Towing was an appropriate topic of conversation between this year's medal winning coxswains and Cdr George Cooper, the RNLl's deputy chief of operations. In three out of the four services recognised the casualty was towed to safety and all four coxswains have considerable experience in a subject which involves over 12 per cent of all lifeboat services.

W VCdr George Cooper, Deputy Chief of Operations: I would like to ask each of you in turn to talk us through the particular services for which you were awarded your medals. David Clemence, would you like to describe your service which took place on Sunday September 9, 1984, to the British yacht Liberty? Coxswain David Clemence, Ilfracombe, Devon: Well, we were called to put an ambulance man aboard the yacht Liberty which was dragging anchor. We didn't know whether it was the owner who was ill or what. By the time we launched and got out to the yacht she had dragged anchor near the rocks a quarter of a mile to the east of the station and it was so rough that we couldn't put the ambulance man aboard.

By the time we got to the yacht she was pretty near the rocks. We got the line aboard and began the tow. We couldn't move the vessel, his anchor was jammed in the rocks so we asked the chap on deck to let go of the cable but he didn't know what to do. He couldn't start the engines, couldn't tie a knot or anything. He'd never been on a boat before so we had a bit of difficulty there, not being able to put men aboard. When he let go of the cable we managed to pull him clear of the rocks but it became entangled in lobster pots and store pots.

Cooper: So the cable paid out to the bitter end but was still made fast? Clemence: That's it. Everything became tight, his anchor cable jammed so that he was pulling us on to the rocks. We got him off, though, and made a bridle which enabled us to come round towards the pier again, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to tow him.

And then with his anchor all out—I don't know how much cable they had— it became jammed on some Dan Buoys so we swung round and pulled him clear again. That's the only way we could get him in.Cooper: How did you eventually get him to slip his anchor? Clemence: By shouting at him! We were dragging the anchor. The anchor was bent, all bent. We did a bit of damage to the vessel itself. When we got him into smoother water we put a man aboard and sawed right through the cable, dropped it and then towed him into the harbour.

Cooper: So you found you had a man aboard a casualty that was drifting on to a rock, who was unfamiliar with the boat. He was not a yachtsman and his skipper had died and he couldn't help himself.

Clemence: He was going to jump over, you see.

Cooper: He was going to leave the vessel? And would he have made the shore? Clemence: Well I expect so, but he would have been drowned. There's no doubt about it. I requested the Coastguards to go round to the beach because I could see that if the tow parted we wouldn't have got round in time to get another tow.

Cooper: And what were the weather conditions while all this was going on? Clemence: A sort of a north west gale, 7 to 8. Very big swell, very big sea with 15 to 20 foot waves.Cooper: My goodness. And how did you pass the line? Clemence: Well, we went astern and put the line aboard. I couldn't do a circle, or anything. I couldn't come around.

Cooper: And it was too rough to put a crew member on board the casualty? Clemence: If I'd done that at the particular time, it would have been too late, he would have touched the rocks.

Cooper: Did you have any difficulty in persuading the inexperienced chap on board the casualty to secure the line? Clemence: Well, I just told him to wrap it round the mast and hold on tight to the end.

Cooper: And did it go through the fairlead? The forward fairlead? Clemence: No, we were just pulling off the mast.

Cooper: Thank you very much. That's an interesting story.

Peter Mitchell, your service occurred on September 3, 1984, when you managed to save the yacht, Bass, and rescue the three people on board. Would you like to talk us through your experience on that occasion?Coxswain/Mechanic Peter Mitchell, The Lizard-Cadgwith, Cornwall: Well, we had a call about 5.30 in the evening.

The wind was force 6 to 7. Flares had been reported off Mullion Island, that's west of The Lizard. We launched and we were then informed that there were two small yachts; one towing the other, heading west of The Lizard and they were being beaten ashore. Royal Yachting Association training boats I think they were, 18 feet long, making from Penzance to Falmouth.

One had lost her rudder off The Lizard, and the other one, I don't know how they managed it, they had got a rope aboard her and were trying to tow her back to Penzance. They were heading west, the wind was on shore and of course they couldn't beat off, towing a small boat with no rudder, they were being carried on to Prah Sands.

Visibility was very poor and I don't think we would have found them if it hadn't been for the helicopter who directed us to where they were. Eventually, when we got there they were less than a mile off, going right into Prah Sands, up to the rocky end.

