RNLI shoreworks manager Howard Richings takes his coastal voyage from Fishguard to SillothThe first half of 2001 was one of the busiest periods ever for the RNLI shoreworks team. Before setting sail northwards from Fishguard, a quick fook back shows Mablethorpe, West Mersea Whitstabte, Southend and Dover all transformed since our visits earlier in the trip with work well in hand on Littlehampton's new boathouse. But enough looking astern. We sail into the gentle sweep of Cardigan Bay to our first port of call. Cardigan boathouse, home to Atlantic and D class ILBs, was completed in 1998 and opened by Tani Grey-Thompson.

Next is our first carriage launched ALB station in Wales. New Quay's boathouse was completely rebuilt in 1992 along with its slipway to receive one of the earlier Mersey class lifeboats.

Hugging the coast, we approach the university town and busy tourist centre of Aberystwyth and then on to Borth Plans for major improvements to the boathouse have been on the books for some time but difficulties in obtaining the extra land required are delaying bringing them to fruition. Running due north a short leg, Aberdovey was one of the first lifeboat stations to have a new Atlantic boathouse, completed in 1991.

We hug the coast northward to yet another large estuary with aptly named Barmouth on its north shore. At the time of our visit the station's Mersey class lifeboat is still lying at a mooring in the estuary from where it has to cross the bar to reach the open sea. After a number of studies and schemes, firm plans are finally in place to build a new carriage-launched ALB boathouse and, if all goes well, 2002 should see construction work in hand, including facilities for a D class.

Sandy beaches and dunes are much in evidence now as we head for Criccieth, whose ILB boathouse was extended in 1993 to provide modern facilities for the Atlantic ILB. Sailing now south of west we arrive at Pwllheli where 10 years ago the facilities were enlarged to take a Mersey class lifeboat. Now the coastline becomes more rugged and wilder but sanctuary is at hand in the sheltered haven at Abersoch where, in 1994. the station's basic portakabins were replaced with a new boathouse faced in local stone and roofed with Welsh slate to house a new Atlantic 21.

Sailing on around the headlands of Trywn yr Wylfra and Trywn Cilan and through Bardsey Sound we sight the Porthdinllaen slipway-launched Tyne. It always seems appropriate that such wild sections of coastline should be served by slipway-launched lifeboats. If the Llyen Peninsular isone of the remoter areas of the British mainland, then the acces: to the lifeboat station via a privat road across Nefyn golf course terminating in a steep hairpin be; is in character. Nestling below th low cliffs the boathouse roof is covered in wire netting to protec the slates from wayward golf balls. The coming of FSB2 - the replacement for the Tyne - will pose interesting problems for th Shoreworks office but within the next five years a solution will ha to be found.

Much of the broad sweep of Caernarfon Bay is devoid of lifeboat stations until Trearddur Bay on the southern shore of Anglesey. Here, in 1993, a new boathouse was completed to house an Atlantic 21 and, eight years on, thought is being given the addition of a D class. Our ne) port of call is Holyhead. A slipwi station originally, the station'sArun class lifeboat now lies afloat and several years of shoreworks projects are due to complete with the imminent installation of a new pontoon berth.

Rounding Point Lynas we are once again sailing south crossing Dulas Bay to Moelfre. Modernised in 1993, this is another slipway station that will see more significant works when the Tyne is superseded by FSB2. By contrast Beaumaris has just undergone exciting times with the opening of its new boathouse last year and the arrival of its new Blue Peter funded Atlantic 75. We sail on, arriving under the walls of Conwy castle to admire yet another year 2000 boathouse, which brought this D class ILB station long awaited modern facilities.

Llandudno, on the other side of the Great Ormes Head, still awaits its much needed improvements. The boathouse, built in 1903, lies in the centre of the town. There were good reasons for this in the days of oars and sails as the location allowed for the boat to be taken to either the North or West Beach, avoiding a long and difficult passage around the Head.

In practice the lifeboat has launched almost exclusively from the North Beach and towing the lifeboat through busy streets makes no operational sense.

Unfortunately the RNLI's planning application for a new boathouse adjacent to the launch site was refused and negotiations for analternative site are proving laborious with little prospect of an early solution.

Sailing eastwards to Rhyl, the lifeboat station lies just east of the central frontage and was a hive of activity with construction of the new boathouse for the Mersey and D class in full swing.

Our final landfall in the Principality is at Flint, where the extensive mud flats and sandbanks of the estuary could become home for one of the first RNLI hovercraft, should current trials prove successful. Whatever the decision a new boathouse is on the cards in the near future.

Somewhere in mid-estuary we cross back into England arriving on the Wirral, which is home to three lifeboat stations; West Kirby, Hoylake and New Brighton. The surge tide which caused the Towyn floods in the early 1990s severely damaged West Kirby's ILB station, which was rebuilt in 1992. The broad shallow beaches formed by the East Hoyle Bank make the northwest coast of the Wirral typical carriage-launched lifeboat territory and Hoylake and New Brighton were among the first to be upgraded with extended and new facilities respectively in 1990 and 1989. The facilities at Hoylake still leave much to be desired as space is restricted and the tractor is housed detached from the rig.

