THE hurricane-force winds which caused so much damage in the south of England last October resulted in a dozen launches by lifeboats in the area affected by the storm, with three of the services leading to medal awards.

The day after the London presentation of the medals the three coxswains involved, Roy Couzens of Dover, Derek Sargent of Weymouth, and Robin Castle of Sheerness, spoke to the RNLFs Staff Officer Operations, Mike Pennell, about some aspects of the services and the effect on themselves, their crew and the boat.Advance Warning Mike Pennell: / would like to start by asking you what sort of warning you had of the severity of the weather last October, and of a service in the offing? Derek Sargent: That was the last thing that crossed my mind that night. The Wind was freshening all day, with gale warnings, but in October you do not expect the kind of winds we had that night. It is very difficult to appreciate the wind speed at Weymouth because we are reasonably sheltered in the harbour, if the wind is in the south it appears to be coming from a westerly direction, down the harbour, so we had no information whatsoever.

The weather was coining up across a corner of Kent. Roy and Robin, did you have any thoughts of a service in the offing? Roy Couzens: Not particularly, the weather was blowing of course and started to pick up during the evening. I had no idea how bad it was until the hon sec phoned, and I realised there was no power in the house and I could hear the wind outside.

Robin Castle: We had nothing to tell us there was going to be a wind at all. At 8 o'clock that evening it was a beautiful night - there wasn't a breath of wind at Sheemess.

Yet from about midnight onwards they upgraded the gale warning to a hurricane warning within two hours, and within another hour that was it - it was on top of us.

Crew Selection we can move to the point where you got your calls from honorary secretaries and deputy launching authorities. You knew the conditions by then. Did you have any feelings about selecting crews specifically for a heavy job?Couzens: I may have been in a slightly different position from the others.

The hon sec said the Weepers had been alerted, but there had been a total power failure and I realised the bleepers had not gone at all. The hon sec said the maroons had gone - so I really was on a wing and a prayer as I drove to the station.

The lads would normally be there before me, but one or two blokes were literally just turning up having heard the maroons.

So you were taking a crew as they arrived? Couzens: Absolutely, and as it happened it was a crew I probably would have picked anyway, to the man.

Sargent: There were a lot of 'firsts' on that night. Normally we work a system where three retained men go on every trip, and the first four out of the eleven 'runners' go.

That night the hon sec took the unusual step of wanting me to assemble the crew, which we always do by phone in the 'silent hours', between ten and seven in the morning. That would have meant making 13 phone calls and I would then have had 14 men to select from, which was going to be a very difficult problem.

I said 'can't we wait until something is definitely going to happen', bearing in mind this was only anticipatory. He said no, in view of the conditions he would like me to get them all down.

I made about three phone calls and then the next thing I remember is scuttling down below, because I live in the fiat above the lifeboat station. Before I phoned the last one the roads were impassable, so I had eight, nine people turn up - one arrived just after. There was one young lad there who, sadly, I had to make the decision not to take, it was the first time I have ever had to do it in 21 years at Weymouth, I think it was the only time.

Robin, you invariably have a full crew turn up anyway don't you? Castle: We are on a bleeper system - they all have an individual number and I can bleep what person I want. So I can take all the experienced hands or I can take the youngsters.

But on that particular night it was a volunteer group, one page went out to all crew members, and those who were available to move the boat out of the berth due to the weather conditions came.The coxswain, second coxswain and the assistant mechanic were there and three volunteers managed to get there through trees and whatever. A couple more turned up who I had to refuse, as I didn't want too many aboard the boat.

Conditions Ashore There was a lot happening ashore by the time you launched, were you or your crew concerned at leaving home and families to the mercy of the hurricane? A few certainly had trouble getting down to the boat.

Couzens: In our case Dom McHugh went to get in his car, and his chimney blew off onto it... driving down to the boat was quite an experience.

