AGM 1986. Governors please note The RNLI's annual meetings for 1986 will take place on Tuesday May 13 at the South Bank, London. The governor's annual general meeting will be held in the Queen Elizabeth Hall at 11.30 am and the annual presentation of awards to lifeboatmen and honorary workers will take place at 3.00 pm in the Royal Festival Hall.

All governors of the RNLI should find an application form enclosed in this issue for both the morning and afternoon meetings. If, by any chance, there is no application form enclosed and you are a governor wishing to attend either meeting, please write to the Director, RNLI, West Quay Road, Poole, Dorset, BH15 1HZ, giving your requirements.

To save postage, there is no need to return the form if you do not wish to attend either meeting, or to receive a copy of the annual report and accounts.

Branches and guilds will receive details about how to apply for tickets for the afternoon presentation of awards from their regional offices in the usual way. Other supporters of the RNLI who wish to attend the presentation should write to the Director at RNLI Headquarters, Poole.

Open Days '86 The RNLI headquarters and depot at Poole will be throwing open its doors once more to the public next July. This is a golden opportunity for everyonewho has an interest in lifeboats to head for Dorset and be shown the workings of headquarters which supplies the back-up to the 200 lifeboat stations and 2,000 fund raising branches of the RNLI. As well as static displays and guided tours, there will be lifeboats to look over and demonstrations by some of the most modern lifeboats off the depot quay. Open Days are from 10 am to 6 pm on Friday 25 and Saturday 26 July 1986.

Lifeboat rescues ex-PM Mr Charles Haughey, the leader of Eire's Fianna Fail opposition party and former prime minister, was rescued by Baltimore lifeboat last September after his 40 foot yacht struck a rock in thick fog and sank near Mizzen Head. Mr Haughey, his son and three other crew members took to a liferaft and dinghy and were eventually picked up, unharmed, three hours later.

Colour on parade The RNLI ceremonial colour received its dedication during the Annual Service of the Sea at Poole Parish Church on Sunday October 27, 1985.

The dedication was performed by Canon John Potter, Rector of Poole parish, and the colour paraded by Coxswain Victor Marsh of Swanage with lifeboatmen John Buckby of Poole and John Batchelor of Mudeford as escorts.

Eleven days earlier on Wednesday October 16, the RNLI colour was paraded at the Annual Service for Seafarers at St Paul's Cathedral, London by Coxswain Joe Martin of Hastings, escorted by two of his crew members, Charles Sharrod and Graham Furness. Also present at the service were Coxswain Graham Cole and Crew Member Paul Metcalfe from Eastbourne and Crew Members Colin Maltby and Alan Young of Brighton.

Man of the year Coxswain Donnie McKay of Wick lifeboat station who in May 1985 was presented with the RNLI's bronze medal for bravery after rescuing three men and their coble from among rocks in a gale has received a further accolade. He was selected as one of the Men of the Year and received his award at the annual luncheon at the Savoy Hotel on November 6.

Nautical awards Three lifeboat crews were also entertained to lunch at the Savoy Hotel, London on November 19 as nominees for this year's Silk Cut Nautical Awards. Second Coxswain Thomas Devenny of Troon lifeboat and his crew were nominated for the outstanding seamanship award for saving the fishing boat Golden Years and her crew in a force 11 storm in October 1984 (full report Summer 1985 issue). For the same award Oban coxswain Patrick Maclean and his crew were also nominated for rescuing eight crewmen fromthe grounded fishing boat Shemara in January 1985 (full report Summer 1985 issue). Although neither won the main award, Oban received a special medal for their service. The Royal Navy aircrewman, Larry Slater, who was winched down to the yacht Drum England and who dived underneath the upturned hull to rescue, amongst others, pop star Simon le Bon, won the award for outstanding rescue. Helmsman Alan Clarke of Hunstanton lifeboat and his crew, however, also received a special award in this category for their bronze medal rescue of a windsurfer in very shallow water and strong winds last March (full report Autumn 1985 issue).

Whale saved An 18ft minke whale chose the right day to get stranded on the beach at St Helens, Rosslare Harbour last September.

The whale was in some distress as, although the tide was rising when it was discovered by local people, it could scarcely breathe with the weight of its body pressing down on its lungs.

As good fortune would have it, Rosslare Harbour's Arun class lifeboat, St Brendan, was exercising that evening nearby and, told of the animal's plight, came inshore and launched her inflatable.

Crew Members Seamus McCormack and Declan Mallon stood in the water, chest deep, and on each rising wave pushed the whale's body seaward.

Finally, it was fully afloat and swam off with great flaps of its tail into the darkness.

Later, on her way back to station, the lifeboat picked out the whale in her spotlight, swimming strongly towards Tuskar rock and the open sea.NEWS POINT ALL ROUND APPRECIATION Award ceremonies always catch the public eye and in recent years lifeboatmen have understandably been singled out by an increasing number of organisations outside the RNLl who wish to recognise feats of skilful rescue and bravery. Recipients of such awards are often heard to explain that their achievement was only possible through the efforts of the team that supported them, both at sea and on land.

Moreover, these awards only represent the tip of a very large iceberg and examples of patience, seamanship and courage are witnessed daily at lifeboat stations all round the coast. It is in the nature of the world that only the most dramatic rescues receive widespread attention but, particularly during these long winter nights when gales have the added menace of intense cold, supporters of the RNLl should remember that in many ways it is simply a lifeboatman's readiness to put to sea whenever the call goes out that deserves the highest praise..