Storm Force Club Towards the end of last year, my branch started a Storm Force Club. This is not a group sharing corporate membership, but a club for youngsters who already have or who may be interested in having their own individual Storm Force membership.

Our club met in winter on a monthly basis and arranged two trips out in the summer. However, there are only so many types of lifeboat to talk about, and I am now looking for people organising a similar club or group, meeting on a regular basis, to exchange ideas and fire our youngsters' interest.

It seems that there is no record of others running a similar club.

Indeed, apart from the corporate groups mentioned (which may not necessarily hold meetings), it may well be that our club is unique. I hope not, as the young people of today are our members and helpers of tomorrow and such clubs are a way of attracting and retaining their interest.

Is there anyone involved in the organisation of a Storm Force group or club which meets regularly - or indeed anyone else - who would care to drop me a line so we can start up an ex- change of ideas, programme building and, if distance does not preclude it, the occasional joint activity? I should very much like to hear from you, P.R. Threlfall Branch Honorary Secretary Wellington & Dst branch, 10 Clifford Terrace, Wellington, Somerset, TA21 8PQ Meeting on Manx soil The Fire Brigade Society held its 1991 AGM away from the mainland for the first time since its founding in 1963. We were invited to visit the Isle of Man.

After two years of planning, the AGM weekend took place with members from Germany and many parts of Britain meeting on Manx soil.

Part of our weekend is always taken up with visits to other emergency services. We visited three lifeboat stations on the island, with time to take photographs at the other two.

Our party was greeted with warmth and hospitality at the three stations - Douglas, Ramsey and Peel. One of my lasting memories will be of watching the Ramsey lifeboat emerging from the boathouse and myself turning round to see 60 people taking photos of the event, all in the pouring rain.

To name names would be wrong. All the crews we met proved a great credit to their own stations and to the service in general. I hope, with the high level of feeling towards the RNLI from within our society, we can do something in return.

With many thanks, Nigel Crompton AGM '91 Organiser The Fire Brigade Society Reading, Berks Thank you During a cruise around Ireland, we suffered a complete fuel failure on passage from the Aran Islands to Cashla Bay.

Having re-bled the engine six times but being unable to keep it running on load because of air in the fuel line, we tried to tack offshore - but the short, steep seas prevented the boat from going through the wind (our yacht Final Quest is a 28-ton.

55ft motor sailor ketch). With no way of resolving the problem and with only two-and-a-half miles of sea room to a very rocky lee shore we had no alternative but to make a Pan Pan call. It was answered immediately by Shannon Radio who decided to launch the Galway Bay lifeboat to tow us into Cashla Bay.

Having sailed for 35 years, such a course of events was not one I ever thought would happen to me. This was the one situation everyone fears and it was very reassuring to see the Arun coming to our assistance.

The tow was undertaken very efficiently and I should be grateful if you would convey our sincere thanks to the coxswain and crew for their excellent help.

Incidentally, it took five hours the following day to trace the cause of the problem, which was the failure of an olive unton on the copper fuel line at the lift pump entry. After 7,000 miles of trouble-free service it let us down when conditions and sea room gave no opportunity for the problem to be resolved. Such are the pleasures of yachting! With very grateful thanks for your continuing and excellent service.

Paul J. Williamson Southport, Merseyside Safety point This summer, both Redcar lifeboats were launched to an incident which brought to light an important safety point.

The vessel concerned had a wheelhouse fire and when the lifeboats arrived at the scene within five minutes, they found the fire out but the 26ft fishing boat totally disabled and without power.

After the battery had been disconnected and the fuel supply isolated, she was towed to a safe mooring where the cause of the fire was established.

A hydraulic pipe within the engine box had burst, spraying oil onto the manifold, resulting in almost instant ignition with plenty of heavy smoke, flame and heat.

Several safety points came to light.

The vessel had a forward cabin but was steered from aft with a tiller.

All of the safety equipment - VHP radios, flares, lifejackets and fire extinguisher - was stored in the cabin and couldn't be accessed readily with the fire amidships in the engine.

The skipper had to jump through the fire area to grab the extinguisher which, on this occasion, he managed to do. However, he was unable to use his VHP to call for assistance, use his flares or get out his lifejacket.

