dt4134
New member
Being a Shoreline Member sounds a bit cheapskate and being a Govenor sounds a bit pretentious, so Offshore is probably the best to go for.
Why do some of us expect the RNLI to act as a marine recovery service?
- Thread starter OGITD
- Start date
Being a Shoreline Member sounds a bit cheapskate and being a Govenor sounds a bit pretentious, so Offshore is probably the best to go for.
electrosys
New member
I think to some degree the RNLI et al have brought this situation upon themselves: for the last few years there have been programs such as 'Seaside Rescue' which have shown stupid idjuts pratting about in the surf on inflatable toys and surf boards, or beachcombers completely ignorant of tidal dangers, and predictably getting into trouble - but always there's a 'safety net' on hand to bail them out.
Same with idjuts climbing mountains wearing just jeans and trainers - and with no awareness of how conditions can quickly change at altitude ... but never mind - there's always a helicopter on hand to bail those drongos out.
What message do such programs send out to Joe Public ?
Oh - I do so love a good rant.
Same with idjuts climbing mountains wearing just jeans and trainers - and with no awareness of how conditions can quickly change at altitude ... but never mind - there's always a helicopter on hand to bail those drongos out.
What message do such programs send out to Joe Public ?
Oh - I do so love a good rant.
grumpy_o_g
Well-known member
I give them £50 a year by Payroll Giving or whatever it's called. Comes straight out of my salary and my company matches it so the RNLI gets £140 a year and doesn't keep sending me a magazine and other dross I don't want. I have learnt to simply lie when asked if I'm a member as I wander innocently around boat shows.
You have to be on PAYE and your company has to run a scheme to have it taken from your Salary but it must make more sense to do something like this or gift aid or whatever rather than pay £70 to to the RNLI and £28 to the government when you can give £98 to the RNLI?
D
DogWatch
Guest
D
DogWatch
Guest
no they shouldn't
D
DogWatch
Guest
May I ask, are you from a boating village?
NUTMEG
New member
[2068]
...
http://www.rnli.org.uk/how_to_support_us
Have a look at the website.
There are two options.
One is "Make a donation".
The other is "RNLI Membership".
"Offshore membership - designed for all water users" looks like they are encouraging a subscription-type membership to me.
onesea
Well-known member
That if you paid enough for membership at the local community run swimming pool to swim for free but they did not include this in your membership you would be miffed?
They just know some yachties feel obliged to drive round with the sticker on the car saying offshore membership... So they can charge them every year.
I have no doubt that, that "charity" has designs that before long will be looking for the rights to inspect boats etc...
Kind of like the National Trust/ RYA you do not have to become a member BUT...
nimbusgb
Active member
No it wouldn't. It would mean higher premiums though.
Litotes
New member
That's the crux of it. I can just imagination the furore that would ensue on here if every call out involved some detailed deliberation about definitions of risk - no doubt laid down in some complicated set of anstract managerial guidelines - and some poor soul got it wrong. Of course, the coastguards and lifeboat secretaries have to make such decisions and that's hard enough, but at least they are free to use their judgment and go with the "better safe than sorry" option, which I think is how they tend to operate.
As far as preventing the "idiots" who set off in ill equipped and prepared vessels etc. from doing as they please is concerned - I see in my crystal ball yet more furore about "Health and Safety Gone Mad!" and "the nanny state".
We are extremely lucky to have the RNLI, not only as a sea safety organisation, but also as an example of value driven, rather than money driven, operations at the sharp end. Most of us appreciate the readiness of fellow sailors to help each other without thought of judgment or payment. And I, for one, would certainly put myself out to rescue a kid swept out to sea on a rubber raft before worrying whether I should be berating the parents for their idiocy. To see that aspect of human life writ large in an organisation like the RNLI is good for our community as a whole. I'm sure that's one of the reasons so many people with no knowledge of the world of seafaring donate to the RNLI.
Incidentally, there may be "idiots" around but international comparisons show that our sea safety record compares favourably with those of other, more highly regulated nations.
Constructive criticism is good for any organisation, but ill informed bitching and sweeping generalisations drawn from isolated examples of questionable decisions (often seen here) are not.
ribrage
Active member
If it aint broke dont fix it, imagine if it was a govt run dept ! !
joe public love the RNLI and they fund it for one reason or another
crew are mostly volunteers and mainly do it for the action \ excitement
boat owners love them cos they dont have to pay
govt love em cos they dont have to pay
Its a "request" to launch by the coastguard and not a command
personally Ive used them a couple of times and emptied the cupboard of beer and wine everytime as its the wives and families that pay the real price, if it aint urgent and i cant fix it my self, i got sea start.
joe public love the RNLI and they fund it for one reason or another
crew are mostly volunteers and mainly do it for the action \ excitement
boat owners love them cos they dont have to pay
govt love em cos they dont have to pay
Its a "request" to launch by the coastguard and not a command
personally Ive used them a couple of times and emptied the cupboard of beer and wine everytime as its the wives and families that pay the real price, if it aint urgent and i cant fix it my self, i got sea start.
fireball
New member
The bit I have an issue with is describing the vessel as a casualty vessel in the first place...
