Friday, October 24, 2008

Lifeboat Enthusiasts


RNLI Talk
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker.
The late autumn and winter months mean reduced action down at the boating pond. To see us through this dark, damp and dingy part of the year, our model boat club meets once a month for a series of talks and displays. Sometimes one of the members does this, but if we are lucky we get an outsider.

This month's presentation was by Adrian Clutterbuck from the Lifeboat Enthusiasts' Society.

All boat modellers and anyone who has anything to do with the sea, have a soft spot for the RNLI. They have fascinating vessels painted in pretty colours and more importantly, do some incredible work. Generally they are regarded a A. Good. Thing.

What with all the hauling people out of the sea, the organisation doesn't have much time to look after its history properly. What they needed was a group of lifeboat anoraks (sou'wester ?) to do all this - hence the LES. Their members collect all sort of information about the RNLI down to the minutest detail. This makes them a fantastic fund for anyone who needs to carry out some research. Want to know details of rescues carried out from a long closed station 30 years ago ? They probably have someone who can help.

Adrian looks after the modelling section of the Society magazine - he brought some photocopies of a couple of his sections along and there is some serious information contained within. Very impressive modelling by the members too. They don't just make boats but the tractors for hauling vessels out of the water and complete miniature lifeboat stations.

More details and an application form can be found on the society website: www.rnli-lbes.org.uk

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