SEAMEN, FISHERMEN and private boat owners all know that whenever they put to sea, together with an awareness of the state of the weather and of what is forecast, the state of the tide is of paramount importance to their planning.

Many harbours dry out at low tide and at these an expedition must begin and end during the hours closest to high water.

For a lifeboat to be on call for all 24 hours of each day it is vital that the state of the tide should never prevent a launch. Some harbours do not dry out and at these a lifeboat can be moored, permanently afloat; at other parts of the coast a slipway can be built to stretch into sufficient depth of sea, even at low water; but at 32 stations the only way to ensure that the lifeboat can get to sea at whatever time she is needed is to launch by tractor and carriage.

The concept is not new; the earliest lifeboats were drawn down to the water on a carriage, the major difference being that horses were used instead of a tractor.

At St Ives, where the lifeboat usually launches into the sandy bottomed harbour, man and woman power was preferred to horse power in the pretractor days and launchers were expected to tow the lifeboat out into the harbour so that the leading men were up to their necks in water. The station's present honorary secretary, Captain Eric Kemp, is quick to refute, however, the observation that 'men were men in those days but not any more'. He argues,' You will still get up to your neck in water, soaked to the skin, cold and exhausted today if you are called out to recover the lifeffoat at three o'clock in the morning in a winter gale'. The lot ofthe launcher is still undoubtedly an arduous one.

St Ives lifeboat is a 37ft Oakley, the Frank Penfold Marshall; her boathouse is on the harbour front along which she must be towed amid the traffic to the ramp leading down into the harbour.

The man in charge of the entire launching and recovery operation is Jimmy Benney, the head launcher, who has 30 years of experience behind him, 17 of which were spent as a crew member of the lifeboat. His everyday job is with the town's local authority and he is as much part of St Ives as the lifeboat herself; in fact, in a town which has become anextremely popular place for visitors, the honorary secretary, coxswain, crew and launchers are all proud of their local roots.

Jimmy Benney's team of launchers is a mixture of the young aspiring lifeboatmen, some the sons of present crew members, and the more experienced, some of whom have at an earlier stage served in the lifeboat. There are three regular tractor drivers at the station and theirs is an essential and responsible job; it is the tractor driver who is second on the honorary secretary's list of telephone calls after the coxswain when there is a shout. There is time for the crew to assemble as the boat is being towed to the water's edge but as with any launch the time between the call out and when the lifeboat hits the water is crucial. At St Ives this is on average 12 minutes; their record is eight.

Once clear of the boathouse St Ives lifeboat is pulled stern first along the front and down the ramp into the harbour.

At the water's edge she will be turned round so that her bow is pointing out to sea. At this point the tractor will be detached, turned round so that the driver faces the direction of launch-and re-coupled to the carriage in readiness to push the lifeboat forward. At the same time the launching 'falls' are rigged; these are two lines, one port and one starboard, which at one end are fastened to the carriage, then passedback through a snatch block on the front of the tractor and then led forward again to the front of the carriage, through another block and finally back to an open hook in the lifeboat's keel. The bow chain is now removed and Jimmy Benney will then usually clamber aboard the tractor to sit alongside the driver as the lifeboat is pushed out to sea.

This is a crucial moment for coxswain, head launcher and tractor driver.

The coxswain must not only check the depth of water but also read the waves to judge the best moment to launch. At his signal (most coxswains use a whistle but Joe Martin at Hastings throws his hat on the deck) the crew release the four carriage retaining chains, two forward and two aft, which hold the lifeboat on to her carriage. At the same time the head launcher will uncouple the tractor which is then reversed towards the shore. This has the effect of pulling on the falls which in turn drag the lifeboat forwards until the carriage tilts about its main axle allowing the lifeboat to slip into the sea. As the tractor reverses the carriage is anchored firmly in position by a metal 'toe' which protrudes into the sand at the end of the tilting support.

Once the lifeboat is clear, the carriage returns to horizontal and is then hauled by the tractor back to the beach using the falls. Although launching from a carriage is undoubtedly the most complex of the three launching methods, the skill and efficiency of the launchers and crew make the operation appear remarkably simple.

Last October when Frank Penfold Marshall was being launched to the aid of a French fishing boat Floralie in very difficult conditions, the experience and tenacity of Jimmy Benney, John Tanner, the tractor driver, and Coxswain Tommy Cocking saw the lifeboat out of a situation where she might otherwise have sustained serious damage. It was approaching low water, and, in a north-easterly gale, the lifeboat had to be launched at night into very rough seas beyond the protection of the harbour walls. Just at the moment of launch one of the tracks of the tractor failed with the result that the carriage and lifeboat slewed round, across the waves. The two launchers were very nearly washed into the sea but by skilfully shunting the uncoupled carriage back into position they managed to launch the lifeboat safely. Special letters of thanks were sent by the RNLI's chairman and director to the three men after this incident. The service to Floralie is reported on page 188.

On her return to harbour St Ives lifeboat heads straight for the town until her bow is aground in the sand. The tractor will then go out through the surf and when it meets the lifeboat the cable from its own in-built winch is attached.

Meanwhile the shore party stand in the shallows with their skids, ready to lay them in the path of the lifeboat as she ishauled towards the beach. The yokelike balancing poles are fitted just before she is clear of the water so that the lifeboat can be kept on an even keel once she is high and dry. Both crew and launchers lend their weight to these poles. Slowly the lifeboat is coaxed forwards up on to a small wooden turntable which eventually takes the weight of the lifeboat and lifts her stern off the beach. The winch cable is detached and the tractor is used to collect the carriage which is towed round to the stern and seaward end of the lifeboat.

All this time the lifeboat is kept upright by the balancing poles and two wooden chocks wedged under each of the bilge keels. The carriage is then positioned and tilted to receive the lifeboat's stern; next the winch wire is re-attached to the aft section of the keel and gently the winch is operated to haul the lifeboat backwards up the sloping carriage. Once in place the lifeboat will tip the carriage back to horizontal and after the retaining chains are made fast, the tractor once more is coupled to the continued on page 206carriage and is ready to tow the lifeboat back to her house.

When describing the operation of recovering a lifeboat in this way it is difficult to avoid making it sound almost like an automatic mechanical process.

Certainly it is smooth and efficient but this is only because of the constant physical exertion of the launchers who ensure that every piece of equipment is correctly in position and every inch the lifeboat is moved is in the right direction.

The photographs show only a fraction of the bustling activity on the beach. Whatever the station, whatever the method of launching and recovery, shore helpers, through their enthusiasm, dedication, skill and often courage, portray an allegiance to the lifeboat and her mission only equalled by the coxswain and crew themselves..