When we got to them they were rolling and pitching and being thrown all over the place, God help them, and I shouted to them through the loud hailer what we intended to do. I could see that there were three people on board the one astern and I told them we were going to throw them a heaving line with a heavier line secured to it and they were to pull it aboard and make it fast.

Which after quite a struggle they managed to do. But we had great difficulty getting her off the shore ourselves, even with our power. Because being very rough, as it was, and she having no rudder, she couldn't steer at all. We've had this experience before with a small boat with no rudder. She was sheering and pitching and almost turning over as we tried to get her off the lee shore.

Eventually we did get her off, and although we were only going away slowly, about 1 to 2 knots, we were gradually pulling away from the other yacht, which was following us under a storm jib. Probably, with darkness falling, more than anything else, they were getting scared, so they fired off distress flares. My first thought was to take the crew off the boat we were towing and go back to see what their trouble was, there was no radio contact between any of us because they had no radio aboard.

Anyway, I decided to pull the yacht up to us, but there was one big crack, and although she didn't do any damage, this changed my mind right away and I thought 'Well, I'll continue to tow her and go back' because the other yacht was about a mile short by this time. I went back to her, circled and came round on to her and there didn't appear to be anything wrong with them. We shouted 'Did you fire off a flare?' 'Yes, oh yes.' 'Areyou OK?' 'Yes'.

So off we go again with them behind us. Anyway, after we'd gone another half a mile they put off more distress flares so, although I think I could have got a tow on and towed the two of them, it would have been difficult. It went through my mind that they were small boats and there were no proper towing places to put a towline on.

So we called for the Penlee lifeboat.

They launched and picked up the second yacht, so eventually we had one each and towed them back to Newlyn.

That's the basis of the story.

Cooper: And for that remarkable piece of seamanship you were awarded the bronze medal for gallantry. One point I find of interest, when you were casting your towline, was the towing yacht still made fast or did she cast off before you made fast? Mitchell: As we approached we gave them directions by loud hailer to cast off the rope that was towing them, and take on ours.

Cooper: Well, your action in calling out the Penlee lifeboat was more than justified, and two boats were safely rescued.

Now we'll pass on to Donnie McKay.

Your rescue was carried out on Monday June 25, 1984, and your casualty was a 28ft salmon coble. Would you like to give us a run-through of the events?Coxswain/Mechanic Donald McKay, Wick, Caithness: Well just after 11.00 am we were paged by our bleepers; a boat in distress had got in touch with Pentland Coastguard. It was found to be a salmon coble that had been attending her nets. She had fouled her propeller and she had been driven on top of the rocks. The wind started to freshen up whilst she was out there. She was about four or five miles out to the north of Wick.

It was gusting 6 to 8 and that was one of the reasons she got into trouble; the weather was too bad. These salmon cobles are fitted with a hatch which can be lifted so that anything round the propeller can be cleared. This could not be done. She'd driven over the top of shoals and when we arrived, there was no way we could get to her, the sea was just breaking solid over the boat. The waves were eight or ten feet and the water was very shallow. We tried to let the breeches buoy drag down on a line before the wind. But as it approached the salmon coble, with so much swell and broken water, we could see that it was always going to be washed 10 or 30 feet away from the coble.

Being 70 yards away it seemed impossible to pass a line in that way, so we came off shore a wee bit and steamed in more to the east of her. We tried to approach again, with quite a bit of difficulty because of the stake nets. There were also lobster creels, there was everything you could get in the way and also quite a number of shoals. At one point we grounded and it was just a case of going full astern. We decided then to get head into wind and used our line throwing gun to fire a line towards her; we managed to manoeuvre so that the crew could get a grip on the line. We made fast a nylon rope, which they made fast to their bow. When we started to make way, they let go of the leader that was attached to the salmon nets. This saved their lives I reckon because if they'd gone any further in then no way would they have been alive.

Cooper: That's a remarkable story. In north westerly force 8 conditions you actually took your lifeboat in over rocks and fishing nets, and grounded more than once and then, through sheer tenacity and good seamanship, you eventually managed to secure a towline.

Once again, a well-earned medal.

Was there much damage to the lifeboat? McKay: No, none whatsoever.

Cooper: That speaks volumes about lifeboat construction.

Now, Joe Martin. Your reason for being in London is not because of a towing rescue. Your medal was won taking an injured man off a coaster. But we know that during your experience as lifeboat coxswain you have carried out many rescues which have involved towing, and I would like you to talk usthrough one of them, one that is still clear in your memory.

