Capturing the drama Sir - The dramatic photograph of the Portrush lifeboat on page 127 of the Summer issue of the journal must have potential for advertising the RNLI's work and the robust skill and courage of the crews. Why not use it as a cover picture for The Lifeboat or as a Christmas card, or both? Perhaps make an enlargement available to go beside every collecting box. A simple brief caption is all that is required to let all see what the money collected goes to provide.

I only know of one other seascape photo to equal it - that is 'the ultimate storm' which appears in Adlard Coles book 'Heavy Weather Sailing'.

S.V. Bloomfield Burton Joyce, Nottingham Editor's note: - The Photographer, Ian Watson, has kindly made the photograph available to the RNLIfor publicity purposes, and can also supply prints to individuals.

See RNLI News this issue for details.

In the swim Sir -1 was interested to read your article 'Lifeboatmen swim through surf to rescue sailor' (Lifeboat Services, Spring issue).

John Baker, one of the men who carried out the rescue, is one of our members, a regional representative, a swim organiser and former top competitor.

I would like to formally express the thanks and appreciation of the association and its members to the RNLI for the help it gives to our sport, officially and unofficially.

On the sea swims which we or our affiliated clubs organise, it is always comforting to know the lifeboats are on call, or to find them exercising, testing equipment or checking things - coincidentally on the day of an event.

We are also further indebted to your personnel who find time to crew the rowing or accompanying safety boats that escort swimmers. Personally I have had the privilege of my safety boat being so manned on numerous occasions. Dedication must be, or obviously is, total on the water.

With best wishes to everyone in the RNLI.

Trevor Symmons Honorary General Secretary British Long Distance Swimming Association Kennington, Oxford Help on the cards Sir - Thank you for publishing my letter requesting colour photograph postcards of lifeboats in the Summer issue of THE LIFEBOAT.

I am receiving quite a few letters and cards from members of our lifeboat family and will be replying where possible.

However, I have received some cards from unknown sources - no name or address given - so could you possibly publish a 'thank you' note to all who have responded to my request.

E.J. Butler Chairman North Chingford branch 6 Forest Glade, Waltham Forest, London E4 9RH Recognition for Agnes Cross Sir - Sid Hills will, I hope, be pleased to hear that Agnes Cross has a place in what is probably the most comprehensive list in existence of vessels that participated in Operation Dynamo (the evacuation of Dunkirk).

Although her card mentions fhe fact that she did not go to the beaches, she is considered by us as having taken part in Operation Dynamo and, as far as we are concerned, is or was a Dunkirk Little Ship.

I say 'is or was' because unfortunately I have been unable to trace her present whereabouts so far.

To be honest, I cannot recall the exact source of my information on Agnes Cross, but she was certainly mentioned by David Divine DSM in his books 'Dunkirk' and 'The Nine Days of Dunkirk'.

Her qualification is applicable to many other vessels that stayed in home waters but never-the-less played an essential part in the operation.

John C. Knight Hon Treasurer & Archivist The Association of Dunkirk Little Ships Toddington, Beds.

Pass it on Our local library is very grateful to receive THE LIFEBOAT which I take along after reading it. It is placed in the reading room and has quite a demand.

Perhaps RNLI secretaries in our various branches may consider doing the same as, in my opinion, it certainly pays to spread the good word.

R.M. Allan Tiverton, DevonOn camera - and kits Sir -1 have just been reading my latest edition of THE LIFEBOAT which included comments from the retiring chairman regarding recognition by the public as an area becoming confused, and the RNLI not receiving the appropriate news coverage.

Perhaps it is worth taking a leaf out of the fire brigade's book - more and more we are seeing fire service videos on news reports.

I realise that trying to take videos on board an RNLI vessel in action has its problems, but these days the small, lightweight camcorders might make it feasible, both from a training point of view and second to sell to the news media for their insatiable desire for 'disasters'. The RNLI would be seen at work and presented to the public at peak viewing times.

On a second point, I am surprised I cannot find anywhere scale plastic kits of RNLI craft. I would have thought that a range of RNLI boats in, say 1:72 scale would be highly saleable for manufacturers of plastic kits. As a member of the plastic kit builders brigade I am sure they would be extremely popular! T. Pearce Little Shelford, Cambridge Editor's note - The RNLI makes extensive use of videos for training, and although there are no plans to equip lifeboats with video cameras a pilot scheme for still cameras is under way. SeeRNLINews, this issue.

