Letters To add your opinion, write to The Editor at RNLI Headquarters or email [email protected] Dear Editor As a landlocked landlubber, I sometimes wondered why I joined the RNLI as a Shoreline Member many years ago. I was so disinterested that when each edition of the Lifeboat came, I normally just glanced through it and then consigned it to the wastepaper bag.

However, I did take more care with the Spring 2006 issue and saw that a lifeboat station I knew reasonably well was highlighted, so I read the attendant text and saw names mentioned that I knew.

The people rescued were obviously related to an old friend of mine so I rang him up and he confirmed what was in print.

I am now tempted to believe that fate has had a hand in this.

My albeit insignificant contributions to the RNLI meant that there was a lifeboat on hand to prevent a tragedy that would have affected my friend, his wife and their family for the rest of their lives.

Needless to say, I will ensure that my membership continues, hopefully for many years to come, and would encourage others without apparent nautical contact to do the same. Yours faithfully Colin Long Chigwell, Essex Dear Editor I read with dismay in the Summer issue of the Lifeboat the decision of their Lordships regarding PWCs [personal watercraft, more commonly known by the tradename Jetski].

As a weekend sailor in the Solent I come across many rowing boats, canoes and windsurfers that are less seaworthy than PWCs and certainly their captains are not navigating in the traditional sense.

Their Lordships seem to have created a whole new class of waterborne users. Richard Harrison RNLI Sea Safety Manager Peter Chennell explains: The Court of Appeal recently held that a PWC is not a ship for the purposes of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995. The Coastguard had brought a criminal prosecution against a PWC owner under a section of the Act dealing with negligent navigation.

The Act defines a ship as ‘every description of vessel used in navigation’. The court ruled that navigation required ‘ordered progression over the water from one place to another’ and excluded ‘craft which are simply used for having fun on the water without the object of going anywhere’. The court also said that references to ‘master’ and ‘crew’ only applied to persons employed as such.

The judgment appears to undermine Coastguard policing by apparently removing pleasure vessels from its ambit and owner–operators from the scope of the Act and I feel it is not helpful to the cause of safety at sea. Dear Editor What a shame that in a great article in the Autumn 2006 issue about RNLI operations in Ireland and the recent visit of the Irish President, you should make a glaring error in describing Lough Swilly as being in Northern Ireland.

Lough Swilly is of course in the Republic of Ireland, and Buncrana on the Inishown Peninsula in County Donegal is where the Lough Swilly lifeboat station is located. Regards Danny McLaughlin Whitechapel, London Dear Editor The articles about the RNLI in Ireland in the latest issue of the Lifeboat reminded me of my surprise, on a visit to the Republic of Ireland many years ago, to find a Royal National Lifeboat station.

This recognition that there are some things more important than sectarian prejudice must surely be an example to be followed in solving the problems of that oft divided island. Patrick Schicker Shoreline member Cambridge The Editor comments: These two correspondents are representative of many in either or both veins. I apologise to the volunteers at Lough Swilly for any upset or confusion caused by my mid-production adjustment of our original reference to ‘in the North’ (of the island of Ireland) to ‘in Northern Ireland’. A check of our own map (see Listings) would have put me straight! From darkest Peru to ... Barclays and the Woolwich raised more than £110,000 for the RNLI’s ‘Train one, save many’ campaign during July and August 2006 by selling small Paddington Bear soft toys through their branches.

The Lifeboat invited readers to send in photographs of Paddington on his Summer travels, with prizes for the best three … (Also see rnli.org.uk/paddington) Dear Editor I had loads of fun taking photos of Paddington while on holiday in Italy – although others on the beach thought me a little ‘eccentric’ to say the least. Best regards Mick Parker Competition Winner Dear Editor From darkest Peru to wildest Llandudno, with extremely high winds and mountainous seas ...Working with the crew of the Mersey class Andy Pearce …using the ‘Kineton class’ Summer 2006 Lifeboat magazine.