Coxswain/Mechanic Joe Martin, Hastings, Sussex: Well, may I say in the first place, and my colleagues will agree with me, there's no two casualties alike. And I'd like to make this comment, that we all agree wherever possible we would take casualties off. It's a much more comfortable feeling when you've got your casualties on board, and it makes it a happier tow, especially if you've got one of your own colleagues on the other end of the tow link because you've got experts on one end and an expert on the other.

Cooper: Yes, point taken.

Martin: Of course that is what we're there for, to save life and not property, but I must agree with my colleagues, this is not always possible. In lots of cases it is only possible to tow.

We had an incident where we were called to a Lowestoft trawler, a smallish inshore trawler; he had difficulties with his engine. It was north westerly, 8, and we escorted him with a badly running engine, and then he stopped. We threw a tow loop and we towed him under the assumption that he was an experienced fisherman. There again, my colleagues will agree that if you've got experienced fishermen that are in trouble you've got somebody handy at the other end of the tow rope. So no two casualties are alike.

I think the difficulty with this rescue was, it was quite a hair-raising one, we were towing a bigger vessel to leeward.

The reason it's very dangerous is because the heavier vessel can be picked up by a sea and she will run forward on top of you. So we were running at slow speed and every time she caught up with us on a sea, we had to put on power to keep ahead of her. Then we had to get her into the harbour, across the bar, and no way could we go straight into the harbour because she would have been lifted up on a sea and come on top of us.

So we dropped to leeward and then came back to windward to keep her behind us. That means crossing the bar a little bit on the broad side. In my opinion that was the only way. Lots of yachtsmen, of course don't know what to do—my colleagues have already said that, they don't know how to make fast or anything like that. In those cases you can only keep your fingers crossed until you've got them clear of the shore.

Cooper: Well thank you, Joe, for that.

One or two interesting points have immediately come to light. Joe said that he feels that it's better, if possible, to remove the people from a casualty if you can and put a lifeboat crew member on board. Would you all go along with that? Clemence: I always put crewmen aboard when I can.

Mitchell: When possible. As you say it's not always possible. Sometimes even taking them off can be very dangerous.

If you can get one of your own men aboard. That's the thing to do.

Clemence: We always try to put a man aboard with a portable radio.

Martin: This is where it is most dangerous for lifeboatmen. I have one special man, a great fellow, who I call my jumper. His name is Freddie White and I'm most fortunate to have him. Because if you get into a situation where it is possible to go alongside, I go alongside and he jumps and assists them out of the vessel. This is a much better system, if you can do it, of course, because he is actually throwing them on board, and in some weather conditions I would start to forget the yacht and start considering lives and getting them back home.

McKay: I wouldn't normally take the casualties off.

Cooper: Because in your part of the world Donnie, you're tending to deal with commercial fishermen rather than yachtsmen? McKay: I find that if you can save life, irrespective of whether its towing or how it is, you try to get them to safety the best possible way, even if it means that they remain on the vessel. If they don't want to abandon their vessel, and the vessel's in danger of sinking . . .

Mitchell: . . . Then you've got to take them off! Cooper: The problem of the casualty surfing down on to the lifeboat is something that we read about continuously in returns of service. Is there anything that can be done to prevent this situation from arising? Peter? Mitchell: Yes. There definitely is something that could be done about this. Not only when vessels come up on seas on to you, but also with yachts without any rudders that can't steer. I think if there was such a thing as a small sea anchor, possibly like the ones they carry aboard these rubber liferafts. If one could be carried on the lifeboat and could be put aboard a yacht to stream astern of them, I think this would help tremendously when they're being towed.

Cooper: Have you ever considered using your own drogue? Mitchell: No, I think the drogue would be too big in most cases for most of the yachts we pick up. I think there should be a piece of equipment carried on board a lifeboat specially for that purpose.

Cooper: Do you think if one was made available you could find room for it on your 37ft Oakley, David? Clemence: Yes if it was the right size.

Cooper: I don't think Peter's suggesting something the size of the drogue.Mitchell: Nor of that heavy quality, something light, a very light thing.

Martin: One of those nylon ones that the D class carries.

Cooper: I would suggest that it would have to be fairly substantial to withstand the pressure. I mean the sea anchor that's carried in an inshore lifeboat is only designed to keep the vessel's head to wind.

