Debbie Stewart, now in the Aberystwyth ILB crew, originally trained at Atlantic College where there are six girls on the crew. Jeanne O'Gorman is an instructor at the Outward Bound School at Aberdovey where the village and school each provide crew members.

Anna Hubbard, who is married with three children, has lived in Borth for most of her life and has always been at sea in various boats.

Of course there is nothing new about girls rescuing people at sea. The most famous of all, Grace Darling, had a lot in common with today's girl crew members. Like them, she was used to boats and the sea—her father was a lighthouse keeper. She regarded it as natural to help the shipwrecked survivors of Forfarshire and her father took it so much for granted that he made no mention of Grace's part in the rescue when he wrote a brief account of it in his log.

The main problem today's girls face is one which Grace Darling found far more wearing than her rescue: the publicity.

Some people have even suggested that the tremendous attention that Grace received from the newspapers, well-wishers and even showmen, who wanted her to appear in a circus and on the stage, may have contributed to her early death. The pressures on today's girls are nothing like as great but they would still prefer to be left alone to get on with the job of fitting into a crew. As Anna Hubbard says: ' Why focus attention on women crew members when the men have done so much without receiving any recognition? It seemed a natural thing to me to join the crew as I have always been interested in the sea. My husband and family were not particularly surprised.' At Borth, all crew members have to know how to handle the ILB and all take turns at the helm. Like any other new crew member, Anna felt she had to prove herself, '. . . perhaps more than the others, as I'm a woman'. Jeanne O'Gorman also joined because it seemed '. . .a natural thing to do. Yon are doing something to help people.' Once the girls have proved they are capable of handling an ILB they seem to have been readily accepted by the men, and treated like any other crew member. The criteria for joining crews apply to anybody, regardless of sex.

Fitness is essential, for ILBs can give the crew quite a pounding. The ability to form part of an efficient team is vital as in emergencies there is no time for delay or argument. Crew members must also be trainable—the sea is no place for the arrogant or the foolish.

It would be impossible to relate all the stories of the bravery, devotion and self sacrifice that women have shown in their work for the RNLI. Each could form the chapter of a giant book whose foreword would surely be the words of Coxswain Derek Scott of The Mumbles: 'From the time the lady sold her flag or arranged her coffee morning to raise funds—that is when the rescue started and not when the maroons were fired.

Anybody who works for or supports this Institution in some way is responsible for the preservation of life at sea.'.