspection Dover's 44' steel fast afloat Waveney lifeboat Friendly Forester was at Cardnells for inspection and painting. She is the boat which, last December, went out to help the coaster Primrose and, during a six-hour service in hurricane force winds, was twice laid on her beam ends; her coxswain, Arthur Liddon, was awarded the silver medal for gallantry.

On arrival at the yard for inspection, all loose equipment is removed. Then the DSL (being from the south-east district Friendly Forester comes under the surveillance of Richard Belchamber) makes a thorough examination of all visible surfaces and fittings; he would not ask for further opening up unless he were to find signs of trouble. Any worn or damaged parts are rubbed down, made ready and protected from sun, rain, frost and salt water with paint and varnish. Her bottom is scrubbed and coated with fresh antifouling to prevent the growth of weed and barnacles which would rob her of her vital speed through the water; less growth can be expected on the bottom of a boat which lies in the polluted waters of a harbour such as Dover than there would be on a boat lying in clean, open water and, when she was hauled out this year, Friendly Forester was remarkably clean (Fig. 1). No •barnacles maybe, but the marks left by mullet mouths sucking minute growth from her bottom are a reminder that a lifeboat is not alone in her element.

Nor is she immune from natural forces within herself. The wasted sacrificial anodes below her waterline are a reminder that a lifeboat must be protected from a potential danger inevitably built into her hull: the danger of electric currents and electrolytic action. On an afloat boat the anodes will need changing every year— but more of that later.

The extent of the wear to which a boat moored afloat and in service in all weathers is subjected is well illustrated by just one tiny point on Friendly Forester: To prevent backwash on to her decks, the Waveney's scuppers are fitted with a simple hollow rubber ball—just such as a child would play with—which will float up with each wave, closing the way to incoming water. After nine years on station, it is possible on Friendly Forester to detect indentations in the steel made by the constant movement of these lightweight, resilient, children's toys (Fig. 2).

Friendly Forester's machinery wouldhave received from DE(SE), David Noyce, the same sort of checking over as the DSL had given her hull, with a visual inspection of all external glands, readily accessible bearings, piping and electrical connections, clearances and adjustments and any external wearing surfaces. All areas susceptible to corrosion are subjected to close scrutiny.

Lubricating oil is changed and so are oil and fuel filters, while fuel injectors are replaced.

It is usual for the overhaul of lifeboat engines to be undertaken by fleet mechanics under the supervision of the district engineer; they may have under their care any of the ten different makes of marine diesel engine fitted in the RNLI fleet, and there will be different sizes and variations of each. Specialized knowledge—and tools—are needed.

DEs and FMs are also, of course, responsible for the outboard engines of the inshore lifeboat stations in their districts.

Partial Survey In the same shed as Friendly Forester at CardnelPs yard was Walton and Frinton's 46' 9" wood Watson lifeboat Edian Courtauld, the only lifeboat in the RNLI's fleet smaller than a 70' Clyde to lie at moorings in the open sea without the protection of a harbour.

She is another boat which took part in a service for which the silver medal for gallantry was given last year; her coxswain, Frank Bloom, received the award for the service to Tsunami in strong gale force winds last September.

Edian Courtauld was at Cardnells for partial survey and, at the same time, installation of an air bag (an operation described in the autumn 1975 issue of THE LIFEBOAT). It is the RNLI's policy to make this kind of structural alteration to a boat while she is in for survey whenever possible.

At partial survey a great deal more opening up is undertaken and this is a time when DSL, DE and EE will learn much about the boat. All buoyancy air cases (Figs. 3 and 4) and all pieces of equipment in way of structural members are removed so that the DSL can check that the hull is in good heart with no sign of rot or damage. Some ironwork may need re-galvanising by this time.

Some fastenings will be drawn to check that they have not been affected by electrolytic action, which, unless great care is taken, can be one of the main sources of deterioration in a boat, causing erosion of metal and 'nail sickness' in wood.

Salt water is a good conductor of electricity. Put into it two dissimilar metals and the equivalent of a batterycell is set up, with the baser metal acting as anode, the nobler metal as cathode and the water as electrolyte; current flows from the anode to the cathode and, its energy thus sapped, the baser metal gradually wastes away. It is easy to see how relevant all this is to a boat. If, for instance, she should have a brass propeller and unprotected iron pintles on her rudder, the pintles and the wood round them would be in jeopardy.

The electric current set up in this way, although small, is very real. In a test made on Michael and Lily Davis, lying at moorings in Ramsgate Harbour, a recordable current was noted passing through her; all electrical equipment on board had been switched off for two days.

The first elementary safeguard is to avoid as far as possible the proximity of dissimilar metals; fittings and their fixings should 'match', brass fittings being fixed with brass screws or bolts, stainless steel fittings with stainless steel fixings and so on.Thesecondsafeguardin a simple situation is to fit plates of base metal, such as zinc, in danger spots, so that it is this sacrificial plate which is wasted rather than a vital part of the boat.

The problem is aggravated by the introduction into a boat of electrical and electronic equipment and the power needed to run it. Any stray currents will be trying to find their way to earth through the sea and, unless 'tamed', will make for the most direct hull fitting or fastening, turning it into the equivalent of a cell anode and despoiling it in passage. Fortunately, these currents can be tamed and the EE ensures that each piece of electrical equipment carried in a lifeboat is earthed in such a way that the current can only flow away through one of the special sacrificial anodes, made by M. G. Duff and Partners, fitted to her hull. It is an area which demands continual vigilance.