Martin: But of a similar nature, a similar type.

McKay: I think that's a very good idea.

Also, it's a pity you couldn't have some weight on the towline. Most times when a vessel's being towed you try to get fast on his anchor cable, so you can have weight. If you're pulling with a light nylon rope, as you know yourselves, should anything give, your nylon rope just goes sky-high and lands aboard the vessel.

Mitchell: We use securing lines for towing, the heavy 3'/2-inch securing lines.

Martin: We've got a large rope that we officially call a mooring rope.

Cooper: Do you think mooring lines, designed for general purposes, are adequate for towing? And if not, what would you sooner have? McKay: Well I'd like to see a stronger rope, a thicker rope, with a wee bit of weight.

Cooper: You say a thicker rope. Can you give me any idea of what size you're talking about?McKay: Well, approximately a 5-inch rope made of nylon. I know that when I was fishing they'd give us poly ropes for seining. I wouldn't say there was much stretch in them and it was a terrific weight so if there is a break then it won't come flying in the air.

Martin: You want the size too. If you've got a small rope in your hands you can't handle it and it's shearing all over the place up and down.

Cooper: And what sort of construction? We currently give you hawser laid ropes. Would you sooner have a plaited rope than a hawser rope? McKay: Plaited ropes have quite a lot of give in them.

Cooper: They're more or less the same safe working load, and of course they are less likely to kink, and we have found at other stations that nylon ropes are liable to kink once they come under too much strain; when the strain comes off they don't reform, they become permanently damaged, whereas the plaited rope doesn't.

McKay: I think that's the rope we want.

Mitchell: I would agree with that. I've never used one but I think it should be a good rope, the plaited one. I know some stations manage to get a weight in the centre of their towline. I think this is a good thing if it can be arranged somehow.

Martin: We do that with the old coir fenders. When they are soaked, they're heavy, aren't they, and that takes the weight off, doesn't it? You get a steadier pull because the middle of the towline is in the water.

Clemence: Yes, I'd agree with that on a long tow, but you mightn't have time to do all this.

Cooper: When you're towing a vessel do you station one or two men on the stern to maintain a guard on the towrope? Martin: Always.

Mitchell: Come night time we always have a searchlight trained on to the vessel to the stern of us.

Martin: I have two men who do nothing else, only look over the stern and keep talking to me, telling me what's happening to the tow because we're looking ahead, doing what we've got to do.

McKay: I think a bridle should also be put aboard.

Clemence: I always make our own bridle up.

Mitchell: We've got one. We've got two in fact.

Cooper: Well there's another interesting aspect. You all appear to agree that there is a need for a towing bridle.

Would you like to comment on the types of bollards and securing arrangements that are provided on board your vessels? Clemence: I should think it's adequate, what's there. You can't have anything bigger with the size of boat we've got.

Cooper: And you find it's adequate if you wish to rig up a bridle? Clemence: Yes.

Cooper: What about you Joe? Martin: I thoroughly agree, as far as 37 footers are concerned. We've got quite large bollards for our size of vessel. I always say that they are adequate.

Cooper: With the 37ft Oakley lifeboats the towline would be led through the quarter, wouldn't it? Clemence: Yes, we put a fender underneath.

But I usually make a bridle. You tow a lot better with a small bridle.

Cooper: But otherwise you're coming straight off the post and the rope is going over a fender? Clemence: Yes. To stop chafe a bit if you can. It's also a good idea to have a sliding leather gaiter with securing lanyards at each end to prevent chafing in fairleads.

Cooper: What about you Peter in your slightly larger lifeboat? Mitchell: Well, we've had lots of experience of towing boats and had all sorts of difficulties. I remember on one occasion we were towing a replica of the Nonsuch, a 200 ton wooden vessel. Everything we put aboard of him just frayed through and eventually we ended up towing him with our anchor cable. Now I think that the most important thing of all is that, no matter what sort of tow rope you've got, it's what you've got on the end of your tow rope on board the vessel you're towing that matters. You have to have something to stop chafing.

One very important thing—a lot of vessels haven't got a bollard or anything to tow by and they make fast on all sorts of things; little cleats even. All yachts should be made to have a strong point to put the towline on. Otherwise you pull everything out of them.

