nortada
Well-known member
If it didn’t comeback it could resolve any possible ageist problems.
Clacton and Walton Lifeboats
- Thread starter Juan Twothree
- Start date
nortada
Well-known member
From experience trying to tow keel a boat with a dinghy is not easy. One solution is to moor the dinghy alongside and use it as the motive power whilst the casualty provides steerage but this is not practical with any sea running.
Back to the primary function of the RNLI; saving lives not boats, the crew would be taken off and the stricken vessel left to it’s own devices; possibly to be salvaged later. This then raises the question, “In rough conditions what is the maximum number of people that can be safely carried
” I suppose the answer is in the name, Inshore. The Outer Gabbard is hardly inshore so the Clacton or Harwich boat would attend.
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Juan Twothree
Well-known member
Harwich also has an Atlantic 85 as well as a Severn, so that would be another option.
ylop
Well-known member
“In rough conditions what is the maximum number of people that can be safely carried
Survivor capacity
D-class: 5
Atlantic 75 & 85: 20
Shannon: 18 (or upto 50 but with loss of self righting
Tamar: 44 (or 118 with loss of self righting)
Severn: 28 (or 124 with loss of self righting)
davidej
Well-known member
I’m a bit late to this and haven’t read all eight pages but…………
IMHO the decision by RNLI management makes sense but their handling of the volunteers is absolutely sh*t. - not for the first time!
Do they have an HR department? If so sack them.
IMHO the decision by RNLI management makes sense but their handling of the volunteers is absolutely sh*t. - not for the first time!
Do they have an HR department? If so sack them.
Juan Twothree
Well-known member
You only ever hear one side of the story.
The press always take the side of the volunteer, and makes out the institution to be at fault, as that's what makes a good story.
I have had a lot of dealings with the RNLI personnel department over many years, and although they're a bit slow to respond sometimes, they're not malicious or vindictive.
They don't stand crew down for no reason.
ylop
Well-known member
Volunteers are a nightmare to manage in any organisation. Could they have done it better? Perhaps. But I’ve worked in similar scale “institutions” when a “unit” goes rogue (sometime that’s the reason for closure, sometime it’s the threat of closure that drives it) and the emotional energy invested in trying to resolve things amicably is rarely obvious to outside observers. Often the volunteers don’t realise that even if they have invested their entire life in an organisation they don’t own it.
nortada
Well-known member
I am told that the Walton boat has departed to the Solent for a refit; rumour has it never to return.
Does this mean that the Walton station is currently without lifeboat cover at this the beginning of the busy summer (silly) season?
Does this mean that the Walton station is currently without lifeboat cover at this the beginning of the busy summer (silly) season?
nortada
Well-known member
Understand yesterday evening there was a meeting in Walton to discuss the lifeboat situation.
Unfortunately I was not able to attend so would appreciate comments from anyone who went along.
Unfortunately I was not able to attend so would appreciate comments from anyone who went along.
Andy61
Member
I was at the meeting. It was just to tell the story of what had happened. A big issue was that a local lady resident had provided the legacy for the lifeboat (a couple of million pounds) apparently on the condition that it was to be the Walton lifeboat. The fact that her wishes have not been respected has upset people. It was mentioned that other lifeboat stations have had similar events eg. New Brighton. Last weekend Trevor Halls (the last cox of Walton lifeboat and owner of Halls Boatyard) told me that there was no lifeboat coverage on the East Coast for the weekend.
Juan Twothree
Well-known member
There would not have been "no lifeboat coverage on the East Coast for the weekend".
You occasionally get one or two boats off service with a mechanical issue or whatever, but not all of them. And if ever there's a situation where two flank stations are off service at the same time, they'll usually get a relief boat to cover at one of them.
Bringing up New Brighton was totally irrelevant, other than to say "look, here's another station that was in dispute with the RNLI, therefore the RNLI must be wrong".
The RNLI has a training system in place to ensure that the crews are all trained to a high standard, and that each crew member goes to sea on exercise a minimum of times a year to maintain currency in those skills.
Some of the crew at New Brighton decided that they didn't want to do that, so dug their heels in, and after many months of refusing to engage, were eventually stood down.