My experience is mostly within the Solent - but the sheer volume of Pan-pan and then occasional mayday for seemingly trivial matters verges on embarrassing.
Granted, the CG have to assume that the "casualty" vessel is really that and that all persons onboard are useless numpties - even to the point of telling them to put their anchor out ... (really?!).
I don't begrudge our DD to the RNLI either - I would rather they were overfunded and available for when they're needed.
IMHO, the OPs point is valid - we should aim on being self reliant first and foremost and call the CG when there is little more we can do to help ourselves. Ok - some instances will be "emergency" and need calling in straight away - but (and I've made this point before and got shouted down) emergencies like Engine failure are not necessarily emergencies and there are normally plenty of things you can do before resorting to a pan pan call.
Cardo
Active member
The various question marks in the post would denote it was a post enquiring about something. The post was not meant as a statement, therefore it did not require a point.
However, I'll play your game. What's your point?
Bosun Higgs
N/A
I cant make up my mind whether this is a troll or simply a lack of imagination and maybe even human empathy. People get into trouble for all sorts of reasons from the silly to the serious, and their ability to cope with problems varies just as much. I've no doubt there are a few people who think of the RNLI as a sort of marine RAC but I guess that most of us do not do so but are simply grateful that they are there when we or the MCA decide they are needed.
I have never used the RNLI but I have used their French equivalent when my stupidity in insisting on being in charge during a Biscay crossing had me arriving off the Gironde absolutely knackered, facing a further 12 hour slog at maybe 1kn over the ground into la Rochelle. It was the French MCA who sent the lifeboat out for us to follow through the sand banks into a port they reserve for fishing boats only and which was not covered in our pilot books and not sufficiently on our charts. No we couldnt sail out of the problem unless we went downwind back to Bilbao - the Prout cat wont make to windward in a serious sea and against heavy winds. SWMBO had her head in a bucket at the time and wasnt capable of helming the boat . So we followed the lifeboat in by which time I was seeing things that werent there. We were grateful for their help. There was no charge.
Not an episode I am proud of but neither am I ashamed at using the services offered to help me. But I guess that its like everything else - easy to pontificate when you are at home in an armchair, but when you are out there its just a bit different.
oldharry
Well-known member
It only takes a missing split pin to sink a yacht....
Litotes
New member
I think that's just one of those cliches that do the rounds but have no real basis in fact. A "mind jerk". I have certainly never met anyone with that attitude. But after more than 50 years on the water (some of it professionally) I am uncomfortably aware that I am still quite capable of getting it all wrong and, maybe, some day, joining the ranks of the much derided "idiots" - in which case I shall be very grateful for the kind of unconditional and non judgmental help that is freely given by the RNLI.
Reverend Ludd
New member
I think one of the problems is that they are so helpful and cheerful.
A novice yachtsman I know (not me honest) called them when getting worried in a wind over tide scenario after the engine packed up. They made a pan pan call, and in the blink of an eye a rib appeared and they were being offered a tow into harbour, they took it but tbh they didn't need to have.
A novice yachtsman I know (not me honest) called them when getting worried in a wind over tide scenario after the engine packed up. They made a pan pan call, and in the blink of an eye a rib appeared and they were being offered a tow into harbour, they took it but tbh they didn't need to have.
Bosun Higgs
N/A
Blueboatman
Well-known member
How times change.
A long tine ago was on a boat that we parked on top of springs on a rocky shoal just inside the western Solent. Stuck, dried out, one plank mildly stove in but only weeping, emptied water tank and all internal lead ballast, and on the night tide thx to a wee breeze were able to heel and sail off, scared, chastised and well messed up along the hull and rudder.
And later, the ex cox of the Yarmouth l/boat said " we wus watching", or words to that effect.
A long tine ago was on a boat that we parked on top of springs on a rocky shoal just inside the western Solent. Stuck, dried out, one plank mildly stove in but only weeping, emptied water tank and all internal lead ballast, and on the night tide thx to a wee breeze were able to heel and sail off, scared, chastised and well messed up along the hull and rudder.
And later, the ex cox of the Yarmouth l/boat said " we wus watching", or words to that effect.