Edian Courtauld was the original boat on which the RNLI experimented with sacrificial anodes. Lying as she does in clean, open water, she is subject to greater electrolytic action than most lifeboats, just as she is subject to greater marine growth. At first, ten anodes werefitted to her hull, but with experience these have been reduced to one large and five small ones. The work they do is well illustrated by Fig. 5, in which can be seen a new 8| Ib anode which is to be fitted in way of Edian Courtauld's keel, and the old one which has just been removed. The old anode weighs only 31 b: 5$ Ib of metal has been eroded in a year.

In looking after her hull, Herbert Larter and the crew of Edian Courtauldhave another, simpler but equally persistent problem. Turnstones have chosen to roost in her cockpit and will not be deterred. When she leaves her moorings these little, protected birds move over to the boarding boat and wait . . .

At partial survey the work on the engines takes in all items listed for the inspection check over, and then probes further. Cylinder heads are removed and the cylinders are decarbonised and measured for wear and ovality; any parts felt to be suspect are stripped, examined and repaired. Fuel, cooling and wiring systems are all checked, as are fuel tanks, electric starters, dynamos, alternators and fan motors.

Working on Edian Courtauld's twin Ford Barracuda diesel engines was an unique member of the RNLI organisation: C. R. T. 'Bob' Stock (Fig. 6). Bob Stock became assistant motor mechanic Clacton-on-Sea under Coxswain Charlie Ellis in 1929; after a short spell Dover he returned to Clacton as motor mechanic in 1940 and in 1945 was appointed a travelling (fleet) mechanic.

While at Dover, Bob Stock had been one of the crew of the motor lifeboat Sir William Hillary which on November 26, 1939, under the command of Coxswain Colin H. Bryant, went to the help of HM trawler Blackburn Rovers whose propeller was fouled and whose anchor would not hold. In a full south-west gale and very rough sea Sir William Hillary followed Blackburn Rovers into minefields, took off her secret papers and gear and her crew of 16, turned into the gale and for three hours fought her way back to Dover.

Coxswain Bryant was awarded the silver medal for gallantry; four bronze medals were awarded, one of them to Motor Mechanic Bob Stock. Now over 70 years of age, Bob Stock still comes back part time so that the RNLI has the benefit of his lifetime's experience of lifeboat engines.

Complete survey Clacton-on-Sea's 37' wooden, housed, Oakley lifeboat, Valentine Wyndham- Quin, was at Ian Browns for complete survey and also for the fitting of radar (see page 196). She was hauled out in what was the old Lower Yard of Rowhedge Ironworks, a firm which in its day had built four lifeboats. One of these lifeboats was taken virtually off the stocks to go to the beaches of Dunkirk; paid for by the Girl Guide Association, she was later to be stationed at Cadgwith and named Guide of Dunkirk.

Complete survey involves a full opening up of the boat; all air cases, main engines, auxiliaries and the majority of fittings and equipment are removed so that all structure is open to examination, probing, test-boring or whatever else is considered necessary to prove the integrity of the structure or determine the extent of repairs required.

Apart from the unavoidable fact that she has aged, the boat, after having undergone a complete survey, should be every bit as sound as a new boat. The main and auxiliary machinery is usually stripped down completely and parts skimmed, repaired or renewed as found necessary.

The smaller the boat, the harder she is to maintain. The recesses of the hull are more difficult to penetrate, and it is most important that they should be penetrated and cleaned because the smaller the dark corner the easier it is for damp-retaining dust and silt to build up. That is how dry rot can set in.

One area which the DSL will inspectmost closely on an Oakley, both at partial and complete survey, is the double bottom under the engine room which holds the ballast tanks. When the boat goes afloat she takes in water ballast, and there is little chance that the water will be clear. Clacton being in the Thames Estuary, for Valentine Wyndham-Quinn the problem is silt; further north, at Skegness, Herbert Larter knows the problem will be sand.

Valentine Wyndham-Quin's twin Parson Porbeagle engines had already been removed (Fig. 7) to an immaculate workshop where Fleet Mechanic Steven Betson was engaged not only in the exhaustive overhaul sketched out above, which would have been planned with the DE, but also in the fitting of an alternator to each engine to provide the extra amps needed to run the new radar.

There will be new wiring to do, and the radar display to fit in the wheel-house, and all this new electrical equipment will have to be earthed to an anode.

Two engines on a workshop floor.

Each weighs 9 cwt. Soon they will be back on board, bolted to the bearers on the engine room floor. If the lifeboat were to capsize they would be suspended for the few seconds it took her to right herself. The bolts, four of them to each engine, would carry the weight. Their strength must be beyond question and they would always be renewed long before they could have lost their virtue.

That is just one example of a comparatively small member which plays a very important part; just one of many details which must be checked. It is a long story . . .

Survey and repainting complete, air cases, engines and fittings are all methodically reassembled on board; fittings bedded down in a sealant, a touch of grease to lubricate each screw, wiring carefully insulated, connections watertighted. All work will be checked, tested and finally passed by DSL or DE before the lifeboat is launched from the yard. Following a partial or complete survey the divisional inspector of lifeboats will carry out a pass-out trial at sea. off the contractors' yard to ensure the boat is in a satisfactory condition operationally, and then she will return to her station, in all respects ready for future service..