Studies are in hand to relocate the boathouse in preparation for the Mersey class replacement.

Crossing Liverpool Bay brings us to Lytham St Annes Until a couple of years ago the station's Tyne class lifeboat had lain afloat at a mooring in the Ribble estuary.

Increasing siltation led to a decision to convert to a carriagelaunched Mersey located at St Annes. Visitors to the museum in the old lifeboat house on Lytham's seafront can see a model and artist's impressions of the proposed new modern boathouse, on which construction should have started by the time this article hits the streets. The chosen site, in part of the boating lake, is a little unusual but the design, with a curved copper-clad roof, has met with general acclaim.

Copper also features on the roof of the recently completed boathouse and visitor centre at Blackpool. The new boathouse is home to three ILBs, sharing this distinction with Southend.

Blackpool reputedly sees 17m visitors each year and the opportunity this afforded for both the promotion of the RNLI's work and to disseminate safety information lay behind the decision to include enhanced visitor facilities in the new building.

Silt and yet more silt brought down by the river Wyre is the bane of life for our next port of call, Fleetwood. The station's Tyne lies afloat in a sheet piled pen on the west bank of the estuary. Until recently three large pumps and a compressor worked together to inject vertical jets of air and water into the pen from a grid of pipes laid on its bed in an effort to stop silt settling out. The system was successful for many years but vulnerable to damage and costly to run and maintain.

Last year the system was removed and a regime of regular dredging is now in place.

Supporting shore facilities fall ....below modern standards and plans are in hand to put this right and to provide the crew with facilities comparable with its flanking neighbours at Blackpool and Morecambe The latter underwent a major transformation when coast protection works were the spur for moving the boathouse and building a striking new facility.

When the tide is out it looks as if the crossing to Barrow in Furness could be made on foot across the sands of Morecambe Bay. Such an expedition would be doomed to failure if not by the quicksands or the racing incoming tide then by the channel into Barrow docks. Our own arrival was timed to coincide with the official, royal opening of the station's new slipway lifeboathouse on 24 July by HRH The Duke of Kent. Whether viewed in the early light of a summer's morning from Piel Island or from the coast road, the lifeboat station stands out proudly as a landmark with its gracefully curving roof and slim multi-arched access bridge.

The crossing to the Isle of Man is one made by many, some of whom have become unwitting customers of the island's five lifeboat stations. If it had not existed naturally it is probable that the RNLI would have had to create it. Its strategic position in the Irish Sea put it at the forefront of the shoreworks modernisation programme, with new boathouses for the Peel and Ramsey stations being completed in 1992 and 1991 respectively to take their Mersey class lifeboats. We make landfall at Port St Mary where modernisation work was completed in 1992, then on to Port Erin, whose boathouse is unique among current operational lifeboat houses in that the slipway passes out through the floor of the building. The boathouse was adapted in 1992 to take an Atlantic 21 and major modernisation of the station was completed in 1996.

Rounding St Patrick's Isle, Peel castle comes into view with the new boathouse nestling under its walls. The harbour can suffer the effects of swell waves from the north west and has one of the most impressive slipways in the RNLI's domain, with a broad fanned toe and rock armouring to absorb wave energy. We hurry on to Ramsey Bay with its popular holiday beaches and twin harbour arms, which keep the sands at bay. The rebuilding of the boathouse was very much an exercise of fitting a quart into a pint pot as a terrace of buildings severely restricted both width and length. Our final call before returning to England is the island's main port of Douglas.

The slipway boathouse is the only one of the five stations not to have been modernised, although some improvements were made at the time of its adaptation for the Tyne in 1987-88- This will all change with major modernisation planned prior to the current boat's successor arriving.

St Bees, in Cumbria, underwent a complete makeover in 1995 when its new ILB boathouse was built giving the boat and crew full modern facilities. Change has also taken place at Workington where, until 1991, the lifeboat lay at anchor on a mooring in the Derwent estuary, exposed to debris and siltation. A unique solution was found when, following extensive testing, a special crane was developed to launch a 27 tonne Tyne class lifeboat complete with crew. The sea and weather conditions are such that the travelling crane has to be capable of operating in conditions when normal quay cranes would be securely shutdown. The lifeboat can be launched in winds of up to 100 knots and even dropped the last metre if swell conditions so dictate. An added complication is that the launch site is immediately seaward of the lock gates that give access to the main port basin. Should the RNLI's crane fail in its launching position it would obstruct the port, with major financial implications. There are thus several backup systems to minimise the risk.

Our final leg before a break to gather our strength for the last section of this epic journey takes us to our last English lifeboat station - Silloth The old chapelstyle boathouse was demolished and a bigger, modern one built in 1995. At the same time, the old very steep and narrow slipway was replaced with a new broader ramp that has improved safety for both the lifeboat crew and the public. We're away now to stock up with haggis and whisky to fortify us in a winter assault on Scotland - the editor insists!.