On another day, out of sight of land, this relatively minor incident could have ended in tragedy. In this instance, if the fire extinguisher had not been able to cope with the outbreak, then the skipper would have been left with no other means of tackling the fire, calling for assistance or reaching the lifejackets.

I feel this incident may serve as a good illustration to many small boat owners in the importance of not only having the right equipment - but of having it in the right place.

Mike Picknett Helmsman, Redcar lifeboat UK drive support I would like to express my sincere appreciation to all those at the RNLI for the assistance, support and welcome we received at each and every stop of our recent fund raising drive to every lifeboat station around the coast of Britain and northern Ireland.

Countless numbers of crews made us feel so very welcome during our drive: the crew in Calshot who had prepared an enormous amount of sandwiches for us on our v isit (unfortunately, we couldn't stay long as we were running so far behind schedule); the ladies' guild and crew at Kippford who organised soup and rolls for us - and that description does not do justice to the amount of food they made for us; Jimmy McPhee and the crew of the Campbeltown lifeboat where we had the privilege of sailing on the Arun in continued overleaf…Campbeltown Bay, a tremendous experience and the highlight of our trip.

Thanks also to Glynn Harbour in Atlantic College for permitting us to overnight in the castle; to Roy Williams and the crew at Fishguard for allowing us to stay at a local hotel free of charge (bliss after the floor of a police station!); to the crew at New Quay who gave us a trip around the bay in their D class boat; to Mrs Joan Good in Brixham for throwing open her home to the team, and for the welcome from the ladies' guild and crew at the station.

We met so many people involved with the RNLI over the three-week journey that I am sure I have forgotten to mention some of them.

I trust they will forgive this omission and believe that when I say 'thank you', the words seem completely inadequate to express just how much the team and I appreciate the amount of support that was given to us.

It was a privilege meeting all connected with the RNLI.

With best wishes PC I.J. Wylie Copenacre, Wiltshire Fifth generation Looking through our family records, I notice that my family is into its fifth generation of continuous connection with the lifeboat service.

My greatgrandfatherwas W.H.

Baker of Padstow. His first service was in February 1883.

He became coxswain in 1905 and retired in January 1924. He was awarded the Silver Medal for a rescue carried out on 12 November 1911 when two vessels, the schooner Island Maid and the brigantine Angele, both ran for shelter towards Padstow and struck the notorious Doom Bar. The rescue was reported on the front page of the 'Daily Mirror'.

W.H. Baker served a total of 41 years, 22 years as a crew member and 19 years as coxswain.

He died in 1924. Lives saved, unknown.

My grandfather W.J. Baker of Padstow started in early 1902 as the first signalman on board the RNLI steam tug Helen Peele. He became temporary coxswain of the lifeboat Arab in 1923, a position confirmed in June 1924.

He retired as coxswain in September 1948 and became head launcher until 1962. During his career as coxswain he was awarded the Bronze Medal in 1928 for saving the crew of 18 from the vessel SS Taormina of Oslo after it struck the Doom Bar. Total years service, 60; 22 years as crew member, 24 years as coxswain and 14 years as head launcher. 107 lives saved.

Mrs Mary Taylor ('Lifeboat Mary') of Padstow, my mother, collected funds for the RNLI with my grandmother from 1935 and still raises funds and supplies the crew with a hot meal when they return after a long call-out or exercise. In 1977, she was awarded the Silver Statuette and, in 1990, the Silver Badge.

I my self have always been very proud of my family tradition and joined Shoreline in 1980. In 1990, I was asked to become a committee member of the Penlee Branch, which I did with pride.

As I contracted polio as a small child, I have not been able to become a crew member, but I do all I can on shore.

My son James - the fifth generation - became a Storm Force member in 1986. His first trip on a lifeboat was when he was only two-and-a-half years old.

Since then, he has always been ready to help, cleaning the Padstow lifeboat before her naming ceremony, collecting £75 towards the cost of the new Sennen Cove lifeboat, and helping me with collections.

My uncle Mr P. Baker was a crew member and mechanic for 28 years. Lives saved, unknown.

This makes a total of 108 years continuous service for the RNLI, and a total of 203 man years.

Mr E.C. Taylor Penzance.