Whitstable: On Saturday July 9 a new Atlantic 21 rigid inflatable lifeboat was handed over by Mr and Mrs Todd of the British Sub Aqua Club to Raymond Baxter, a member of the Committee of Management, who, in turn, handed her over to Whitstable honorarv secretary, Barry Hardy, for use at the station. After a service of dedication, the lifeboat was named British Diver in recognition of the fund raising efforts by divers throughout the country, and a plaque commemorating the occasion was unveiled by Mrs Jean Todd. The British Sub Aqua Club launched the appeal in 1981 and more than doubled its target, raising more than £46,000 and providing two new lifeboats; £1,000 of this total was raised by David Robertson, general manager of BSAC, on a sponsored parachute jump. Seen in British Diver after her naming, Raymond Baxter, Mr and Mrs Todd and the duty crew of the lifeboat. During the afternoon a presentation was made to Mr Baxter by Larry Lamberton, on behalf of the station, of a framed copy of the service report relating to the night Whitstable lifeboat came to his assistance.

photograph by courtesy of Chris Davey of Whitstable Times.