Any hazards at Weymouth? Sargent: No, I don't think so. I think they all got there, in fact when I rang seven, and knew they were coming, I didn't ring any more. I don't think there was too much damage. There were slates off, but not much damage.

Castle: The ones that did come down from the Minster end of the island came into the main approach to the docks. It was like a hurdle race, they had to leave their cars at the entrance to the dock road and run down about a mile to the berth. Trees were across the road, lorries and trailers had been overturned in the car parks and blown across the road. When they did actually get down there we were in total darkness as well, there wasn't a light to be seen anywhere.

It was the same at Dover, with all shore power gone. Did you lose shore facilities in Weymouth? Sargent: No. I think the Admiralty at Portland expected winds, because they took the unusual step of putting all their frigates and destroyers to sea. The Birmingham and the Black Rover were involved in the service, they steamed out in the Channel, I think that was the reason they were there.

Couzens: Our guys had to get dressed using torches and car headlights. We got dressed in pitch darkness and there was no light going down onto the boat and the berth.

Which leads us to the problem you had before you could leave with the Dover boat, working that berth in total darkness.Couzens: We did have power, and the deck lights on.

Castle: That's what we had to do. The boat was ranging up and down on its moorings and, with two blokes at the top of the wall holding torches down the ladder, you had to time your jump across to the boat. Once we got the first one aboard, and the engines started we put on all the lights that we had, but up to that point it was very difficult.

Launching When actually launching to the casualty, you went out after consultation with the hon sec, Derek, but what about the other two? Castle: We were sitting in Queenborough, on the buoys, and the hon sec was on duty for port operations so we were in direct contact.

Couzens: The last contact I had with the hon sec was the initial call. He said that we were to await further instructions. I had one telephone call at the station, from the coastguard, saying that the Hengist, which was one of the vessels for which we were on anticipatory call, had gone aground and that in no circumstances try to launch as we wouldn't get out of the western entrance. Then the other ship, the Sumnia, arrived, and although she turned out to be the major casualty she was secondary at the time as I knew nothing about her..

One of the DLAs managed to make it down to the boat just after you had got away, so you took the action on your own initiative, to move in preparation for anything that might come up? Couzens: Yes, it was apparent that the Sumnia was getting in worse and worse problems.

Boat Preparation Did any of you make any particular moves for general security for the boat, or just standard heavy weather procedure? Sargent: No, we thought it was just going to be a normal service, we've got every confidence in the boat. Everything should be lashed down without making any special preparations. We just went, when we got outside the harbour we knew it was going to be worse than normal.

Castle: No, not really. The only thing we did do was activate the lifejacket lights.

All the safety lines were rigged anyway, aft of the wheelhouse, and everything was lashed down so there were no worries.

Couzens: Only safety lines rigged.

Were the crew actually on lifelines, on the boat's jacks toys? Couzens: That's right.

Castle: Yes.

Sargent: No. We operate a different boat. Our back door was shut and no one went out on the deck of the Arun, after we had lashed down the Y boat which had broken loose.Communications Communications are a major part of any service. There were problems ashore two of the stations involved, were there any problems with communications Weymouth? Sargent: We had a weakness in the VHP aerial. We'd been running about 15 minutes when the Y boat broke loose and the two crew members who went up top lash it down noticed that the aerial was down and the radar scanner was hitting every time it turned. Nothing could be done about it, because they couldn't possibly climb the mast to put it away. We went on the emergency aerial from then on, and had no real problems - it worked well.

Any trouble with range on the emergency aerial? Sargent: Not really. A couple of times there was difficulty but it didn't affect the service, we always got communications.

was the first time we used it in anger, proved it works! Castle: There were no problems at all communications-wise. We had the port authority monitoring us as well, so if one failed we did have the other we could go through.

Couzens: The only problem we had really wasn't so much the actual communications itself, we knew what was going on, but the Coastguard's radar scanner Dungeness stopped turning, due to the ferocity of the wind. They were having rely on boats and the Folkstone pilots.

