Silver service at Cleethorpes and NumberIt is a rare occasion that Cleethorpes and Number crews work together on shouts. Only 5 miles apart as the crow flies, the two stations couldn't be more different.

Cleethorpes lifeboat station has a volunteer crew and the smallest of inshore lifeboats while Humber lifeboat station is unique in the RNLI as it has a full-time lifeboat crew and the largest of ad weather lifeboats. On 26 February 2004 these crews joined forces to save the lives of the two fishermen aboard the drifting fishing vessel, Dollard.

Late that afternoon, Morning Star, a fishing vessel near the casualty, had informed the Humber Coastguard that Dottard was in trouble. Morning Star had already made three attempts to attach a tow, but had failed each time.

Launching At Cleethorpes, Helmsman Gary Barlow decided to take three crew with him on the D class rather than the usual two. It would slow down the lifeboat a little, but the heavier weight would make taking head seas easier, there would be an extra lookout in very poor visibility and they could put one or two crew members on board the casualty if necessary.

The weather was poor even at the Cleethorpes launch site, with snow showers, some surf and high winds. In their protective kit they didn't feel the cold but were co'ncerned about what they were heading out to. Gary remembers: 'It was quite horrendous at the launch site and the reported position was more exposed.' The lifeboat launched at 4.08pm.

Meanwhile the Humber crew were ready to board the Severn class Pride of the Humber. Acting Superintendent Coxswain Dave Steenvoorden had paged the crew and let off the Humber sirens twice to let the crew know lives were at risk. Although in a relatively sheltered mooring, even boarding the lifeboat was challenging in the conditions. At 4.12pm the Pride of the Humber launched without incident, with Dave in command. Both lifeboats now faced force 8 winds and heavy snow.

So near yet so far Pride of the Humber was first on scene at 4.21pm, although they soon realised they had found the Morning Star not Dotlard. The Coastguard nominated aVHF channel for direct communications between all the vessels, so the crews were quickly briefed on the situation. Dotlard was well inside the surf line, over half a mile from the Severn's position. It was difficult to see the casualty because of the snow, wind and spray, and the swells were steeper in the shallows - up to 3m and breaking. Dollard had touched the bottom once or twice and was continually being struck by white water or breaking waves. Dollard had an anchor down, but it was on a very short cable and was dragging.

With a dangerous motion she was heading towards the shore, just 200-300m behind her. At this point this weak anchor line was the only thing stopping the vessel from going broadside and smashing up in the surf.

Soon after 4.30pm the D class crew spotted the orange superstructure of the Humber lifeboat and arrived on scene. Gary had to manoeuvre the lifeboat constantly to cope with the unpredictable wave patterns.

The whole crew had to maintain their vigilance at all times to avoid being caught out and capsized. Gary had great faith in the lifeboat: 'In the D class you feel as safe as houses. She's excellent, proven and great in the surf.' As always, the priority was to save the people on board the casualty. Gary planned to manoeuvre in next to the boat and transfer the fishermen to the D class. But the pair would not leave their boat.The lifeboatmen realised that the next best option was to establish a tow and bring the casualty clear of the surf and shore. Yet the D class couldn't possibly tow the 11.5m vessel in the conditions and the Pride of the Humber, which would be able to, was half a mile away. It seemed impossible to get theSevern any nearer the echo sounder was at times reading just 1.5m of water under the keel D class transfer Gary swiftly changed his plan and decided to place two crew on board the Doltard to further assess the situation and help with a tow. This was no easy task as Dollard was being severely buffeted in the surf: her bows were lifting and crashing through 4m and large waves were breaking directly onto her bows. In a superb show of seamanship, Gary manoeuvred the lifeboat alongside. He recalls the moment: 'Before we knew it, Tony [Salters] was on board, like a rat up a drainpipe!' After a couple more attempts, Crew Member Ian Sanderson also clambered aboard. Both transfers took tremendous courage and agility.

On board the Dollard, the skipper was calm but his sole crewman appeared shaken and stayed in the wheelhouse for the rest of the service. Neither was wearing a lifejacket.

Just moving around the boat was hazardous: pounded by the waves, the decks were slippery from slushy snow and littered with bits of equipment. Tony and Ian spotted a large gas cylinder rolling loose and quickly secured it. Gary was concerned for their safety he was aware that there were no Coastguard shore teams on scene. All the men now on the Dollard would be vulnerable if they were swept off the deck or if the vessel foundered.

Dave asked Morning Star if she would help set up the tow, as her draught was considerably less than that of the Pride of the Humber. When the Morning Star agreed, the D class collected a long mooring rope from the Severn. This was difficult but with great skill the D class made a run down sea, close to the Severn's starboard side, as a coil of rope was thrown on board. But their plans were scuppered when the Morning Star decided it was too dangerous to help after all and moved away from the area.

Urgent action It was then that a series of waves hit Dollard in quick succession, moving her closer to shore. Gary and Dave agreed that the D class should attempt to pass a tow from Pride of the Humber to Dollard.While all this was going on, Dave and his crew had slowly edged the Severn towards the casualty. Despite the poor visibility, Dave and Crew Member Colin Fisk had spotted an area of flatter water between the breaking waves that indicated a deeper channel. So Dave manoeuvred the lifeboat astern, crabbing sideways, then astern again. From being apparently marooned half a mile away, they had managed to get to within 80m of the casualty. At times the echo sounder was reading zero, but the crew didn't feel the lifeboat touch the bottom once.

