I have recently started writing for West Mersea Lifeboat and will, from time to time, post my Lifeboat News here. If you happen upon a lifeboat post, fret not, artier etceteras will resume in due course.
West
Mersea Lifeboat news.
by Leafy Dumas, Lifeboat Press Officer, December 2016.
There have been some glorious high tides
lately, cutting us off and affirming our island status.
There are often stories in the local news
about cars stranded on the Strood at high tides, and our lifeboat often gets
called out to hapless motorists stuck mid-way across. For readers from far away, the Strood is the
causeway (and only road) linking Mersea Island to the mainland. It is sometimes covered by very high tides
and there are always a foolhardy few who make the expensive mistake of trying
to drive through despite our regular pleas not to. Our mission at the RNLI is to save lives at
sea. A swamped vehicle stuck on the
Strood is an uncomfortable problem for the driver and passengers but rarely
life-threatening.
A more serious threat to life lies in the
inability for an ambulance or a paramedic to drive onto the island when the
tide covers the Strood. This is where we
come into action. These shouts, or medevacs, are some of our most crucial. Our normal modus operandi is to take the
lifeboat up the Ray Channel, meeting the ambulance at a rendezvous point on the
mainland in Peldon. From there we pick
up the paramedic and take him –or her- in the lifeboat to the hammerhead
pontoon on the island where our Coastguard friends will be waiting with a
vehicle to rush the paramedic to the stranded casualty. The ambulance follows by road once the tide
has subsided. In some cases we do it
the other way around, taking the casualty in the lifeboat to a waiting
ambulance on the mainland.
Beyond Ray Island the Ray Creek twists and
turns it’s way to Peldon. It can be
tricky to navigate at speed on a dark night so we have placed a few marker
posts in the saltings to help us. Some
of you eagle-eyed sailors may have noticed them shining out at crucial points
along the edge of the channel. Hanging
over the bow of the lifeboat on a dark night holding a spotlight pointing low
over the water, it is very reassuring to be able to pick out our posts and know
we are on the right track. With medevacs
in mind, on a recent training exercise we checked the posts, replacing
reflective tape in preparation for the dark winter nights ahead. Photo by lifeboat crew, Tim Marshall.
What’s up next?
Lifeboat
Carols. Sunday 18th December 2016.
Come and sing with the lifeboat crew! Carol Service at the West Mersea Lifeboat
Station, Sunday 18th December
2016 at 3pm. Open to all. There will be
mulled wine and mince pies.
Boxing
Day Dip. Monday 26th December 2016.
This will be our eleventh year of dipping
for the lifeboat. Come snow, come ice, come gales, come rain, come and test
your mettle and wash away that Christmas fug!
What is it?
On Boxing Day morning brave souls from far
and wide will converge on the beach by the houseboats. Some in fancy dress,
some in swimming costumes or wetsuits, but all with the common goal of a
bracing dip in the December North Sea to raise much needed funds for our
lifeboat.
Come and join in the fun; have a dip in the
sea or support the dippers on the shore; meet Stormy Stan; see our lifeboat,
Just George, and our flank station Clacton Lifeboat which will also be there.
Mulled wine and hot blackcurrant will be
provided by the Victory to fortify the dippers, and marvellous Lyn and Heather
from the Poop Deck will be running a tea tent providing refreshments to sustain
us all.
This event is open to everyone. Fancy dress
is optional. There will be prizes for the best fancy dress. Dippers call 01206 382874 for a sponsorship form or you can enter on the day
with a £5 donation to the RNLI. Meet at
1100am on the Monkey Beach by the houseboats.
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