The Folkestone pilots' big viewing window was in danger of been blown in, so they couldn't look at their radar screen all the time - they had to take shelter. Port control had evacuated the control tower on the West Pierhead. He was really operating it blind, being governed by boats and the pilots - when they could look at their radar.What about communications around the boat, with a lot of noise from the weather, and wind and sea generally? Sargent: I can't say we experienced any problems. We were inside, and that makes a lot of difference.

Castle: I don't think there were any real problems. When the forward deck speaker was switched on there was a loud howling, and you couldn't understand what they were saying back to you because of wind noise across the speaker.

We have one headset for the coxswain, but not out on deck.

Couzens: We had no problems at all.

We have the new helmets though we did not use them that night. They were still relatively new to us and I think you tend to go for the old methods. We just wore bump caps, in or outside the boat.

You were operating from the upper position throughout. What about you Derek? Sargent: I only went up there when we approached the casualty. That's the beauty of an Arun - in those conditions you would not want to be up on top. I took someone up with me - because we tried to rig a searchlight. We soon found that it was going to be more trouble, because the motion was quite violent, and once we took the way off the boat it became very difficult. Not only that, the searchlight was useless. I needed to be on the starboard side of the top steering position, the casualty was on the starboardside, and so we would have to put the searchlight on the port quarter. One minute the beam would be up, and then down - we did all our illumination that night with an Aldis from the aft part of the deck, which I found most effective.

Castle: When we got to our casualty it was just becoming daylight. We had the wheelhouse searchlight on as we were going up to the temporary mooring, before the service, but we found it was no good at all.

Couzens: We didn't use any. Visibility was so poor anyway, if anything it would have hindered us because of the reflection back from it.

The Approach Two of you were working in deep water, but Robin, you certainly were not. Did any of you have any particular method of approaching in the extreme conditions? Were they different from normal? Sargent: My particular problem was that the catamaran had altered course to run with the weather and the skipper, we now know, was not in communication with his crew - and the VHP was in the cabin so we could not get any information to him.

The crew were appealing to be taken off, and it's a lot easier to get alongside a big ship in conditions like that night, provided you keep way on both boats. I like to transfer at about 8 knots. There is no need for any ropes.

You all have the advantage of power, with fast lifeboats.

Sargent: I can only speak for the Arun, but I think you would have had great difficulty with a Barnett, a Watson or a slower boat. You would have got there all right, but whether you could have manoeuvred alongside like we did that night I very much doubt - we were using full power on one engine. We made several approaches, but we managed to get alongside twice for long enough to take the casualties off.

Roy, although your casualty was not moving, presumably your problem was just holding the lifeboat where you wanted it? Couzens: When we first got to it, within about 20ft, I really thought I'd haveto run on to it, as the only way to get the guys off, but the rise and fall of the casualty made it very difficult - we would have had heavy damage, I think. The only time we used full power was when I was manoeuvring.

Although we had deep water we had lack of sea room.

Having cleared the entrance I only used the throttles both together, but we needed full power at one stage when we met a really big one.

Rob, you were in shoal water throughout.

Castle: Yes, an unusual one. That particular morning our casualty was anchored, but slowly but surely sinking. The waves were absolutely on top of him, and he was filling up all the time - he was only 16ft long.

It was a case of either standing off and seeing these two guys get washed away, possibly you would never get hold of them, or run in and try and grab them and run back out again.

We ran in OK and grabbed them OK.

Then a nasty gust of wind came through, caught us and took the bow round before we could do anything, she didn't want to know and that was it. Probably nine times out of ten we would have got away with it quite easily.

The Boats We have three totally different classes of boat involved here, although they are all fast afloat boats. Confidence in your own boat is something that you only prove yourself, whatever you read about others.