From 80m away the Severn was still reliant on the D class to take the tow to Dollard. Dave knew that the D class would have trouble taking the heavy Severn tow rope through the surf, so a mooring rope was prepared instead. He judged that this would be strong and long enough to act as a temporary tow rope to at least get the Dottard out of the surf.

Gary once again executed a first-class manoeuvre to get close enough to the Severn for the line to be thrown. He went past the Severn on the back of a wave and Crew Member Shaun Sonley caught the line and secured it. Half the job was done.The crew on the Severn held their breaths as Gary made a daring approach to the starboard bow of the casualty, dragging the rope behind. Shaun passed the line first time to Doltard where Tony gathered it in and secured it at 5.05pm. Dave remembers watching Gary in the D class: 'Gary did an excellent job. Being in a Severn class, you really understand who is up against it: it's the lads in the D class, not us. To get the tow over to the Dotlard was a brilliant bit of boat handling.' The Skegness and Mablethorpe lifeboats had been on standby, ready to assist in theperilous conditions, but now that the tow was established, they stood down. On board Dollard, the lifeboatmen cut the anchor cable and helped the skipper raise the port trawl beam. Together they battled to raise the starboard beam as much as possible; the nets were still entangled in the propeller and the beam was banging violently against the side of the casualty.

Towing out of the surf The D class stood by while the Humber lifeboat very slowly started to pull the casualty clear.

Dave recalls that the pressure was on: 'Nursing it out, that was the worst time. If the lads who were working the rope had slipped then they would have been been dead. You're dealing with a 20 tonne casualty and a 40 tonne lifeboat and the lads are working that rope with their bare hands. It's the hardest manual job that you'll ever do.' Dave cautiously took the Dollard at 2 knots back through the dogleg of deeper water. The light was fading and the waves were bigger now, up to 4m high. Dave remembers the tense time: 'It was Like flying a big kite with just a bit of cotton - too much pressure and she's gone.' The Severn successfully cleared the surfline at 5.30pm. The temporary tow had done its job and the Severn crew now replaced it with the heavier tow rope.

The return journey The D class lifeboatmen had finished their part in the rescue and Gary checked with Ian and Tony that they were happy to stay on the Dottard before he set off back to Cleethorpes. On the return journey Shaun took over from Gary, who needed a break after the exhausting work, kneeling at the helm. The mooring rope that had been intended for the Morning Star remained in the D class, its great bulk adding to the crew's discomfort. They were glad to reach Cleethorpes safely, at 6.27pm.

With no time to reflect on what they had just achieved, Gary and Shaun both went off to their work on the tugs.

Those on the towed Dollard also had an uncomfortable passage with the wind against the tide making the seas very steep. The lifeboatmen and skipper were kept busy: they re-secured the starboard trawl beam and other bits of equipment not property stowed. On top of all this, Tony suffered several electric shocks from drenched, poorly insulated sockets.

Pride of the Humber arrived safely at Grimsby dock at 7.50pm. All the Humber crew and the Cleethorpes pair were delighted to have saved the two fishermen.

Recognition for both crews Gary received a Silver Medal for his courage, leadership and skill and his three crew members all received Bronze Medals for Gallantry. Dave was accorded the Thanks of the Institution inscribed on Vellum for his leadership and skill. The crew of the Severn all received medal service certificates. RNLI Operations Director Michael Vlasto comments: 'Crews from both the inshore and all weather lifeboats worked together, putting all their training into practice, to ensure no-one was lost to the sea that night - they all deserve our praise and their individual awards.1 Dave comments: 'I am as proud as punch/ and thinks that all the crew deserve equal praise. On hearing that he had been awarded a Silver Medal, Gary was genuinely surprised: 'I couldn't believe it.

I was really amazed. I really didn't have any expectations.' Gary too stresses that it's never just about one individual: 'As I told the crew, this Medal's for the whole station. The team spirit's out of this world.'CLEETHORPES LIFEBOAT D class lifeboat D-454 BiuePeterVI Funding: Proceeds from Blue Peter TV appeal! 993/94 THE CLEETHORPES CREW Helmsman: Gary Barlow Crew Members: Tony Sailers Ian Sanderson Shaun Sonley CLEETHORPES LIFEBOAT STATION Established: at Cleethorpes, Humberside: 1987 {first opened as Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, 1868) Previous RNLI Medals: 1 Silver and 4 Bronze (including one Bronze Medal for Dave Steenvoorden as crew member 1987-1990) HUMBER LIFEBOAT Severn class ON-1216 Pride of the Humber Funding: Humber lifeboat appeal 1994-95, fundraising activities of NE region volunteers and several bequests THE HUMBER CREW Acting Superintendent Coxswain: Dave Steenvoorden Crew Members: Dan Atkinson Colin Fisk Martin Hagan David Lane George McClellan HUMBER LIFEBOAT STATION Established: 1810 Previous RNLI Medals: 3 Gold, 13 Silver and 17 Bronze THE CASUALTY Two fishermen on 11.5m single screw beam trawler, Doilard 4.5 miles SSE of Humber lifeboat station, Spurn Point THE CONDITIONS Weather Very heavy snow showers Visibility: Very poor, 0.5-1 mile, reduced in snow showers Wind: NW force 8 Sea state: Rough with 3m swell.