A voluntary service In NEWS POINT on page 41 of your autumn 1986 issue, you state that a majority of those questioned in a recent public opinion survey, believe that the Government should fund the lifeboat service, if not entirely, at least in part.

And you go on to add that this is not the opinion of the RNLI.

At the risk of appearing sanctimonious, I would suggest that whereas, at one time, the majority of people in the country looked upon the Almighty as the universal provider, with the decline in faith and the advent of the welfare state many folk now regard the state as the universal provider, from the cradle to the grave. But majorities are not always right, and for my part, I trust that the Institution will continue to be entirely voluntarily funded and operated for a long time to come.—A. T.

WINDER, Albury, Guildford, Surrey.

In your editorial article, Voluntary— Because it Works?, you report that a 'surprising result' of a recent public opinion survey carried out by the RNLI has been that the majority of those questioned believe that the government should fund the lifeboat service if not entirely, at least in part. The public attitude is to me not all that surprising.

Please do not assume that when the public express their confidence in the RNLI by donating to your cause they are somehow attempting to do you down when they also suggest that you accept partial government funding. We may be saying, in effect, that the RNLI does an excellent job, but also that it could do an even better one by careful acceptance of a little finance from a so far untapped source.—TONY CANTLEY, Kennington, London.

These are brief extracts from Mr Cantley's letter which was unfortunately too lengthy to reproduce in full.

Still in the family Mrs E. M. Kershaw mentioned in the autumn edition of THE LIFEBOAT that the Duke of Northumberland awarded a medal to her ancestor James Beeching in 1851. The Duke's father presented a Coat of Arms to William Henry Greathead, my great grandfather, plus a large diamond ring from the then Czar of Russia, and I have an original photograph of the lifeboat he designed. Henry Greathead, who incidentally could not read or write but was expert in drawing, built the Original in 1790, the first lifeboat specially designed for lifesaving.

Small boat designing and building has been in my family for generations and reaches down to my sons. I am also an active 73-year-old member of Fetherstone Model Power Boat Club.—w. GREATHEAD, ESQ., Purston, Pontefract, West Yorkshire.Record baker? Although Hastings and St Leonards ladies' lifeboat guild cannot beat the record of having the oldest collector on flag day (see letter from Bexhill in autumn number), most of their collectors are between 70 and 85. BUT they do have a member who is 96 years old who gets up early for every monthly coffee morning to make scones for her niece—our vice chairman—to bring.

They must be cooked on the day to be fresh.—JOYCE WALDEN, St Leonards-on- Sea, Sussex.

Canadian cousins Having recently become a Shoreline member of your Institution and having received your excellent magazine I thought that your members might be interested in learning about the Canadian Marine Rescue Auxiliary, which is the voluntary auxiliary arm of the Canadian Coast Guard.

I am a member of the Oak Bay Sea Rescue Society which is part of Unit 35 (Victoria) of the Western zone of C.M.R.A. We are equipped with a 26ft fibreglass 'Shamrock' Pilothouse vessel powered by a 250 hp inboard V8 gasoline motor, which will do in excess of 30 knots. The vessel is equipped with CB radio, VHP marine radio, depth sounder, radar, auxiliary water/fire pump, first aid kit (with thermal blankets, heat packs) and towing ropes and is moored at a local marina. We have 40 members, all unpaid volunteers, and, like yourselves, depend mainly on donations to cover expenses.

There are four crews each consisting of three boat personnel and one base radio operator on a rotation basis, on call 24 hours per day by noise actuated pager from the local rescue co-ordination centre.

I hope this is of interest to your members and would be pleased to hear from anyone who would like to exchange further information.—ALAN F. G.

GOSSE, 3954 Emerald Place, Victoria EC, V8P 4T6, Canada.

A model's history We noticed in the last issue of THE LIFEBOAT that you showed a picture of the Ascot float with a model lifeboat in the background. This model was built by RNLI trainees at Borehamwood in the late 1950s and was shown in the Dorset area for a considerable time by various branches. However, it eventually turned up at Reading branch who on a couple of occasions loaned it out to Windsor branch. We noticed that it was very rotten and deteriorating rapidly and as Reading had no further plans for it we agreed to take it over.I stored it in my boatyard for four years and during the winter of 1984-85 two very good customers, come friends of my company, Arnold Hudson and Andrea Hathaway, took the model to pieces and re-built it with marine ply instead of the hardboard cutouts used previously. They used most of their spare time and the materials were supplied by Crevalds Services.

Since then this model has been available for any RNLI branch or other bona fide organisation, to borrow for fund raising. The charge is £10 per weekend and this is used for the maintenance and upkeep of the model. In 1985-86 it has been out an average 12 times during the summer months and is already booked for two weekends in 1987. A diary for all bookings is kept by Crevalds Services—Windsor 860393.—J. D.

CREVALD, ESQ., Old Windsor, Berkshire.

Admiring witness On the afternoon of Tuesday August 26 I was in the Nicholson yacht Corruna.

We were secured near the entrance to Alderney Harbour, weatherbound by the great storm which swept across the British Isles that day. Our anemometer recorded a steady 55 knots with gusts up to 60 from the west. There was a constant plume of spray being flung 100 feet above the sea-wall.

A small yacht about 22ft was then seen to be drifting out seaward parallel with the breakwater. Following a VHP report from another yacht, the maroons were fired, and I had a ringside view of the subsequent rescue. By the time the RNLI 33ft Brede class Foresters Future swept by us the yacht was in the grip of confused 20 foot seas off the submerged extension of the breakwater. She was within minutes of piling up on a lee shore at Bibette Head. As the lifeboat made a broad sweep to port to approach head to wind, I saw her keel exposed all the way aft to right under the wheelhouse, before she plunged down at 30 degrees to the horizontal. At this moment a member of the crew took his life in his hands and made a daring leap on to the deck of the yacht. With the wild movement of both boats I rated his chances poor, but he made it, got a line secured and took the tiller.

The coxswain's skill in nursing the boat round out of the seas perilously close to the rocks on a lee shore was beyond praise. I enclose a small contribution to the RNLI by way of admiration to the heroism and seamanship displayed by the Alderney crew. I only hope they are in the vicinity if and when I get into such difficulties.—CAPTAIN JOHN COOTE, RN (retd), Iping, Midhurst, Sussex..