Mrs Juliette Jane Wylie Competition Joint Runner Up Kineton,Warwickshire Dear Editor This is my Paddington, who visited Space Camp Alabama, US, with me for a two-week advanced academy programme. He had a go in the flight simulator and was even in a mock helicopter escape – his rubber ring came in handy! He liked the Pathfinder Shuttle best because it was so big and complicated.

Hannah Bolt Competition Joint Runner Up Exeter, Devon Dear Editor By 7 August,my local branch of Barclays should have been fed up with me.

I had read the article 'From Darkest Peru to …?' in the Summer 2006 edition of the Lifeboat and thought that my son, Alisdair, aged 5, would enjoy taking Paddington Bear to a variety of haunts in the Summer holidays. His teacher also gave him the task of writing a journal during the holiday and the two things dovetailed perfectly.

Paddington Bear (with a little help from Alisdair) helped my husband to dig a drainage ditch, accompanied Nanna to Aberystwyth and visited the Weir Garden near Hereford with Grandma and Grandad. He went berry picking, helped with jam making and went on holiday, camping and visiting the lifeboat station in Looe. Each event was recorded with a photo taken on Alisdair's disposable camera, bought so that he could enter the RNLI competition.

Why, then, do the ladies in our local branch of Barclays still greet us like long-lost friends, even though we do not bank with them? Well, every week from the 7 July for a month we went to the bank and purchased the fundraising Paddington Bears for cousins and friends who also thought that taking Paddington on holiday was a great idea.

Paddington certainly entertained one 5-year-old and he also wrote so much in his journal that he won the school prize for holiday work and his writing and reading have improved tremendously.

Thank you RNLI and thank you, too, Paddington Bear.

Kind regards Alison Webb Shoreline member,Craven Arms, Shropshire Dear Editor Here’s my entry for the RNLI/Barclays Paddington Bear photo competition, taken on our holiday in the Canadian Rockies.

Hope I’m not too late. [Unfortunately you were, Gary! Ed.] All the best Gary Stanbury Appledore Helmsman Bideford, Devon Reader information Introducing the RNLI The Royal National Lifeboat Institution is a registered charity that saves lives at sea. It was founded in 1824 as the National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck.

Today, it provides the 24-hour on-call search and rescue service out to 100 nautical miles from the coast of the UK and Republic of Ireland; on the tidal reaches of the River Thames; and on selected inland waterways plus a seasonal lifeguard service on appropriate beaches in the south and south west of England.

(See Listings for a map of the service.) The RNLI is independent from Government and continues to rely on voluntary contributions and legacies for its income.

How to support the RNLI You can help save lives by becoming a regular supporter of the RNLI. There are three adult grades of support: Shoreline, Offshore (for those who use the sea themselves) and Governor. Governors may vote at the RNLI’s annual general meeting. Storm Force is the RNLI’s membership club for children.

Contact the RNLI’s Supporter Care team for more information: telephone 0845 121 4999, email [email protected] or write to them at Headquarters (see below) quoting LBM578.

The Lifeboat is the RNLI’s supporter magazine. Blind and partially sighted readers can choose to receive an audio-tape version as well – this is a free service.

To advertise in the Lifeboat, contact Laura Gibbs at Madison Bell Ltd on 01225 465060 or email [email protected].

Offshore members, and those Governors who opt to, receive Offshore News as well, in April, July and October.

Storm Force members receive Storm Force News quarterly. Minimum annual subscription rates UK RoI Shoreline single £24.00 €34.00 Shoreline joint £42.00 €60.00 Offshore single £60.00 €86.00 Offshore joint £102.00 €146.00 Governor single £72.00 €103.00 Governor joint £120.00 €172.00 Life Governor £1,750.00 €2,512.00 (One-off payment) Storm Force £7.50 €10.50 children’s club For general enquiries contact Headquarters: telephone 0845 122 6999, email [email protected], or write to RNLI,West Quay Road, Poole, Dorset, BH15 1HZ. .