With half of its crew women, seven of its volunteers from the same family and not a drop of salt water in sight, Lough Derg is a unique lifeboat stationAt the turn of the Millennium the RNLI began to look at new ways to save lives, in addition to its core service of launching lifeboats to sea rescues. As well as deciding to place hovercraft at intertidal areas, lifeguards on beaches and lifeboats on the Thames, the charity investigated saving lives on selected inland waterways.

Operations Director Michael Vlasto explains: 'We felt that if we could save more lives by spending a sensible amount of money on an inland lifeboat station we would try to do so.' This led to an historic occasion in May 2001, when the RNLI opened its first inland lifeboat station at Enniskillen in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, which serves Lough Erne. In July of the same year, the charity established a lifeboat station at Oulton Broad, Suffolk, to serve the busy Norfolk and Suffolk Broads.

Then, in 2003, the Irish Coast Guard began to take responsibility for inland search and rescue in the Republic of Ireland and requested that the RNLI provide rescue cover on Lough Derg, the largest lake on the River Shannon.

At almost 25 miles in length and with depths of up to 30m, Lough Derg resembles an inland sea and attracts thousands of pleasure craft each year, from cruisers and yachts to speedboats and canoes. Although there are no tides to cope with, there are still challenging conditions on the lake.

Winds pick up very quickly and steep waves can come from two directions at once.

People occasionally fall into the chilly, choppy water from their craft or run aground in hidden shallows.

Following the Irish Coast Guard's request, the RNLI investigated the feasibility of setting up a lifeboat station at Dromineer, County Tipperary, about half way up the east side of Lough Derg. 'We got a great response from the community,' recalls Colin Williams, Divisional Inspector for Ireland. 'There were several willing volunteers and Dromineer was strategically well placed - in terms of both rescues and a local population that could reach the station quickly.' Charles Stanley-Smith, now Lifeboat Operations Manager, was delighted at the RNLI's decision:'Fellow lake user Teddy Knight and I had previously considered starting a rescue service ourselves but realised we needed the training and the professionalism if it was going to work.

That's just what the RNLI brought. Since then we've been determined to keep the station going. We don't want to return to the dark old days when we carried out ad hoc rescues on the lake, some of which were frankly dangerous.' Among the willing potential crew members was Dromineer resident John Hoare, now Helmsman. Td been to sea before with a sub aqua club and felt I had to give something back in return forknowing there is help at hand,' says John, who, for his 'day job', runs an electrical store. In the Winter of 2003-04, John and his fellow volunteers gave up much of their time to train as RNLI crew members. Their preparation included inshore lifeboat training at Cowes, Isle of Wight (now provided at The Lifeboat College in Poole) and a visit to Enniskillen lifeboat station whose inland rescue service had now been active for more than two years. Lough Derg also took delivery of an Atlantic 21 lifeboat Clothworker. The lifeboat station was finally declared operational on 25 May 2004.

Another member of the crew who has been involved from the beginning is Valerie Knight, who works at Shannon Sailing Marina in Dromineer. Valerie has been part of several rescues, but one of her most memorable services was also one of the saddest: the crew's first search for a drowned person. 'We all knew that the prospect of that sort of callout was always there and we were apprehensive about it, but our training came into its own,' she says. 'I think we managed the situation professionally and maintained respect and dignity for all involved.'Valerie is one of seven Knights on the Lough Derg crew.

Her sisters Edel, Edwina and Lian are crew members, her brother Colin is Helmsman and Mechanic, her mother Pauline is a shorehelper and her father,Teddy, is a deputy launching authority.

There are other family ties at Lough Derg too. The station's Lifeboat Medical Adviser, Dr Peter Hooker, is married to Crew Member Eleanor - one of seven women on the 15-strong crew. Eleanor, a student, is proud that so many of her colleagues are women. 'On our first all-female shout in 2004, myself, Valerie and Edel were on a rescue to a grounded cruiser in force 6 conditions,' remembers Eleanor. 'As we approached, a young man shouted to his dad in relief that it was the RNLI. However,as we neared, he shouted again, this time with a greater sense of panic, "Dad, Dad, oh Dad, they're all girls!" Still, we did a good job, towed them to safety and never lost our sense of humour!' The Lough Derg crew rescued 33 people in 2005, launching from a temporary lifeboat station at the Lough Derg yacht club at Dromineer. Now the RNLI is keen to secure planning permission for a permanent base for the crew, who are experiencing another busy year in 2006.

For more information on Irish inland waterways see www.waterwaysireland.org..