Cooper: Some time ago we circulated to the coast a rather useful guide to towing yachts by using sheets. Using the head sail sheets to form a securing bridle on the foredeck of the boat. The towline is passed through the forward fairlead and secured to the head sail sheets which in turn are led back and secured to the sheet winches. It is quite a useful way of securing if you feel that putting a tow rope round a mast that's been stepped on the deck, for example, is going to pull it out.

Mitchell: After the Nonsuch we started to carry two wire pennants of different sizes which lead from the tow rope and go aboard the casualty.

Clemence: But if you put strain on you could then cut right through somebody's mast.

Mitchell: Well, we've experienced breaking away or fraying through so many times . . .

Cooper: It is a problem that's continually with us, how to prevent chafe. No two boats are the same and what might prove suitable for one might not for another.

Clemence: The nylon rope we put on Liberty cut into his bulwarks and ripped them.

McKay: Even if you have about 3 ft of leather each end, even the lifeboat's end sometimes chafes when you go fast.

Cooper: I'd like now to pass on to the various methods of passing towlines to the casualty. What method do you tend to use, Donnie? McKay: Well sometimes we tie a line on to the breeches buoy to try to put that aboard. We use a gun line as the last resort. When you can't get alongside to throw a line, you definetely need your line throwing gun.

Cooper: Would I be right in thinking that possibly when you're approaching a casualty to take it in tow, there is a tendency to forget about the line throwing gun and try to pass the towline by heaving line? McKay: Yes, well you can do this but only from maybe 10 yards.

Mitchell: It depends on the position of the casualty doesn't it? Clemence: Nine times out of ten your tow will be right alongside so you just put the line aboard.

Mitchell: We go alongside, put our heaving line aboard with the towline fastened to that. But it's surprising how may of them will take the heaving line and make that fast! Cooper: We find that a lot of damage tends to occur when lifeboats approach casualties, they get too close to pass over the tow rope; I would like to see more use of the gun line. I'm sure it would reduce the risk of damage. It would keep the vessels further apart, but I do accept that there are occasions when you haven't got time. You have to get a line aboard quickly and start pulling. Have you ever thought of using a helicopter to pass a towline? Donnie? McKay: No, we've never needed that, yet.

Cooper: Do you think it's something you could make use of? Clemence: I think it's possible, but we've never used one.

Mitchell: I've actually seen a helicopter tow a yacht! Out of Coverack and we've picked the line up afterwards. He dropped it and we picked it up.

Cooper: The next thing I'd like you to talk about is the age-old question of speed of towing. This brings forward allsorts of points of view. What do you consider to be an adequate speed? Martin: Well, we tow very steady for a start so you can get way on the vessel, and if things are going satisfactorily we just gradually increase speed so that the vessel being towed has got more way. In the case of a small vessel, very often we finish up at full speed. This gives us better steerage way and keeps her behind us and lessens the chance of her yawing about—provided she's got a rudder! Cooper: And your full speed is what? Martin: My full speed would be 8 knots on my own so with moderate weather and going to windwards it would be, say, 6 knots; in fine weather up to 7 knots. Going to leeward of course, is quite another matter.

Clemence: It just depends on the size of the tow, the weight and the weather conditions. Leave it to your own judgment, really.

McKay: I'm more or less 100 per cent behind that. I think a coxswain or whoever is in charge of the boat is the man that's got to decide what speed you're going to go. And when you start to tow a vessel, if you're towing her afore a wind or sea, you can only tow them for a start at a very slow speed and gradually work up, as you say, to 6 or 7.

Cooper: Finally, do you feel that the regulations as they stand give you sufficient scope to carry out your duties? Just to re-cap, you are permitted to tow only if you receive a direct request from the master of a casualty; or if a casualty abandoned by her crew might become a danger to navigation; or if the best method of saving life is to take the vessel in tow. The regulations go on to say that before undertaking a tow you must satisfy yourself, in consultation with the mechanic, that no damage will be caused to the lifeboat or machinery.

In no circumstances may you tow a longer distance than is necessary to place a vessel in a position of safety, and if tug facilities are available, towing is not permitted.

What we have no intention of doing is turning lifeboats into tug-boats. The lifeboat has a towing capability, it is not specifically designed to tow in the same way that a tug is.

McKay: I don't think any of us is asking for equipment to change the job of the lifeboat. I don't think anybody wants that. What we want is something that can be used when it's needed.

Cooper: Well thank you very much gentlemen. From my point of view, it's been a most useful discussion. You are all experts in your own field and the points you've made have been well and truly noted..