In all respects ready for sea I was interested to read the article on survey and maintenance of the offshore fleet in the autumn edition of THE LIFEBOAT. Certainly the work involved in the various surveys is enormous, and it is useful to draw it to the attention of our supporters who may not be famliiar with it.

There is one small point, however, I should like to make: you refer to Walton and Frinton's lifeboat being the only non 70-footer which is moored without the protection of a harbour. In fact there is at least one other, our 46' 9" Watson, Sarah Townsend Porritt, which is moored in open waters in the Kibble Estuary. The location where she is kept is subject to very severe gales which put a strain on the moorings, and on the boat herself.

You may remember some years ago Giles drew a cartoon for a Christmas card which showed a lifeboat high and dry on a sandbank. It was that year that Lytham-St Anne's boat broke free from her moorings, and the national press associated the two items, giving it very full coverage. Sarah ended up on a sandbank some distance away from her usual position, and had to be taken out of the water to be examined before going back on service. Nonetheless, after 25 years service, although now coming to the end of her operational life, she is still going strong.—J. F. BRAY, honorary secretary, Lytham-St Anne's branch, 8 Norfolk Road, Lytham, Lancashire.

The actual words were 'to lie at moorings in the open sea without the protection of a harbour'. However, boats like Sarah Townsend Porritt, lying in estuaries, are also vulnerable to bad weather.

We apologise for, in this article, erroneously calling Dover's 44' Waveney lifeboat Friendly Forester; her name is, of course, Faithful Forester; both boats were the gift of the Ancient Order of Foresters.—THE EDITOR.

Hurricane in Straits of Dover While at a relation's house recently I saw a copy of the summer 1976 issue of THE LIFEBOAT and noted a small error in the report of the service by Dover lifeboat to the coaster Primrose on December 1, 1975, where it states, in column 3 of page 150, that Malcolm Miller was 'under bare poles'.

As a very amateur member of the crew that night, I remember only too well that we were carrying a foresail and storm mizzen sail. Being 'under bare poles' could give the impression that the engine was in use. It was not.—c. F.

BROOKE-SMITH, Church Cottage, Parham, Woodbridge, Suffolk.

The men behind the scenes We often hear of the work and brave acts done by the lifeboat crews—truly wonderful men—but does anyone reading of their exploits ever think of the devotion and skills of the men backing them up behind the scenes? Alfred Whitham, 14 years old, started work in London, moved house and went to Boreham Wood with the firm, but now, at 57 years old, he has had to retire because, for personal reasons, he is unable to go to Poole. A good and wonderful record of work and service by him and men of his kind.

Good luck and a happy retirement to all who have been unable to carry on their work in the service.—MRS. A.

WARREN, 132 Colson Road, Loughton, Essex.

Steamboat down the Thames Early in 1976, a Shoreline member from South Wales, David Garrick, wrote to the RNLI offering to make a sponsored cruise down the length of the non-tidal River Thames in his steamboat Firecrest. The project was soon in the detailed planning stage with myself, a member of the Fund Raising Committee and honorary secretary of the River Thames branch, acting as coordinator.

Firecrest is a 15' long steam-driven paddleboat which David Garrick built himself in nine months in 1972/73. She is powered by a single coal-fired boiler developing one quarter horsepower and using about one pound of coal for each mile travelled. She is fitted with a small cabin forward where it is possible for two people to sleep. Firecrest had beenused on many inland waterways but never for a cruise as long as the trip planned.

During the spring and early summer, arrangements were made. It was necessary to deliver slocks of coal to several sites along the river so that Firecrest could be refuelled en route. Friends were recruited to drive the car and trailer from the launching site to the recovery point.

Firecrest was launched at Lechlade, the upper limit of navigation, on July 31 and David and his wife Pat set off on their marathon. Next day saw them moored at the Rose Revived at Newbridge where they were joined by members of Witney Branch who sold souvenirs from a stall set up beside the boat. From here it was on to Oxford to moor alongside my cruiser and replenish the water tanks, then on quietly downstream to Teddington Lock.

In all Firecrest covered about 123 miles in ten days and a final grand total of just over £300 was collected—j. R.

NEEDHAM, la Goodwood Avenue, Watford, Hertfordshire.

Discotheque A member of the RNLI—now a Shoreliner—of some eight or nine years standing, I am a semi-professional discotheque cum DJ and would like to offer my services, for expenses only, to any one fairly close to my home interested in fund raising. I cater mainly for ballroom dancing, but cover the pop scene as well.

On a different note, I display a Shoreline car sticker, and, lo and behold! someone actually asked what it meant. After a lengthy explanation I was able to recruit a new member, with deed of covenant, so please send me some enrolment forms and I will try for some more new members.

I'm a real amateur boatman: C Craft 10' 6" inflatable with an Evinrude 15 hp hanging on the back; and what fabulous back-up service University Marine gave for that engine. It had packed up on me off Portland Harbour entrance and I was nearly in trouble.

After regaining my composure and being able to make harbour I got in touch with University Marine, who said, 'You return it; we'll fix it . . .' free, although out of warranty. That's what I call service second only to the RNLI.— PETER BROWNBRIDGE, 2 Cortnay Rise, Hereford.

Showing the flag? There is a case for a flag on the car radio aerial for enormous open-air car parks: you fit the mast side, like a sleeve, over the aerial and remove it when you drive off.

At a show here last summer there were nearly 2,000 cars, in lines. Having driven in, with many others, into, say, the third row, there was no easy means of re-locating your car.—o. R. MACDERMOTT, East Horndon Hall, Brentwood, Essex..