Couzens: Well I've had experience with the Waveneys, and also on the Arun, and I can honestly say that I wouldn't change the Thames for anything. I think the Waveney is probably one of the best boats in the fleet, but I think that night it would have been a bit too small, I really do.

Given the distance I had from the breakwater to actually put full power on, the Thames responds, like a racing car.

The Arun is a bit more 'give me some distance to get there'.

I don't think the Thames could have been bettered, we were on our side on three occasions, and one time we thought she was actually on her way over.

Sargent: I've been associated with the Arun for 13 years now, I was fortunate in doing most of the trials with the late Captain Harding, so I was brought up in the right school, I knew the capabilities of it.

Castle: Yes, I think the Waveney was the right boat for the job in many ways.

The crew and myself have full faith in it.

She went over a couple of times and I think it's the only time I wished she had assisted steering, because running before that sea you discovered muscles you didn't know you had! But she was a good boat, we had full faith in her. She did everything she was expected to, no problems at all.

Were your crew on deck, or in such shelter as you have on a Waveney, all the time?Castle: Sheltered under what is there, but there's hardly anything really. I didn't have a harness on, but the crew were all on deck with lifelines and things.

Did you have your harness on when you went on top, Derek? And what about the crew in the cabin when you were down below on the approach? Sargent: I didn't have my harness on when I went on top. Some of the crew had lap belts on, and two of them were actually lying on the floor because the most comfortable part of the Arun, if you've got to stand up, is alongside the coxswain in the wheelhouse. But that night it wasn't, they said it was more comfortable wedging in where they could.

'I think the Waveney was the right boat for the job* - Robin Castle Couzens: The radio operator was strapped inside and everyone else on lifelines on the outside. Personally, I would like to see a full harness, maybe on an inertia reel.

Without the lines I would never have been able to stay on, I was actually hanging in the harness on three or four occasions and there was no way I could maintain the position at the wheel unless I was strapped. The motion was so violent.

Effect on the Crews In two cases there were no tragedies, but, Roy, you and your crew achieved far more than I think most people thought possible, but there was a loss of life on your service. Do you think this had an effect on your crew? Couzens: After we came in and dropped the three survivors, it was pretty obvious that the crew themselves were very badly shaken. We were only alongside for about five minutes before we went out a second time. There was a sort of driving force, no one even questioned that we might go out again.

When I was in hospital, lying three beds down from me was the third survivor we picked up, I really could not wait to speak to him. In my own mind I wanted to know whether if I had gone out there 20 minutes earlier we may have got everybody.

He reassured me actually.

Sargent: I am sure it does affect the crew. Fortunately it does not happen too often - not in my career with the RNLI - but we have, sadly, picked up one or two bodies, more so in the sailing fraternity who have gone out in a new boat and their wives have reported them missing. Perhaps anglers, we have been searching all night and possibly about 11 o'clock in the morning you see a lifejacket with a body in it. Yes, it makes your fingers tingle a bit. You think of the families.

Castle: I agree. It does affect the crew if you carry out a search and regrettably you cannot find anyone.

The other effect on the crew is the result of a period of very high stress and physical and mental exertion, the reaction comes after you have got back.

Couzens: I agree, one of the regular crew members who met the boat said the crew appeared to be in a state of shock.

Sargent: We were all delighted with the outcome. I mean our service was a little bit different, we achieved what we had to do, and in those conditions, we looked back with pride.

My boys were delighted at the outcome.

We were more worried when we got back - we did not know the boat was damaged. We definitely did not damage it going alongside, but we had a good idea when it happened. What worried them most was to see a 10ft piece of spray rail missing, that really made them forget everything.

The Institution's hull surveyors were down very quickly, and the next day we had to take the boat away for repair, so they had other things on their mind.

Castle: The crew's reaction was that the boat was OK. After all we had a long period when we had to sit and wait, and I suppose in many ways that helped to take a bit of tension out of the launch. I think that helped really - I was glad to get back but I think the time we were on board relaxed them a little bit. H.