Frightened, exhausted, in a battered yacht being tossed about by high seas, a sailor makes a desperate Mayday call. Days later, he and his crew will think about how they survived their ordeal. They will remember the glimpse of an orange and blue lifeboat; her crew members risking their lives amid huge waves to leap aboard. They will remember being taken to the safety of the lifeboat and the feeling of relief that washed over them. And they will know that those RNLI volunteers saved their lives.

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution is a registered charity (reg charity no: 209603) that saves lives at sea. It provides the 24-hour on-call service to cover search and rescue requirements out to 100 nautical miles from the coast of the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland and a seasonal lifeguard service on appropriate beaches in the south and south west of England. The RNLI is independent from Government and continues to rely on voluntary contributions and legacies for its income.

The RNLI is largely a volunteer organisation. Many thousands of people give their time, their skill and their commitment so that the RNLI can achieve its purpose of saving lives at sea. It is because of the willingness of RNLI volunteers that such a high proportion of the RNLI’s money can be spent on first-class lifeboats and equipment, not on wages. In 2006 it cost approximately £122M to run the RNLI (around £335,000 per day). For every £1 spent, around 78p is spent on the rescue service itself, which includes the cost of the crew, the boats and the station properties as well as sea safety and education, 19p is used for fundraising and 3p for support.

Since the RNLI was founded in 1824, its lifeboat crews (and since 2001, lifeguards) have saved more than 137,000 lives.

A Brief History:

An inshore lifeboat station was established with a D class lifeboat in May 1965. An Atlantic 21 rigid inflatable lifeboat replaced the D class in August 1973. Bronze Medal awarded to Helmsman Alan Coster after he took the lifeboat to a distance of approximately twenty yards from the motor fishing vessel Al Mor which was sinking at the entrance to Lymington river in a southerly gale and rough sea and having swum to the fishing vessel, led her crew of two over the marshes for half a mile to rendezvous with the lifeboat resulting in the rescue of two lives on 17 December 1980.

In 2002, an Atlantic 75, the Victor 'Danny' Lovelock (see below), replaced the Altantic 21 lifeboat.

Most recently, in 2006 a new boathouse was built on the existing site. This facility enables the lifeboat launching trolley to be permanently hitched to the tractor for safer and faster launching. The new boathouse is large enough to accommodate the next generation of inshore lifeboats (Atlantic 85) without further modification and provides much needed facilities for training, crew changing, workshop facilities and storage. A new and expanded souvenir sales outlet is also included.

Lymington's Current Boat: (Victor 'Danny' Lovelock)

The Team:

There are 18 crew members and 3 launchers at Lymington, supported by the lifeboat operations manager and 3 deputy launching authorities, who oversee the operation and authorise launches. Visits and PR activities are co-ordinated by the press officer, a local GP acts as medical adviser and a retired vicar of Lymington is the station chaplain.

Several of the crew have been with the lifeboat for over 20 years, their working experience ranges from landscape gardener, estate agent, builders, IT specialists, marine engineers, riggers, boatmen, marketing managers, plumber and pig farmer.

Nick Hayward, family man and landscape gardener, has been a crew member since 1980. In September 2002, in gale force winds, driving rain and big seas in mid Solent, Helmsman Nick and his 3 man crew rescued the 2 crew of a dismasted and disabled yacht. Nick was awarded the RNLI’s ‘Thanks on Vellum’ for his courage and seamanship.   

Mike Crowe is an estate agent; Mike has been a crew member for over 25 years and has led his crew on several courageous rescues. In 1988 Mike received a ‘Letter of Thanks’ from the Institutions’ Director for a rescue on the Shingles Bank in heavy weather..

At the other end of the scale 2 crewmen have only recently joined the crew; Iain Woods, an IT specialist and Steve Petzer, marina staff. Iain and Steve have now started their one year probationary period, during which time, and with the help of other crew, they will work their way through the standard competency based training programme common to all lifeboat crew. 

Fundraising:

The lifeboat station’s active fund raising is centred on the 10k Race. We also host visits from schools and local groups. In addition to the lifeboat station, there are two fund raising groups in Lymington: The Lymington Guild (Chair: Karin Spink 01590 679205) and the Lymington Branch (Chair: Stewart Archer 01590 679866) hold several fundraising  events throughout the year. These events are shown in the calendar of events published twice each year. CLICK HERE to see upcoming events in aid of the RNLI.

Contact Details:

Lymington Lifeboat Station
The Boathouse
Bath Road
LYMINGTON
SO41 3SE

Tel: 01590 676404 (Mike Webb, Station Manager)
Email: lymington@rnli.org.uk
Website: www.rnli.org.uk

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Previous Featured Charities:

Oakhaven Hospice Trust

Naomi House - Children's Hospice

Future Supported Charities:

Beaulieu Church

Note to local Charities: Please email jan@lymington.com if you would like us to consider featuring your charity in this section.