Anything you can do ...

Traditional rivalry between the cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh is being used to good effect following the declared intent of Glasgow's Lord Provost, The Right Honorable Robert Gray, JP, that the City of Glasgow Lifeboat Appeal (of which he is president) will achieve its £450,000 target in less than the 14 months taken by Edinburgh to raise the cost of the new Fraserburgh lifeboat.

The Glasgow appeal to fund a new Arun class lifeboat for Troon was officially launched during a performance of Radio Clyde's Pride of the Clyde in the King's Theatre on Monday October 6.

RNLI director Rear Admiral W. J.

Graham was present at the launch to lend momentum to the appeal along with Coxswain Ian Johnson of Troon.

Already £60,000 has been promised by Glasgow City Council and on the evening of the launch alone, £600 was presented by the King's Theatre management to add to the donation of Radio Clyde's profits for the night.

Tenby's guests Princess Alexandra was not the only well known guest at the naming of Tenby's new lifeboat, RFA Sir Galahad, in October. The Falklands war connection was underlined by the presence of Sir Rex Hunt, governor of the islands during the conflict and Welsh guardsman Simon Weston, the man so badly burned when the original Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship RFA Sir Galahad was bombed in Bluff Cove in 1982. For a full report of the ceremony, see page 91.

Crew mates A wedding with a difference took place on September 27, 1986, when two lifeboat crew members were married in Dunmore East, Co Waterford—to each other! It was not quite as unconventional as it appears because the marriage was between Frances Glody of Dunmore East lifeboat, the first female crew member on a lifeboat over 10 metres, and Brian Crummey, a crew member at Dun Laoghaire.Building for the future The latest RNLI progress report on the building of lifeboats over 10 metres shows that there are no fewer than 23 new boats under construction at yards around the country. The figure comprises 18 Tyne class and five Arun class lifeboats and represents over £11 million of capital expenditure. Also in progress is the development of the fast carriage boat design with the experimental prototype undergoing evaluation and two further partly built hulls awaiting the outcome of the experiments.

Finally, 20 new D class inflatables will be ordered and fitted out in 1987 together with six new Atlantic 21 hulls, five of which will have completed fit out by the end of the year. To summarise, the RNLI is stepping up its building programme in line with the stated intention to complete the introduction of the RNLI's fast lifeboats by 1993.

Increased Irish cover The RNLI has opened a new lifeboat station at Kilkeel, Co Down. On Friday October 10, 1986, a 16ft D class inflatable became officially operational at the new station following an extensive period of training for her new crew throughout the summer. Another additional D class inflatable lifeboat station became operational at Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin, at the beginning of the 1986 summer season. The inflatable was introduced to complement the services already provided by the station's 44ft Waveney class lifeboat, John F. Kennedy.

Both these new D class stations will operate between the months of April and October.

Lucky escape David Scott-Cowper, the man who made a successful circumnavigation of the world aboard the ex-Walmer lifeboat, the 42ft Watson class Mabel E.

Holland, has been rescued from pack ice in the Arctic after becoming trapped during an attempt to make yet another solo journey around the world aboard Mabel E. Holland, this time by way of the North West Passage. He was forced to abandon his converted lifeboat when the ice breaker which rescued him failed to free her from the giant ice blocks.

David Scott-Cowper is now back in England but such is his faith in his boat's strength that he plans to return to the Arctic in May and continue his voyage if the lifeboat is still seaworthy after the winter.

AGM 1987 The RNLI's annual meetings for 1987 will take place on Tuesday May 12 at the South Bank, London. The governors' 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 applicationform enclosed in this issue for both the morning and afternoon meetings. If, by 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, nor receive a copy of the annual report and accounts.

Branches and guilds will receive details of how to apply for tickets for the afternoon presentation of awards from their regional office in the usual way.

Other supporters of the RNLI who wish to attend the presentation should write to the Director at RNLI Headquarters, Poole.

Electro-chemical action The further discovery of deterioration caused by electro-chemical action in the wooden hulls of certain Oakley and Rother class lifeboats meant that the RNLI, as a precaution, had to withdraw four lifeboats for survey without a relief being immediately available.

The four stations concerned were Filey and Sennen Cove which received reliefs just over two weeks later, Ramsey, Isle of Man, relieved after 10 days by a 46ft 9in Watson class (with launching restricted for 2l/2 hours either side of low water) and Ilfracombe which will receive a relief in February. The RNLI took this action in order to maintain its high standards of seaworthiness and so that crews were not placed at unneccessary risk. Wherever a lifeboat has to be withdrawn without a relief, cover is provided by neighbouring stations.Staff changes Rear Admiral W. J. Graham will retire as director of the RNLI at the end of 1987. He will be succeeded by Lt.

Cdr. Brian Miles, the present deputy director. Cdr. Bruce Cairns, chief of operations, retired from the post at the end of 1986 and Lt. Cdr. Miles, as deputy director, will fulfil the functions of chief of operations during 1987.

The new deputy director, with effect from January 1, 1988, will be Ray Kipling who will act as assistant director during 1987. Edward Wake-Walker has been appointed public relations officer and is succeeded as editor of the THE LIFEBOAT by Norman Hicks.

Special awards Ron Cannon, coxswain of Margate lifeboat, has received widespread recognition for his silver medal rescue on December 26, 1985, when he saved the French fishing vessel Gloire a Marie II and her crew of seven from shallows in a violent storm and very heavy seas. Not only has he been awarded the Maud Smith Bequest for the most outstanding act of lifesaving by a lifeboatman in 1985 but he was also one of the 'men of the year' at the special luncheon held at the Savoy Hotel in November.

The Ralph Glister award for the most meritorious service of 1985 carried out by the crew of a lifeboat under 10 metres goes to Helmsman Alan Clarke and Crew Members Gerald Wase, Victor Dade and Michael Wallace Hunstanton for rescuing a windsurfer from among sandbanks in a near gale and very rough seas on March 31, 1985..