Nothing at all like the situation with Walton, where the mooring at the end of the pier had become unusable, therefore an alternative had to be found.
That alternative involved putting a brand new Shannon at Clacton, a few miles along the coast. Of course, if the legacy had originally been used to fund a Shannon rather than a Tamar then the Walton boat could just have been moved to Clacton, but unfortunately no one could foresee at the time that there would be issues with the pier.
And you can't launch a Tamar from a carriage.
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ianc1200
Well-known member
Juan Twothree, you seem to defend the RNLI's actions re Walton - how do they justify not using the old lady's legacy as being for the Walton lifeboat?
Juan Twothree
Well-known member
Of course I would support the legacy being used for the Walton lifeboat.
But where do you suggest they put it?
ianc1200
Well-known member
At Titchmarsh. It was there a large % anyway. It would then be for filling her legacy.
nortada
Well-known member
Hi Juan, Welcome back to the discussion.
Out of interest, where is your Shit Creek
I am interested, so if you are shy, please PM me.
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Juan Twothree
Well-known member
Titchmarsh is totally impractical. It takes quite a while for the boat to reach the open sea, and even when it does, it's only two miles from Harwich Lifeboat station. So if time were of the essence, it would be far easier and quicker just to send Harwich.
So Walton Lifeboat would do hardly any calls, which is not only demotivating for the crew, but also a waste of money, given that an ALB needs at least one full time staff member to maintain it.
nortada
Well-known member
From local knowledge and observation, the Walton Lifeboat could operate at all states of the tide from Titchmarsh and the Twizzle and the reaction time for a 25kn+ vessel from Titchmarsh would be as good as from the end of the pier, with the need to transfer to the ‘big boat’ in often treacherous conditions.
But, Ian, I fear that horse has bolted. As you know the Walton boat has gone and the crew disbanded.
A done deal.
p.s. Out of interest, did the Walton boat have a paid full time ‘staff member’ or was it voluntarily supported by the local boatyards, both of whom would have been more than up to the task
Locally the issue is seldom discussed.
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nortada
Well-known member
Clearly your knowledge of Titchmarsh is inferior to mine.
Understandable, as I keep a power vessel with similar draft and performance to the Walton life boat at Walton and live at the Naze, a vantage point overlooking the whole Backwaters. I have ‘boated’ the area for the past 30 years.
To be pedantic; Stone Point (open sea from the Backwaters and about one mile from Titchmarsh) is a tad more than 2 miles from the Harwich lifeboat station but this is irrelevant.
The Walton situation was always two issues, one operational the other sentimental/emotional. The operational discussion has been done to death and I have commented previously (#48 onward) but the other issue was very poorly handled, with the detriment to all parties.
With your continued acute interest in Walton affairs, I look forward to your PM.
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Mark-1
Well-known member
What would you propose they do? There is no Walton Lifeboat Station any more so how can her wishes possibly be respected? Should they spend £5 million on reopening and running a Lifeboat station in perpetuity to claim the £2m? (£5 million is made up, but you get the point.)
The problem here seems to be a badly written will, not the RNLI.
Google tells me this:
If a condition precedent is not met then it will be seen to have failed, with the beneficiary receiving no benefit at all. The gift will then fall into the residue of the Will or pass under the rules of intestacy.
You'd hope that the Solicitor would have catered for this eventuality and added "or in the event of closure the next nearest station." but they obviously didn't.
nortada
Well-known member
I rather suspect this has nothing to do with ‘a badly written Will’.
I understand that once probate has been granted, it is not possible to have additional complementary bequests i.e. If this happens then a second set of bequests will come into play. I believe this can be called, wishes beyond the grave. In this situation as the Walton Station was active at the point of death then that set of bequests stand.
Rather this was a request possibly in the form of a codicil. Codicils are just requests from the deceased that carry no legal power.
No doubt someone with more knowledge than me will be along soon.
As you raise it, there is no need for a new station at Walton as the boat could operate from the Backwaters at minimal costs but from an operational perspective, Harwich can cover the Walton patch so this is all about hearts and minds and has been handled badly.
Yet to get any response from Juan.
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