Noah's Ark Sir - One of the features in our Heritage Centre is a scale model of the old Ventnor railway station, and almost every local resident visitor who remembers the station asks about the present whereabouts of the Noah's Ark model, which was a prominent feature in the waiting room.

As this model was used to collect money for the RNLI it could well be that one of your readers has the answer.

I would be most grateful for any relevant information.

Ernest Biggin Honorary Curator, Ventnor Heritage Centre, 11 Spring Hill, Ventnor, Isle of Wight PO381PE Pennant warning Sir - May I suggest that all Shoreline members should get themselves a shoreline pennant and secure it to a jackstaff.

Then, whenever there is a gale warning for their area, the pennant should be flown somewhere prominent on the front of the house or in the front garden.

We could thus draw the attention of the people of this country to the connection between gales and the requirement for support of the RNLI.

F.M.D. Stanton Pickering, North YorkshireThe big bang theory...

The subject of maroons brought in a large number of comments from readers, a selection of which are published below.

Sir - I read with interest the comments made by Lt Cdr Appleyard, Summer 1989, on traditions. I too am in favour of tradition and at this year's AGM in May I questioned the committee of management on the phasing out of maroons.

Regarding radio pagers, avoiding crowd congestion is what it is all about. I have been involved at several stations and have seen for myself the delay caused by a huge crowd gathering as a result of hearing the maroons, mainly at the height of the season.

I suggest we keep the maroons for all the good reasons stated, but withdraw them at peak periods, then we can have tradition and safety and speed together.

Raymond P Toplis Ilkeston branch officer Sir - I am sure that we can all remember that terrible night in October 1987. I live in an exposed position overlooking the English Channel and not far from the western docks.

We were sat indoors without power etc and feeling very sorry for ourselves because of the damage being caused to our property.

There were two loud cracks - the maroons. We no longer felt sorry for ourselves, all our prayers and thoughts were on those men and their safe return.

That morning a lot of people in Dover echoed those thoughts. I like to think that our prayers and thoughts helped, without the maroons we would not have known? K.P. Stewkesbury Dover, Kent Sir - How I agree with Lt Cdr Appleyard's letter re maroon firing. Public relations is all important these days and there is surely no better way constantly to remind everyone close by the sea than the firing of the maroons.

L.A. Pirie Petersfield, Hampshire.

Sir - The RNLI would do well to take heed of Lt Cdr Appleyard's warning about the adverse publicity effect of no longer using maroons at lifeboat stations.

It is ironic the retiring chairman should have drawn attention to the loss of public recognition of the wholly voluntary nature of the RNLI at the same time as the best publicity weapon it has - namely 'boom-boom' - is being withdrawn.

The Institution should not so lightly discard a much-liked custom which has caused hundreds of thousands of people, including those living near lifeboat stations, to raise a flutter of excitement, an extra heartbeat or two and a sense of anticipation of gallant deeds about to be done.

Hugh Campbell Corsham, Wiltshire.

Editor's note - The RNLI has given careful thought to the relative virtues of maroons versus radio pagers, and the balance falls heavily on the use of pagers.

The large maroons traditionally used to alert crews were potentially dangerous, as they contained a relatively large amount of explosive and there had been many cases of malfunction when firing, both in the launching tube and shortly after parturition. Further problems had been encountered with falling debris or unexploded maroons.

In addition the large maroons were becoming increasingly expensive, and at the prices ruling when the last order was placed some five years ago it was costing approximately £50 each and every time the crew was assembled, whether or not the lifeboat was subsequently launched.

Although the value of the maroons as a public relations aid, by alerting the whole population that the lifeboat had been launched, is recognised, this can be something of a two-edged sword.

As mentioned by Mr Raymond Toplis in his letter above and by helmsmen and crew in the medallists' interview ('At the limit', this issue, page 154) large numbers of onlookers proceeding to and at a lifeboat station can hamper the arrival of the crew and possibly delay the launch of the lifeboat.

A further consideration is that complaints were often received from members of the public who did not wish to be awakened when the the lifeboat was being launched in the middle of the night, and this can be a problem when a busy station is situated near to large centres of population.

Almost all lifeboat stations now have radio pagers for call-out. For operational reasons, and also as a fall-back in case of malfunction of the pagers, a number of stations also use the smaller and less expensive hand-held maroon in addition to the paging system.

Taking everything into consideration the use of radio pagers is considered, and has proved to be, the most efficient and effective way of alerting lifeboat crews, and has at a great many locations improved the 'dead time' from first call to launch and thus probably saved more lives.

This must remain the prime factor..